Deborah's Story

On Tuesday, November 5, 2002 I was fortunate enough to attend the "Third Watch" panel discussion at the Director's Guild Theater--presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in New York City.

The panel consisted of Brooke Kennedy (Executive Producer), Ed Bernero (Creator and Executive Producer), Cort Hessler (Stunt Coordinator), Skipp Sudduth ("Sully"), Molly Price ("Faith"), Jason Wiles ("Bosco"), Michael Beach ("Doc") and moderator Tom O'Neil.

It was awe inspiring just being in the same room with these tremendously talented individuals. Listening to their accounts of the show as well as the events of September 11th brought many a tear to not only the audience's eyes but to their own. 

After the panel discussion, my co-worker, Diana, and I stayed to have a word with the actors. We first encountered Michael Beach. Diana asked him if she could take a photo of him and he was surprised by the question. He agreed to have his photo taken and took the camera from her and handed it to me saying to Diana, "Here--you get in the picture with me!" We asked if he would pose again with me and he said, "Of course!"
We spoke to him for a few minutes about how we admire his work and how we enjoyed him on "ER" as well. He seemed rather shy and as though he really didn't know how to handle being in the spotlight.

Next we moved on to Molly Price. There was a couple in front of us who had driven from Lancaster, Pennsylvania (about a 3 hour drive) from their jobs at a local NBC station there to attend the event. They were telling Molly about how long they drove to come see her and she was genuinely interested and flattered. This couple unknowingly gave me and Diana the perfect ice-breaker. Whenever they stepped aside I flashed my NBC ID card and said, "We WALKED all the way from 30 Rock." (30 Rockefeller Plaza--NBC's Headquarters in NYC) Molly laughed an appreciative laugh and asked us about our jobs at NBC. We told her we worked in the travel department and she asked us questions about our discounts and if we enjoyed our jobs. She posed for photos with us and she was very down to earth. Although beautiful on film--nothing compares to her real-life beauty.

The "Lancaster couple" was once again in front of us as we moved on to Skipp Sudduth and used our fun ice-breaker again. He threw his head back and laughed a good belly laugh. We spoke to him about scenes in certain episodes that touched us and he seemed genuinely touched by what we were saying. He said many times how blessed he feels to be a part of such a great cast and show. He posed for photos and took time to share some of his favorite experiences from his life as an actor. I admire him all the more now.

Jason Wiles had excused himself from the last question at the panel discussion because he needed to use the restroom. He was at the top of the theatre speaking with the "Lancaster couple" so we used our line for the last time. He also laughed and then asked what our jobs were at NBC. We explained what we do and he said that it sounded fascinating. We laughed because our jobs are nowhere near as fascinating as his. He posed for photos with us and spent a lot of time getting to know us better. We invited him to come visit us at NBC any time he wanted to--knowing full well that he probably wouldn't. He said that he would enjoy visiting us at work one day and asked us how he would gain access to our department. Diana told him we were right next door to the Casting department. We thanked him for his time and went to shake his hand...the icing on the cake was when shaking his hand he pulled us close and kissed our cheeks.

Diana and I went back to our seats to gather our things in order to leave. Diana mentioned that she wished her sister could have attended the panel discussion. I told her to call her sister and tell her all about it. She said, "I wonder if Jason would say hello to my sister if I asked him?" I said, "I'll bet he would--I dare you to ask him." As she was asking him, I was pulling out my business card to hand to him--in case he wanted to make good on his promise of visiting us one day at work. He agreed to speak to her sister and was very comedic on the phone with her. When he was done speaking with her I handed him the business card. He looked at it and said, "GREAT! This will make it easier to find you at work!"

Jason is NOTHING like his television character. Full of smiles and embarrassed at the emotion he showed while speaking about September 11th during the panel discussion he spent the most time with me and my coworker.

Working in the television industry I can honestly say I've never met a nicer group of individuals. Not at all "prima donnas." If time had permitted I would have loved to have spoken to Ed Bernero, Cort Hessler and Brooke Kennedy.

This is the edited version of the picture of Jason and Deborah.