Break on Through/Grey Matter

From Zoanne Clack, writer of "Break on Through"

Original Airdate 1/29/06

I think some of you may not know that it usually takes about eight days to film a one hour show. And that’s just the filming. The whole process includes writing, rewriting, notes (from the studio, network, consultants, each other)… and that all takes a couple of months.

Here’s a glimpse into what it was like on the set during the shooting of my episode:

Day 1: Strike line. It wasn’t as I imagined but it worked. They used a crane to get the overhead shots, which was cool. I played Sudoku with producer-extraordinaire Rob Corn’s son, Ethan. That night we had some drama while filming our drama: a bomb threat! We actually had to shut down a few scenes early. We were able to use the hospital where we film on a weekday because it was also Veteran’s Day so the clinics were closed. So, a bomb threat, at 11 o’clock at night, on Veteran’s Day, at a public facility. No small thing, right? It took like a gazillion years for anyone besides the hospital security/police to show up. Apparently there were all sorts of players involved: do they call police or sheriff? County or city? FBI or bomb squad? When it was clear that we weren’t going to be able to do anything else for the night, they slowly let people start going home. A bunch of people had to come back to pick up their stuff the next day (all the cameras and equipment had to be left inside!!). All’s well that ends well, no bomb was found, but it didn’t help our schedule much.

Day 2: Kali Rocha was a great pick for Sydney! She’s funnier on the set than I think it even comes off in person. There was a great idea circulating around that she come back as one of Bailey’s best friends. But Kali is off to shoot her own show I think. Good luck Kali! Awesome job! Don’t worry, Bailey’s just on maternity leave. She’ll be back. Oh yes, the bar fight. There wasn’t enuf dialogue so the actors ad-libbed portions. Funny stuff.

Day 3: There was a lot of stuff with Addison and Derek in the airstream that got cut out. Boy, was it fun, good stuff. Wish I could tell you what it was but we might use it for another show sometime down the line. Hmmm…

Day 4: Kind of a hodgepodge of a day. Lots of different scenes filming today, none that were especially riveting to film.

Day 5: USA Today and KABC local news was on set today. The local news was there to do a story on Linda Klein, our on-set medical advisor. Excuse me, our awesome on set advisor. She was very busy orchestrating the EXIT surgery on Cheyenne’s baby and the surgery on poor Claire “flesh-eating-bacteria”-lady’s leg, so in the meantime, they interviewed some of the cast and yours truly. My interview was about being the doctor-writer. The marketing for the interview (to be shown after the show that aired the following Sunday) said that they were highlighting the behind-the-scenes medicine so a lot of my friends and co-workers in the ER were looking for me to be on TV (and thank God I didn’t tell anyone I was going to be on!). As it turned out, they used a few of the cast members and the fabulous Peter Horton but the piece was about what they had initially come there for: Linda Klein. I think people might think I’m actually lying about being on the show (sure you’re a “writer”). Ha! Anyway, I didn’t get my name in USA Today either. Blah blah blah. Such is the fate of the behind-the-scenes people… Oh, what was filmed today, you ask? The OR scenes. Real baby, fake baby switch. Good acting, long day.

Day 6: Usually we’re saying “poor George” but this time I have to say “poor Izzie.”  She just can’t catch a break. First her modeling career was outted by Alex. Then the “psychic” patient outted her psychic-loving, trailer park-living, cupcake-baking mom. Now she’s outing herself—she’s got a daughter!! Somewhere out there is a little Izzie. Wonder if we’ll be seeing her… I also must give kudos to Regine Nehy (Cheyenne) who’s making her first network TV performance as Cheyenne. She did a great job playing off of Katie (Heigl). Some beautiful scenes of Cheyenne and Izzie together. Barely a dry eye in the house. Katie was a little under the weather and trying to get home for the holidays but you’d never know it.

Day 7: It’s Monday again, had to be there at 6:45 am. Always a pleasure. Fortunately my commute is about 7 minutes. Yahoo! Grace’s friends were a hoot! Robin, the actress that plays Patricia, was amazed when she walked in and saw that she’d be working with some of her true childhood idols. She grew up watching these ladies on TV. Some of you who are old enough might remember June Lockhart as the mom on both “Lassie” and “Lost in Space.” She was also in Petticoat Junction. Betty Garrett was the neighbor in “All in the Family” and the girlfriend of Laverne’s father in “Laverne and Shirley” (Edna Babbit!). Rae Allen is herself a Tony award winning actress. We were in the halls of greatness, watching how they worked it. They were pretty great. Still on their game, working hard after all these years. Then there was the moment in the linen closet where Ellen/Meredith left us speechless. And there was Derek (“P. Demp” as I like to call him). There’s really nothing to say except that it was definitely a moment. I’d venture to say it was an incredible moment. Especially if you’re a MerDer fan.

Day 8: There was more with the seasoned actresses today, a lot of Grace dying. Solemn. Long day. Donna, the actress that played Grace, was looking for direction on how to die because she had never done it before. Good point, I thought. Word on the set was that she’s 90 years old, but imdb.com says she’s 81. Who’s lying here? Or was it just a vicious rumor? Oh these TV people… Grace’s story was based on a case I had. In the ER, you have to make decisions quick. Once they’re made, it’s hard to go against the Hippocratic Oath (first, do harm doesn’t sound right). Usually, just one crew does everything, but today they called in a second unit to shoot some of Burktina’s scenes on another stage while the first unit filmed more scenes with Grace. Efficiency.

Day 9: Ahh! The last day! Yay! Days on set are long – I don’t see how the crew does it day in and day out but I commend them. They do a fantastic job. My 8 or 9 days on set is nothing compared to the hours they put in. Today is the day before Thanksgiving and we all got a lobster and steak meal for company lunch, complete with a lot of fixins. Yum!! Today we got to meet the newlyweds doing it in the ER. All kinds of talk about how they should be positioned. The actor that played Wade would literally pick up the actress that played Claire and move her around as we talked about different, ahem, “positions.” And they had just met 10 minutes before. Oh, the life of an actor. It was a good feeling on set today, everybody for the most part had good spirits, the holiday started the next day, and this was the end of a long episode.

Good night, and good luck.