A few weeks back, Southern California was on fire again which reminded me of 2003 when the fire came up to my back fence. This time around, I was choked by smoke, but the fires weren’t putting my house in danger. I had a scare on one of the days, but that was only enough to make me gather a few things and start an official pile that if conditions worsened, would be loaded into my cars before I drove them down the hill to safety. But conditions didn’t escalate far enough to necessitate doing any more than that this year.

However, it did make me think back to 2003 and how I worked on a movie during the nights I was evacuated and I wondered if I actually got some screen time. I was on Havoc a total of three times. I only wrote up the time I got a flat tire on the way to the set and the fire.

That third time somehow slipped from my radar. It happened roundabout today in 2003. It was my first gig as a body double. In the finished product, that’s not Shiri Appleby sitting on the Impala in that parking lot next to the Santa Monica pier, that’s me.

As for the other nights, I couldn’t find myself in any of the footage from the night I learned how to buy drugs. I recalled part of that shoot involved the cop cars skidding around the corner, but I’m just barely out of frame on the sidewalk. Oh well.

I was, however, visible while I ‘ho’ed it up. Yep! The night I was evacuated because my house was threatened by fire, I was playing a hooker on a movie set! And having a damn good time of it, too, I might add. I mean, why not? I’m not the kind of person who freaks out and shies away from a good challenge like starting over completely. Yeah, it’d really suck and yeah, I’d hate it, but no lamentation or hatred could make that problem go away, only a whole lot of bucking up and acceptance of the uncontrollability of the circumstances which in turn would give me enough control of my situation as a whole in order to get the necessary work done to get on with my life. I’ve already survived a few large life alterations. I know I can do it again if I need to.

So, I ‘ho’ed it up without regret! This was mid-’ho’ while crossing the street…

And this was shortly after ‘ho’-ing on the sidewalk…

What a night!!!!!!

You see the long Tales from Hollywood list of gigs I’ve been on, so it’s pretty safe to assume that I’ve had quite a variety of experiences…some of which I still have yet to write up!

But on this show, I had two firsts. The WGA was picketing across the street, making loud noises–whistling, yelling, bullhorn–so nothing could get filmed, even going so far as using mirrors to shine light in places it doesn’t belong–actor’s eyes included. We were on location for goodness sake. I’m all for writers getting paid, of course, but this just seemed stupid. Why not go somewhere that’ll get more attention than a dark street in downtown LA? I just didn’t get it.

Plus, we were shooting a script that had already been written. Under the contract signed at the time of purchase, won’t the script we were shooting still make the writers money? Why would they try to stop that from happening? I just didn’t get that either. I fully admit I don’t know all the details surrounding the strike, but there, in the trenches, halting production seemed stupid. And let’s not forget all the crew people who are going to be fighting for work, too. Not to mention extras like me… But hey, this isn’t my only talent, so if work dries up for awhile, I only hope it’s temporary because I do enjoy it and would miss it if it disappeared completely.

All right, enough about that and on to the other first…

A telephone call summoned me from my shower, informing me that the call time had been pushed one hour earlier. Well, I live pretty far from downtown LA during rush hour, so that meant I had to H-U-S-T-L-E to get ready and get out the door in order to even have a chance at making it to the set on time. I somehow got there with 10 minutes to spare.

There were only 4 of us on this particular part of the call. We all found each other at the catering tables at base camp. Oddly, no one from production did. We sat there for 3 hours until the production broke for lunch. No one came to look for us, no one called us to scream, “Where are you? You’re supposed to be on set right now!” Nothing. I’ve been on a few sets where we show up, get our vouchers and then sit for 6 hours, but this was a first. I’ve never been on a set for that long without having a voucher. Granted, I was only at base camp, but it was oddly disconcerting. I don’t even know how to describe the feeling. It was just plain eerie, odd, weird, all those kind of adjectives.

I mean, it wasn’t like I felt that I was in the wrong place. It was more that I sort of needed confirmation that I was in the right place, doing what I was supposed to be doing. As an extra, I get yelled at a lot for doing the wrong thing whether or not I was instructed what was considered right or wrong. Generally, it’s considered wrong to hang out at catering without a voucher. I guess that was the root of it. I didn’t want to get in trouble for being there even though I was supposed to be there. And only a voucher can confirm that I was supposed to be there.

After production broke for lunch, we were given our precious vouchers and told to go to wardrobe. I was a crazy psyche patient. I got squared away and then sent to the real holding which was down the street. That was another odd thing…usually, there’s other extras hanging around, so you know you’re in the right place. Well, we knew there were other extras on the call for the scenes before ours, but where the hell was holding? Once I was in the old bank building with the rest of the extras, I felt much better.

So did the other three of us. We all remarked about how weird it had been to not have vouchers and be separate from the rest of the call after having our call time pushed earlier. Anyway…

I sat in holding for a few more hours, I think, while they finished up on the street scene that I wasn’t part of. After that, I was summoned to the indoor psyche ward set. I was seated at a table with a game of dominoes laid out, but I chose to put one foot up in front of me and the other on the chair next to me. That foot on the chair may be the only bit of me to make it into the finished product if any of me makes it at all. From the moment I was placed near a bunch of lighting fixtures that definitely weren’t going to be in the shot, I knew today wasn’t my day for camera time.

No big deal. It’s just more fun to actually make it into the finished product when I’m playing odd characters like a recovering nymphomaniac in Domino, an alien in They Are Among Us or a dead nun in Angel. I get odd roles so infrequently that I really cherish them because they make for great conversation pieces later on. I’m pretty shy, but if I hear a conversation about Angel for instance, I’m not afraid to say, “I played a dead nun in the opening scene of the 100th episode of Angel.” And if people don’t believe me, I can whip out my iPhone and navigate to this site for visual proof.

Which reminds me, I still need to get screen captures from Domino…

Anyway (A Tale of tangents today for some reason!), I worked in the scene for an hour or so, but wasn’t in any of the turnarounds and ended up back in holding.

The highest point of this adventure was when I looked up from my dominoes between set-ups and my gaze met Dylan McDermott’s for a tiny smile. That was nice…really, really nice.

It’s been 2 years almost to the day since I worked on Invasion. I believe Jen saw the show when it aired and didn’t see me. That’d be because I was in shadow and only at the very beginning.

By the time she would’ve remembered I was in this restaurant scene, I’d've been off camera.

I also added a few links to some of the other gigs with odd holding areas I referenced in the Tale.

This movie stars Jim Carrey. I was in Fun with Dick and Jane a few years ago…which reminds me…that’s another one I need to write up. I’ll have to take a wild guess about exactly when I was on it, though. I really don’t remember details other than where it filmed, it was fall and that I was booked with my Prowler, but got to drive a BMW production vehicle in a couple of takes because they needed a different car in the background and I’d worked with the coordinator before.

Things were different on Yes Man, though. Much different. I recalled from Fun with Dick and Jane that it had been a very long day, so I assumed it’d be more of the same for this gig, too. Comedies often take awhile because the actors will try different ad libs or different ways of delivering the written lines and see what works best. Scenes evolve rather than being static, cut and dried. All of the Will Farrell gigs I’ve been on were like that. To me, it has never been a hardship, either. I like to watch how everything unfolds and morphs and I find it very interesting. Plus, it’s neat to see inside the head of the comedian in those cases because there’s a general brilliance to be seen. It’s truly amazing.

I’ve heard from various people that Jim Carrey is unfunny when the cameras aren’t rolling. I didn’t find that the case. I saw him as very focused and serious, but not unfunny. When you’re making a movie, you can’t be silly all the time or nothing gets done and lots of production money gets wasted…which also makes no sense. Jim Carrey was great. Even when things weren’t going too well, he got over it and got on with the scene. (More on that later.)

I parked. I was shuttled. I went through wardrobe who almost liked what I was wearing. Almost. They were very, very, very picky on this show. I was a coffee house patron. The look was supposed to be very funky, but drab. Those are some of the toughest gigs to dress for. If I’m wearing funky clothes, they’re loud and well…funky…not drab and boring. I did my best, but was still given a shirt off the wardrobe truck. Oh well. I realize that the principle actor was wearing a dark suit for each of the scenes we were working on so if the extras were too bright, we’d accidentally upstage him.

I think, perhaps, my bone to pick isn’t with the costumers themselves, it’s with the vocabulary used by the casting directors when they’re trying to describe what sort of clothes we should bring. Had I been told to bring drab colors with interesting cuts to the garments or perhaps casual, hip grunge I might have faired a little better. But oh well. I got to wear my stuff for the first change and then add their shirt for the second change.

Then there was a little mix-up as to where we were supposed to go–catering or holding. I ended up going to catering, then holding, then catering, then finally to holding. I was okay with that. My only real hang-up was the general disdain for extras on this show. Between one of the costume assistants really talking down to us, the people on the car call who seemed soooooo much better than regular extras, plus the others who’d worked the show before, and a few general comments made by crew members that I’d overheard, I really dreaded working this day. I got out my book on Medieval history and tried to lose myself in it because I just don’t understand the mindset that extras are trash and should be treated as such. Don’t people realize that if they treat us like humans, we’ll act accordingly and even try to be good?

Anyhow, I sat in holding for the first scene, but was used in the second one. In fact, I did a cross right in front of Jim. On the first take, I thought we were going to collide! Doh! He didn’t get mad, so I figured everything was okay. And no one told me to do it differently, so I just tried to stay a little further out of his way. All was well. I did my little cross over and over for all the different camera angles and such. The day was feeling better. One of the ADs and a couple of the PAs were really cool and I appreciated that.

Lunch was good. I didn’t know I was supposed to be segregated on tables without tablecloths in a separate, walled-off part of the catering tent, so I plunked down at a nearly empty table and a group of PAs sat down with me. I had great conversation with a cutie named Tex.

When lunch ended, we were instructed to change clothes. I put on the shirt I got from wardrobe plus my jacket. All was well. I was placed at a table outside the coffee house and did the scene as I normally would. Two paparazzi guys showed up and were quite disruptive. That sucked pretty hard. I felt bad for Jim.

I then went back to holding for the following scene.

And then plans changed a little and all of us extras had to go back to wardrobe for another change. Okay, whatever. I was given another couple of shirts and off I went. We were instructed to stand outside so that the Costume Designer could inspect us again. Okay, now this is where everything went pretty far south for me.

Throughout the day, I was wearing two necklaces–one a choker, the other regular. I had been instructed to keep the same jewelry on through both changes. I did. Then, for this third, unexpected change, the shirts I was given had a higher neckline, so I had to lose the regular necklace. I left the choker on, assuming it’d keep me in that funky look they were going for. But at no time was I instructed anything in particular as far as jewelry went, so I just used my best judgment.

Okay, at the beginning of the day, there was a lot of degradation of the background actors, then it cleared up for me and I wasn’t annoyed anymore even though there were still a few “fuckin’ extras” comments here and there plus a few ridiculous attitudes. But standing there in front of the Costume Designer’s assistant–not the Designer himself, mind you–I heard the most humiliating thing ever said directly to my face. I realize it may not read rude or mean, but she said, “Take off that necklace because sometimes less is more.” with the attitude like I’m too stupid to dress myself.

A simple, “Lose the necklace.” or even, “We don’t need the necklace for this scene.” would have been totally fine. I wear what the costumers tell me to wear. I don’t second guess unless there’s something really lame about what I’ve been instructed to wear (ie. the gigantic scrubs I wore on Numb3rs). I wanted to tell the bitch that I’d been wearing it all day and the reason we were all here was so that she could make those kinds of changes without degrading us, but I was so flabbergasted at how rude she’d been (without even batting an eyelash, like it was totally acceptable to speak to extras like that) that I just unhooked it and tossed it in my purse. When the Designer arrived, he said we all looked wonderful and that it didn’t really matter much because we weren’t really going to be seen anyway. That pretty much shut her up, but she was still looking at the rest of us and still wanting to make us change something.

Even in the morning, when I walked up to the wardrobe truck, I’d sensed that she was one of those costumers who changed extras just for the sake of changing them. I swear some of them do that. They may not realize it, but some of them do. If there are four costumers checking out us extras, I’ve noticed on some shows that there’s one or two who feel like they’re not doing their job if they don’t change anything about what an extra shows up in while others do a thorough once-over and say we’ll pass or maybe ask if we have something simple like a different shirt or pair of pants rather than a complete overhaul. I understand they’re just doing their job, but when I change from one green outfit into another green outfit, I wonder whether they’re really doing their job or just exerting their control over us stupid little fucking extras. Can you tell I was irritated?

It doesn’t even have to do with the fact that I’m very into my clothes and have a wardrobe the size of their truck all in my size at home. (No kidding! Just ask Jen or Jason!) That’s not even what pissed me off. It’s the attitude. Hell, I could be in the position to hire her someday and I sure as hell won’t…and I’ll tell all my friends not to hire her, either. These people should think before they talk down to extras. They really should. They just don’t know who we are or are going to be someday.

So, for that last scene, I was feeling pretty crappy and didn’t want to verbally vent about it… I got out my iPhone instead. Here’s an excerpt of what I wrote during the whole time (At this point, I was playing coffee house patron with iPhone and using it in the scene.):

I am so pissed off right now I could scream. I handled it with grace, but that was fucking mean. Does she really think all extras are stupid? Does she realize that if she showed us some respect, we might try a little harder? …It’s clearly not us, it’s her. I don’t even care if anyone is reading this over my shoulder. I am that pissed off. I’m even writing this between takes I’m so incensed. I want to cleanse this feeling because the day was resurrected until that moment. And I’m almost at 12 hours of being here… This was a record worst. And she clearly felt no remorse at her words. This was an acceptable thing to say to an extra…to another human being. How mean!!!!!!! Venting on my iPhone sure is nice. Then I don’t have to be outwardly grumpy. I can keep this all to myself. Whew… I’ve been treated pretty badly before, but that really took the cake. Seriously. Totally mean…totally rude.

During the scene and in between I got everything out of my system and started feeling much, much better. Here’s some of what I wrote after I calmed down… (the scene itself was going to hell, however.):

Rolling again. Should work great then. Going again. Quick scene. Having trouble tearing a sheet of paper without it going screwy. Rigging in progress. I love Hollywood. Again. I am trying to make it look real. Wide at the beginning. Split second only. The shot is real quick. I don’t think they realize that I’m really writing. This is fun again. My iPhone saved my day. Might not actually still be in it. All well and good to me. I’m having a good time again. I’m so calmed down now, I want to sleep. I like this, though. Makes me feel better. Got to IM with Jason during a take or two. He just randomly SMSed me during the scene. That was funny. Day’s getting long, but I’m totally okay with that. Sometimes it’s the little scenes that stick. Still going. Not too bad, though. Having a good enough time. Enjoying what I can while I can. Maybe I could use some caffeine. Broke a prop. Had to fix. Back in action. Slow going. Going. Going. Gah. And again. Long day getting longer. Painful for the crew. Painful for the actors. Been on worse, though. West Wing with Rob Lowe was worse because the scene was longer. It’s just the way it happens sometimes. And it happens all the time. I’m totally okay with it. A couple keep having to go in and out. They’re not thrilled. Yay! Got a great one, too.

Each of those sentences represents a take, I’m pretty sure. The trouble was with the action that Jim was trying to do. The props just weren’t agreeing with him and such a simple scene dragged on and on and on and on. But in the end, we had a really great take and then everyone was wrapped.

I can laugh about it now, but that’s the only part of being a background actor that I truly hate. People make assumptions that simply shouldn’t be made. I’ve met plenty of other extras who are producers, have gone on to bigger and better things, who are very important people and do extra work for fun. It makes no sense to treat us like shit. It makes no sense to treat anyone like shit. If it weren’t for the attitudes, this gig would have been absolutely fine. Sure, that last scene was a killer, but during it, there weren’t any anti-extra attitudes, so I was totally fine enduring all the troubles of the uncooperative pieces of paper and cork board. In fact, I can’t wait to see the finished product because the premise sounds great: A guy who used to say no, says yes to everything for a year.

This is a first for me. I’m writing this a couple days after this shoot actually happened, but not posting it until after I’m supposed to be back on the show. There were very strict rules and a lot of paparazzi on this show and rightfully so. I don’t want to jeopardize my returning for the second part of this gig. There’s always a significant chance that I won’t be recalled, but since I really want to come back, I’m not taking any chances! This was an awesome day for me.

It took an eternity to get to the set because the freeway by my house lost a few lanes in a tunnel fire and it hasn’t been repaired yet. But I did get where I needed to be on time at least. I’d left early enough.

I parked. I was shuttled. I got my wardrobe (1928…I’d been fitted a few weeks earlier). I got into my clothes. The costumers let me use my only 1920s purse (YippieYay!). I was shuttled to holding. I had my hair done (well, the lady made it look appropriately yucky and messed up for the role). I walked to make-up and something interesting happened.

Normally, I don’t wear make-up. I might put on eyeliner twice a month for the fun of it, but I’m really inexperienced when it comes to putting on make-up and for this show, there was a whole list of instructions on how to do it. I was terrified and didn’t feel comfortable doing it myself, so I packed a few things into a little bag and brought it with me to show that I wasn’t trying to be difficult, I just suck at make-up. Well, when I sat down in the make-up lady’s chair, she didn’t say a thing about me not wearing any make-up. I silently yelped for joy.

I’ve got a red spot on the bridge of my nose which make-up artists usually spackle over immediately, so I wasn’t surprised when the make-up lady went right for it with a brush… Except the palate she was working from had all these crazy colors like blue and purple and dark green and various shades of red.

She wasn’t covering my red spot, she was using it! I was now the proud owner of a slightly bloody nose!

Then, she darkened the circles under my eyes a little and made my cheek look like someone had punched it a day or two ago. Woohoo!!!!!! Best make-up experience I’ve had in a very long time. First blood since Angel, too.

I then walked back to holding while getting many a strange look. Yay!

I sat in holding for what felt like eternity but was perhaps a couple hours. It was a pretty nice day. Not too hot, not too cold. Same holding I’d been in when I worked on the Ring II, except the set wasn’t a women’s home in present day, it was a loony bin in 1928. I was what was called a Code 12 patient which means that I probably wasn’t crazy, but I was perhaps having a bad PMS day and my husband called the asylum to take me away because I was being rowdy.

Clint Eastwood is directing and has a different, much quieter style than every other set I’ve been on. Usually, there’s a lot of yelling of commands and such. On his set, there’s a peaceful respect and serenity that comes from speaking rather than yelling. I wish more sets were like that. It was because of that lack of yelling that I hadn’t even realized they’d started filming for about an hour into the time.

When I was finally brought to set, Mr. Eastwood watched us all go up the stairs and then as we awaited further instructions, picked me to be in the front. I was, after all, the only one with blood on my face. I really looked like I’d seen better days. There was a principle actress fourth in line behind myself and two other extras. Our action was simply to walk down the stairs because we’d been freed. Angelina Jolie’s character had gotten us outta there and she was at the base of the stairs, but we weren’t instructed to react to her, so we guessed that we didn’t know it was by her doing that we got out of there.

Some sort of moment between the principle actress and Angelina happened, but that was the extent of the whole thing. We were all just supposed to keep on walking past her and down the sidewalk.

This was the first set I’ve been on where a rather large group of paparazzi showed up–complete with rocket-launcher-sized lenses on their cameras. They were seriously slimy and had no consideration for anyone who was working there. They didn’t even get out of the way when locals with strollers were trying to use the sidewalk. How very rude.

I suppose some of the tight security rules were because of those people, but I’m not sure. I’d just never been on a set with so many specific rules about things we could do, couldn’t do, identification regulations, all sorts of stuff. I was okay with it all, but I also found it a bit tiresome and annoying. I mean, why can’t people just be good so we don’t have one or two spoiling everything for the rest of us?

Anyhow, I spent a few hours or so leading the group of extras down the stairs in each take. It was great. I got within about three feet of Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich and about a foot away from Mr. Eastwood–whom I can now also add to the list of celebrities who have spoken to me. Yay!

If this scene makes it into the final picture, there’s a great chance that at least one frame of me will, too. That’d be nice.

I can’t believe it, but I did actually make it onscreen in Everybody Hates Chris. I recall sitting on that bus and thinking my shoulder might make it in frame.

It did…And the back of my head.

Boy was I surprised!

This was the second time I was called to Universal Studios for a car call. I’ve driven on the lot before (Desperate Housewives, Serenity), but when I’m booked with a car, for some reason strange things happen. For instance, on Where The Truth Lies, I almost drove through the stretch of road where the Red Sea parts!

On this movie, I was booked with my ‘06 Mustang just like on G-Force. Yeah, lots of car calls lately. I dunno why, either. It seems to go in waves.

I ended up following a production truck onto the lot, so I didn’t accidentally drive to the Red Sea again. And to be honest, after parking on New York Street, checking in, going through wardrobe, I was still bummed that I missed the Red Sea! ‘Cause this time, if I’d've accidentally landed at that path again, I’d've totally driven through. That’s one of the things I wished I’d done. Oh well. Better luck next time. This was only a 1-day call.

I’m honestly not sure how it happened, but I didn’t work the whole day. I missed the first setup because I was in my car. I tried to be in the next one, but the camera guys said not to bother with the foreground crosses because the camera couldn’t see them. After that, I stayed near the AD, but somehow never got used. Yeah, I was sitting in doorways, up steps, but not because I was hiding. I was just trying to stay out of the sun. If I’d've been asked to jump in the scene, I’d've so totally done it.

Anyway, I ended up finishing Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives and starting another called Medieval Times. Sensing a theme perhaps? Terry Jones is an amazing writer. I love his stuff. It’s the best non-fiction to have on set because I don’t think he could write dryly even if he tried!

The other book is also well done. I got almost half way through! Off the top of my head, though, I can’t remember the author. The book was first printed in 1968 and surprisingly isn’t dry. There’s not much worse than trying to read dry non-fiction while on set. It makes staring off into boredom space preferable to reading the words.

My car might’ve actually made it in frame. At the top of the day, they had me pull it out because that was where they wanted the camera. It wasn’t until after lunch that they wanted my car back on the street.

Speaking of lunch… I dunno why, but it was really, really good! Herbed potatoes, breadsticks with baked-on cheese and my favorite rare steak with chimichuri. I think mostly, it was just that everything was cooked how I like it, using ingredients I like over most others, etc. that kind of thing. Everything was food I’d already had, just not on set. I didn’t even touch the salad bar or the dessert bar because I was enjoying the steak and potatoes so much. There was also fish and chicken available, but I wanted steak. The chimichuri was so good I looked up a recipe on my iPhone so I can make some at home.

Strange little day I had… From the not hardly working, to so much reading, to the awesome lunch…

What? You say I mentioned having an odd driving experience at the beginning of this and then never got back to it?

Well… The whole day, I was bummed that I’d missed the Red Sea, but it wasn’t like I was going to go try and drive through it at the end of the day. The trams were running and plus, there was still a lot of light and I didn’t want to get in trouble.

In fact, I was parked on a small block that the trams passed right by as they went in and out of the King Kong stage. After studying the map, I planned out the best way to get off the lot.

And at the first intersection screwed up which right turn I was supposed to take.

I drove past more stages…offices…shops…through the golf cart depot tunnel thingie…and eventually, the asphalt became reddish cement. And there was a trashcan–the kind you push the swinging door open and then put your tray on top of. And there was a maze of metal pipes.

Like the kind for standing in line for a ride!

OH SHIT! I was about to drive into the theme park itself! Gah!

I threw the car into reverse and backed outta there so fast! I didn’t get in trouble because only one preoccupied guy in a golf cart saw me, but I was terrified.

I did, finally, find the road I was supposed to’ve taken and then got myself off the lot. Whew!

There’s just something about the Universal Lot and me having car calls on it. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s gonnna happen next time…

Well, Jen had said she saw me in frame. She wasn’t kidding…

I completely forgot to post on Wednesday. I came to the site to write up my post, saw that Lisa had posted her Tales from Hollywood about her recent experiences on the movie G-Force and CSI: Miami, read them instead of writing my post, then promptly forgot all about the original reason I came to the site. Yes, my brain is on overload this week. Then yesterday I was so busy I didn’t have time to write up anything, so now I hope to make up for it.

My TiVo is getting nice and full of all the new shows. I haven’t been able to watch as much as I’d like (see previous paragraph about overloaded brain and being too busy to breathe) but they’re waiting there for my next free moment. I love TiVo.

I have had a chance to watch a few things. I saw Cold Case. It was okay. I’d probably rate it a C. Not a memorable episode. I’d rate this season’s first episodes of Heroes and How I Met Your Mother with a B/B-. They were satisfactory episodes, but again, nothing overly memorable in either of them. I enjoyed seeing Hiro in feudal Japan, and the mention of slapcountdown.com in HIMYM, which leads me to believe there are better storylines to come this season from both of these shows. This week’s episode of The Unit I’d have to give a C- too. I was bored. I’m ready for this storyline to wrap up so the Unit can get back to saving the world, rather than all this “who’s betraying whom” crud they have going on now. Law & Order: SVU came back with a bang. I’d easily rate this as one of my favorite episodes from the last couple years. Maybe it’s my lifelong fascination with Dissociative Identity Disorder, but this episode kept me glued to my seat and got an A rating from me. Plus, Cynthia Nixon was amazing as the SGS of the week. A stellar return for L&O: SVU.

My biggest surprise of the week was Bionic Woman. I originally didn’t plan to watch this show. I saw the original pilot at Comic Con and was overall unimpressed. But my hubby wanted to watch it, so I kept him company. The version that aired this week was surprisingly better than the pilot I saw at Comic Con. I was up-in-arms when I learned they recast and re-imagined the role of Jaime Sommers’ sister. I like the actress who portrayed her in the pilot–in fact that was one of my favorite things about the pilot, which was why I didn’t plan on watching the new version. But the new sister isn’t half bad. I still have some concerns about the show. I feel zero chemistry between Jaime Sommers and her doctor love interest on the show. Watching scenes between them borders on painful for me. I actually fast forwarded through the love scene in the episode–and me, FF through a love scene, that never happens. It doesn’t help that the background music during their scenes–a low, solo saxophone–screamed bad B movie to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good saxophone, but “good” this was not. Honestly, Katee Sackhoff and Michelle Ryan have better chemistry. They sizzle on screen together. I’d give Bionic Woman a solid B- and I’ll be checking in again next week to see if the problems I had with the first episode improve.

Oh, on Monday I mentioned the TV show Life, which I got the advance preview of on DVD through Blockbuster. This is another show that just didn’t work for me. I love the main actor–Damian Lewis–and thought he was especially great in Band of Brothers, so I was interested to see how he’d bring this tortured character to life. The show is just a bit too…odd for me. Or maybe it’s the main character. Or maybe it’s the premise. Or maybe it’s the interactions between the characters. I can’t quite define what didn’t work for me, I just know I had no interest in continuing to watch it. Now, my husband enjoyed it more than I did–he watched the entire first episode whereas I bailed out after only seeing the first half. But even he’s not convinced he’ll tune in for the second episode.

Tonight I’ll be tuning in for Moonlight, even though, I hate to admit it, the teasers I’ve seen for the show have felt stale. I’m keeping up hope it was just bad choice on the marketing department and the show itself has more life than the promos make it appear. I also love Jason Dohring, formerly of Veronica Mars fame–another show I miss dearly–so I’ll tune in just to see how he plays a vampire.

So that’s it for me. What did everyone else like and dislike about this week in TV?

While I love car calls, I get nervous when they want my Viper. Not because I’m afraid something’s gonna happen to it or anything like that.

Because when they want the Viper, they want an upscale look and I’m just not an upscale person. I don’t own a lot of upscale clothes either. So, I never fit in on these calls and I get really, really nervous that I’m going to get yelled at for not being the kind of person they want even though I’ve got the kind of car they want.

And making things worse, apparently on this particular episode, they wanted us extras to bring yellow, green and white. If I wear green, it’s camouflage. If I wear yellow, it’s either a long skirt suit from 1986 (complete with shoulder pads like a football player) or a couple car T-shirts. If I wear white…well…more T-shirts again…or a long, draping polyester, late 70s-early 80s dress a la Dynasty, Falcon Crest or Dallas. Definitely not the look they wanted, of course.

This was one of those calls that really exploited a hole in my ginormous wardrobe and caused me great anxiety. Plus, I really need a haircut…

They had us all stand next to our cars so the Director could choose the people he wanted walking through frame. As soon as I heard that, I almost started doing gleeful cartwheels down the aisle of the parking structure. I wasn’t chosen. I didn’t have to go see the wardrobe, hair and makeup people. Yay for me! The weight of the world was thus removed from my shoulders.

Anyway, the call time was just barely before lunch, so they let us eat. That was nice of them. They really didn’t have to.

After lunch, our scenes were up so they had us shuffle our cars again. Mine was in the front.

Then they had me move it because they wanted to do this awesome dolly shot along the side of my car and sort of sweep into the scene. Cool! My car got a closeup. ‘Course that means I’ll never work the show ever again because my car has been seen, but whatever. I don’t want to come back anyway. I don’t fit in at all. The crew was great, but I’m just not what they were looking for and I know it. My car, however…was perfect.

And then not used the rest of the day.

I spent my time in holding, reading an awesome book called Medieval Lives by Terry Jones. I couldn’t put it down, but I wasn’t there long enough to finish it.

In the end, it was a pretty easy shoot even though I started off terrified about it. If you watch the show and see a silver Viper in a parking structure…that’s my car and I’ll likely be waiting for the DVD so I can get a couple screen captures to add to this entry!