Maybe I should have watched more of the Police Academy movies or one of them, even...

Knowing how much I like M*A*S*H, Claire-Helene kindly sent along a link to an interview with character actor G.W. Bailey, who had a recurring role as Sgt. Rizzo on the show the last few seasons.

Bailey's a feature writer's ideal interview.  He's thoughtful and articulate, unpretentious but serious about his work, he speaks in complete sentences, avoids cliches and generalities, and he's good with details and specific examples.  And he's not a star so he's not burned out on interviews or too busy or distracted to pay attention.  But what I liked about him is that what he's enjoyed most about his career apparently is the friends he's made, the people he's met, and the places he's worked.

This is his answer to being asked which of the Police Academy movies was his favorite.  (There were seven!!!!?????):

Of course the first one, 'cause that's the first time we all met. And we had no idea that we would all become lifelong friends and be very important to each other's lives and careers. I think probably the most fun was number five, which was in Miami Beach. We had a great time. You know, great-looking women. [Laughs.] A fun gig. Number four, I was in, but I was drunk, so I don't remember it at all. I don't have any idea what it was about. [Laughs.] And then I enjoyed number seven, because we shot that in Moscow. It's certainly not a great film, but it was great to shoot in Russia. Which I was talking about today, as a matter of fact. I had a Russian cab driver drive me in from O'Hare, and he recognized me from Police Academy. And his favorite was when we were shooting in Moscow. He's a Russian immigrant and is going to the Chicago Police Academy now himself.

He's also candid, straight-forward, honest about himself, and not too worried that what he says will come back to bite him someday.  Makes for the kind of light reading you feel you're not wasting your time on, that you might actually have learned something about the life of an actor or what makes an interesting person tick.

The funny thing is, I don't really remember him from M*A*S*H.  Bailey joined the cast in 1979 and I stopped watching regularly about a year before, and I stopped caring about the show a couple years before that, when Frank left.   Plus, Rizzo---and this is something I learned from the interview but which I'll bet was pretty clear to anyone watching the show at the time---was really just a revision of another character, Sergeant Zale, and I'd never liked Zale at all.  Zale's only role in the show was to get into arguments with people, particularly Radar and Klinger, and his scenes with them seemed to bring out the worst in Gary Burghoff and Jamie Farr as actors.  Odds are, then, if I ever happened to be watching an episode featuring Rizzo I'd have done what I used to do when a scene with Zale came up, used it as an opportunity to go make a sandwich or switch channels to find a basketball score.

But though I don't really remember Rizzo, Bailey must have registered with me because I do remember him on St Elsewhere and I remember recognizing his name but not believing it was the same actor.  I also remember being disappointed when Dr Beale wasn't back for the second season and now I know why.  The producer Bruce Paltrow was a jerk.

Unfortunately, as fantastic as M*A*S*H was, St. Elsewhere was not so fantastic. It was not a particularly great experience for me. It was a learning experience, goodness knows, but Mr. [executive producer and director Bruce] Paltrow and I ultimately didn't get along very well. And I wasn't the only one. If you really studied the history of that show, there were people who were fired or weren't invited back, or they just left because they couldn't stand working with him.

But Bailey follows up with this:

Will Daniels is a very close friend of mine, Ed Begley's a good friend… a lot of those guys, we remain very close. And the show, I think, became terrific, particularly when some of the younger writers started writing more. It's a very good show. But when I left, it was time for me to leave. And as a matter of fact, had I still been doing it, I could not have done Police Academy, 'cause the shooting of Police Academy happened to come up at the same time. And good, bad, or indifferent—being pigeonholed and all that stuff—Police Academy was a great part of my life. A lot of fun.

No hard feelings, some good friends, a new opportunity, he's had a good time as an actor, nice to see someone enjoying his life for the other people in it.

Might have to start watching The Closer, now that I know Bailey's a regular.  I'm not sure I've got time for another cop show at the moment though.  I'm all wrapped up in Saving Grace these days, which is not good because it's really a bad show.  Annoys the hell out of me.  But it stars Holly Hunter and she gets naked a lot.  Of course I stick with it for the writing.

Comments

[Carolyn Kay]

For the writing. Uh huh. I can't stand the angel. It's such a stupid idea, though I like Holly Hunter a lot.

But The Closer, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN WATCHING THE CLOSER! It's one of the best shows on television. But you need to start at the beginning, with the first season, to see how she handles the disrespect of her team.

[nothstine]

I think The Closer is forgiving if you dip in and out without regard to sequence, but Carolyn's right--one of the fascinating things about the show is watching the team come together to work with their new boss during Season 1. And Bailey's character Provenza is in the thick of that.

But apart from that, he's often partnered for plot lines with another "bad boy" character [Flynn], and the two of them often trigger some of the black comedy that's a welcome change in police procedurals:

Like the time, following Flynn's unwittingly dreadful eulogy for a former police buddy, the pall bearers drop the casket, which rolls down a flight of steps and pops open to reveal the corpse of an unknown woman tucked in with their buddy. . . .

Or the time some dummies steal Provenza's car full of evidence of a contract killing from the parking lot while he's having pancakes with the wife who put out the contract. . . .

Or the time Provenza and Flynn have fabulous tickets to a Dodgers game, and discover a dead body in Provenza's garage, decide to leave it till after the game [she's already dead, after all, and these were great tickets], but when they come back the body's gone. . . .

And so on. [And those don't count as spoilers, really, since I believe every one of those incidents happens in the teaser. Then the stories get going from there. Flynn and Provenza--in some stories it almost becomes one word, like "Woodstein"--and their misadventures and such are the McGuffins.] The Closer is by no means about Flynn and Provenza's picaresque adventures, but their occasional moments do add spice. And, regardless, Baily gets a little moment to shine every week.

Plus, based on my channel-surfing glimpses, Holly Hunter's nudidity scenes [as Radar might have called them] seem to be lit and shot by someone with strange notions about what makes people attractive: She always seems to look pale as a cave fish, as if you could look at her skin and see the blood moving through her veins. That's usually when I surf on.

So it might be worth juggling viewing schedules around a little while things are in reruns, just to see.

bn

[Chris The Cop]

Stick with Saving Grace - don't bother with The Closer.

Saving Grace is pretty gritty for TV and I like Holly Hunter's character a lot. (And the Angel, too) I love Kyra Sedgewick but her character's a goof and the whole premise of a deputy chief doing basic police work i.e., interviewing people, solving crimes, etc. is not realistic. That's not just an Inside Baseball comment, it's that ridiculous a scenario simply because it's not what a chief is supposed to do. It's something you'd see on T.J. Hooker.
(that's the ultimate insult to any cop shoe)

[kateNC]

I agree with Carolyn: one of the best shows. House is the other; although I can't figure out why it's so addictive with this past season tied up in middle-school games. I can't afford HBO.

The Closer isn't just a cop show, I don't watch that genre. It's an ensemble show like M*A*S*H. Privenza and Flynn are great, predictable, sneaky, loveable. And the Kyra Segewick is INTERESTING. And this show isn't sick like so many cop shows and profile shows.

nothstine is also right on target.

The Closer is one of my all-time favorites.

[Mike Schilling]

Zale was played by (looks ...) Johnny Haymer. You might remember him as the awful comedian that the Woody Allen character writes jokes for in Annie Hall. And he was awful in MASH too; Rizzo wasn't a favorite, but Baily actually created and acted a character, something Haymer never bothered with.

And I had *exactly* the same experience with Bailey on St. Elsewhere: "That's the guy from MASH? Really?"

[Batocchio]

I've always loved good character actors, or anyone good who doesn't get top billing.

[Claire]

Lance - I'm glad you liked the interview - and I concur with everyone else - get thee to the Closer!

[Geoduck]

Another amusing Bailey performance can be seen in the western spoof Rustler's Rhapsody; he's even the narrator! The whole flick is a hoot, and sadly overlooked.

[actor212]

"Rizzo" did have a star turn in one episode on M*A*S*H where he is forced to give remedial driving instruction to Col. Potter. It was a rather memorable episode.

[minstrel hussain boy]

i've been a guilty pleasure fan of "the closer" for a while. hell, i even stuck through the first season when you could figure the culprit just by watching the clock. (the guilty one in season one was always on camera at :22 minutes it was as sure fire a thing as the last witness to take the stand for perry mason)

what kept me was the characters. they do have some over-the-top stuff. but hey, it's TV not a greek festival.

the week before last, which revolved around a killing that affected the squad personally was some of the best TV i've seen in a long time. no simple answers, no simple questions. good stuff.

it was directed by kevin bacon.