Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510100116
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: AGOURA HILLS, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Her TV series character, Dr. Michaela Quinn, has taken a tumble while trying to climb the landmark Colorado mountain - duplicated in a rugged suburban Los Angeles canyon - and must be hoisted to safety.
``The next thing I know, I'm flying through the air,'' says the actress, recounting her inadvertent stunt work from the safety of a nearby trailer.
``It would have been frightening if I didn't trust the crew. They don't want anything to happen to me. They'd really like the show to continue.''
Seymour, although expecting twins in December, is hard at work in the hot, dusty state park doubling for Colorado Springs circa 1860, the setting for ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.''
Pregnancy is hampering her just a bit. The same for ``Dr. Quinn,'' which is filming around its increasingly round star to disguise her condition.
The CBS series, airing 8 p.m. Saturdays (on WDBJ-Channel 7), is in its fourth season.
``In this particular episode I'm not supposed to be pregnant at all,'' Seymour says. ``So we've got the bedroll here and the bag there and rock here and the wagon there.
``It's an interesting exercise in choreographing your props.''
And in timing. Dr. Quinn, after all, is fresh from her honeymoon with rugged mountain man Byron Sully (Joe Lando), whom she married in last season's finale.
Well known as one of TV's few virgins, it's impossible that the good doctor would be so soon and largely pregnant. After all, she is just discovering the joy of sex - and joy it is, says Seymour.
``Having been a virgin for so long, she has discovered she really likes it [lovemaking] a lot,'' the actress says. Dr. Quinn and Sully are ``totally carried away. In one episode it's morning, noon and night.''
Much is left to viewers' imagination; the series has cultivated a family following and is passionate about not giving offense.
``There's nothing graphic seen but there's plenty of sexual tension,'' Seymour says. ``You can happily let your 4-year-old watch it, but adults will definitely be titillated.''
There will be a Quinn-Sully baby this season, arriving in the final episode. Visible pregnancy will catch up with Dr. Quinn after the actress has delivered her own newcomers (``I have a female doctor, by the way'').
``The Thanksgiving show will be where I find out I'm pregnant,'' Seymour said. ``For shooting purposes, once I've had my babies I'll come back and they'll pad me out for three months.
``So the nightmare that most women have of having to get their figure back will not be my nightmare.''
She won't face another trauma: finding herself unemployed.
``When I was younger, when I had my first child, I was actually fired from a [acting] job because I was pregnant,'' Seymour recalled.
``The same people who said `Oh, how wonderful, how incredible,' the next day told me I was a medical risk, an insurance risk, and they'd be happy if they never saw me again.''
``So I've always had this terrible fear of `Do you make that choice?'''
Beth Sullivan, creator and executive producer of ``Dr. Quinn,'' proved accommodating. ``It's worked out perfectly,'' Seymour said.
The 44-year-old actress, married to actor-director James Keach, is combining family and career in a big way: along with children Katie and Sean Michael from a previous marriage, she helps raise her stepchildren.
Dr. Quinn has her own superwoman badge of honor, as a rare 19th-century female doctor and the adoptive mother of orphans Matthew, Colleen and Brian (played by Chad Allen, Jessica Bowman and Shawn Toovey).
``Dr. Quinn,'' sweet-natured and with an eye toward political correctness on historical issues such as American Indian mistreatment, has taken abuse from annoyed critics.
Seymour, clearly ardent about the series, rises to a spirited defense.
```Dr. Quinn' doesn't talk down to children or adults. It opens up wonderful issues that are very relevant to today,'' she said.
``The history factor is terrific. How many children open up their social studies books and yawn? Now they can actually relate to the plight of Native Americans; they have names, they have kids, they're people.''
Censorship, anti-black discrimination and medical ethics also have been explored on ``Dr. Quinn,'' along with everyday family issues cloaked in 19th-century garb.
``I always find a great issue every week,'' said Seymour. ``Now do you call that square or do you call that provocative? I think if you actually watch - which most of the people who criticize it have never done, I hasten to add - you'll find there's usually a little edge.''
by CNB