Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510100118
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Heaven knows ``The Marshal'' has nowhere to go but up. The network scheduled the action show about a man-hunting U.S. marshal in the graveyard slot: 10 o'clock on Saturdays, America's night out. As Milton Berle likes to say, ``I wouldn't give that spot to a leopard.''
Despite mostly favorable reviews, ``The Marshal'' languished among the lowest-rated shows after its mid-season debut. Still, network executives were impressed with its demographics (young, largely male, some female) and the show's quality. Also the appeal of its star, Jeff Fahey.
So ``The Marshal'' is getting a second chance at 8 p.m. Monday nights in the East, preceding NFL football.
``I've never been nervous about the show at all,'' Fahey said confidently, speaking from Vancouver, British Columbia, where the series is filmed.
``I didn't come in looking for a job; if the show goes away, I move on. As long as I'm here, I'll give 500 percent. We all felt very strong about the show. As time has gone on, I've learned about the network people and how they play with times. They're trying to find the right slot.
``I don't think they're trying to bury anyone. I always felt the fact that they put us on meant they believed in the show. I felt as others did that if we just kept plugging along, we would show what we were made of.''
``The marriage to `Monday Night Football' helps us,'' he said. ``There's definitely a male appeal to the show, but hopefully it will expand. We're opening the show up, there's more humor.''
Of his character, U.S. Marshal Winston MacBride, Fahey said, ``He is the accessible hero. He's not a hard guy. He's just a regular guy who finds himself in extraordinary situations. I think that, in itself, appeals to a wider audience.''
Fahey said he doesn't believe the violence monitors will be alarmed by seeing ``The Marshal'' in the traditional family hour.
``There's violence in the show, but I don't think it's overindulged,'' he said. ``I don't think Senator Dole would be upset. It's law-and-order, but also it's an intelligent show. As a character, I would always hope to talk a situation out, as opposed to shooting it out.''
One of last season's critics remarked cattily that Fahey's marshal had the hair, voice and attitude of Don Johnson. Could be osmosis, since Johnson is one of the show's producers and sometime director, and he cast Fahey for the lead.
``He's pretty busy putting his own show together, but we talk all the time,'' Fahey said. ``I learned a lot from Don on what he had learned from his show.'' The two actors met 10 years ago when Fahey played a role on ``Miami Vice.''
The formula for ``The Marshal'' has MacBride traveling all over the United States to work on problem cases. Yet Vancouver and its environs has doubled for the U.S.; the dollar difference attracts many TV shows to Canada.
That will change, Fahey reported. He said the production will shift to Los Angeles this month, with plans to film in various locales across the country, as well as Vancouver.
Traveling with the show would suit Fahey. One of 13 children in Buffalo, N.Y., he succumbed to wanderlust early, hitchhiking to Alaska at 17. Next, he backpacked around Europe, worked on a kibbutz in Israel and continued on to India, the Himalayas and Afghanistan before returning to Buffalo.
``I was just moving along, trying to figure things out,'' he recalled. ``It was more of a search for self and spirit, which was just evolving. I was just fascinated by the world, and I still am.''
by CNB