I feel that an apology is owed an actor by the name of Neill Barry.  I was watching an episode of "Criminal Minds", and Neill, playing the role of Army Captain Joseph Downey, was in the middle of a brilliant performance.  His character had just returned from a tour in Iraq and had just been told that his family and been murdered and buried in the backyard of their home.  Suddenly, from the bottom of the screen, appeared the silhouette of a city skyline.  It was followed by huge images of the two stars, James Belushi and Jerry O'Connell, both with huge smiles on their faces.  As they were dominating at least one-third of the screen, Neill's character broke down and fell to his knees.  Of course, his performance was lost behind the "Defenders" promo.

I tried to put myself in Neill's place.  How would I feel watching the desecration of my work?  Mm, hm.  I'd be downright furious.  I've been mildly upset while onstage listening to the sound of a cellophane sucking candy wrapper rustling during a performance.  It's one of the hazards of live theater.  But what if the offender took center stage to do this?  Different story, right?  Or, what if a couple of movie patrons jumped in front of the screen and did a little jig during, oh, Jack Nicholson's "you can't handle the truth" scene in A Few Good Men?  Unacceptable behavior probably ending up in being brusquely escorted out of the theater.

So why do the Networks assume they can run roughshod over the actors' performances?  The tragedy of this incident is that I found myself being pissed at Belushi and O'Connell . . . so much so that I've yet to watch an episode of "The Defenders".   Let's see now, I missed the climactic moment of a great performance and unfairly hung my anger on two guys who probably would be appalled that their images interrupted the work of a brother actor.  No doubt the Networks are filling their series with similar acts of terrorism.

And, here's a new twist - A huge graphic at the bottom of the screen informing you what you're watching!  I know I may be standing on the brink of dementia, but I still think I'm capable of what program I've chosen to view and that I'm actually watching it.

My last bitch on the subject is to plead with the Big Brothers who are controlling the Promos Gone Wild to leave my NFL games alone.  And NASCAR races.  Dancing with the Stars?!  Glee?!  Recently, there was an extremely brutal helmet-to-helmet injury delay during a game on FOX.  As the injured player is being attended to, the game's announcer says, "Don't miss Carol Burnett as Sue Sylvester's mother, Tuesday on Glee".  Really?  REALLY?!

I wish, for the benefit of all the Neill Barrys out there, that there was a solution to Promos Gone Wild.  The TV/Theatrical contracts will be negotiated again.  In three years.  And when wage increases and Health and Retirement contributions are on the table, any kind of proposal to significantly reduce or abolish this practice will probably seem ludicrous.  So, if and when I get another shot on a network series I know that I'll try my darndest to be proactive and pay off the DP to ensure that I won't be framed where any bug, crawl, TV content rating, or promo will interfere with my brilliant performance.  That pretty much relegates me to the upper right hand part of the screen.  That's still virgin territory, right?

I’ve been throwing out baggage for many years; so much that the road behind me is littered with it. There’s one heavy satchel I can’t quite jettison, though - my collection of insecurities. << MORE >>

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