'E-Ring' takes 'CSI' formula to Pentagon
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
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As Jerry Bruckheimer's TV empire grows, it can't just stick with "CSI" clones.
It needs some variety. So this season, it has added two lawyer shows and a show set in the Pentagon.
"We love process," Bruckheimer says. "We love going inside — to see how something works."
So "E-Ring" plunges inside the Pentagon. There, it finds:
That's the Bruckheimer style. His shows start by seeming fairly cold and process-oriented. The character warmth seeps in slowly.
Bruckheimer, 60, was first known for producing turbocharged movies, from "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop" to "Black Hawk Down" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." All are large and slick.
The next step has been a surprise. "If you had told me six years ago I would have the biggest show on television, I would have said you're out of your mind," Bruckheimer says.
Now he does, with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Heading into this season, he also had its two spinoffs, plus "Cold Case," "Without a Trace" and "The Amazing Race."
All are on CBS. All (except "Race") are cop shows with closed-end stories that wrap up at the end of an hour.
"Open-end shows don't repeat a lot," Bruckheimer says after a summer in which his reruns dominated the Nielsen ratings.
Now comes some variety. Bruckheimer has lawyer shows on WB ("Just Legal") and CBS ("Close to Home"), plus NBC's "E-Ring."
The Pentagon is fresh turf for TV, but "E-Ring" sticks to the Bruckheimer formula. It dives deep into the process of military decisions. In this case, the source is Ken Robinson, a CNN correspondent whose previous 20-year Army Ranger career had him working with the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and others.
The show also spends heavily recreating Pentagon interiors.
"They built these amazing sets," Bratt says.
Taylor Hackford ("An Officer and a Gentleman") directed the pilot and sticks around as a producer.
It was Hackford who came up with the idea of casting Hopper. That began with a casual conversation, Hopper says:
"He looked at me and he said, 'Wow, you look terrific ... have you ever thought about episodic television?'
"I said, 'Absolutely not.' "
Two days later, he was playing McNulty in the pilot.
Bruckheimer is accustomed to turning movie people — Anthony LaPaglia, Gary Sinise, William Petersen — into TV stars. This year, he has put former TV icons into new settings with Don Johnson in "Just Legal" and Hopper in "E-Ring."
