Live from LA: Isaiah Washington goes 'Bionic'
Posted: Monday, July 16, 2007 11:37 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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TV
He may have been ousted from ABC's hit "Grey's Anatomy," but apparently NBC thinks they can rebuild him...they have the technology. ("Six Million Dollar Man" theme song reference there, sorry.)
NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman announced at Monday's NBC executive session here at the TV Critics' summer press tour that Isaiah Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke on "Grey's," will appear in five of the first six episodes of NBC's new fall show, "Bionic Woman."
"He's a wonderful actor and a great performer," said Silverman of Washington, adding that he had been speaking with the actor about working together before Washington was fired for twice using an anti-gay slur.
When asked if he thought Washington's use of the slur and his statements since then risked alienating the "Bionic Woman" audience, Silverman avoided the question, repeating "I think that he is a wonderful actor. I think that he is really talented."
He later said that the role Washington will play was not originally written for the actor, but that the actor had met with writers who adjusted a pre-existing role for him. It was not revealed whether Washington will play a good or evil character (or if he'll have bionics, which...unlikely).
"Bionic Woman" is, of course, a new take on the 1970s hit which starred Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers. The idea of a TV remake has been kicking around since 2002. (Wikipedia reports that Jennifer Aniston was considered for the lead early on, which...huh?) English actress Michelle Ryan now plays the new Jaime Sommers, and does a good job of passing for American. Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck on "Battlestar Galactica") plays another, evil bionic woman who dukes it out with Jaime.
I've watched the "Bionic Woman" pilot (filmed before Washington was cast, so he doesn't appear) and have to say I placed it fairly high in a mediocre pack of fall new shows. Ryan does a decent job as New Jaime, I liked her younger deaf sister (who, rumor has it, may be written out before the show airs), and the concept still feels interesting. Washington's casting may even garner some more interest in the show, if it doesn't backfire. I'd love to see the show occasionally nod to the original version in more than just Jaime Sommers' name (bring back Max, the Bionic Dog!), but get the sense that the show may be Taking Itself Too Seriously to reach back for 1970s camp.
Washington's "Grey's" character, as you probably know, was conveniently written into a season finale plot that made his exit easy. He and Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) were set to wed in the finale, but cold feet on her part and a realization that marriage was not what she wanted on his led to Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) telling a roomful of guests that the wedding was not going to happen.
