Tiera Skovbye ON NBC
As “Nurses” settles into its regular time period after its December preview showings, what do you think about its timeliness, given the coronavirus pandemic?
When we started making Season 1, COVID-9 wasn’t around, but it was still exciting to be able to do a show about nurses and to honor them. I don’t think any of us quite realized how important the stories were that we were telling until we started filming Season 2 (for the show’s home market, Canada) We started that prepandemic, then we had a four-month hiatus and then started up again while everything was still going on.
In working on Season 2, has the pandemic been folded into the stories as a subject, as other medical shows have been doing lately?
Well, everything had already been written, so it was a matter of this being something happening in the world now and how we acknowledge it. Without giving too much away, some of the storylines definitely changed, because it’s not something a medical drama can ignore.
What sort of research did you do for this role?
I didn’t know when I got cast what it was going to be like on the set, whether they would have someone for us there (as a technical adviser). I have a friend who’s a doctor in Scotland, and I basically called him and said, “Just tell me stories.” I wanted to have information and possible scenarios in my head, things that doctors and nurses would have gone through. We talk all the time anyway, but I just wanted to have that added weight to it.
And we do have a medical adviser with us on the set all day, every day. Even for scenes that aren’t medically heavy, he’s there to make us look like we know what we’re doing and to help us pronounce things right.
“The Minimalists: Less Is Now”
The maxim “Less is more” that was popularized by 20th century architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is at the heart of this new documentary, in which longtime friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus discuss how people’s lives can be better with less. (ORIGINAL)
“Headspace Guide to Meditation”
In this new animated series, Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk and co-founder of the Headspace meditation app, takes viewers through the benefits and science behind meditation. Each 20-minute episode showcases a different mindfulness technique that aids in the practice of meditation, focusing on subjects such as stress, anger and letting go. (ORIGINAL)
“Movie: Pieces of a Woman”
A hit at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, this drama movie stars Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown”) as a woman who embarks on an emotional journey in the year following the loss of her baby in a home birth. The impressive cast for this Canadian/ Hungarian/American production also includes Sarah Snook (“Succession”), Molly Parker (“Deadwood”), Shia LaBeouf (“American Honey”) and Ellen Burstyn (“The Exorcist”). (ORIGINAL)
“Cobra Kai”
The former YouTube Premium series moves over to Netflix for its third season, which finds everyone reeling after a violent brawl between their high school dojos puts Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) in the emergency room fighting for his life. Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Mary Mouser and Jacob Bertrand are among cast returnees. (ORIGINAL)
Edward Bridge “Ted” Danson was born on Dec. 29, 1947, in San Diego – but he was raised in Flagstaff, Ariz. A basketball standout at Connecticut’s Kent School, he developed an interest in acting while attending Stanford University. He then pursued it at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama.
Danson began his professional career on the daytime television serials “Somerset” and “The Doctors” in the mid1970s, and he made guest appearances in a variety of primetime series including the original “Magnum, P.I.” plus “Laverne & Shirley,” “Benson,” and “Taxi.”
After gaming movie attention in “The Onion Field,” “Body Heat” and “Creepshow,” Danson began the TV series that made him a star: “Cheers,” which cast him as Sam Malone, an ex-baseball player turned Boston bar owner. During the show’s 11-season run, he also appeared in such projects as the acclaimed dramatic TV-movie “Something About Amelia” and the film-comedy hit “Three Men and a Baby” (and its sequel, “Three Men and a Little Lady”).
In 1998, Danson began a sitcom run in “Becker,” playing a perpetually cranky Bronx doctor. Concurrently, he started portraying a variation of himself in a recurring gig on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” While he also has appeared in such movies as “Made in America,” “Getting Even With Dad,” “Dad” and “Saving Private Ryan,” TV has been Danson’s mainstay.
A near-continual presence in series, Danson’s shows after “Cheers” and “Becker” have included “Help Me Help You,” “Damages” (the first three seasons), “Bored to Death,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (Seasons 12 through 15), “CSI: Cyber” (the second season), “Fargo” (the second season) and “The Good Place.” He begins his latest sitcom Thursday, Jan. 7: NBC’s Tina Fey-co-created “Mr. Mayor” casts him as the new leader of Los Angeles.
A recipient of two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, Danson was married twice previously. Since 1995, he has been wed to Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, whom he met while making the movie “Pontiac Moon.” He is the stepfather to her two children by her former husband, actor Malcolm McDowell.