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When I go out to California I always like to go to a TV show that I watch and really enjoy and this year it was “Strong Medicine” which is on the Lifetime Network on Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m., CST. The show is a one-hour medical drama that deals with intense emotional stories and tackles realistic medical cases with both sensitivity and raw originality. The series stars Patricia Richardson (“Home Improvement”) as Dr. Andy Campbell and Rosa Biasi (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) as Dr. Luisa Delgado.

When we arrived on the lot of “Strong Medicine” in Culver City I was surprised by the building where the show is filmed, it looked like a real hospital. The sign on the building in big letters read Rittenhouse Hospital, that’s where the story takes place. This is the first time we’ve ever been to a set where the entire building was the whole set. The publicist of the show Bridget Cooper met us in the parking lot and took us into the building.

When we entered everything was very familiar to me from watching the show, right down to the reception area, to the doctor’s offices, to the emergency entrance. You’d think you were in a real hospital everything was that authentic looking. Bridget then proceeded to give us a little tour of the sets before taking us to some offices in the building that were occupied by the production staff of “Strong Medicine.” There we were introduced to Tammy Ader who is the creator of the show and executive producer along with Whoopi Goldberg. Ms. Ader was a lady you couldn’t help but like; very friendly and eager to take us around and show us what went into producing her show. She introduced us to the production manager and to one of the assistant directors. Then we were escorted to the wardrobe room were there were hundred and hundreds of different clothes worn by the cast.

One of the areas I found most fascinating was their editing room where they were working on the dailies from the day before. Dailies are basically all the film they shot the day before that is put on video and then put into their computers to edit. We watched a scene with Rosa Blasi that they were in the process of editing. If you ever had the experience of doing any editing as I did at one time with Viewers Voice you found this part of the tour exceptionally interesting. Except the type of editing I did would be compared to going from a typewriter to a word processor, that’s how much more advanced they are in the type equipment they work with to what I had to edit with at the West Allis Community Center. Also they have three separate rooms where they actually work and one is a sound proof room used just for audio input.

From the editing rooms we went down to were they were shooting a scene with Patricia Richardson. Ms. Richardson was in between takes and snacking on a hotdog, she joked with us about being on video while stuffing her mouth with food. There we met the director of this particular episode, John Flynn. Mr. Flynn invited us into a room where we could watch the scene being filmed on a monitor and that way we could see what they were focusing for a take.   

After shooting that scene a few different times they called it a take and we went out to meet Ms. Richardson. She appeared to be a lot younger looking in person and a naturally pretty lady. I don’t think she really knew the reason why we were there but loved the idea that we liked the show and wanted to support it. She was very friendly and was more than willing to pose for some photos and wanted to make sure everyone was included in a group shot.

If you liked Pat Richardson in the sitcom “Home Improvement” as Tim, the Tool Man, Taylor’s wife, Jill, then you’re really gong to love her in “Strong Medicine.” Richardson replaced Janine Turner this year, after Turner left the show for personal reasons.

Dr. Andy Campbell (Richardson) is a straight-to-the point former Army colonel turned civilian and new co-head of the Rittenhouse Woman’s Health Center. Dr. Lu Delgado (Blasi) wears her heart on her sleeve and is constantly putting her foot in her mouth. The two ladies are terrific together and the show is one you don’t want to miss.

After meeting with Ms. Richardson we watched a little more of the shooting on the monitor and then took a tour of all the different sets, from the doctors offices, to where they lived and all the different hospital rooms. We thanked Tammy Ader and Bridget Cooper for the time they gave us and the wonderful experience of getting to know “Strong Medicine” from the other side of the camera.

We found out while talking to Bridget that she is the cousin of former Milwaukee Brewer infielder, Mark Loretta. Mark is now with the San Diego Padres. She was telling us that the Loretta’s just had a new baby and how cute he was. I informed her how much I missed him as a Brewer; he was one of my favorites.

The episode we had the privilege of seeing parts of is titled “Weights and Measures.” It tells the story of an over weight couple and their experiences with stomach stapling. This is the last show of season four and hopefully the Lifetime Network will be smart enough to pick the series up for season five.   

We went back to the Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel after our visit to “Strong Medicine” and relaxed a few hours before going over to a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” I’ve been to a few talk shows before but I don’t know when I enjoyed one as much as I did this one.

We had VIP seats which is always nice because we didn’t have to spend time waiting in line to get in. The one thing I enjoyed about this talk show was how Ellen DeGeneres worked with her audience. She came out before the taping started and joked around with everyone and then personally entertained the audience between commercial breaks. I was surprised at how little she was in person and her personality is so warm and sincere.

Kevin Bacon and Phyllis Diller were her guests that day. I was a little disappointed that the Kevin Bacon interview was taped earlier and we didn’t get to actually see him but Phyllis Diller was a real treat to watch. At her age she hasn’t lost her touch to make an audience laugh. I was surprised to find out that she was an accomplished artist and she presented Ellen with a portrait she did of DeGeneres. The audience all received a postcard packet of her work.

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is on in the Milwaukee area Monday thru Friday at 6:00 p.m., CST, on CBS. If you haven’t seen the show yet make a point of watching it, I know you will love it as much as I do. In my opinion it is one of the best talk shows on the air, it’s not only funny, it’s very entertaining,

Until my next column let your voice be heard.