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Viewers Voice member, Rollie Krieger, my husband Jim and I left very early for California on a cool Monday morning, although the forecast for Milwaukee for the week was for Indian summer type weather; in the high seventies. The flight to L.A. on Midway Express was very smooth, but the hospitality of the airline has changed considerably. Now you have to pay extra for your meal which wasn’t that great and the chocolate chip cookies are no longer offered for breakfast. My husband and I used to fly Midwest just for their great meals and because they had a direct flight into L.A.X.  Next trip we’ll probably try a different airline and go for the cheaper rate.

When we arrived at L.A.X. it was pretty gloomy looking with the smog still rolled over the city and the temperature only 68 degrees. By the time we arrived at The Sportsmen’s Lodge Hotel in the Valley, things were looking up, the sun broke through and the air was warming considerably. By the time I unpacked and we were settled in, guests at the hotel were swimming in the pool. Now it was beginning to feel like my home away from home again. We relaxed the rest of the day and just went out to dinner at “Jerry’s Famous Deli” which is right down the street from the hotel.

We went to many television sets this trip but I have one in particular I’d like to tell you about. It was the last set visit of our trip and is in need of your help to keep it on the air.

The series is “The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire” a one hour CBS drama series by David Kelly. The show reminds me a little of Kelly’s “Picket Fences,” it has that quirky kind of touch to it.

“The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire” stars Randy Quaid as Police Capt. Hank Shaw, John Carroll Lynch as Mayor Garrett Shaw, and Chris Penn as unemployed Waylon Shaw. It follows the three quirky brothers as they face problems in their families and careers in the small town of Poland, N.H. where they were born and raised.

I personally loved the show when I first reviewed the pilot. The problem is the audience has not yet picked up on the excellent entertainment the show has to offer and it’s not doing well in the ratings. I’m not sure if maybe the title is scaring viewers away and they haven’t been tempted to watch. If that’s the case the viewers are missing the brilliance of David Kelly at his best.

We arrived on the lot of “The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire” on a Friday afternoon and the first thing we noticed as we made our way to the set was the playground for the employee’s children. It was the first one I ever noticed at a studio and the publicist for the show said that Kelly really knew how to take care of the people who worked for him.

We entered the sets of “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” and I was amazed at how elaborate they were. It was obvious that Kelly spent a great deal of money to make everything look as authentic as possible. The publicist gave us a tour of all the set before we entered where they were filming. The scene was taking place in the dinner where the brothers spend a good deal of time eating. We watched on the monitors while shooting was taking place. The dinner was too small for us to actually enter because of all the cameras and audio equipment. They took about a half dozen shoots before they called it a wrap. On the monitor we watched Randy Quaid as he was talking to his brothers and devouring a huge sandwich. I’m sure he wasn’t hungry after that many shoots. When they finished Randy, John and Chris came out to talk to us and pose for a few pictures. I was surprised how big these gentlemen were; they towered over us. We chatted with them for a bit and they were very interested in where we all came from. They were a delight to meet and fun to talk too. After a time the brothers were off to rehearse another scene and we finished up our tour and headed back to the hotel. 

Chris Penn, who is the brother of Sean Penn, was celebrating his birthday that day and the studio had an elaborate birthday cake for him. Out of the three gentlemen he appeared to be a little shy and quiet.

Penn made his acting debut at the age of 16 in 1983’s “Rumblefish.” He has starred in more than 40 feature films including “Footloose,” “Reservoir Dogs” and “Rush Hour.”

He will be seen in the upcoming films “Starsky and Hutch” and “Palindromes.”

Randy Quaid’s has numerous film credits but the ones I remember him the most for are; “Paper Moon,” “Independence Day,” “Kingpin” and the hilarious “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” He earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor in “The Last Deal.” He will soon be seen in “Milwaukee, Minnesota” and “Black Cadillac.”

Quaid’s television-movie credits include his Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award winning role in “LBJ: The Early Years,” as well as the mini-series “Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and the upcoming “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Lost.”

John Carroll Lynch’s feature film credits include “Fargo,” “The Good Girl,” “Bubble Boy,” “The Next Best Thing” and “Pushing Tin” to name a few. He will soon be seen in “Catch that Girl” and “Gothika.”

Lynch played Drew Carey’s brother on the television series “The Drew Carey Show” and has appeared in “Family Law,” “Gideon’s Crossing,” “The West Wing” and “Frasier.”

Playing the wives to the Shaw brothers are: Mare Winningham as Dottie, Angela Goethals as Katie and Ann Cusack as Julie.

With talent like this you would think that viewers would tune in just out of curiosity.  Watch the show and judge for yourself what you are missing. I really don’t think you will regret it. “The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire” is on the CBS network Wednesday nights at 9:00-10:00 p.m., CST.

I’m dedicating this column to Caitlin Martin who died on Thursday, October 9, 2003. She has now officially become the little angel she always was.