I recently had a speaking role on the Lucky TV series.  John Corbett stars as a recovering compulsive gambler.  Since I am an avid Northern Exposure fan, and a part-time actor, I jumped at the opportunity.  My episode was number 13, It's In The Stars, which aired on July 1, 2003.

The following is a running account of my adventure....             (you can click on any of the photos for a full-scale version)

Tuesday, 14 January 2003

The Television Critics Association was in Hollywood on their semi-annual tour being wined and dined by the networks promoting mid-season shows.  My fellow Northern Exposure fan Benny and I attended the FX Network reception.  The primary focus of FX's reception was promoting Lucky, but the cast of their award-winning show The Shield was also in attendance.
	Jim Keily, Supervising Producer and Writer, was the man for putting this gig together for me.  He snuck Benny and I into the reception.
	Here I am with John Corbett at the reception.  I'm 5'10", and John was already bending at the knees in this photo.
	Here's a photo of Benny with John Corbett that Benny sent to me.  Funny....  I don't remember Benny being that tall, or having hair on his chest, or changing into John's clothes...   hmmm....
After drinks and hors d'oeuvres, they showed the pilot episode.  Then the creators (Robb and Mark Cullen) and several principal actors fielded questions from the TV critics.  One question to John was whether he regretted not being in My Big Fat Greek Life, the CBS TV sitcom follow-up to My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  John said that no, he was 41 years old, and too old to be doing TV anymore.  When Robb Cullen called him to do Lucky, he was driving cross-country in a rental car.  But when he got the script, he loved it so much that he's doing it now.  But as a rule, he has no desire to do TV anymore.  He said he's still great friends with Nia Vardalos though.  It's in the works for John to do a guest spot on My Big Fat Greek Life and Nia to do a guest spot on Lucky.
As for the Pilot itself, I really enjoyed the show, and think it will do well.  The basic premise is that Lucky Linkletter (John Corbett; My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Sex And The City, Northern Exposure) is a recovering compulsive gambler.  Maybe his road to recovery is prompted by his winning $1 Million dollars in the poker championships and losing it all, or his wife's death, but then again, maybe not.  The Pilot leaves a lot of questions up in the air.  There are also some darkly comic moments as Lucky tries to scrape together funeral repayment for his wife, and his run-ins with the clairvoyant Joey Legs (Dan Hedaya, probably best known as Nick on Cheers).
Vinny (Billy Gardell) and Mutha (Craig Robinson) provide some outstanding comic moments as Lucky's best friends.  Also Lucky is always trying to borrow money from "The Trake" (Seymour Cassel), but The Trake's diminishing mental capacities prevent the transaction from taking place.

 Wednesday, 15 January 2003

	An early morning start: my call time is 6:30 AM in the Make-Up chair!  Michael expeditiously gets me from my hotel to the Sunset-Gower Studios, Stage 12.
	Gary Edwards, 2nd 2nd Asst. Director, gets me settled in to my dressing room.  Since I've returned home, I have in fact looked up "Croupier" and it does mean "the person in charge of a gaming table".  I half expected it to mean "idiot Northern Exposure fan sucker guy".
	Three minutes to wolf down a tasty and wholesome l'omlette du frommage from the catering truck, then I'm off to...
	... the object that will be my nemesis today: the roulette table.
	It seems the Lucky crew isn't going to take my word for it that I learned everything there is to know about being a roulette croupier the other night on my research trip (where I dropped a quick pile of cash playing this silly game).  Steve is an extra today on the set, but was a dealer in his prior occupation.  He shows me how to work the wheel and manage the betting and chips.
	After the roulette lesson, it's on to makeup.  Denise Fischer does a great job on me.
	Next it's time for my hair, done expertly by the talented Paige Bennett (on the left).  Paige is kind of shy ("There's a reason I'm behind the camera" she says), so she'll only consent to a picture with Key Hair Stylist Camille Friend.
About now, the crew is ready for the first scene of the day.  The scene involves Lucky trying to again borrow money from The Trake.  The Trake is so named because of his tracheotomy.  Also he is in a motorized wheelchair, so his health is just barely hanging in there, and the source of some dark humor.  As Lucky is approaching The Trake at the roulette table to get his money, The Trake is just losing it.  That's my big role when I say "27 Red" and pull The Trake's chips back for the house.
	First come several rehearsal takes.  Director Michael Spiller discusses with John and Seymour how he wants the action to go.  We all go through our lines and I have to make sure I get "27 Red" in at the appropriate moment.  After everyone is happy with the scene, the stand-ins come and assume the actors spots.  Now the cameras and lights go about setting up and getting adjusted.
After the camera, lights, and sound are all set up with great precision, the actors come back in and we start shooting.  No, I don't have any pictures of that, I was working!  Anyway, after a bunch of takes, the director finally sees something he likes, and we wrap that camera angle for that scene.  One of the re-takes was my fault.  With 26 actors, and 56 crew standing by, the director yells "Action" and then instead of flipping the roulette ball smartly in a circle around the inside of the wheel, it goes flying across the set and deposits itself between two slot machines (I wonder if real croupiers ever do that?).
	Next they move the roulette table out of the way, and now we're shooting the same dialogue between Lucky and The Trake.
	But now with the roulette table gone, the cameras can get different close-ups on John and Seymour.
	(John is the tall guy with the dark suit and shades, Seymour is the older guy in the electric wheelchair with the yellow flag)
	When John and Seymour have finished, they move the roulette table back in.  Now it's time to get all the close-up shots of the table, wheel, ball rolling, ball dropping into 27 Red, and me saying 27 Red.
	Julie is my designated stand-in for the day.  Here she is holding her hand in the wheel so the cameras and lights can get properly adjusted for what will be my hand spinning the ball.
	I guess they couldn't find anybody who was quite as ugly as me, so they decided to go the other way and got the lovely Julie instead.
Now comes the close-up shots of me.  The director adds a line for me here: "No more bets".  Whew, just doubled my line load there, but what the heck, it will probably end up on the cutting room floor anyway.
So finally, Scene 7 of Episode 13 is all shot.  One and a quarter pages out of 26.  Probably about 60 seconds in the final episode.  And it only took four hours.
	John was great.  We talked a bit and I encouraged him to come to Moosefest Northern Exposure fan festival in July.  He said he's usually hanging at his place on Maui in July.  Tough choice man...  And he was appreciative of the John Corbett Fan Website, saying it was a "huge compliment".
	Seymour was a character.  He and John had a lot of fun playing off each other.
	Now with my work done, I can just hang out on the set and watch the action as the other five scenes for today are shot.  And talk with some of the crew that make Lucky run.
	Here's 1st Asst. Director Michael Anderson.  He's in charge of all the "on camera" people: camera, lights, sound, props, wardrobe. etc.
	Here's Key 2nd Asst. Director Kelly Cantley.  She helps out the 1st AD and manages the extras, who are collectively known as "atmosphere" or "background".  When you watch the show, forget the actors for just a moment and watch all the people crossing in the background.  Kelly orchestrated every cross, turn, and slot machine handle pull.
	2nd 2nd Asst. Director Gary Edwards manages the "off camera" stuff like getting the actors on and off the set when they need to be.  And there never would be a l'omelette du frommage without him.
	Some of the extras recognized my obvious star-in-the-making qualities and begged to have a picture with me.
	I just didn't have the heart to disappoint these lovely girls (the extras with the extras).  So I reluctantly agreed to this photo.  Besides, what kind of a chronicle of a day in a Hollywood set of a Las Vegas casino would it be without photos of Elvis impersonators and buxom cocktail waitresses?
	Next, I wandered around the set, taking shots of various sets that you'll recognize in the show.
	This is the bedroom of Theresa's apartment, played by Ever Carradine (Theresa, not the apartment).  After Lucky's wife's death, he hooks up with Theresa at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting.  Notice that I'm standing out the back of the room, and that the wall on the right ends there after the dresser.
	This is now inside the double French doors of the prior photo looking out to where I was just standing.  In the distance, you can see the outside of the "Raise Diner" set.
	This is the kitchen of Theresa's apartment.  Some interesting trivia: Theresa was played by Mädchen Amick in the pilot.  But for whatever reason, she didn't do the rest of the series.  So portions of the pilot were re-shot to include Ever Carradine, instead of  Mädchen.  Also, Ever is daughter of actor Robert Carradine and granddaughter of actor John Carradine.
	Apparently somewhere between the pilot which I saw and the thirteenth episode which I'm in, is an episode involving The Superior Court of Greater Las Vegas.
	And John gets his own chair...
During lunch, they screened Episode 9 Lie Cheat and Deal about Lucky getting framed for cheating and banned from all the casinos in town.  Vinny and Mutha provide some great comic moments.  Including something "sick" that should never be attempted between a Mrs. Butterworth bottle and an A-1 bottle.
	After hanging out after lunch some more, I've decided it's time to head back to the hotel.  Goodbye to Sunset-Gower Studios Stage 12.
	Goodbye to miscellaneous crew and extras hanging out outside the stage.  Goodbye to little green elf with the pointy shoes from Stage 14 next door (where they're shooting American Dreams for NBC).
	Back to my hotel room with a view of the Hollywood Hills and the Hollywood sign way off in the distance (center upper).
	My Lucky Day on the set of Lucky may be over, but Episode 13, It's In The Stars, to be aired July 1, 2003 at 10:00 PM on FX, will live on in my memory (oh and this web page too).

© Copyright 2003 Kurt Lutterman.  Portions Copyright Train Wreck Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment, and FX Network.

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Last Updated:  September 22, 2004