Three Rivers

Back in March, I was one of a bunch of extras who worked on the pilot for Three Rivers. We spent a very long day at a piece of the Convention Center that overlooked the Allegheny River, walking back and forth as hospital employees. Well, I made a day's pay and walked for probably six of the fifteen hours I was on site. I met Beth and Jojo that day, and heard that Chad was there on another day.

Everyone kept saying they were sure that the pilot would get picked up and that it would be filmed in Pittsburgh.

*sigh* I wish I'd taken a bet with everyone who said that. I thought the show might get picked up, but I knew it was going to be filmed in Los Angeles.

So, since the filming of the Three Rivers pilot in Pittsburgh, the doctor in charge was recast, and the pilot was reshot at least twice in Los Angeles. The show itself is being shot in LA. While there are some very lovely aerial shots of Pittsburgh in the show, as far as I can tell no one from Pittsburgh had anything to do with the show as it was broadcast.

I'm glad that the show was at least set in someplace other than New York or LA. But I think it'll be a lot like Grey's Anatomy in that you have one shot that screams SEATTLE and no evidence that the writers know much about the city.

I have mixed feelings about the show. On the one hand, the issue of organ transplantation is an important one and it's shocking how many people ignore it. So to have a TV show that discusses it every week is an interesting choice on CBS's part.

On the other hand, it's a tough issue to dramatize. Usually, one person dies (except in the case of kidney or partial liver transplants) and one person lives (unless they have major rejection or infection issues). So how can you dramatize this issue without coming off as being hopelessly manipulative? I hope they find a way.