GARY:
Writer:
NBC's critically acclaimed "Against the Grain" (1993-1994)
CBS's "The Client" with JoBeth Williams (1995-1996).
Other Credits:
ABC's "The Monroes" with William Devane (1995)
ABC's "Second Noah," starring Daniel Hugh Kelly and Betsy
Brantley (1996)
Showtime's "Fast Track" with Keith Carradine (1997-1998)
"Hope Island," the PAX TV series starring Cameron Daddo (1999)
Feature Films:
Co-wrote "The Jordan Journey" (1999)
"Just A Few Savages," an upcoming movie from Impact Films.
Series Creator:
"Doc" and "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye" for PAX
DAVE:
Created and produced:
ABC's "Jack's Place" starring Hal Linden and John Dye (1991-1992)
NBC series "Against the Grain" (1992-1993) starring Ben
Affleck
CBS's "The Client" with JoBeth Williams (1995-1996).
Co-created and executive produced:
"High Incident" with Steven Spielberg for ABC/DreamWorks
(1995-1997)
Feature Films:
"Chameleon," starring Anthony LaPaglia and Kevin Pollak (1995),
The 1996 Disney release "The Blue Wall"
"The Jordan Journey" (1999), which he co-wrote, along with
his brother Gary R. Johnson.
"Just A Few Savages," an upcoming movie from Impact Films.
Series Creator:
"Doc" and "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye" for PAX
SMALL SCREEN NEWS
What's Up...With 'Doc'?
By Laura J. Bagby
CBN.com Producer
CBN.com – The
award-winning PAX TV hit show Doc is, as Gary R. Johnson fondly
quips, 'headed for the barn,' a friendly way of saying that this fall
marks the final season for the series. A total of nine episodes are slated
to run.
And Gary, who, along with brother Dave Alan, is the creative genius behind
this show and another PAX specialty, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, is
ready for the break.
Between Doc and Sue Thomas, the Johnson duo has been responsible
for creating 90 episodes in the space of two years, not an easy undertaking
considering the small writing crew with which they have been working. And
now as Doc draws to a close, Gary told me half-jokingly recently
in a phone interview, the brothers are looking forward to 'cutting back to
full time.'
In some ways, the timing couldn't be better.
 The
show is ending while it is still popular with audiences, a real plus for the
extended life of the show. As Gary explains, "The ratings stayed up there,
so we are not limping." Plus, because the Johnson brothers had advance
knowledge of the series end, Gary says, "We were able to set it up and
end it the way we wanted to."
Speaking of endings, what can audiences expect in this last season? More
importantly for avid Doc viewers, will Dr. Clint Cassidy and Nurse
Nancy Nichol finally get together?
Not wanting to give anything away, Johnson simply stated, "You will
just have to wait and see. I will say, though, that all of those questions
will be answered. I won't say how they will be answered."
Fair enough.
But Gary did tell me that the real Sue Thomas, upon whose life the series
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye is based, will appear on an episode of Doc.
She will play a deaf woman who is rescued from a fire when her hearing ear
dog hears the fire alarm and manages to call 911.
Incidentally, in September, the real Sue Thomas, the Johnson brothers, Deanne
Bray (who plays the lead in Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye), and several other
actors who play FBI agents on Sue met up in Columbus, Ohio, for Thomas'
yearly benefit golf tournament, which helps raise money for dogs for the deaf.
Hearing about friendly get-togethers like this had me wondering just how
well the actors and crew of Doc and Sue Thomas get along
on and off camera.
From reading the positive cast comments on the official Web sites for both
shows, I wasn't surprised to hear Gary express what I had been hoping,"
The characters are great characters, and they do get a long really well in
real life in both show." In fact, Sue Thomas and Deanne Bray are, as
Gary says, "like soul sisters now. They get along really well."
And so they should. After all, both leads in both series are
people of faith.
"The characters are Christians, and the actors who play them are Christians,"
says Gary.
 So
believers out there can rest assured that because of this, these
shows have a different standard to live up to.
But just because the shows are about the lives of God-honoring people, that
doesn't mean the Johnson brothers intend to simply target Christendom.
"We don’t want to just preach to the choir. We want to bring new
people into the tent," says Johnson. "That is more what we want
to do is to try to bring more people to the Lord."
What better way to do that than to get wide coverage from the liberal media?
"If you stop and think about it, what could be a better episode of Oprah
than the real Sue Thomas and what she has accomplished in her life as a deaf
woman and Deanne Bray, who plays her in the TV series? There would not be
a dry eye in the place," says Johnson.
But Oprah hasn't been calling. Neither have a lot of other secular media
outlets. In fact, Gary notes, "We have a really hard time with most of
the secular press giving us much publicity."
Which makes support from the Christian community all the more
important.
The best way to show support is to write to advertisers on the show, to
write to the networks, and to write even to your local TV critic and thank
them for upholding these shows with good values.
Sometimes Christians are prone to harp on the negatives, but Gary says this
is the wrong way to get attention.
"It is more important to support the shows that you like that have your
values than it is to boycott the shows that push the envelope too far,"
he says, citing how initial complaints against NYPD Blue did nothing
to yank the long-running show off the air and likely did more in the way of
labeling disgruntled citizens as 'extremists.'
For those who can't get enough of Doc, the first season of the show
(11 episodes) is out on DVD and video. Gary hopes that PAX will eventually
decide to offer the rest of Doc for purchase.
What is on the horizon for the Johnson duo? Will they join PAX and become
another voice in the reality show market? Possibly, says Gary, with this caveat:
enough leeway to express their opinions on politics and religion.
I guess we will have to stay tuned. In the meantime, Gary is proud of the
work he has been able to accomplish thus far.
"There is a big audience for what we do, and we know that we do it well,"
he says.
Comments? E-mail
me.
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