| This message was the first communication we recieved from Mr. Gil Grant, or, as we like to call him, GOD ALMIGHTY OF THE COVINGTON FANDOM! From: ************ Date: Tue Dec 2, 2003 12:55 am Subject: Beyond surprised I happened to stumble upon this site quite by accident tonight, and was amazed that there was still interest in a show I created more than 10 years ago. It was a great adventure for me, one that I will alway cherish. I have done several shows since (currently NAVY Ncis for CBS), but Covington is still my favorite. You guys are amazing. All the best. Gil Grant Of course, we were all pretty surprised...and said some really bizarre things. (Names have been removed to protect the gobsmacked.) "HA! Not as amazing as you!!! We're honored just by your presence here! (For anyone wondering, yes this is really him!)" "...there are many of us here who think it was rather unfortunate that you failed to realize that the sexiest, most appealing male on Covington Cross was Armus..." "WE are amazing? Of course we are lol!" "Oh almighty Covington Cross god, how I worship you." "When the show first aired, TV Guide said it would need to find something like an unusual and deeply committed fan base -- well, that would be us." But no one is interested in how we stood around with our mouths hanging open, drool puddling on our keyboard. We deluged poor Mr. Grant with questions, and, Covington Cross Superdude that he is, he provided answers. In the interest of being concise, and not sifting through the flood of emails from this time, you won't find the whole emails below. Just the standard Q & A format, with questions pretty darn close to what he was flooded with, and answers quoted straight from Mr. Grant's responses. Covington Fandom:Pretty please, with cherries on top, won't you answer some of our burning questions? Gil Grant:The only hesitation in answering your questions is that it may put an end to some spirited discussion. CF:We've never shut up before, so we don't forsee it happening in the near future. Burning Question #1: So, who's older, Richard or William? GG:In the pilot episode, Richard was oldest, followed by William, then Eleanor, Cedric being the youngest. In the beginning dinner scene there is much made about being the first son -- with the clear implication that they are speaking about Richard. CF:So, what happened to William, anyway? GG:When ABC tested the pilot the 'suits' deemed that the audience had trouble distinguishing Richard from William...because they were both tall and thin. They insisted that I recast one of them for the series. I wasn't happy about it, but had no choice. They let me decide who would stay and who would go. I thought that I could mine more material with the Richard character, so I sent poor Ben Porter off to the crusades and brought home the neverbeforementioned "Armus" - who had been away fighting for eight years. Because I had orginally pitched the series as "Bonanza in the Middle Ages", and because of the testing, I embraced the Bonanza paradigm completely and made Armus our "Hoss" -- at least physically. I was going to make damn sure nobody would confused these two brothers. CF:Ahhhh...Armus. Talk about Armus some more. GG:Armus. This is the most interesting and 'out of left field' revelation since I joined this group. Really don't know at lot about Tim. He did not have many acting credits to his name. Mostly commercial work. I hired him more on instinct and girth and Network notes than anything else. And yes, I am surprised by the level of your interest in him. (How's that for being politic?!) CF:Another hotly debated topic is the show's time period. The promos touted a 14th century show with 20th century attitude, but no specific year is ever mentioned. GG:As I recall (it HAS been eleven years ago), the show was set in around 1350 in the reign of Edward III. CF:What inspired you to create the show? Fifty words or less? GG:The idea for the series was born out of pragmatism more than inspiration (sorry to disapoint you). That said, I BECAME inspired after I began to develop the project. At the time, Thames Television was desperate to do a co-production with its new U.S. company, Reeves Television. I had just arrived, under contract to develop new series for them. Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood" had just come out and was a big hit. I thought that some kind of medieval show would be a good idea. But what? Robin Hood had been done to death. For the longest time, nothing came to me. One day (in the shower, no less) the image of a Castle as a Home (not a fortress) came to me. And then the BIG BREAKTHROUGH -- I pictured the castle as a kind of medieval Ponderosa. Same family dynamics, different characters, different time. I pitched it as such and ABC bought the idea in the room. CF:Do you keep in touch with any of the Covington Cast or Crew? GG:I stay in touch with Jon Firth and James Faulkner, and see them when I'm in London. They have both stayed at my home in Los Angeles over the years. Jon, particularly, has worked a lot since CC. James plays the letch uncle in Bridget Jones Diary. I have used them both over the years in subsequent shows, albeit in smaller guest roles (e.g. "Relic Hunger", with Tia Carrerre). As I'm sure you know, Glenn Quinn sadly died of an overdose. Firth and he were buddies. Ian Toynton, who directed the last episode, also directed the last episode of another short lived ABC series I did called "McKenna". He said at the time that he would never leave London for L.A.; he was not going to become seduced by the money and the weather. Today he is living on a yacht in Marina del Rey and was nominated for an Emmy for "24" this year. CF:One last question, how would you describe Covington fans? GG:You are a marvelous and wonderfuly strange bunch (a compliment). |