Even 'Friends' must reshoot in the wake of attacks
By Gail Shister

Terrorist-themed dramas aren't the only shows rethinking story lines in light of last week's attacks on New York and Washington.
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Concentrating on drama isn't always easy, either, says Lower Merion's Marshall Herskovitz, exec producer of ABC's acclaimed Sela Ward– Billy Campbell family drama, Once and Again.

Unlike Crane, Herskovitz, who made his bones exploring the emotional dark side in such series as thirtysomething and My So-Called Life, won't have to change any plotlines in Once and Again.

"My approach already encompasses some of the territory this [disaster] came from - the complexity of the human soul, the possibility of evil, the horror that lurks beneath everyday life. I'm mindful of it when I tell the stories I want to tell."

Herskovitz and his creative partner, Ed Zwick, will help produce tomorrow's all-star telethon to benefit victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Ward is among the TV stars set to appear.

The cast of Once and Again got news of the attack Sept. 11 while on location at a high school outside Los Angeles.

Herskovitz recalls: "There was a moment where I was standing with Ed and producer Dan Lerner - three middle-aged Jewish men very familiar with the history of terrorism and Israel.

"We adamantly felt we should keep working, as a matter of principle. That was our own rage and irrationality speaking. It became clear that this event was too huge for anyone to take in. It was wrong to keep going."

The shutdown lasted only one day. At Friends, production wasn't scheduled to have begun until last Monday, anyway, because costar David Schwimmer was stranded at the Toronto Film Festival.

Herskovitz now feels sadness over "what seems to be the intractability of human conflict." As for incorporating any of the recent events into a future story line, it's not likely.

"TV has an inherent tendency to trivialize, so I can never guard against it too strongly. Until I can figure out a way to talk about this story without being disrespectful to the thousands who died, I don't think it's my place."__Philadelphia Inquirer (September 20, 2001)