May 27, 1998
But wait, there's more. Did I mention that it was exciting to have a network interested in you? Well, now try two networks. Joel made the calls around town once ABC expressed an interest in signing me to an exclusive deal. The plan was to "beat the bushes" a bit and see what else might be out there for me. The call to Jeff Meshel at NBC produced some results. Mostly thanks to my appearances in Frasier and Encore!, I had generated a little interest among the brass at NBC. Perhaps most importantly, however, another network was interested. That alone makes the big boys (and girls) sit up and take notice. And so today, 24 hours after meeting with ABC, I sat down with NBC to talk.
I had been there before. A couple of months ago, I met with just Jeff Meshel, VP of Casting at NBC. That was after the success of the Frasier episode. There had been no official renewed interest following the Encore! pilot, but now that ABC had shown their cards and desire to be exclusive executors of my career, NBC wanted to jump into the fray. I sat down with NBC's cadre of casting, Lori Openden, Senior VP of Talent & Casting, Sonia Nikore, Director of Casting, and Jeff Meshel. Also among us was the mysterious Ted Frank, presumably from Development, but that has yet to be confirmed.
The tone of the meeting was similar to that at ABC. We talked mostly about Frasier and Encore! and how happy they were with my contributions. We also went over some of my other credits, many of which were on NBC. And we did touch on the fact that ABC had already expressed interest. NBC's main goal, as it seemed from the conversation, was more to block that deal than to offer anything comparable. They were not ready to make a counter-offer, but they made it clear that they would prefer I not sign the deal in case the Encore! producers had further plans for me. They also felt it was in my best interests to be free to work on any other NBC show in the future since they are the number one network and all. Surprise, surprise.
When all was said and one, one thing was certain. It still felt great to have really important people interested in what I had to offer. While it may be extremely comforting and reassuring to have my friends say nice things about me after seeing me in an equity-waiver play in the Valley, and while I wouldn't trade in their support for anything, it's also very reassuring to have veritable strangers with long job titles at major networks let you know what a fantastic job you did for them and how they would be thrilled if you would be available to do it again in the future.
So maybe NBC is not going to come up with an offer, but that's fine with us. ABC has been the more supportive network and more importantly expressed interest without waiting for another network to get involved. If the ABC deal goes through, I know I will be quite pleased, as will my agents (not to mention my family, my friends, my creditors...). So a big week comes to a close, certainly the biggest of my career so far. No job offers, no money in the bank, but a wealth of possibilities, and an invigorated spirit. This could be a pretty cool job after all.