As the tour round the sets of some of American television's top shows continued, the next stop was at The Prospect Studio where 'Grey's Anatomy' is filmed.
Now in its seventh season, the medical drama remains hugely popular around the globe, and was recently greenlighted for an eighth season. Great news for the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes.
As 'Grey's' was her first show, her expectation levels were understandably low - especially in an industry where it's a minor miracle to get a pilot shot, never mind turning your first show into a major success.
"I didn't think I could probably get this far," she admits. "I wasn't even sure we'd get past four episodes and now we're in the seventh season. It's pretty amazing. You know we've been renewed by the network for next year, season eight, and everybody's coming back on board."
Fans of the show will be wondering what lies in store for the staff at Seattle Grace, but Rhimes is in no hurry to get ahead of herself - she's content to take it just one step at a time.
"I never think more than one season ahead because there's no reason to, really," she feels. "So, right now I'm in the middle of this season and we're really talking about the final and that stuff. I'll think about the next season sometime in May."
Next stop was the ABC building at Disney Studios to meet up with recent Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, the latest movie star to switch to the small screen. He's leading the cast in the 'Criminal Minds' spin-off, 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior'.
In recent years television has overshadowed film in America as the place to be for creative actors, and Whitaker felt that this opportunity was one that couldn't be missed, while adding that TV wasn't new to him.
"I never had my own show, but I did get to do it a couple of times before," he recalls. "I did, was it, six episodes on 'ER' once. It was a good experience. And I did, like, eleven episodes on 'The Shield', which was a great experience developing my character."
"But anyway, I had thought about doing TV and this was the right moment for me, the right time. They spoke to me about the character - Paramount offered me a couple of other characters - but I chose to do this one."
"I was interested in exploring the human mind, the human psyche, and I thought if I was going to be interested for years and years... and this is a very interesting thing and I decided to go for it."
Finally it was off to the set of fun detective show 'Castle', which is based at Raleigh Studios, one of the oldest lots in Hollywood. Built in 1915, it dates back to the silent era.
Having met the show's lead, Nathan Fillion, the day before, this time we had a chance to talk to the strong supporting cast, which includes former 'Falcon Crest' star Susan Sullivan, who plays Castle's mother.
(Full interviews with the casts of Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Castle will appear in future editions of the RTÉ Guide and here on TEN.)
Next up during this tour of Hollywood are two more new shows: a procedural drama called 'Body of Evidence', which stars former 'Desperate Housewives' star Dana Delaney, and 'Happy Endings', starring '24's Elisha Cuthbert and Zachary Knighton ('FlashForward').
John Byrne
