'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' tries re-creating romantic comedies of the '30s, '40s.

by Bob Thomas
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES--How do you shoot a television series that's supposed to take
place all over the United States and elsewhere in the world?

If you know the diversity of the area, it can be filmed almost entirely
within the environs of Los Angeles County.  That's how it's being done in the
new CBS hourlong show, *Mr. & Mrs. Smith.*

It's called a romantic comedy, and Scott Bakula and Maria Bello star as
former enemies who "unite by a twist of fate to investigate the shady realm
of high-stakes intelligence, corporate espionage and their own smoldering
passions"--the network's description.

If *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* bears any resemblance to the *Thin Man* movies, it's
intended.

"That's what we're hoping for," Bakula says.  "I love the Nick and Nora
(William Powell and Myrna Loy) connection.  Also Tracy and Hepburn, those
classic romantic comedy couples you loved to watch fight and loved to watch
make up."

The show airs on CBS Fridays at 9 p.m., a time slot which Bakula describes as
"not bad, not great.  I've been on Fridays before, and they're tough."

But filming everything locally makes the rest of his life easier.

"We're shooting entirely on location," Bakula says.  "And nobody does that
anymore; everybody goes out of town.  That left us with L.A. problems.  We're
making it work, but it's not easy."

*Mr. & Mrs. Smith* has a base in downtown L.A. at a place called The Factory.

"We did some shooting of the pilot in Seattle," says one of the show's
creators, Kerry Lenhart.  "The rest of the time we have shot in L.A.  So far
we have found locations (local stand-ins) for Miami, the Carribean, Rome, St.
Louis, New York, Houston, and Sonma (Calif.).  Are they credible?  I think
so."

Part of Bakula's motivation for doing the series is that he can lead a fairly
normal home life--on the weekends at least.  The schedule entails a long day
of shooting, and he is on-camera much of the time.  In the first few months
of shooting, he has enjoyed one day off.

"During all of *Quantum Leap,* I had five days off," he recalls.  "This
series is not as heavy on-camera as *Quantum,* but not far from it.  When I
do have breaks, I'm usually looking at dailies or future scripts or casting.
 So it's not like it's free time."

The latter duties are part of the responsibilities he shares with Kerry
Lenhart and John J. Sakmar as co-executive producers, who are also the show's
creators and head writers.

Born in St. Louis, Bakula spent 10 years on the musical stage in New York and
on the road.  He was appearing in a show called *Nite Club Confidential* in
L.A. when the offers started coming.  He appeared in the pilot of *Designing
Women* and made his film debut in Carl Reiner's *Sibling Rivalry.*  *Quantum
Leap* established his stardom.

Bakula also serves CBS as the globe-trotting lover and not-quite-husband of
Candice Bergen in *Murphy Brown.*

Will his heavy load on *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* preclude any resumption of the
Murphy Brown romance?

"I don't know what their plans are over there," he replies.  "Certainly if
there were some way I could work it out, I would be happy to return."

He adds warily, "I don't know how long I'll be with this show (*Mr. & Mrs.
Smith*).  That's one thing you can't predict."

-- End --

thanks to Sara in Rochester