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November 16 - 22, 2015 Page 3 ACROSS 1. Oliver Platt drama series (2) 9. __ __ double take; look twice 10. Controversial rights org. 11. Brief life sketch 13. Furry swimmer 15. Neckerchief 17. Actress on "Law & Order: SVU" 18. Initials for football's Elway 20. "Whose Line Is __ Anyway?" 21. "The New Adventures of __ Christine" 23. "__ Wednesday"; 1973 Liz Taylor movie 24. Kaiser or Aetna, for short 25. 90 degrees from WNW 26. "__ Ordinary Family" 29. Tallulah's initials 30. Popular game show host (2) 34. "__ __ Own" (1994-95) 36. Actress Gillette 38. Prefix for natal or classi- cal 39. West, for one 42. Tit for __ 43. Actor Matthew __ __ DOWN 1. Rollaway bed 2. "Hell __ no fury like a woman scorned" 3. Singer Vikki 4. Carney's initials 5. Singer Lightfoot's initials 6. Remove from power 7. Auction lover's delight 8. Hitchcock or Scorsese: abbr. 9. Actor on "Blood and Oil" (2) 12. "Fresh __ __ __" 14. "Please Don't __ the Daisies" 16. Felix or Garfield 19. "Sesame Street" fellow 20. "__ She Great"; 2000 Bette Midler movie 22. "__ No Harm"; 2013 Steven Pasquale series 23. "The Hobbit: __ Unexpected Journey"; 2012 film 27. Fraternity letter 28. Role on "Roseanne" 30. "__ Little Rich Girl"; Shirley Temple movie 31. Cafeteria patron's item 32. Doorway's side post 33. Toy with a tail 35. Positive's opposite: abbr. 37. Street paver's goop 40. Glover's initials 41. Gold, to a scientist Solution on page 2. By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it The characters and ac- tors of "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD" have spent a lot of time on each other's shows, and now, there's another series for them to share. Executive producer Dick Wolf scores a Windy City triple play as "Chica- go Med" makes its NBC debut Tuesday, Nov. 17. Some of its players already have turned up on the other dramas — a "Chicago Fire" episode last season served as the new show's backdoor pilot — but due to casting changes and expanded plans, others also will be introduced as the filmed-on-location, hospi- tal-themed spinoff officially gets going. As administrators, Wolf-series veterans S. Epatha Merkerson (alias Lt. Anita Van Bu- ren through most of the run of "Law & Order") and Oliver Platt reprise their roles, as does Yaya DaCosta ("Whitney") as a nurse who's a longtime friend of "Chicago Fire's" Casey Severide (Taylor Kinney). Direct lineage to another established char- acter is supplied by Nick Gehlfuss ("Shameless") as the doctor brother of "Chicago PD" detective Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer). Colin Donnell ("The Affair"), Torrey De- Vitto ("The Vampire Dia- ries"), Brian Tee ("Jurassic World") and Rachel DiPillo also play medics deal- ing with the fast-paced, high-pressure work envi- ronment. "The aim here is ev- ery week, if you watch the show, you will get at least one piece of med- ical information that you probably don't know," Wolf says. "And that can be something that is in the consciousness of the country, in the zeitgeist. The Ebola story was obvi- ous because it was a mat- ter of concern, but there are other medical stories in terms of the right to life, and how everything from organs is transmitted and what that leads to, to sex education for kids in school. Everything that touches on our medical or our physical lives is fair game for us." While DaCosta's char- acter largely has been seen up to now in relation to "Fire's" Severide, the actress maintains her April Sexton is established quickly as someone who's her own person and "usu- ally in charge. She's the nurse that the doctors turn to when something needs to get done. She's the liai- son between all the other nurses and the doctors, as well as the patients when the doctors are too busy to speak to the patients in a calm, compassionate way and explain things. So she's the person that kind of keeps the hospital running, generally." That may come as a surprise to Chicago Med operations chief Sharon Goodwin, Merkerson's new character. "It was a no-brainer for me," the Emmy-winning actress reflects of signing up for another tour of duty with Wolf. "I love working with Dick. I love the produc- tions that we've done together. I love the people that he surrounds himself with." Stage and screen vet- eran Platt ("Bulworth," "The West Wing," "The Big C") also returns to Wolf's company, having done the NBC journalism drama "Deadline" with him in 2000-01. "I'm incredibly excited about shooting in Chicago and getting to know Chicago better," the New York-based talent says, "but the com- munity that I'm actually excited about joining is the community of these three shows. What is really remarkable — and I speak for myself, and I think I speak for the rest of the cast — is the sense of community that exists on 'Chicago Fire' and on 'Chicago PD.' They made us feel so welcome. "They clearly enjoy each other so much, and I think it's palpable on the screen," Platt adds. "And in a larger sense, the idea of what Dick is doing is actually pretty exciting. I mean, franchises have spun off shows before ... but never into a sort of an active matrix, if you will, of these shows that are being aired. And that's the community that I'm excit- ed about." "Chicago Med" premieres Tuesday on NBC. CoverStory 'Chicago Med' officially opens its doors DON'T STAY DON'T STAY … IN THE DARK. CALL 574-533-2151 OR 800-487-2151 ext. 393 TODAY ! 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