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There's a ghost in the machinery in NBC's 'Saving Hope' By Brian Gorman © Zap2it usually deal with the hos- pital staff, the patients and their friends, enemies and relatives. The one group that has Medical procedurals always been left out is the dead and dying — until now. In "Saving Hope," de- buting Thursday, June 7, on NBC, one of the main characters is a doctor in a coma. Originally produced for CTV, the series is the latest Canadian network show to be sold to a U.S. broadcaster. Dr. Charlie Harris is Canada, Shanks has carved out a place for himself as a regular in the subgenre of science-fiction series that are made in his hometown, such as "Star- gate Atlantis," "Stargate SG-1" and "Smallville" (in which he was Hawkman/ Carter Hall). Now he's playing a A native of Vancouver, forced to question those things about herself." Like Shanks, the Al- berta-born and raised Durance is a veteran of Vancouver-produced sci-fi shows and is best known for playing comic book icon Lois Lane in "Small- ville. Unlike her character in doctor in a medical pro- cedural — with one catch. His character fell victim to blunt-force trauma after a car accident on his wed- ding day. So he hangs around the doomed to lurk around the hospital where he used to work, talking to other coma patients and the recently dead. The situation is almost as creepy and lonely for the actor playing the role as it is for the character, says Michael Shanks, who plays Harris, the alpha- dog chief of surgery at the fictional Toronto Hope-Zion hospital. "You do feel like you're Durance had to learn to act like a real surgeon. So she shadowed one for a while and had to deal with some fairly graphic surgical re-enactments. "I went to some surger- "Saving Hope," Durance says she's inclined toward things spiritual. "I grew up evangelical hospital in a tuxedo, oc- casionally talking to other disembodied spirits. Mostly, though, he delivers mono- logues on his situation, like a morose comic playing for an audience who can't hear him. The one person he wants to reach, though, is his fiancee, fellow surgeon Alex Reid (Erica Durance), who struggles, with the help of new star surgeon Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), to save Charlie's life. As Durance says, the off in your own little world," he says. "You start to find yourself as an actor feeling the same kinds of things the character feels: isola- tion and frustration and things like that. "You watch all the con- sultation and surgery, and you start to think, 'I want to do that, too.' It's a very strange thing." situation drives the two doctors to reconsider their attitudes toward science and spirituality. "With my character, with a very fundamentalist upbringing," she says. "As I get older, I don't know that I buy into the idea of orga- nized religion, but I'm al- ways seeking, and believe in — whatever you want to call it, God or Allah — that there's something making the universe happen." "Saving Hope" grew ies and saw some of the real deal there," she says. "I seem to be fine with it. I haven't found myself feeling nauseous, but I do have colleagues who see the fake blood and — I'm kind of the weirdo at the other end, where they're like, 'You're enjoying your- self a little too much.' "I don't know where that came from. My sister likes to say it's because we grew up on a farm." As for Charlie, "his out of an idea one of the co-creators had when she was waiting at a hospital emergency room and be- gan to wonder about what- ever spiritual presences might be hanging around a place where people live or die on a momentary basis. What grew out of that is something of a cross between "ER" and "Life on Mars." "It's a balancing act be- its science first, Western medicine" she says. "I'm choosing to believe in only what I can see, what I can touch. "But when her fiance goes into this coma, she's tween delivering a medical procedural and an explora- tion of what it means to be alive," says show runner Aaron Martin. "That's what we're doing every week." Unlike Shanks, who just has to hang around and critique the medical work, whole life has been about fixing the body, and now, on the spiritual plane, he has to worry about fixing the mind and fixing the spirit," Martin says. As Shanks says, this Catch the Craze & Save! Save on Rentals • Breakfast Get Free Glass Cleaner Save on a Quilt means Charlie learns not only to heal himself but falls into a role of counsel- or to the life-challenged. "I think what's unique about our show is that we don't just explore the aspects of medicine," he says. "We explore the realm of spirituality, too. "What's interesting for Find these great savings plus more on Coupon Craze! In The Goshen News every Monday, Online everyday! Nobody covers your hometown better me is that I get to play a character who is a devout atheist. And now he's in this between-ground. "And he has to start 114 S. Main St., Goshen 574-533-2151 www.goshennews.com questioning everything he's ever believed in — in- cluding his own sanity." Employment Ad Today! Place Your Over 3,500 resumes are posted on monster.com in The Goshen News readership areas. 574-533-2151 ext. 398 goshennews.com / Express Oil Change Plus a FREE Inspection just $29 Prices vary by model. Plus tax & fees. Coupon must be presented at write up and cannot be 574.522.4475 www.GurleyLeepHonda.com Erica Durance stars in "Saving Hope," premiering Thursday on NBC. 2 The Goshen News • Viewer's Choice • June 2, 2012-June 8, 2012 .95 IN FIND A VARIETY OF GREAT RECIPES PLUS GROCERY STORE ADVERTISEMENTS EVERY MONDAY

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