STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 37: "MADAM SECRETARY"

My last appearance on Madam Secretary, as you don't remember, was a fluke. The real actor who was supposed to have played the NATO diplomat's assistant never showed up, forcing the production to throw me on set in his place. (You can refresh your memory here.) 

It was one of those exceedingly rare moments that puts an extra front and semi-center in a scene -- and guarantees they don't work again on the show for the rest of the season.

So it was no surprise almost a year passed before the next time I worked on the series, this time in its sixth and final season. Learning that we would be working in Ossining, NY, I was hoping we'd be shooting at Sing-Sing Prison because, well, have you been to Sing-Sing?

No such luck. We were taken to a school (closed, since it was August), where its gym would double as a the locale of a Q&A session in Vermont with Tea Leonie's title character (now running for president). I, on the other hand, was going from diplomatic aide to small-town voter -- a comedown, perhaps, but the pay was the same.

Something like giving a lollipop to a petulant child.

Our holding areas were the empty classrooms -- and, lucky me, I wound up in the kindergarten area. If you ever want to feel small, both literally and figuratively, you couldn't do better than to sit in a chair made for a five year-old. But perhaps to placate us, we were given props to familiarize ourselves with; in my case, a VOTE MCCORD placard. As you can see, it worked like a charm.


When we were brought to the gym later on, the A.D. placed us in the kind of metal folding chairs you'd see in meetings like this. Tea Leonie appeared soon afterwards, complete in campaign shirt and jeans -- the first time I'd ever seen her dressed casually, although her dry sense of humor was the same. There's something about her I've always found classy, and often a lot of fun. 

Sitting in the back row -- the only guy wearing a tie.

As usual, several takes were required. During the final take, some of us were moved to other side of the audience, where we would be noticed but not seen, if that makes any sense. 

I wore a blue blazer, tie and khakis, a combo that has been pretty much my standard background uniform lately. It works for anything other than "upscale businessman/lawyer", "non-descript pedestrian", and "homeless" (which I never get because I don't have the right clothes. Yes, some people shop for too-large clothes at Goodwill, before apparently beating the crap out of them.)

If I had craned my neck any further, my head
would have fallen off.

The camera seemed closer than how it looked when the episode finally aired, although I was onscreen for a little while. I became more prominent as the camera tracked nearer (and I stretched my neck to be that much easier to see).

Not one of my more stellar appearances -- you never saw me wave that VOTE MCCORD placard -- but one to remind me that for every close-up, there are a thousand "where the hell am I?" scenes. You know, just to keep my ego in place. As if sitting in a kindergarten chair wasn't enough.

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