Today, we look at John Wells and Jeff Kober having a China Beach reunion 35 years later on The Pitt.
This is I’ve Been Here Before, a feature that deals with a term that I coined called “nepotistic continuity,” which refers to the way that creators sometimes bring back actors they’ve worked with in the past or minor characters that they themselves created in the past as characters in their later work (we’re talking after a break of at least two years or so) or revisit their earlier work years later. This is not an insult, it’s just interesting to note it when it occurs.
Longtime ER producer John Wells is having a major success with his quasi-ER spinoff series, The Pitt. In the most recent episode, Dr. Robby’s mechanic friend, Duke, comes by to get a full work up at Robby’s insistence.
Duke is played by veteran actor, Jeff Kober.
John Wells has been the showrunner on a number of TV shows, but the very FIRST show that he ever ran as a showrunner was also the first show that he wrote for period, the Vietnam War TV drama, China Beach (he started as a writer in the first season, and was running the show by the end), and one of the cast members was Jeff Kober, who played “Dodger,” one of the few character on the show that was actively going on military missions during the series (he later went back home to raise his half-Vietnamese son back in Montana)…
Wells is well-known for his loyalty to his actors and producers. He’ll typically bring people from his past shows to his current shows (ER, for instance, had a number of China Beach cast members appear on it over the years, not even counting the notable China Beach guest stars who had ER roles, like Christine Elise, whose character was a major part of China Beach‘s final season, and then played a medical student in ER Season 2).
If Wells wasn’t involved in this show, I’d assume it was just a coincidence, but since Wells DID co-create The Pitt, I’m sure it’s no coincidence (I’m talking even MINOR characters would eventually show up on Wells’ other shows). Wells has even noted how much he loves the ideas of actor ensembles, “I’m interested in working with groups of actors to tell complicated stories about what’s happening to people, and that’s because I came out of the theatre where I worked in ensembles, and I really loved that.”
If anyone else has a suggestion for a future I’ve Been Here Before, drop me a line at brian@poprefs.com!
