This is from the "Personal Quotes" section of the "David Morse" page:
(On Hack) I was disappointed in some ways that the show didn't last longer. I was disappointed for Philadelphia, because we shot the whole thing there, and that had never happened. There were a lot of people in Philadelphia proud and excited to have that show in their city. Literally in every episode, we were in different neighborhoods all over the city, and this is a city that is made up of very distinct neighborhoods. I'm very fond of the people in those neighborhoods and of the city. I truly am. But I did not sleep for two years doing that show, because I didn't feel like we ever got the show I imagined when I agreed to do it, and I never felt satisfied with what we were doing. I think it's a very difficult process, doing a network television series. I think there was a lot that was good about it. Andre Braugher, I thought was tremendous, and I thought we told some pretty good stories, but I never felt like we ever reached the level where I could say, "Okay, now this is the show, and this is the world that I think we should be talking about and representing." You always have to say, "I've been hired to do a job." When you walk on the set, whatever it is, you commit yourself to the job. You're committing yourself to doing the best you can do with it, no matter what you feel about it, and that never changes. The producers and writers on Hack were all in Los Angeles and never in Philadelphia, so everything was back and forth through different time zones, but they all worked hard to make a good show. I think the problem is that David Koepp, who created it, is really a movie guy, he had this fun idea. But David never intended to stay with the show, and that left a big void of who was the creative center. And as soon as there's that void, everybody wants to fill it with their own ideas. Especially the network. So we had all agreed during the pilot that the show would be one sort of thing, but then the reality of having to sell it to advertisers led to a lot of pressure to go with a much safer product. Everybody tried to jump into that void, and we never had a really strong central voice there. I think that was the big problem.
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hackraytex
9 years ago
That is exactly what caused it to run out of gas. George Dzunza left and that ended the element where David Morse was struggling within himself for a spiritual answer for his situation. A lot of people look for spiritual answers in their situations and I appreciated this show visiting that element. When Dzunza left, they did not replace his character so that ended a very important element with the show.
I can't tell how many series have been terminally damaged when the suits start tinkering with it after it already works. Also, when a key person left, the interaction dynamics of the show are often damaged beyond repair. Unless a key person leaves, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
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