For Markus Flanagan, who joined the cast of the NBC sitcom "Nurses" this season, weekly television is proving to be a bit of an adjustment.
Not that he isn't grateful for the job. And not that he isn't enjoying himself. But it's just a bit different for an actor whose experience lies mostly in live theater and movies."Here, you work every day on the same words. You just keep rehearsing and rehearsing," Flanagan said. "It's all about the jokes.
"The first day you sort of get the laughs. The 10th time you do it you're not getting any laughs. So you think, boy, I'm really not a funny guy."
And, after a while, he said it's difficult to feel funny while running the same lines time after time.
"It's a long week. It's a real long week. We're here 12 hours a day still having to be funny all the time," Flanagan said.
"But it's not like I'm complaining. It is pretty easy. We are in a studio and there's no tension. It's just a lot of hours."
"I do like going to work every day, though. After being unemployed for so long, in this economy it's just good to have a job."
Spending a week in rehearsals without getting any feedback came as a bit of a change for Flanagan, who has worked largely in live theater.
"On the stage, it's like - boom! - you do it and it's funny and that's that. But here you're rehearsing for nobody. You're working on your own timing and speed, but you don't really know how it's going to work until you're taping."
And then comes the day of the taping, when the cast runs through the show twice before two different studio audiences. And "Nurses" marks the first time Flanagan has worked in a three-camera, live-audience TV format.
"I've never really played to the cameras. In movies, you try not to pay attention to the camera. It's different doing a show like this," he said.
"I'm actually the worst technically here. I'm adjusting to it. It's still new to me."
On "Nurses," Flanagan plays Luke, a paramedic who's ordered to switch to hospital nursing because his previous job put him too close to the edge - physically and psychologically.
The addition of the character was part of an overall revamping of the show, which dropped a couple of characters and added three to begin its second season.
Flanagan auditioned for a one-time guest shot on the series last season - a part that eventually went to Adam Arkin. But the producers kept him in mind and called him about the part of Luke.
"I really had never watched the show when this part came along. But they said, `It's OK. That's good because we're changing it this season. It's better that you didn't watch it."
And joining an established show turned out to be no problem.
"They (the cast and crew) were extremely warm and very gracious in the way they accepted me," Flanagan said. "It was just sort of, I arrived and we were working together. They treated me like, if you're hired, you know what you're doing."
He is still trying to work out exactly who his character is and what he's about.
"It's still being sort of kicked around," he said. "I don't think it's nailed down as to what the writers want.
"But I like what they've done so far. I like the character a lot. He's a thrill-seeker, and I really enjoy that kind of stuff.
"They are trying to take some of the edge off him - to smooth him out and ingratiate him to the audience. It's the nature of a TV comedy to have likable characters.
"But, hey, I'm learning a lot on this job. It's making me a lot more visible as an actor. And the money is great."
`MIRACLE' RATINGS: The numbers for last week's premiere of the locally produced "Miracles and Other Wonders" weren't exactly miraculous, but they were pretty darn good - comparatively.
The show finished No. 61 for the week with an 8.9 rating and a 16 share. But that's only part of the story.
It finished second in its time slot to Fox's "COPS," but did beat both NBC's lineup of "Here & Now" and "The Powers That Be" and ABC's coverage of a college football game. But that's only part of the story.
The shares for "Miracles" were the highest non-World Series numbers CBS has had in that time slot since July 16.
Now, CBS has already scheduled "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" to take over the time slot in January. But another good showing this week could mean "Miracles" will also find a spot on the CBS schedule.
A decision from the network is expected next week.