Waterfront
Episode 1.1 "Street Fight"
Series canceled before airing (2006)
Lee Tergesen was in Providence, Rhode Island, in September 2006, filming
a guest role for a new CBS series called "Waterfront."
The series was to star Joe Pantoliano as Jimmy
Centrella, the "colorful" mayor of Providence.
However, "Waterfront" is likely another Lee appearance (like "Southern
Comfort") that may never air on TV.
Lee's role
appears to have been as a character named Henry, described in the
script as an "overgrown blue-blood bad boy turned recovering alcoholic." Henry has a history -- and a child -- with Heather, the
mayor's wife (played by Mary Stuart Masterson).
"Waterfront" was intended to be a mid-season replacement
in early 2007, and CBS had ordered 13 episodes.
However, with the pilot and four episodes already completed, CBS
decided to shelve the series.
Creative differences, high production costs and
a lack of available time slots were cited as reasons behind the network's
decision, according to news reports Oct. 19, 2006.
During the Television Critics Association's winter press tour in January 2007,
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler addressed the network's cancellation of midseason drama Waterfront. "I looked at scripts. We looked at the dailies. We were making a determination about what time periods we had available to us the second half of the season, and we weren't happy," she said. "I wasn't happy creatively with the direction the show was going in. We had an opportunity to look at a full episode before we made that decision. It's not easy, and it's really one of the more unpleasant things we get to do, but you had to do it."
Shortly after the decision to stop production, Pantoliano showed the first two episodes at a special screening Oct.
23, 2006, at a cafe in downtown Providence. The
Providence Journal reviewed the episodes, describing Pantoliano’s Mayor Jimmy Centrella as "a fast-talking, fast-thinking, man-of-the-people leader with a roguish streak. ...
The mayor is still meant to be the good guy, even if he bends the rules a bit."
The review further notes that "Centrella is fairly brutal in his treatment of his stepdaughter’s shiftless father, who is trying to get back into his daughter’s life."
The "stepdaughter’s shiftless father" likely is Lee's character. A draft of the script for
"Waterfront" describes him like this:
Henry's typically a charmer, but under
stress his facade is wearing thin. He's an overgrown blue blood bad
boy turned recovering alcoholic, yet another example of the decline
of the East Coast WASP aristocracy. Heather struggles against her
own vulnerability and her history with him.
In the first scene from the script, he is
meeting with Heather (Mary Stuart Masterson) -- the mayor's wife and
Henry's ex. She is the mother of Annabelle, who is the subject of
their conflict. Henry wants back into Annabelle's life -- after
about a 16-year absence.
Heather runs down the litany of Henry's sins:
HEATHER: The night I gave birth to her, you
disappeared for three months. I couldn't buy a thermometer when she
was sick because you raided my bank account. When she was two, I
found..."
HENRY: I know the list, okay. How many times do you want me to plead
guilty.
HEATHER: It's been a lot better since you've been gone.
Then Henry plays his trump card.
HENRY: My mom's sick... End-stage ovarian
cancer. ... She wants to see Annabelle. That's why I'm here.
HEATHER: Classic Henry ... Trotting out an old lady's dying wish.
Nevertheless, as the two part, Heather's resolve
is crumbling. But Mayor Jimmy takes things in
hand.
The next scene is at the hotel where Henry had
been staying. The receptionist, a young Asian woman, tells Henry,
"We have no record of you staying at this hotel." The
hotel manager intervenes, and the script includes a classic snarky
Lee line:
HOTEL MANAGER: Is there a problem, sir?
HENRY: Yes. Geisha girl lost my room.
After a few more minutes, it dawns on Henry
that Jimmy is behind the sudden "loss" of his hotel room
and belongings.
The next scene is at City Hall. Annabelle is
there with Jimmy, her stepfather. She spots Henry, her dad.
Seems glad to see him, but the mayor shoos her away and drags Henry
to his office.
There, the scene gets ugly. Henry was just
there to get his stuff, but Jimmy wants to run him out of town. A
couple of henchmen enter the office, and Henry realizes they aim to
rough him up.
JIMMY: We had a deal, Henry.
HENRY: Statute of limitations ran out.
JIMMY: You're not in a position to renegotiate.
HENRY: My mother is dying. The doctor said less than a week. ...
JIMMY: What happened? Mommy Meacham carve you out of the will? She'd
rather leave it all to the Friends of the Philharmonic than to her
deadbeat son? You have nothing to show her that you amounted to
anything, so you got to parade my daughter in front of her death
bed?
HENRY: Hate to break it to you, Jimmy, but no matter how many
ribbons you cut or wiseguys you grease, you'll never be her father.
Right about then, Jimmy grabs a fire poker and
whacks Henry in the leg. He continues to berate him, and goads Henry
into an attack. That's when one of the henchmen steps in, grabs
Henry and slams him face-first into the floor. Turns out the
henchman is a cop, and he cuffs Henry.
Their parting words:
HENRY: You can't steal my entire family.
JIMMY: Your family, your dignity, your self-respect, you left them
out on the curb with the garbage. I didn't take anything that you
didn't hand over on a plate.
Yep, that's brutal.
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