CRIMINAL MINDS: PAGET BREWSTER SAVES THE DAY.

The above picture of Mandy Patinkin as Jason Gideon and Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner on Criminal Minds episode "Ashes and Dust" is copyrighted by Cliff Lipson/CBS and reproduced on this blog with their expressed permission.
Criminal Minds Day One: When I found out that Mandy Patinkin had left for the day I was beyond upset. Paget Brewster was enjoying one of her very few breaks of the day by sitting outside her trailer talking on her cellphone and reading. When she saw that there seemed to be a problem she hung up her phone and asked what the problem was. "A" explained to her that I had really wanted some time with Mandy and he had already left for the day. I explained that he was one of the major reasons I had even made the trip and that I had scripts and photos for him to sign. I also started welling up in tears. By this time I am not sure who was more upset...me or Paget. She just kept saying how upset Mandy was going to be when he found out this happened and how bad she felt. She offered to take everything I had with me and to personally have him sign it all and have it immmediately sent to me. I told her how much I appreciated that but that there were some things I had waited years to say to him. I told her that I wanted him to know how much, as a Jewish mother, I appreciated all his acts of tzedukah and how he was a role model within the Jewish community for his untiring efforts to support Israel, and how much I have always admired his work. After another round of "Mandy is going to be so upset about this" she came up with the most perfect solution of all. She asked what time my flight was the next day and then pulled out her call schedule and it was worked out that I would return to the set the next day to spend another five hours on the set. She also said she would make it her personal business to make sure he knew what the situation was and that one way or another I was going to get my time with Mandy. "A" agreed to this plan which was a major inconvience to her schedule since she had not planned on being on the set another day with me. She never said it but I knew that she was going to have to shuffle her whole next day around. She agreed with the same style and grace that I had come to rely on since our very first email months earlier. In blunt terms: "A" and Paget Brewster are classy women and I can never thank them enough for everything. Next: My first day is still not over and I get to spend some time with one of the guest stars of "Ashes and Dust" and the wonderful writer, Andrew Wilder. :)