"Affair
of the State" TV
Guide
March 26 2002 by Ari
Karpel
The
White House has The West Wing, the military has JAG and the CIA has
the Agency. But no show has attempted to represent the US State Department,
until now. "People are really foggy on what (foreign-service
officers) do."says James Parriott, creator and executive producer
of The American Embassy (FOX, Mondays, 9PM/ET). "They are really
the lifeboats for American citizens abroad." In the show's premiere,
vice consul Emma Brody (Arija Bareikis, left) dealt with a naked man
in the embassy lobby, a child-custody battle, a sexually aggressive
CIA agent and a bombing of the embassy-all during her two weeks on
the job in London.
"Young vice-consuls have a very complicated jobs. And the kind
of work they do can be really quirky."says Robert Gelbard, former
US ambassador to Indonesia. Of course, it can also be deadly serious.
"The tragedy that came up at the end of that show -- the attack
is something that not many think about," adds Gelbard. In fact,
in 1998, the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, killing
224 people. "When things happen a long way away people don't
realize how tough it is and how dangerous it is," says ABC News
Department correspondent Martha Raddatz.
That may explain why the department is behind the American Embassy.
Wayne Griffith, a deputy assistant secretar o state, consulted on
the development of the series, while he was consul general at the
real American Embassy in London. "They were going to make it
with or without us, " says Griffith, who stepped in to offer
his expertise. Still, he concedes, "it's not a documentary."
The State Department hopes the series will inspire potential foreign-service
candidates--and Fox has even linked its Web Site to the State Department's
to facilitate the application process. But in addition to boosting
recruitment, the show may also help raise awareness of the often dangerous
efforts of foreign service workers. Says Raddatz, "How bad can
it be to have people recognize what you do--even if they've taken
some license (with it)?