Paul Gross of due South semi-fame was offered and declined the role that Goran accepted. Since Goran is unmistakably Croatian, if Paul had accepted the role, would his character have been Canadian? :D -What with the Brain Drain and all...

-- May Archer (archerl@cadvision.com), January 17, 2000

Answers

What I wonder is this: if Paul Gross (I loved "Due South", btw!) had accepted the role, would anyone be going into palpitations every time he spoke to Carol (God forbid any man besides Mark should talk to Carol! And we know Luka has no interest in her sexually; what kind of man would make a pass at a woman in her condition? No one can say Luka is not a gentleman). Doubt it. But then again, I see absolutely no resemblance between Clooney & Visnjic-I've looked & looked but it's just not there, to me. There's certainly no resemblance between Clooney & Gross!

And Gross can act...

But I prefer Visnjic over Gross any day, with all due respect to Gross, who is a fine actor. So far, Visnjic has simply out-acted everyone in the cast this season and is far more intriguing. But that's just my opinion. I know the D/C fans want a resolution to this depressing storyline & I don't blame them; I just want her, Doug & all that to be gone. And I want Carol as far away from Luka as possible, but I have a feeling he'll give her the necessary push back toward Doug and that'll be great if it actually happens at all. But so far, I see no sign of Clooney even coming back.

There are too many characters (esp. that annoying Dr. Chen!) crowding up the show, and even though two are leaving, they're adding another one (Maura Tierney's Abby Lockhart)! Too many cooks in the kitchen...but I will save any judgements on Abby 'til I see more of her.

All that to say this: (!)

I suppose he would have to be Canadian! Not that it'd matter all that much, really. What would he have been in Canada, anyway? A Mountie-cum-Doctor? Just kidding. I doubt I'd like him as much as I like Luka, but I would have liked him a lot more than the other new cast members. I don't dislike Chen as much as I did Doug, but I'm not enjoying her one bit & want her to go away. Soon. And I'm gonna miss Lucy! :( She was growing on me!

And note-I wasn't venting my spleen at Doug! I want him to come back & get Carol...and get outta Dodge!

-- SLJ (miesque@looksmart.com), January 17, 2000.

I never watched Due South so I don't know who this Paul Gross person is, but I would like to say that I REALLY like this Goran person. Those eyes would melt anything that frozen wasteland to our north could offer up. I kind of like the idea of he and Carol hooking up but I imagine she would break his heart when she decided to give Doug one last shot at facing his responsibilities and finally becoming a MAN or should I say an ADULT. I also think a Carol/Luka love storyline could open an avenue for Carol to come back someday when Doug ultimatey drops the ball and looses Carol (and his daughters) for good. Carol could come back to the man who truly loves her - Luka. Call me a tacky sap but I get weak when they show a close-up of Luka!

By the way - does anyone remember that way back in the beginning of ER Doug made reference (on 2 separate shows) that he had a son??? What the heck happened to that???

-- Linda Brown (l.brown@mindspring.com), February 10, 2000.

I get weak about Goran Visnjic myself, & I love Luka, but I don't actually see a Luka/Carol match; it's just too contrived. She'll either go back to Doug or leave for parts unknown. I used to like Carol a lot, but now...ehhh...I don't care either way; just let her leave. Soon. The Meg thing this season, and her comments re: "We're short a doc & a med student" just rubbed me the wrong way, even if it was just a shock response. Anyone think the writers are trying to get us to stop caring about her? Either way, it's working. And I feel a little depressed about that, for some reason. To start rooting for the end (of whatever sort) to a character you actually liked...it feels strange.

Actually, I'm not entirely sure if Gross was even approached. I have a feeling John Wells saw Goran Visnjic in "Welcome to Sarajevo" (which I still haven't seen) & said, "There-that's the guy we want! Doug who?" I wouldn't mind if they had approached Gross, but I feel they made the right choice when the went with Visnjic. He's just a superb actor, & Luka just gets better & more interesting with every episode. Not that Gross was a stinker by any means (heck no-in that uniform?! Aaaahhhhh!), but GV just fits that role so perfectly.

-- SLJ (miesque_98@yahoo.com), February 20, 2000.