Terry McGovern keeps career in forward gear
By Barbara Holsopple, the Pittsburgh Press, Jan. 6 1985

"I did six series pilots." says Terry McGovern. "They went right into a valise and got shipped to Argentina."

The seventh got shipped to 9 p.m. Wednesdays. On CBS this season. Wednesday might as well have been sent to Buenos Aires.

CBS's Wednesday lineup has taken a beating, especially from ABC, which has "Dynasty" to keep it afloat. Still, McGovern played best friend to Flip Wilson, and "Charlie & Co." did reasonably well in the Nielsen ratings.

But one half-hour show does not save a night, at least not this night, and in the mid-season shuffle CBS put "Charlie & Co." on "hiatus."

Webster defines hiatus as "a lapse in continuity," but in TV lingo it can mean anything from cancellation to you'll-be-back-if-absolutely-nothing-else-works.

If McGovern is upset that his first weekly series is now on hiatus, he's not letting it show.

"A network guy came in just yesterday and said, 'You're off the air for a month, but don't panic. We're looking for an 8p.m. time slot for you.' Of course, he was wearing an ancient Mayan death mask," McGovern jokes.

"I've had a really charmed life and I'm very happy," the former Pittsburgher says.

"I left KDKA-Radio in 1969. It was hard to leave Pittsburgh, but life has been very good to me. I went to San Francisco and I had a real good career in radio there. I left in 1977 and again, it was tough to leave.

"The first two or three years I did a ton of commercials, as many as anybody could do in two or three years. And then slowly I began to do more serious things. It just took me an awful long time to do what I've always wanted to do, which is act."

His work ranged from voice-overs for George Lucas's first film, "THX-1138," to guest roles in such TV shows as "Trapper John, MD.," "The A-Team," "Cagney & Lacey" and "Newhart." His big screen credits include "American Graffiti," "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" and "The Enforcer."

On "Charlie & Co.," he plays Jim Coyle, Wilson's co-worker in the fictitious Chicago Dept. of Roads and Highways.

"Jim is ostensibly Charlie's best friend. I love the role. I just feed Flip straight lines. I don't have to do any mugging, and I like that."

The company has two more episodes to shoot, for a total of 18. Production continues, although the series has been pulled from the air.

"Each show but two not yet seen bad scenes with Flip at the office as well as at home," McGovern says. "The last show does not include us, which may be a bad omen.

"I think they were trying to combine the hominess of Bill Cosby's show with the action side of 'Barney Miller.' I don't know... sitcoms are very elusive, extremely difficult to do. People think they're easy because they're funny, but they're not. it's all in the relationships.

"Flip and Gladys Knight have a good relationship and I think people want to believe family works. They've added Della Reese as Aunt Rachel and she's really stirring up the home front.

"I don't know what's going to happen to the office. We've already lost Kip King, who played the office brown-noser, and Ray Girardin, the boss. I hated to see them go, but we were overloaded (with characters).

"My fondest wish is that I would move into the apartment building where Charlie lives. I'd really like to stay in the show so I can direct an episode in another year or two.

"I've directed plays and things out here, but I haven't directed TV."
McGovern has written and produced a one-act play, "Jessica and the Couch Potato." It was staged at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

With his writing partner, Lee Madux, senior writer for "Scarecrow & Mrs. King," McGovern is working on a film script about former New York City homocide detective Dennis Mulligan.

"He was involved in the big cases of the late '60s and '70s and he ended up getting indicted for bank robbery. He's retired out here now, and it's a fascinating story," McGovern says.

"Robert DiNiro is supposed to be interested - he's read one draft and has asked to see the second - but he's probably interested in a lot of scripts so I don't know if that means anything."

He also continues to shoot commercials and do voice-over work. The latter includes a Hanna-Barbera series on the Bible for the home video market, a new character on the cartoon series "Transformers," and Jolene the alligator on NBC's new "Kissy Fur," a cartoon McGovern describes as "adorable."

"As long as you're going forward, you're OK," he says of his career. 'The whole thing out here in Los Angeles is pursuit. If you don't let up for a minute, you're OK. Drop a stitch and you're in trouble.

"I'm not complaining that I'm being run over in the fast lane. That's what LA is and if you don't want to live like that, you don't belong here."

Los Angeles is a far cry from "the 'Burgh." he says, but "San Francisco softened the blow. It's a town of communities and neighborhoods. I lived there for eight years and when I finally came to Los Angeles I was 33, 34, 35 - somewhere in there. Sixteen years ago, where my head was, I needed a town, a sense of community."

Today, he welcomes time at borne. He and his wife of 19 years, Pittsburgher Mary Alice (Molly) Werthman, have a new son, Brendan Padraig (Irish for Patrick).

"We've had the baby since May, but our court date for final adoption is Valentine's Day," McGovern says. "He's the sweetest baby.

"Just tell everybody and anybody in Pittsburgh we said hello and we're healthy and happy in LA. But we do think of the 'Burgh often."

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