Getting Their White House in Order

Image credit: Commander in Chief: Peter "Hopper" Stone

The cast of ''Commander in Chief'' (from left: Ever Carradine, Harry Lennix, Geena Davis, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar

To that end, he quickly wrapped up or dropped Lurie's flashier story lines — the president's HIV-positive assistant, a scandalous kiss-and-tell tape starring Allen's daughter, and that out-of-left-field baseball commissioner offer for First Husband Rod Calloway (Kyle Secor). Bochco then called on former NYPD Blue detective Mark-Paul Gosselaar to play Dickie McDonald, a young, power-hungry campaign adviser. Gosselaar trusted his former boss so much that he signed on without knowing what character he'd play. ''Steven knows what your strengths are as an actor and a person,'' he says. ''You know all the bulls--- is going to be taken care of.'' ABC suits were thrilled at the prospect of adding the 31-year-old actor to the cast, but they resisted when Bochco told them he wanted to introduce President Allen's spunky mom, Kate (75-year-old Polly Bergen). ''Because the networks are so obsessed with their 18-49 demographic, everyone was nervous,'' Bochco says. ''I told them if you bring in the president's mother, it actually makes the president seem younger.''

ABC relented, and Chief was finally ready for its Jan. 10 return. While two episodes that aired in November sweeps bore a few of Bochco's fingerprints, the producer all but disregards them. ''Those November episodes were a patch in a blown tire so you could get to San Diego,'' he explains. ''I consider the January shows to be the first episodes. It's a different show.''

He's right — but there's certainly no reason for fans of the original Chief to be dismayed. A recent two-parter about a U.S. submarine on a spy mission trapped within North Korea's waters was easily the show's most suspenseful and timely story line since its inception. Allen, meanwhile, has finally found her backbone: no more tortured back-and-forths about pardoning death-row inmates at the 11th hour; now she doesn't waver or suffer disloyal generals foolish enough to second-guess her vision.

There is some bad news: Chief has experienced an alarming drop in ratings since its return. The production hiatus — and the fact that the series was in reruns or preempted from Dec. 6 to Jan. 3 — hurt Chief's momentum. Even worse, when it came back it was soon pitted against Fox's unstoppable American Idol for two weeks. Chief's first two episodes this year were the lowest-rated yet, pulling in a combined average of just over 11 million viewers. With Idol back at 8 p.m., Chief still has to contend with Fox's House and CBS' The Amazing Race, which returns Feb. 28. ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson admits he's concerned about the drop-off, and is looking for a scheduling remedy: ''I think it was [on hiatus] for so long, and it's a competitive time period. We love the show. We think it's going to be with us for a long time. We want to get some more traction back. We'd also like to get it a better lead-in. [Sitcoms] Rodney and According to Jim have been incompatible.''

Despite the ratings slide, you won't find Chief's founding father gloating. ''I still have points in the show, so I desperately want it to succeed,'' says Lurie, who retained an executive-producer credit and a new, seven-figure development deal with Touchstone. ''Do I still wish I was there? Yeah, but [Bochco] is really, really good. If I had to give up my child for adoption, at least Rockefeller is the new father.''

No matter what's gone on behind the scenes, back at the White House, Allen is in control. She's successfully saved Air Force One from being blown to smithereens, and the entire cast — plus those rapt crew members — applauds. The cameras stop, and Davis slips back into her fuzzy slippers for another break. It's 5:30 p.m. and she's been on set since 5 a.m. There are still more shots to finish before she can go home to husband Dr. Reza Jarrahy and their three young children, and the stress of playing the most important person on the planet is starting to wear on her. ''I had always said that I'm not stupid enough to do an hour-long show,'' Davis says. ''It's killer. My actions don't carry the same weight as if I were the actual president, but in some ways lately I feel like it might be equally as hard.'' Then she flashes a smile, touches up some under-eye makeup, and heads off to rehearse the next scene.