NUMB3RS's Rob Morrow is best known for his role on Northern Exposure. Now he's traded the stethoscope for a gun on this mathematical series.
Rob Morrow, the fresh-faced star who portrayed Joel Fleischman, a doctor practicing in Cicely, Alaska, on Northern Exposure, has remerged as an FBI agent on NUMB3RS.
The show, now in its second season, is a hit for CBS and sits comfortably in the top 10 amongst series like CSI, Lost, and Desperate Housewives. Morrow, meanwhile, has traded his scrubs and stethoscope for a gun and barrels through the greater Los Angeles area, solving all sorts of violent crime.
The twist is that his character, Don Eppes, has enlisted his younger brother, Charlie (David Krumholtz), a brilliant Math professor, to help him solve cases with a uniquely numerical perspective.
"Math is a universal tool," says Cheryl Heuton, Executive Producer and head writer. "It's used in forensics and is a growing tool in law enforcement."
In an interview in L.A. at the end of February, Morrow talked about the joy he's getting from his latest role and how the character differs from his own personality. "Don is more myopic in life. He's got the burden of the heinous crimes that he's witnessed."
To prepare for the job, Morrow says he "hung out with the FBI." He went to Quantico, Virginia, had firearm training and went to Washington, D.C., to meet with FBI officials. The result is that he's a convincing, passionate law enforcement official.
At first glance, NUMB3RS is suspiciously similar to the other procedural dramas and science-based series clogging the small screen - after so many years, viewers could probably set up a lab in their basements and do DNA analysis during commercial breaks. Producers were well aware of the precedent, so they've worked hard to raise the bar and even bend it a little. Along with the equations, theorems, and graphs, producers have been careful to introduce and cultivate a human element.
This is a good thing, because so far, a lot of the dialogue is gobbledygook. And who really wants to see a show about a subject most failed in high school? I still have nightmares about memorizing times-tables.
Morrow's response is that many people take pleasure in solving mysteries and that's a big reason why the drama is a hit. Math is just another character in the show. "I'm not great in Math but I do have a real appreciation for it," he says. It didn't surprise me that people dig the show." Even if they haven't figured out the numbers.
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