A different kind of deadline is looming for Medill Prof. David Protess.
“Deadline,” a new NBC drama series, features a journalism professor who “gets to the bottom of a story” with the help of his students, according to a preview on the network’s Web site.
Protess, a journalism professor who also gets to the bottom of stories with the help of his students, is concerned that the premise of the Monday night show resembles his work, and, consequently, that he will be identified with the hard-drinking, promiscuous lead character played by Oliver Platt.
That’s why he has asked NBC to clarify that he is not involved with the show, which debuts Oct. 2.
“I want them to take out ads in journalism publications that say I was in no way connected with the making of ‘Deadline,'” Protess said.
The work of Protess and his students overturning wrongful convictions has drawn national attention in recent years. One of the latest cases involved Anthony Porter, who was freed from Illinois’ death row in February 1999.
In the Porter case, Protess’ students re-enacted the crime and proved that key eyewitness accounts were fabricated. In the script for the pilot of “Deadline,” Platt’s students also re-enact a crime to disprove eyewitness accounts and free an innocent prisoner, Protess said.
“When I read the script, I was dismayed,” he said. “(It) was so close to the work I’ve done with my students.”
Protess sarcastically refers to Platt’s character, played by Wallace Benton, as “our hero” when describing the character’s behavior. Platt plays a womanizer who has a drinking problem, and, according to Protess, doesn’t abide by journalistic ethics.
“He seriously deceives sources … severing journalistic rules I wouldn’t consider doing,” he said.
In a July 19 newsconference, “Deadline” executive producer Dick Wolf denied the series and the lead character are based on Protess or his investigations.
Wolf added that he didn’t expect the freeing of wrongfully convicted death row inmates to be a theme of the show.
“Hopefully this show will go five years or longer. I don’t anticipate anybody else being on death row incorrectly” in future episodes, he said.
Former Protess student Diane Haag said she has seen the trailer for the show and that some of the similarities were “to the point of being scary.”
“It’s a great story and sounds like a TV show in some respects,” said Haag, Medill ’00. “Depending on what they do with it, it could cheapen the work. If they’re doing a different case every week, it would be completely unrealistic.”
Protess said he has been assured that after the first episode the similarities between fact and fiction will subside.
“To some extent it’s being blown out of proportion,” Protess said. “It’s more annoying than anything else. I’ve been getting calls everyday about it. People jokingly say, ‘Oh, you sold out.’ I’m finding myself spending too much time telling people I’m not connected with this.”
Protess first saw the trailer for “Deadline” while watching the NBA semi-finals in June. He had a lawyer friend send a letter to the producers requesting the clarification ads. He has received no response.
He has no plans to sue NBC, saying he does not want to interfere with the show’s right to free speech.
“I’m certainly not going to get involved in litigation,” he said. “I believe too deeply in the First Amendment, even when it’s entertainment.”
And although Protess has no interest in getting the show off the air, for him it will hardly be “Must See TV.” He said he only plans to watch the premiere and the second episode, to see if the similarities fade.
“After that I’ll watch Monday Night Football,” he said.
