Hearing the name Tom Everett Scott might not ring a bell with TV audiences. See his picture, however, and most people remember the charming kid who played the drummer in “That Thing You Do!”
Since the do-wop movie a decade ago, Tom Everett Scott has done TV guest shots, movies and, at 9 p.m. Monday, he takes the lead in a new summer series from TNT called “Saved.”
Scott plays Wyatt Cole, an EMT who would rather make kamikaze runs through rain-soaked streets than apply to medical school to please his dad the doctor.
To prepare for the role, Scott said he “rode around with paramedics and went on quite a few calls.” At first, he was going to hang back and stay out of their way.
“But they wanted me to see as much as I could see,” Scott said. “They were like, ‘C’mon, man, put on this jacket and get as close as you want.’ “
In the show, Wyatt’s estranged girlfriend, Dr. Alice Alden (Elizabeth Reaser) wants commitment in the worst way, and his partner, John “Sack” Hallon (Omari Hardwick), has a whole other set of problems with a former spouse and a son he never sees.
And then there’s Cole’s chronic gambling problem. In a scene from the pilot, he shows up with only half the money he owes his bookie but submits to a pummeling with a resignation that says, “It’s happened before; it’ll happen again.”
“He’s pretty screwed up,” Scott said of his character. “But he’s a good paramedic and an interesting character. He can’t communicate with people in his personal life, but he’s completely open and available to strangers.”
“Saved” is a character-driven show, Scott said, but it’s also a medical drama that depicts people’s life-and-death situations before they reach the emergency room.
Scott’s work on NBC’s “ER,” in which he played the bipolar brother of one of the characters, helped him prepare for “Saved.”
“I got to see how they do it [on ‘ER’],” he said. “They have special rehearsals with medical technicians, and they practice, practice, practice. … We do all that too.”
Scott has nothing but good to say about the real-life paramedics he’s studied for “Saved.”
“We’ve gone on some nasty real calls and also on some boring ones, but these are wonderful people,” he said. “Most of these guys are drawn into this world rather than the hospital. It’s just you and your partner, and you know him better than anybody else in the world.
“I haven’t met one [EMT] that wasn’t selfless.”
Paramedics showed the “Saved” actors how to perform various tasks, Scott said, such as carrying someone on a stretcher. During one rehearsal, “we dropped a couple people,” he said. “Being a paramedic is a very demanding job. I have real respect for their special skills.”
In one scene from the first episode, Scott and Reaser use the ambulance to practice another set of skills. The skin-on-skin action in the back of “the bus” sizzles. Scott scoffed at the notion that women will mob him in the streets once “Saved” hits the airwaves. “I’m not seeing it,” he said.
The always humble Scott comes across as your best-friend’s kid brother–the one who grew up to become “a hotty hot-hot” and doesn’t even know it.
“No, little Tommy Scott is the kid who stepped in dog poo on his first day of 1st grade,” he said, “and his friend had to spray his foot with [breath freshener] all day.”
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TATER’S TAKE
9 p.m.
Saved, TNT
“Saved” wants to be “Rescue Me,” but my impression from the first episode is that it doesn’t have the heart, humor or wit of the FX drama. That’s too bad, because “Saved” does have a likable lead in Tom Everett Scott. And although its soundtrack–from Jimi Hendrix to Nirvana–is excellent, the show pumps up the volume to distraction. Is it trying to hide the fact that the writing needs to be saved? If you miss music videos on MTV, this might be the show for you.
