Producer Donald P. Bellisario's prolific credits

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. Write. It's the only advice I can give. Write. You're either a writer or you're not a writer. You're either born to write or you're not. Age has nothing to do with it.

[00:00:26] I don't believe in ageism in writing, directing, any of that. I don't believe being too young has anything to do with it. You just have to write. I mean, like I say, I was 42 when I started doing this.

[00:00:47] And they were always saying to me, gee, I think I'd like to, I have a story idea and I think I'd like to, you know, tell it to, where do I do? And I said, write. Write the script. Well, I, okay, you know, I'm not sure I'm a good writer. Like I say, you're born to it.

[00:01:07] But the other thing I'd say to any, not just writer, but anybody that wants to get in this business is to just keep pounding your head against that wall until you break through. You know, just pretend you're a little sperm. You want to have a baby.

[00:01:29] Oh, so here we are again with just another beloved TV creator.

[00:02:21] That is Donald P. Palisario. And where do you know that name from? Oh, everything. The original Magnum P.I., Airwolf, original Battlestar Galactica, Tells the Golden Monkey, Quantum Leap, and of course the Jack NCIS franchise. Reef worked also on Black Sheep Squadron, as well as the pretentious religious thriller Last Rides with Anthony Zuniga and Tom Barringer. I don't recommend that. That's terrible.

[00:02:48] So he's also best known for serving in the Marine Corps from 55 to 59. He was a sergeant and created Quantum Leap and even had a lot of his children become actors as well as nephews. Like, McGee, the actor who plays McGee on NCIS is apparently like related to him somehow, so that's pretty cool. But he's even casually worked on other stuff like Quincy M.E., the original Kojak, and Tequila and Bonatti.

[00:03:17] Also had a courtroom show first Monday that briefly crossed over with Jag, like some of the same judges and Marine guys would show up. Made sense that he helped craft NCIS New Orleans and his Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula was on both. But, yeah, no, I mean, pretty much when he goes down to a T, it's just casual mystery with just very funny characters. That's his signature. He's done it again and again and again.

[00:03:41] And even based, you know, a lot of stuff off his real life, like characters he knew, like Magnum and Harm on Jag. You know, those were all actual aviators he knew. But, yeah, it is kind of a shame that he basically just took off from NCIS. Basically assumed that, hey, you know, I don't like Harmon, so everyone else doesn't like him. It's like, well, it's not the case. Everyone likes the main NCIS character. So, it's just so wild.

[00:04:11] I've never seen any actor do that before where they give an ultimatum to a studio and they say, you know, you either keep me or you don't. But it's just so wild how one of them had to go and they just said, well, yeah, get rid of the creator. He's the one causing all the issue anyway. Anyway, it's just so wild how he had no creative control. But in all fairness, I think it got a little less static than some earlier seasons went on.

[00:04:40] They just had way better writers who were able to create very captivating five-parters at some point. Just making not want to turn off the thing. It's like, yeah, that's what you got to do. You can't just be casual every time, you know. You got to have a reason for everyone to tune in each week. So, Elisarius is apparently based off the Roman general of the same name, Italian language variant. So, it's wild. Got a few other people who are even actors.

[00:05:09] Patrick J. Adams is apparently one of the main leads on Suits. That's his son-in-law. So, he's got quite a lot of family members in the industry. But he's got kind of an interesting look to him. He's always got shades and just giant beard. He almost looks like a guy who plays Homer Simpson, but just giant beards. But, yeah. He was even a... Worked in the advertising department and has a bachelor's degree in journalism.

[00:05:35] So, the Bellisario mainly comes from his Italian-American father and his Serbian-American mother. But, yeah. So, he's just worked with all kinds of people. Including Lee Harvey Oswald, of all people, during his time in the Marines. So, he's an interesting character. But, despite being a little quiet lately, it seems like he's pretty cool and laid back. And he's even won a few different awards, including a visionary award at the UCLA Neurosurgery Visionary of All Things.

[00:06:05] Interesting. Seems like he's a smart guy. He plays his cards for a while. And he's a millionaire still. So, good on him. We sometimes take episodes from real-life stories. You know, like they say, you know, write from the headlines, rip from the headlines. We sometimes do that. You know, one of the things that's happened over the years for me on shows,

[00:06:28] was I have made shows ever since Magnum in which the show that I made happened after I made it. And the most interesting of those was the second year of Magnum.

[00:06:49] I did a show where North Korea was holding secret talks in Hawaii with the U.S. Navy government. The Navy was there. about the disposition of POWs.

[00:07:10] And that were still either remaining or not remaining, because I don't think there were any that were still in prison at that time. But about getting the bodies back of Americans, MIAs. And it was all into the MIA situation, that they weren't holding anybody. You know, anyway, there were these secret talks in this episode I did that was going on.

[00:07:41] And I received a phone call after that episode aired from the FBI that wanted to know how I knew about the conference. That was interesting. When the pilot went down in Bosnia that we went in and rescued, you remember? We were shooting that story when it happened.

[00:08:12] Now, a lot of this you can kind of figure out and say this is likely to happen, you know. But I've had a lot of things happen like that through episodes where it's, I'm not clairvoyant, but I think I just kind of look at things and the odds of something happening kind of happen back in. It's not a crazy sign. But that's the odds of something happening. And I put it into a show.

[00:08:42] We'll return after these messages. If you like small town mystery, crazy news, and wild history, then the Florida Men on Florida Man podcast is for you. Each week, Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty bring you the absolute best Florida has to offer. So if you're looking for a show that's safe for the family, but funny enough to help you escape everyday life, then listen to the Florida Men on Florida Man podcast.

[00:09:10] That's Florida Men, plural, on Florida Man podcast. Hey, it's Brent Pope, the host of Breakfast with Brent Pope. You've seen me on some of your favorite TV shows saying things like, give it up, Jimmy. You got to sink this putt to win. On Breakfast with Brent Pope, I sit down with guests for the entertainment world, and we do it all over breakfast. Or should I say breakfast? Every week on Breakfast, you get inside Hollywood info and tips, great breakfast wrecks and booty debates. Most of all, you get the most delightful 30 minutes of your week. So dig in. It's breakfast time.

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[00:10:07] It's a jacked up.