With the silky whispering, persuasive voice of the diabolical Jim Profit as a guide, viewers are drawn into the dark, funny, suspenseful world of high stakes corporate intrigue in PROFIT. Profit has his sights set on the top and will stop at nothing to get there. with his extraordinary ability to size people up, Profit coolly assesses the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, then using an array of people-handling skills ranging from blackmail, to flattery, to murder-methodically destroys them. By telling the story from the point of view of the bad guy, PROFIT creators set out to create a new kind of storytelling for series television. the show�s unusual sense of humor is largely due to Profit�s insinuating voice-over, which opens and closes each episode and provides wry commentary on situations as they develop, inviting the audience to view the story�s events from his own skewed perspective.

Adrian Pasdar (Jim Profit) likens the show to a dark comic book for adults, clearly a larger-than-life portrayal of the struggle between good and evil in the high world of big business. “It�s not a reality-based show. It�s a send up to a degree with its inflated characters and characterizations,” says Pasdar, “and I think the voice-over lends itself to the human, to comment on situations with a unique perspective.”

One of the inspirations for creating this new kind of television character was Richard lll, Shakespeare�s portrait of the gleefully malevolent king. The other jumping off point for PROFIT was producers� desire to create a story that explores why the villain does the awful things that he does. to develop Profit�s character, Greenwalt and McNamara talked to several psychologists and read books and articles about clinical sociopaths, culling details from case studies to provide a realistic underpinning to Profit�s story. The pilot episode reveals the extremely abusive childhood that gave Profit his warped outlook on the world.

[NOTE: Profit was raised in a huge cardboard box so that his father didn�t have to take care of him, which producers actually found in a case study. The highlight of the show is at the end of each episode Profit climbs naked into his box, assumes a fetal position, then looking directly to the audience, whispers, “Goodnight.” When direction his film, CEMENT, Adrian was jokingly given a large cardboard box from the cast!]

The social boundaries that keep most people�s behavior in check are meaningless to him. �He knows where your boundaries are, but he doesn�t have them,� says Greenwalt. �He�s truly a self-made man, who is extremely focused, has enormous self-discipline, and works tirelessly at his goals. He�s a bit like a Zen warrior,� says Greenwalt. �It takes a tremendous amount of work and effort to be Jim Profit.� And McNamara adds,� But a tiger doesn�t think about the fact that it has to hunt all day. It just does it.� Adrian Pasdar sees PROFIT as someone for whom every act serves a purpose, a large function. He�s not evil because he wants to hurt people. It�s just a matter of form following function,� says Pasdar. The world of cyberspace is an important element of PROFIT�s visual style, which is largely the creation of Co-Exectuive Producer Robert Iscove, who also directed the pilot and several episodes. Working with Northwest Imaging in Vancouver, Canada, Iscove created a techno-sauvy look that is a distinctive feature of the show. When he�s using his computer, instead of looking at the screen full of words, Profit actually walks down the hallways of a virtual office, going in and out of doors, opening files, and sometimes meeting opponents who block his passage. �To extend the virtual reality environment and add excitement to the show, Iscove added imagery involving wire frames and cubes in which we see Profit�s enemies actually explode on his computer screen once he�s eliminated them.

In the pilot, the producers used an amalgam of three separate locations to create the massive Gracen & Gracen offices, but for the series, Production Designer Richard Hudolm had to re-create the Gracen & Gracen offices on a soundstage. With a talented crew of scenic [painters and artists, Hudolin created a 175 foot backdrop, and turned one entire soundstage into the offices. Even the art on the walls was created specifically for the show, to match styles of Thomas Hart Benton and the WPA murals. In fact, every piece of art in the show was designed and drawn for PROFIT by artist Barry Kootchen. Unlike most TV shows, there is not a single good guy in the show. Instead there are characters who are all graduations of good and evil, and Profit can�t corrupt any of them unless there is something to corrupt. As Pasdar says,� Profit always gives people a choice. And they always take the easier choice. He adds, � The show is ultimately a cartoon that operates on the conceptual basis that most people, when faced with a moral dilemma, will choose the lower road. They�ll preserve their own physical being and their emotional stability, regardless of the consequences their actions have on others.� He�s whispering in the ears of people who are ambivalent. �I think the most important question to ask after you watch an episode of PROFIT is not, did I like him, but did I have fun.� adds Greenwalt. PROFIT is Pasdar�s first involvement with a television series, and he�s proud to be associated with a show that has such high quality writing. “This is as good as television gets.� Adrian says. Though Profit is a bad guy, Pasdar was eager to tackle a character of such complexity. �I thought the series would be a terrific opportunity to explore a character like this on a continuing basis, to create a whole character in much the same way as you create a character in the theater on a nightly basis,� Pasdar states. Far from being reluctant to play someone evil, Pasdar finds that the biggest challenge in playing Jim Profit is “Not to let on how much fun it is to play this guy.”

4/12/96
For a man who plays a character named Profit on a show about unmitigated greed, Adrian Pasdar doesn’t seem to care a whole lot about money. If he did, the world might know him better as a brooding hunk on Melrose Place. The dark-haired actor turned down an invitation to producer Aaron Spelling’s mansion to discuss playing Melrose’s Jake. In retrospect, “I would have made a fortune, but artistically I didn’t feel compelled,” says Pasdar oh so diplomatically. “I’d be lost on a show like that.”
Instead, Pasdar finds himself in PROFIT, a wry, celebral (at least for TV) drama that premieres on FOX april 8 at 8 PM, before occupying its regular time slot following-guess what?-Melrose Place. “Isn’t life funny?” he sighs. His character- a wicked, velvet-voiced corporate whiz kid who once set his father on fire and now has nookie with his stepmom- gives new life to bad. ” The show is tremendous litmus test,” says Pasdar, 30. “Because if this doesn’t work out, I don’t belong on TV. It doesn’t get anty better than this.”

And that’s from someone who is very tight with praise- especially when it comes to his own projects. Aside from an occasional high point (his debut in TOP GUN and the lead in the cult horror flick NEAR DARK), Pasdar dismisses much of his movie work with words like disaster and boring. “I didn’t want anything to do with the publicity,” he says of such films as MADE IN USA and VITAL SIGNS. “I didn’t find any of these films worth promoting.”

In fact, the Philadelphia native grew so disenchanted with the schmooze-heavy Hollywood scene, he exciled himself from it twice. Inspired by the Wim Wenders film WINGS OF DESIRE, Pasdar moved to Berlin in 1989 and spent a year working on a book and several screenplays. He eventually returned to Los Angeles, only to drop out again in 1992, choosing to sell his Hollywood Hills home at “a huge loss,” move into a friend’s extra room in New York City, and take a $4-an-hour job flipping and serving burgers at the Van Dam Diner. : This was an honest living,” says Pasdar, who insists his detour waiting tables wasn’t forced by a lack of job offers. “It was just what I needed.

But when he read PROFIT-whose writing he calls “captivating”- Pasdar asked a diner coworker to cover his shift while he met with executive producer David Greenwalt. “He got it like nobody else,” says Greenwalt. “Hr could play this character with all the depth of his dark side and all the charm of his charismatic side.” Just imagine what he could have done with Jake!

PEOPLE 4/30/90
Actor Adrian Pasdar hung out with med students while researching his part as a student sawbones in the new medical drama- VITAL SIGNS. “Part of what sustains these guys is the humor they find in their work,” says Pasdar. “When I told this one student that I wanted to bring my friend and co-star Jack Gwaltney to the local morgue for research purposes, the student said, ’Let’s set up a fake corpse. I know someone who’ll pose and lay on a slab.’ So I told Jack to come down, and we were met there by the student, who told us a new corpse had just come in. We pulled out her drawer, and the student pulls back the sheet and says to Jack, “Go ahead and touch her, she’s still warm.’ So Jack puts her hand on her belly, and she sat up and said, ’OUCH!’, and Jack went through the roof. He’s still not quite over it.”

PEOPLE 12/11/00
Natalie Maines has her eye on acting. in particular she would like to work with her husband, Adrian Pasdar. “Adrian knows me well/ He’d be gentle, take it slow and give me the confidence I need to do something like that.” She has one project with him due, a son due in April. They’ve decided to name him Jack Slade. “We thought it sounded tough. He can’t get beat up on the playground with that name.”

ADRIAN PASDAR- VENICE 1990
A feature story on Adrian Pasdar for a ’far-out” magizine, and I could do what I wanted. Yes! In the Versace wardrobe that was provided for the shoot, Adrian reminded me of a post-World War II neo-realist Italian film star. So I took off his shirt, threw s jacket over his shooulders, and took to the streets where he could make lewd gesters for the camera (as in “nice ass”). By the end of the shoot, Adrian had taken us to the edge of the envelope, where, checking his eye shadow, he gleefully jumped overboard. He was hauntingly handsome one moment and a gooney bird the next.

PROFIT REVIEWS

PHILADELPHIA, PA INQUIRER 7/11/96
In a discussion with Adrian Pasdar�s father, Dr. Homayoon Pasdar, talks about the canceled PROFIT. “I�d like the show to come back. We were all surprised when it was canceled. I thought the show was great. I didn�t like Adrian to be a bad guy, but I liked the way he did it. Adrian was very intense about acting as a youngster. Acting-wise, he�s pretty darn good, a real ham,” says his proud pop. In real life, “Adrian is an easygoing fellow, nothing like the character he plays.” As for his son�s sleeping in a cardboard box, “if it�s part of the plot, it�s intriguing,” Adrian�s father muses. “It has something to do with the way he looks at the world and what he wants from it.”

TIME MAGAZINE 4/22/96
“Profit�s played with a slippery chill by Adrian Pasdar. He also looks sexy in a suit.”

DAILY VARIETY 4/8/96
“Pasdar is sensational. Radiating boyish innocence as he backstabs his way up Gracen & Gracen.”

TV GUIDE 4/6-12/96
“Adrian Pasdar has the sawtooth voice of an edgy young Jack Palance, the manner and sickly smile of a captain in an overpriced restaurant, and the ethics of Eddie Haskell�s evil twin.”

PEOPLE MAGAZINE 5/6/96
“Several weeks ago, two recent business school grads came up to Adrian Pasdar at a Manhattan theater and began gushing about his star turn in the extravagantly praised new FOX series, PROFIT. �They said it was great to have somebody representing them on TV.� says Pasdar laughing. His character, Jim Profit, is an ultraslick young executive who rises to the top of the conglomerate Gracen & Gracen by any means necessary. �I don�t think Profit is devoid of morality,� Pasdar says. �He�s just on a different plane than the rest of us. Now I spend more time in suits than anyone in the corporate world.�”

LONDON FREE PRESS 4/6/96
“It�s a warm night in Pasadena, California, and the FOX network is cranking up its leg of the midwinter press tour with a casino party inside its luxurious two-story penthouse atop the lush Ritz-/Carlton Huntington Hotel. On the terrace, Adrian Pasdar seems mesmerized by the little white ball that is whirling around the roulette wheel in front of him. The tiny orb bounces to and fro, the fortunes of all its onlookers hanging on the sphere�s final resting place. Pasdar frowns. You win some, you lose some, he figures. It�s what gambling is all about. Not that the actor is exactly a seasoned gambler. In fact, in that weekly high-stakes game known as network TV, he�s still as green as they come. �I�ve never been involved in a series before,� says Pasdar . Still when FOX flagged him to play the sinister title character, Pasdar sensed the gamble might pay off big. �There�s a certain intrigue to playing this character,� Pasdar explains. �There are a lot of admirable traits that he has, if you can strip away what people would term as immoral acts. He wears his behavior on his sleeve. He doesn�t lie about it. He just goes and does his thing. A lot of the dysfunction that exists underneath the surface of a lot of big business corporations is really profound,� he reflects. �I think we portray that equally in our show. And I think it�s important to win.� Like Pasdar though, he�s always willing to gamble.”

TV GUIDE 4/13/96
“Sporting dark Ran-Bans and a five o�clock shadow as he sits in an outdoor cafe in New York City�s Greenwich Village, Adrian Pasdar looks like a man with something to hide. But unlike Jim Profit, Pasdar has no skeletons in his closet. �This is fun,� Adrian says. �It�s just short of nudge-nudge wink-wink to the camera, just this side of camp. There�s an element of soap to PROFIT. There�s nothing like this, I think, that�s been done on TV before successfully,� Pasdar reports.”

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 4/22/96
“Stephen Cannell executive produces PROFIT and admits the name Profit is a bit of homage to the crazed Mel Profitt character on his WISEGUY series. In fact Adrian Pasdar resembles a younger, more menacing Ken Wahl, star of WISEGUY, but with oiled-back hair and a whispering edge to his voice. Like Wahl, Pasdar exudes danger, compassion, and vulnerability on screen. �Yeah, I think there�s an attitude we share, although I�ve never been told that before,� Pasdar said of Wahl. �No seriously,� Pasdar continues, �I�ve got this scar, and these big old eyebrows, and my lips are lazy, and I slur sometimes. Our character may share an energy, but actually I think I�m a good Mr. Potatohead.� Pasdar was chosen from hundreds of actors who auditioned for the role of Profit.”

BOSTON GLOBE 6/7/96
�Profit�: why bad things happen to good shows “Perhaps the world simply wasn�t ready for Jim Profit. With his shellacked hair and crocodile smile, he all but slithered onto television screens when the Fox series “Profit” premiered April 8. As brilliantly played by Adrian Pasdar, he wasn�t an antihero, but an antichrist rustling the shadows and skeletons in everyone else�s closet. Of course, he had his own dark secrets - he murdered his father and had an affair with his drug-addled, conniving stepmother. And then there was the matter of his tortured childhood and the cardboard moving box where Profit still slept naked and curled in a fetal position. PROFIT was hailed as one of the best shows of the season. Critics scrambled for superlatives to praise the program, predicting wonderfully wicked doings for one of the most daringly original TV characters in recent years. But four episodes into its run, PROFIT proved a loss. With dismal ratings, the series was yanked off the air. In these highly competitive times, with so much at stake, even kudos from the critics was not a lifesaver for a program drowning in the depths of the Nielsens. The show�s cancellation was one of the biggest blows in a TV season full of dead spots. Especially disheartening was how quickly Fox dropped the ax on the promising series, which may have been too smart, too sinister and, ultimately, too tough to categorize for television�s taste. �PROFIT, I think, is one of the most obvious abuses of quick cancellation I�ve seen in a long time,� said Robert Thompson, associate professor of television at Syracuse University�s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. �It seemed like Fox really flew in the face of anybody who was writing or talking about that show,� he said. �The very weeks when it was getting these incredible reviews, they decided to take it off the schedule.� In the final season numbers, PROFIT ranked 138th out of 159 shows. Given the much-hyped competition, some say the final ratings of PROFIT were not an accurate assessment of the series� potential. �It was one of the more interesting and innovative, if not the most interesting and innovative, series of this new season, which had basically had nothing,� Swanson said. �The show was too good. Normally networks bleed for reviews like those PROFIT got, but here it made no difference,� said Michele Leponde, who is writing a book about television in the 1990s. �It�s almost as if the network had something special in their hands and they just didn�t know it.�”

SUN TIMES NEWS 5/2/96
“It�s a treat savoring his gravel-voiced narration, sharing in the devious plans his cold eyes guard masterfully. As good as the concept is, PROFIT would go belly-up without Adrian Pasdar in the lead role. Slick, grim, smooth and dangerous, a sinister monster who�s savagely delightful to watch, Pasdar makes PROFIT a worthy investment.

DALLES MORNING NEWS 5/8/96
“Why watch? Perhaps because PROFIT qualifies as good television in the sense that it�s different, daring and strangely compelling. Whether narrating or acting on his ruthless impulses, Adrian Pasdar is quietly addictive in the title role. Sounding a lot like Martin Sheen - and a little like Rod Sterling - he plots downfalls with the practiced skill and dispassion of a surgeon removing appendix no. 879. His allies are computer files, blackmailed accomplices and an ability to exude a little-boy sincerity and vulnerability. If anything, he�s all too believable. Following his heart, he methodically seduces the unsatisfied wife of a rival. It goes like this: “When you want someone to love you, open your heart. When you want someone obsessed with you, close it.” Episode three includes this memorable come-on from stepmother Bobbi (Lisa Blount), who knows what Profit likes. “Ya know,” she tells him, “ever since you were a little kid, there�s this real snotty sound you�ve got in your voice which made me just wanna grab a belt, yank your britches down and beat your ass to hamburger. So whaddya say?” Sorry to say, he�s agreeable. Mr. Pasdar�s performance is hard to resist, though. He�s a bad seed sprung from hell�s half-acre, a devil in a dark business suit by day and a birthday suit in the nighttime privacy of his oddly appointed apartment.

BUSINESS WEEKLY 4/8/96
“Actor Adrian Pasdar, who plays the main character, says Jim Profit is modeled on no one but acknowledges he studied for the role by following up-and-comers around corporate hallways to pick up their tics and hunger. Fox is headed by corporate pirate Rupert Murdoch, who knows a little bit about both profit and danger himself. �It�s his favorite [Fox] show,� claims Pasdar. �He likes it being hard-edged and aggressive, the element of the shark.�”

THE NEWS-TIMES 7/11/96
`Profit� may find new life on cable�s `Showtime� “Batten down the cardboard boxes, boys and girls. Jim Profit may live again. PROFIT-starring Adrian Pasdar - could find new life on cable�s Showtime network, if executive producer Stephen J. Cannell has his way. In an interview Tuesday during the TV critics� tour in Pasadena, Calif., Cannell said he�s shopping PROFIT around, and that Showtime has shown some interest. Pasdar�s primed to do new episodes, Cannell adds. Worst-case scenario, Cannell says, is that he�ll transfer the four remaining original segments to video and sell them.”

MONSTER IN A BOX
“Handsome, earnest, eager Profit (Adrian Pasdar) shows up for work one day as Junior Vice President of Acquisitions at Gracen & Gracen, the 15th largest corporation in the world, and proceeds to charm, lie, blackmail, intimidate and murder his way up through the ranks, while narrating his story in passages of motivational babble (”What you didn�t win today, you�ll win tomorrow,” “The important thing to remember in business is that what may seem like a calamity may turn out to be an opportunity”).”

PEOPLE MAGAZINE
“REFRESHINGLY CRUEL, FOX�S PROFIT, a prime-time soap about corporate skullduggery, is the most exciting new show I�ve seen so far this year. This hour-long series (launching with a special two-hour movie on Mon., April 8, at 8 p.m. ET, an hour before its regular slot) is perfect for an age of downsizing conglomerates and incredible shrinking employees. Watching Profit is like visiting a hive in crisis. The bees prowl the honeycombs of power, buzzing with anger, stingers at the ready. Adrian Pasdar plays Jim Profit, an ambitious young executive, newly hired at a fictional FORTUNE 100 company called Gracen & Gracen, the exact business of which is kept nebulous, almost abstract. Profit, who has his eye on the chief of acquisitions job, swings up the rungs of the corporate ladder with unnerving ease. He does this by scrupulously abandoning all principle. He breaks into computer files, blackmails his assistant, and discreetly murders one major obstacle. None of this is meant to be terribly plausible, but in the four hours I�ve seen, the complications click into place with satisfying precision. Adding a special, nasty kick is the damp perversion just beneath the gleaming office interiors. Why does Profit, padding around in the nude in his apartment at night, disappear into a secret compartment? We soon learn that this has something to do with his nightmarish childhood and that his drive for power is a case of psychological overcompensation. In fact most people in this show seem hardly more than a few baby steps from a breakdown. Joanne Meltzer (Lisa Zane), the corporate-security chief, intuits how dangerous Profit is after a single encounter, but her own traumatic memories keep burbling up and throwing her off track. Profit should make a star of Pasdar, a 30-year-old actor probably best known for his role as a grungy vampire in the 1987 cult movie NEAR DARK. There are times when his sexy, coldly robotic performance feels too familiar: It�s the same suave-creep number that�s Kyle MacLachlan�s specialty. What I like, though, is that Pasdar doesn�t play the role with the inner smile that lets you know he enjoys being bad. He�s nothing like Ian Richardson as Prime Minister Francis Urquhart in PBS�s The Final Cut. Urquhart destroyed careers with a chipper briskness that seemed recreational. Pasdar whispers his lines with a deadness that has none of the fun of deadpan. You don�t root for Profit. You don�t like him. Yet you watch. He has a sick integrity.”

NEWS-TIMES 5/6/96
“For a show with a uniquely intelligent sensibility that needed time to grow, this was hardly a level playing field. Not a smart move by Fox. �We certainly have come to an unexpected bump, PROFIT producer John McNamara said from Los Angeles on Thursday. McNamara created/executive produces PROFIT with partner David Greenwalt, and Steven Cannell. `Yeah, I won�t sugarcoat it - Adrian is really upset and depressed,�� McNamara said. `But he�s savvy, he knows that a 6 share (percentage of TV sets in use at the time, compared to a 30 share for `The Beast�) is bad.� In fact, McNamara and Greenwalt devised a five-year plan for PROFIT, much like a five-year corporate strategy. Now that five-year plan may already be passe, despite PROFIT�S� clear status as a really insider cult hit.`This show already has a weird life to it,�� McNamara said. �There�s this president at ABC - no, not (entertainment chief) Ted Harbert - who always asks me to slip him episodes he�s missed.� In the meantime, all those addicted to PROFIT�S savagely smart brand of intrigue and humor can support the series by writing John Matoian, Fox Broadcasting Company, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills Calif. 90213, or by e-mailing the Fox website at http://www.foxworld.com.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 4/12/96
“The drama, which airs Monday nights at 9 ET, stars Adrian Pasdar as an up-and-coming executive who will use any tactic - burglary, blackmail, incest or suicide - to get to the top. And amazingly, nearly all the Whos in Whoville think Profit is basically a caring, well-adjusted, harmless guy. �True,� says Pasdar, �Profit�s a villain. But he�s not a villain in the traditional sense. Watching Profit,�� the actor says, `is like peering into a fishbowl and watching a piranha at work.� And while Profit exudes evil on the screen, he isn�t violent - at least within camera range. `There�s really no violence to speak of,�� says Pasdar. `The show is more of a mental thriller, which I think audiences are kind of ready for - they�ve been talked down to for so many years, and just handed the base materials in terms of viewing pleasure. It�s really been slim pickings, and I think the time has arrived for an intelligent show that deals with the mind and the webs that it is capable of spinning.� Pasdar, a 30-year-old New Yorker, has so far carved his eclectic career from film - commercial and independent features - as well as public broadcasting and cable. Now, the question is, will PROFIT be something viewers find intriguing? Pasdar, for one, is anxious to find out. �I�m not saying our show is any better than anything else anybody�s put out there,� he says. `I personally find it much more interesting. But, I could be in my own little box on that one - so to speak.���

ENTERTAINMENT 4/25/97
Cancellation denied audiences the best episodes
LOS ANGELES - “When PROFIT was canceled last year, �everybody was set back about 10 paces,� says the series� star Adrian Pasdar. �Everybody around town was rooting for it to continue because it would have opened a new door for television,� he explains. Instead, three episodes barely gave audiences a taste of what the series was. �If you thought the first three were good, you should have seen the last four,� Pasdar says. �They were just phenomenal. Once it�s axed, there�s no way to reattach the head, you know?� Pasdar says. �Every single person who was on that show was essential. That�s what made it so special. Folks who didn�t normally watch network television tuned in to PROFIT,� Pasdar says. He got a ton of mail while the show was on. He continues to hear from those who �thought it was something most people weren�t ready for. They felt privileged. It was kind of a secular audience…an intelligent audience. You do the best you can do and you hope the people who are in charge get behind it,� Pasdar says. If that doesn�t happen no amount of critical acclaim can save a series. While the creative community may have mourned the series� passing, Pasdar had no problem getting other work. He signed for a role in CBS� “Feds” and commiserated with others who have had trouble keeping good shows on television - “Homefront�s” John Slattery, “Molly Dodd�s” Blair Brown and “Murder One�s” Dylan Baker. �We�ve all been in shows that could have gone, should have gone and didn�t go,� Pasdar says. The trick is finding a quality vehicle with an experienced driver at the wheel. Dick Wolf, who produces “Law & Order” and “New York Undercover,” among other shows, has considerable experience dealing with network executives. McNamara and David Greenwalt, PROFIT�S men, did not. Still, Pasdar says, they were the reason his series was so good. �The writing was so good all I had to do was put on a suit and smile a little bit. If you find something that is written so well, the less is more school of thought is best. The scripts were always tight, the atmosphere, the energy driving it was just so clear that there was no line between the producer and director. It was a very communal effort on every front.� Although Pasdar enjoys his work on FEDS, he knows it doesn�t come close to what he did on PROFIT. The Fox series “made audiences think a little bit. It put them on the edge of their seats and it was responsible television. �Nothing will ever be able to duplicate the experience I had on PROFIT. (With FEDS) �I didn�t expect or try to come close to that experience it was just so precious.� Still, that best work has yet to be seen. Until it�s released elsewhere, PROFIT languishes in an office somewhere, a testament to what television could have aired but didn�t. �You can question why it was canceled all you want,� Pasdar says. �But ultimately, you put your hands up in the air and chalk this one up to I don�t know what happens.� Sometimes, what happens in Hollywood defies explanation.”

CONTRA COSTA (CALIF.) TIMES 4/4/96
“On PROFIT, that role is played by Adrian Pasdar, as Jim Profit, cutthroat businessman. He�s about 10 crimes shy of Satan, and you get the feeling he�s heading south with each episode. It�s one of the juiciest, most outrageous characters to hit television in some time. Of course, Fox is gambling that evil personified, with a nice smile, athletic body and ultra good-guy demeanor, won�t turn people off. And the network is certainly rolling the dice with Mr. Jim Profit. There is no in-between here. You hate him or you love him. He is so patently nasty some people will surely snap off the set. Don�t. Wait him out. Pasdar (who has been in everything from TOP GUN to NEAR DARK, and CARLITO�S WAY), is excellent. He oozes charm and menace in equal parts. It�s a triumphant portrayal.”

PUBLIC NEWS
BY TODD WOLF
“An expert at evaluating and manipulating his fellow workers (he�s the people person from Hell), Profit senses weakness and knows how to exploit it. He�s also a “master of cyberspace,” which on this show means he has access to just about every person on Earth�s personal history from financial records to dental X-rays. Profit spends much of each episode in a secret room, completely naked and staring at a computer screen, wandering the virtual world in his relentless quest for information. While Profit�s ambition is naked and acknowledged, his true goals at G & G remain unclear. Is he on a quest to run the company or to bring it down? What is the source of his obsession? And, perhaps most intriguing, does his naked butt stick to his chair when he stands up?”

HOUSTON JOURNAL 4/5/96
“Every once in a while the audience is going to be taken aback and say, �Oh, my God, I don�t want to admire this guy,� McNamara says. �But then every once in a while they�re going to be seduced.� Adrian Pasdar, best known for work in STREETS OF GOLD and CARLITO�S WAY, plays Profit with a blend of oil and vinegar. �There�s a certain admirability to his actions,� Pasdar says. Say what you will about his methods but Profit �does show undying devotion to the company. There are a lot of admirable traits that he has - if you can strip away what people would term immoral acts. He wears his behavior on his sleeve. He doesn�t lie about it. He just goes and does his thing.� Pasdar compares Profit�s plight to that of a comic book character. �Just when you think he�s about to be flipped on his back, he comes through. The voice-overs provide an opportunity for wry comment on a situation. If it�s accepted as a cartoon, to a degree, there�s an element of fun that can be had between Profit and the audience. The fun,� Pasdar adds, �enters in when audiences relate to the activity.� PROFIT may not be a true picture of corporate America. But it�s everything a downsized nation fears it might be.”

Alison Down speaks her mind
From LA Times by Kate O�Hare
Although the handsome Pasdar tones down his looks on the show with stubble and rumpled clothing, questions have come up about any possible romances between Declan and either Peggy or Miranda.Says Down, “I don�t know that there�s going to be any romance. Right now, there�s a great friendship that Declan shares with Miranda, and there�s a great friendship that Declan shares with Peggy. I honestly don�t know what the writers have in store for them, but right now, where things are, the friendship level, is a good place.
“It would look strange if, all of a sudden, Declan and Peggy were holding hands down the street. It would be a very different show. It�s good to have that mystery there.” What does Miranda think of the impulsive, enthusiastic Declan? “There�s a deep respect for each other there, even if I think sometimes Miranda gets a little frustrated with Declan, because Declan�s like, �OK, then we gotta do this … OK, and you�re doing this.� Miranda�s like, �OK, but I have school.� I like the banter that they have and the chemistry. It�s a unique relationship, and half the time, I don�t know what to think of Declan, so that must translate into Miranda. “I think Miranda sees Declan in the same way I see Adrian — as a brother and a friend.” As with any sibling, patience is required. “She�s very patient,” says Down. “At the same time, with all of Declan�s goofiness, he�s a very wise soul. He�s constantly asking questions, constantly saying, �We have to look deeper than the surface here.� That makes a remarkable human being.” Down also disputes the notion Declan is a geek. “I disagree. I don�t think it�s geekiness at all. It is so special and wonderful. He�s like, �Hey, I love life, and I have questions that I want answers to, so I�m going to answer them.� But in society, we walk around with these questions, but rarely do we look for the answers, and rarely do we find them. We just go along and say, �OK, I have a lot of questions, and I�ll never get them answered.�”
Well, why not? Some of them can be answered, and some do remain a mystery. But why not look beyond that to find out what that is?” Declan investigates phenomena ranging from weird coincidences to bleeding church windows to after-death visitations. “It causes me to believe more,” Down says of the show�s subject matter. “I�m of the opinion that there�s more out there than we perceive, and that we�re stronger than we think we are as human beings.”With each show, it solidifies that belief, and it really does awaken curiosity in me, that there is more out there, and strange things do happen, but they can be good.”
Miranda spends a lot of time preventing Declan from causing disasters, and apparently that�s often Down�s job as well. “Adrian�s really clumsy,” she says. “He�ll be playing with a prop, and I�ll be like, �I�ll just take that away, and maybe I�ll put it over here.� He was playing with a sharp thing one time, and I�m like, �Adrian, don�t play with that. What are you doing?� He�s like, �What? I can play with it.� And of course, he cut himself. I said, �See, that�s why I said not to play with it.�”

Working With Adrian by Bill Marchant
I don�t want to spoil the surprises of “Intentions” but I think that I can tell you a bit about the show. I play a troubled man under the psychiatric care of Peggy, who commits suicide then returns to haunt her, trying to relay a message from beyond. One twist in this episode is that Declan is the one who is skeptical of the sightings, while Peggy is rocked from her usual reticent stance. The woman who plays my wife is Gabrielle Rose, who was brilliant in the film “The Sweet Hereafter” and Shane Meier played my son. I believe he played the son of Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven”. The shoot was a blast. The cast and crew were a friendly bunch and a joy to work with. Shooting episodic television is always a bit stressful, long days of fast and furious shooting, but apart from the odd tense moment, all was smooth and frankly quite playful. At the centre of the fun, is usually none other than Adrian Pasdar. He is always quick with a joke and eager to make the guest actors feel comfortable and welcome on the set. Though a quick wit and a bit of a prankster, when it comes to the actor�s work he is focussed and professional, constantly looking for ways to make the scenes have more impact and develop the characters into three dimensional people that the audience will truly care about. I wouldn�t hesitate at the opportunity to work with him again. The crew talks behind his back. Alot!! And every word of it is praise, extolling his virtues as an actor and a man of great humanity. Apparently, his warmth and kindness are legendary. I can only concur. In the episode, only Peggy can see my character, so I have only one scene with Adrian, but I made sure to observe his work in other scenes, to watch the process of a true pro. He makes it look so easy. Rae Dawn Chong and Alisen Down were both a pleasure to work with too. Rae Dawn is very warm and open, and very savvy in front of the camera. Years of experience give her a sense of ease and grace on set that is rare, and certainly a great learning experience for me. The director Rick Stevenson was an actor�s dream, allowing me to take chances and fully investigate the character. If anybody was hoping for some dirt, they�re watching the wrong show. In my years in the biz, I have never had a more pleasant working experience. I hope to come back next season as another character. Big love to all the fans. Keep the letters rolling in.

Focus On…Sarah Brown
Soap Opera Weekly— August 21, 2001
Sarah Brown�s experience portraying an impulsive woman came in handy when she filmed the role of Emma Shepard, a reporter investigating the paranormal, for a three-episode arc on NBC�s Mysterious Ways, beginning October 16th.”Emma acts in a spontaneous manner that may not be her best judgment. She opens her mouth wide enough to get both feet in,” Brown reveals. “I tried different things to shake it up and make her more adventurous. There�s one particular scene where I kick in a door and have this Charlie�s Angels moment.” While investigating her story, Emma becomes romantically involved with the show�s lead character, Declan Dunn, played by Adrian Pasdar. “Declan and Emma put their brains together to solve the mystery. The love story finally comes to fruition in the third episode to make viewers invest in their relationship,” Brown explains. “Adrian made it so easy for me to feel comfortable,” Brown adds. “Everyone was gracious and respectful. They gave me a standing ovation when I first arrived on the set. It�s a hard thing to walk on a show where you�ve got established lead characters.
“The pace of prime time was a factor that Brown had to adjust to quickly. “I�m used to going a million miles a minute,” Brown jokes. “There�s a lot more downtime (in prime time) to work on the material. I�m glad I did soaps as long as I did; it makes this stuff a lot easier.” Brown promises that viewers will see �flashes of Carly� in Emma. “You can�t play somebody for five years and not expect to see it seep into your personality. What I created on General Hospital came from who I am as a woman. There are parts of me that refuse to lay down to anybody.”

LIFE AFTER CARLEY
ABC Soaps In Depth - September 18, 2001
Sarah Brown, formerly of soap opera�s GENERAL HOSPITAL, recently made the switch to PAX�s MYSTERIOUS WAYS TV series. The actress was ready to open herself up to different roles. In no time, she had been cast as ambitious journalist Emma Shepard opposite Adrian Pasdar on Mysterious Ways, the PAX network�s X-Files/Touched By An Angel hybrid.
As her October 16 debut nears, Brown, signed for a three-and-possibly-more-episodes Mysterious Ways story arc, brought her former character, Carly, into a lot of auditions when she wasn�t right. Sarah Brown says her new character is very impulsive.
On Mysterious Ways, which chronicles the efforts of Declan Dunn (played by Pasdar) to prove that miracles truly happen, Brown adds chaos–and romance–to the mix. “Emma is a journalist who is constantly looking for that story that will give her that big break and get her a position as a hard news anchor,” she elaborates. “She�s very impulsive, which sometimes gets in the way.”
Emma meets Declan when he interrupts her during an on-air interview, and their attraction builds from there. “This is a fabulous gig,” enthuses the single mother of one daughter, Jordan, 3. “It�s a family show that kids can watch with their parents and then talk about, which is really appealing to me.
“Emma is the kind of reporter who will climb a barbed-wire fence or jump out of a helicopter to get the story,” Brown said of her Mysterious Ways character.
“Only someone as talented as Sarah could so easily become a part of our close-knit family,” marvels her Mysterious Ways leading man, Adrian Pasdar. “We�re all happy to have her around.”
Sarah says she received a “Welcome Wagon” her first day on the set. The assistant director announced, “This is Sarah Brown. She�s with us for a few episodes. Let�s give her a Canadian Mysterious Ways� welcome.” Then the entire cast and crew stood and gave her a round of applause.

Sarah Brown�s Leaving �GH� Isn�t So �Mysterious�Thu, Aug 2, 2001 02:25 PM PDT by Kate O�Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - This past spring, three-time Daytime Emmy winner Sarah Brown departed ABC�s “General Hospital,” seeking fresh challenges.To be on a primetime show was her wish. Brown got her wish, with a role on the PAX drama “Mysterious Ways,” which is currently in the midst of a summer run on NBC (which owns part of PAX). Brown makes her debut in “Child of Wonder,” airing Friday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m. ET, on NBC. She plays Emma Shepherd, an ambitious TV reporter who tumbles upon the story of a newborn baby with supposed healing powers.In investigating the story, she runs straight into anthropologist Declan Dunn (Adrian Pasdar), who spends his free time probing reports of miraculous phenomena. “When she first sees him,” says Brown, “she�s real annoyed with him. He�s just being curious and sweet and nosy, and she�s in the middle of a news story. He interrupts her news story, just thinking he can do that.”
“Although there�s an immediate attraction — because he�s a great-looking guy — even a great-looking guy can annoy you when you�re in the middle of business, and they step on your toes.” Emma sees the story as a career-maker, but Declan worries that her reporting could do some real damage. “He acts as her conscience,” says Brown. “At some point, she comes around, and that really endears him to her.” The meeting evolves into the beginnings of a romance, with Brown signed for a minimum of three episodes, with an option for as many as seven. Of course, the introduction of a new woman into the mix means issues for the women already in Declan�s life — his Goth-princess assistant, Miranda (Alisen Down), and his unofficial partner-in-crime, psychiatrist Peggy (Rae Dawn Chong). How does Peggy feel about Emma? “Oh,” says Chong, “hates her. She�s not sure. It�s like real friends — when the new boyfriend or girlfriend comes in, you�re not sure if they�re going to take your friend away from you. So Peggy�s all worried about that, I can tell you that much.”
“And she�s not sure what she feels about Declan. It�s really complicated.” How about Miranda? Says Chong, “Hates her. We think she�s icky. We don�t like her that much. We�re trying to, but it�s actually made us team up more.” “I�m just having a hard time with her. She seems to be showing up everywhere.”
———-
G�day Declan!
It looks as if Adrian Pasdar and the rest of the cast of Mysterious Ways will be hanging with the kangaroos if Lion�s Gate and PAX-TV get their way. The delay in committing to a third season has been confirmed as being caused by some negotiations to move the show�s shooting location from Vancouver to Australia. Hopefully, further negotiations will include a specific time off after so much filming because as a cast member put it, “Australia is so very far away.”

Adrian Ponders Heading Down Under, Waxes Mysterious and Natalie Just Gets Down
We�ve got an LA Times story that has Adrian talking about Mysterious Ways, it�s possible production move to Australia and his thoughts on the upcoming Dixie Chicks album. Here�s a highlight:”My family is my main concern, and PAX is going to have to come up with some big concessions if they want me to go to Australia — like adopting a schedule so that I�d work four weeks and then have two weeks off. Natalie and our son would fly there when she was free, and, well, I guess we�d have two households. I imagine a decision will be made within the next few weeks.”
Get the rest of the story and interview over on the Quotes page.

Good-Bye Mysterious Ways, Hello New Work
It is with great sadness that I announce that the Mysterious Ways TV show has been canceled. It is always sad to lose a friend and the show and cast has become that. Adrian was happy that at least the show went out on top.