Whenever I bring guests to set, there is always one thing that amazes them more than anything else: the food. Scratch that. Two things. First, they comment on how the ladies of the show are even more striking in person... then they comment on the food. There's lots of food on set.
Every day, there are two meals prepared by catering. For breakfast, our caterer Hannah makes made-to-order plates from the catering truck as well as an omelet bar, some sort of hot entrée, and an assortment of rolls, cereals, etc;. Even while the crew eats breakfast, they are already working toward the lunch that will be served seven hours later. Lunch is cafeteria-style with different meat options, a fish, sides, pastas and salad bars.
In addition, two "snacks" are served. There is one between breakfast and lunch, and one five hours after lunch (the crew works very long days on set). The crew works 14 hour days — and sometimes much more. It's necessary to keep them fueled. I however work at a desk in the office and luckily only get to take advantage of this when they shoot here on the set, not when they're out on location. If it were a daily option, they would wheel me out of here at the end of the season. In all honesty I do gain a sweet 10 to 15 pounds over the season and then lose it over hiatus when I'm back to trying to feed myself on an assistant's salary.
How the cast members eat is unique to each of them. Matthew Gubler always has a random smattering of items that he picks at with his left-handed grip. Very artistic. Also, he's a big fan of Jell-o. A.J. Cook is a light eater, tends to stick with salads. Thomas Gibson, an off-season resident of San Antonio, seems to enjoy when we have our Mexican fiesta days. Last time, he put in a plea for verde enchiladas (I second that). Paget Brewster is a mystery to me. That's a nice way of saying that I sit across the room from her during our lunch table-reads and have never noticed what she eats.
As a true do-gooder, Kirsten Vangsness brings her own tray to lunch every day. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Also, she's kind to the animals of the world as she is a vegetarian. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be Joe Mantegna. For Joe, salad is something that comes before the meal. In fact, he even owns a Chicago-style restaurant in Burbank that caters on set from time to time. Their deep-dish pizza is the real deal and doesn't skimp on the meat and cheese. According to Joe and our executive producer Ed Bernero, there are no vegetables in the greater Chicago area unless you count pickles. That of course leaves Shemar Moore who I'm sure is fed some sort of tablet from a lab in Sweden that insures soft skin and zero body fat. I wonder if it's the same one I use.
Couple random notes to hold you over til next week:
• Last week Criminal Minds finished No. 1 on the night in total viewers. Quite a jump from last week. However, if you read my last blog, I think you saw it coming. Everyone here is very happy with the news. Someone from the network actually called over a few minutes ago to tell us we finished No. 10 on the week. Hey, we're a Top 10 Hit! In the day and age of so much reality TV, it feels like quite an accomplishment.
• A little tease for things to come: I saw some of the dailies today for the episode we are currently shooting. You may have heard that Frankie Muniz was cast in this episode. Well, it looks like it's going to be a great episode. Whenever I hear a celebrity is going to be a guest star on a procedural show, it's always a little bit of a letdown because you instantly assume he or she is going to be the guilty party in the end, ruining the discovery. Well, this one is different and full of great surprises. Not to be missed.
• Speaking of not-to-be-missed, this weeks episode is titled "Scared to Death." It's written by the writing team of Deb Fisher and Erica Messer. If you saw them on the street, you'd think they were a couple sweet women with nothing bad up their sleeves. Wrong. They consistently write scary, twisted episodes. Seriously, the fact that it comes from them scares me even more. It's just not right. This episode's no different as it preys on fears we all have. Try to keep your eyes open.
'Til next week, keep profiling....
CBS' Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET.
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