Perhaps the only person taken aback more by the situation than Jordan was her portrayer. "What's funny is there were a lot of rumors going around about this episode for over a month before I actually got a script," Hennessy tells TVGuide.com. One example of the taunting she endured along the way: "Allan Arkush, one of our executive producers, walked past me on the set one day and said, 'Oh, boy, are you in for it! You have no idea.' I said, 'Tell me, Allan! Tell me!'"
But Arkush kept mum. Ultimately, "when I finally got my hot little hands on that hot little script," Hennessy relates, "it was a total page-turner. I'm always dying to see what they're going to do, and from the get-go, the opening scene of this episode, you saw it could go so many different places. What happens to Jordan? What becomes of her emotional state?
"They also left it wide open," she continues, "for the possibility of what I hope will be movement into more of the political type of story lines."
As evidenced by...?
"Jordan actually ends up in Washington at the end of the episode," the actress reveals, "and the audience has no idea what she's up to. But we are left with the feeling that she's going to try to figure out who is after her and who actually murdered Pollack."
Maybe Woody's lady friend, Lu, got crazed with jealousy and sought to snuff the competition, we suggest. "That'd be fascinating," Hennessy chuckles. Trying again, we propose that one of the hotties from sister show Las Vegas secretly crossed over again to frame the good Dr. Cavanaugh. "That's also a possibility," she says, politely pandering.
The allure of "possibility" is precisely what has the Crossing Jordan star excitedly looking forward to perhaps 100 more outings. "I'm open to anything," she professes. "We could literally go anywhere at this point, and I think the writers are ready to do that. I've already heard some possibilities about plotlines of next season. [NBC renewed Crossing Jordan last week.] We really have no boundaries left."
Ruminating over 200, even 100, episodes at one time was almost unimaginable for Hennessy, as she thinks back to her first days promoting Jordan's premiere. "At one of the first upfronts I went to, a couple of people said to me, 'So, a female coroner show. How long do you think that's going to last?'" she recalls. "And in that first season we were the No. 1 new show, which a lot of people forget. Our show hit hard, and thank goodness we had that core audience because we've been up against a lot of stiff competition."
Why did it strike a nerve the way it did? Recounting her initial attraction to the series, Hennessy says, "I hoped that people would respond to [creator] Tim Kring's characters, which to me were so appealing and unique and original." So unique and original that others couldn't help but copy. "Since Tim created the show five years ago, there have been so many other shows that have come on and been heralded for these great 'original' ideas, and I'm thinking, 'Um, we did that five years ago.'
"We had an original concept combined with great forensic story lines, which are more popular now," she says, adding to her praise for the show. "And the characters are so well drawn and funny — they don't take themselves too seriously. As an actor, it's more fun to play that than be forced to spout purely technical dialogue every episode."
Flashing forward to the very recent past, Hennessy shares how the night after she wrapped her work on the finale, she hit an audition, then returned to the set to shower the cast and crew with vino. "They were still working, god bless them, so I was the only one semi-inebriated," she reports with a throaty laugh. "And just so you know, I was not on the clock as an official Universal [Television] employee at the time, so I think I was safe!"

TVGuide.com: I'm debating here whether to run a pic of you from the movie, or...Marion Ross: Run one where I look nice.
TVGuide.com: That's what I was thinking — with your trademark red hair and all.Ross: Yes! I don't mind playing these old parts, because they're such wonderful stories, but let's not dwell on it! Every day I look as fabulous as I can, obviously. [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Still being a robust and lively woman, are you ever reluctant to play the doddering, frail grandma?Ross: No, not at all. We, as actors, never even think of it. We never think of it until we see the film, and then we think, "Oh...." But this was a good script and a good story! The word Hallmark itself means quality. Tell me one other place we can go for that?
TVGuide.com: Plus, that Clyde can be sharp as a tack.Ross: I like her. [Screenwriter] Rex McGee in Texas wrote this about a real person, although I'm sure she was even peppier than I am and used more idiomatic phrases. You know the way those Texas people talk.
TVGuide.com: Given your Happy Days past, I had to chuckle at the grandson's name being Richie — though your character, ironically, refuses to call him that.Ross: [Laughs] That was his name all along. I didn't put that in there! But doesn't Frank play a wonderful sleazy guy? You just don't trust him!
TVGuide.com: What would you say the moral of this film's story is?Ross: People who have driven everybody away tend to find each other. It's a love story in the sense that these are two people who need each other badly. It's a really sweet film set in this small town where people all look out for one another. That's something we don't have in the big city. I love Keith Carradine's part [as the sheriff], where he just quietly looks after everybody. And Paul Michael, that's my real beau [playing Clyde's gentleman caller], you know. How it all came about was I was down in Marion, Illinois — because I am the spokeswoman for Marion, Illinois....
TVGuide.com: As you should be.Ross: As I should be. So I'm speaking to this college actors' class and my phone rang. I joked, "Oh, it's my agent" — and it was! He said, "Do you want to do this Hallmark film? And do you think Paul would do it also?" I said, "Of course we would do it." I then turned to the class and said, "See how easy it is, this showbiz?" [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Tell me about your pilot for the fall, Community Service, starring Jay Mohr.Ross: Jay plays a scalawag who goes to this Ohio town to follow this girl that he wants to win back, and he gets stuck there doing 500 hours of community service. He then tries to woo the girl back amidst having all these adventures. I play this kind of "babe" who has her eye on Jay. I'm drinking tequila, licking the salt off my hand, when I say to him, "Why don't you just move in with me?" [Laughs] Each week, as he does his community service, he'll have a different thing he has to do — while he lives with this wild woman!
TVGuide.com: How much did you enjoy guest-starring recently on Henry Winkler's Out of Practice?Ross: It was so sweet to be with Henry and to be at [the] Paramount [lot]. The two of us, we just beam at each other all the time. I was devastated when they dropped his show. They just don't give you a chance anymore. In the old days... nobody was looking at Happy Days for certainly the first six months. I mean, look at Seinfeld, too. Many, many shows have that kind of history. Acting is interacting, how we respond to one another — Marion in Happy Days was the way she was because Howard was the way he was. Harold Gould was the father on Love, American Style [from which Happy Days was spun off], and it was whole different chemistry.
TVGuide.com: Garry Marshall's book Wake Me When It's Funny offers great trivia about Happy Days, like how Fonzie couldn't wear a leather jacket unless there was a motorcycle in the scene, and how poor Chuck, the older brother, had to vanish.Ross: Poor Chuck. [Laughs] Tom Bosley and I used to make jokes about that. Once we were shooting in Malibu, pretending to be in Hawaii, and Tom says, "Don't look now, but I think I see Chuck."
TVGuide.com: Garry says they dropped Chuck because Fonzie needed to be the "big brother" character.Ross: Yes. Whenever you see a pilot script, you have to remember that the show is going to grow and change as the writers get to know the characters. You never know which part is going to walk off and take care of the whole show.
TVGuide.com: Is it true that Henry Winkler sends you flowers each time you do a stage show?Ross: Yes, he does. It's very darling. And then the rest of the cast will say, "Can I have the vase Fonzie gave you?"
TVGuide.com: You also must be proud of your "son," Ron Howard.Ross: He's got a big week coming up. He'll be going to Cannes [for the world premiere of The Da Vinci Code]. That's the way to go to Cannes, as king of the world!
TVGuide.com: I had no idea you voiced SpongeBob's grandma; I'll have to tell my sons I spoke to "her." What kind of dialogue do you get?Ross: Oh, she's terribly dear. She'll say, "I'm going to give Patrick the cookies because SpongeBob doesn't want to be kissed anymore by Grandma. He's too big for that." Your sons will probably get the same way — "Dad, don't kiss me!" Tell them SpongeBob's grandma says hello. They'll be very impressed.
TVGuide.com: Tom Bosley played Rex to your Bree in a TV Land Awards Desperate Housewives skit. Did your characters get "frisky"?Ross: You know what I did do? American Dad asked if I wanted to do an episode — and I didn't know that show advised parental supervision — so I said, "Oh sure, and no, I don't need to see the script." Well, the premise was the son was going to a camp where his father went 25 years ago, and the sweet old couple running it had fallen on hard times and turned it into a sex camp. So I'm this dominatrix and Tom is this old guy.... [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: I loved the "milk mustache" ad with you, Shirley Jones and Florence Henderson. Any good anecdotes from that shoot? Any diva antics to report?Ross: Oh, no... no. What was fun was that the crew would stand around in like a horseshoe and just beam at us.
TVGuide.com: Beaming from fans is good.Ross: Oh, yes. I'm always tempted to keep a diary to see how many times a day somebody comes up to say, "Oh, I love you!" It's pretty nice. I have fun with my life.

TVGuide.com: What has reaction been like since your elimination episode aired?Courtney Marit: My family is proud of me. I did the best I could and they've [provided] full support. I got a barrage of calls from my friends. I live in an artists community — we're all artists or performers or DJs — and I really wanted to win for all of us. I know I shouldn't put it on my shoulders, but I felt like I didn't just lose. I lost for my whole tribe of friends.
TVGuide.com: Although you seemed quite shocked at the vote, in light of recent tribal events, didn't you somehow believe you would be saying goodbye?Courtney: I should have seen it coming. I just wish I had kept my cool with Danielle and not made a bond with Terry. I was thinking too much about [with whom] and how I'm going to get to the final two, versus, "Hey, I'm in sixth. How am I going to get to five?"
TVGuide.com: Did you have a strategy going into the game or did you develop one as you saw it unfold?Courtney: My strategy was pretty simple: to project myself through alliances, do my best, try to be there for everyone, and bring some fun and light. In some aspects I [succeeded], and in others, I was a little feisty. Or as Cirie called me, "saucy."
TVGuide.com: During last week's episode, Cirie clearly articulated — in an aside to viewers — her desire to send you packing. Did you catch wind of her feelings of disapproval? Courtney: She just feared my going to the final two, but I think it was a mistake. I would have been better going in her pocket than Aras. But they had a closer relationship.
TVGuide.com: We saw a somewhat-heated spat between you and Danielle in regards to your respective views on how the final two should be determined. Courtney: [The scene that aired] was just the beginning of when our relationship started having a bit of rockiness, but I don't think it was enough for her to betray me in the way that she did. She was my friend out there, like, "Yeah, you're going to come out to Hollywood and we'll party." Well, sorry, baby — you can stay in Florida all you want, 'cause my door ain't open for you! There are no grudges or anything [now]. It was a game and she was playing it.
TVGuide.com: The reward challenge in Episode 11 involved a question-and-answer session designed to reveal how tribe members felt about one another. You were pegged as the most annoying castaway. Now it's your turn to get the final say. Who mistakenly believes they are running the game at this point?Courtney: It seems like Cirie, fo' shizzle. And I can't believe it.
TVGuide.com: Who is the biggest poser?Courtney: Oh, you mean besides me? [Strikes model pose] I like to pose, it's fun! No, I'm so kidding. Aras is a bit confused. He says he's on this "spiritual path," and I know it's hard to stay true to, but hearing how conniving [he is] and how he talks... is very snakelike.
TVGuide.com: Who is the most annoying castaway still in the game?Courtney: Bruce and I really rubbed each other the wrong way. Aras getting on his soapbox and preaching his higher-than-thou talk got on my nerves. I had good and bad moments with everyone, although Danielle and I were pretty much on an even keel until that one day. I'm like a dream for a reality show. I deliver the drama, baby!
TVGuide.com: Were you satisfied with your on-screen portrayal?Courtney: No. There were tons of things in there they didn't show. They showed the negatives as much as they could. I did do annoying things, but I'm human. I wish they had shown more of the times where I was making people laugh and we were having a good time. I felt a little bit like the outsider, and I struggled a bit.
TVGuide.com: As part of the Casaya tribe, you had the opportunity to enjoy a handful of rewards. I've been anxious to hear about the Panamanian village BBQ, where your tribe spent the day with locals. Courtney: I'm a world traveler and I seek adventure and travel to learn about other cultures and their way of life, so that was probably the best moment out there. It made me so happy, I was grinning ear to ear! I speak fluent Spanish and interpreted for the whole tribe, but I can't believe they didn't show that. It's like, "Look, here's an American girl you guys think is an idiot who's fluent in Spanish and working [on her] Italian." When I left the island, the kids were grabbing and hugging me, and I was supershining in that moment.
TVGuide.com: As the fourth member of this season's jury, are there any specific conversations or interactions — positive or negative — that you will take with you to the final vote?Courtney: Well, I'm certainly not voting for anyone who backstabbed me, that's for damn sure! I want to vote for a person I think deserves it, someone who has worked hard and has some integrity. [My vote will go to] someone who will actually use the money in a good way, and not blow it on real estate or an empty vessel such as that. I was going to build a great nonprofit and do wonderful, giving things with the money, but I'm just going to have to make the million [dollars] on my own. And I'm going to.
TVGuide.com: Prior to doing Survivor, you already had quite a few stamps in your passport. How does Panama compare to other exotic locales you've visited?Courtney: I didn't experience Panama; I experienced Survivor, on an island, although I did get to go to the Panamanian village. I thought that the surroundings were beautiful.
TVGuide.com: What is the biggest thing you learned being on Survivor?Courtney: I learned the importance of listening to others and learned not to take people's judgments and insults personally. I am sensitive, have an open heart and I take things into my heart. [Such insults] weakened me. Starting with the verbal abuse from Shane in the beginning, it just chipped away at me. I was really, really ready for the game to be over. You make choices and you live with them. What you've got is what you've got — celebrate and make the most of it.
TVGuide.com: Are there any future reality-show stints on the horizon for you? Perhaps The Amazing Race would suit your penchant for traveling.Courtney: I don't think they'd put me on The Amazing Race, but I'd do another reality show. To be honest, I want to make some [money] and spread it throughout the world in a good way and try to inspire people in any way that I can.
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