Tonight on Three Rivers

[MarkPals]

The show is about a man who has ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) It will be interesting how he portrays a PALS, and im interested in the organ donating aspect. I have been told that they will take my brain and spinal cord for research, but they don't use PALS other organs. Any information out there about this beast has got to help. Most people don't have a clue what ALS is.

All the Best,
Mark

[Eileen]

Hi Mark,
I hope they do an honest portrayal so you are not annoyed at the distortions, but no matter what they show, it will never match up to your courage in dealing with all this!

[thehipcrip]

Portrayal of medical conditions in television/movies is always a double edged sword, isn't it? On the one hand, it's sure to increase awareness because it reaches a lot of people, a good number of who may never heard of the condition before. On the other hand, the writers tend to get it wrong as often as they get it right, so I'm not sure the increased awareness really adds any value when what's put out there is inaccurate.

I'm very eager to hear your review of how well Three Rivers does, Mark. Please do let us know what the reaction is from the PALS community. Like Eileen, I'm hoping that they do well.

Side question: Do you know if the actor playing the PALS really has ALS, and does it matter to you? There was a discussion here recently about the fact that the actor who plays paraplegic Arnie in Glee is really AB, which didn't sit well with some CC members. As a strong advocate in the ALS world, I'm curious about your thoughts on the topic.

[MarkPals]

Thanks for your kind words, Eileen, but I am really a wuss.

HC, the guy playing the role is Mandy Patinkin, and as I understand it he does have Parkinson's Disease, but not ALS. I am not aware of any actor who has ALS who is still alive. I think it would be difficult to use a PALS because of constant changes brought on by progression. Some go slower than another, but you can see changes daily.

One thing that is weird about Patinkin, is that my dad (who also had ALS) worked on two shows with him. Dad was a musician and he was in the pit for "Evita" in San Francisco, and "Sunday in the Park with George" in NYC. He used to be in "Criminal Minds".

[thehipcrip]

Wow, Mark, I'm pretty blown away by your Dad being in the orchestra for the Broadway run of Evita with Mandy Patinkin. I played in pit orchestras throughout high school and loved it -- I'm boggled by the experiences your Dad must have had. What instrument did he play?

I missed the show, darn it, my body demanded I be elsewhere.

How was it, both in terms of storyline and Patinkin's portrayal? I hope he did the role justice -- I'm a huge fan of his (his best non-musical role was Rube on Dead Like Me) and would be really bummed if he blew it.