THE ROOKIE

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Nathan Fillion took a trip down memory lane when it was pointed out to him that he has been on TV, in one form or another ...

You have to have a great idea to get a show out there, to get a show made, and put it on the air. I see for myself, in the future, what I like to call a soft retirement, where I don’t have to live in L.A. And if they need me to come in and play the new young guy’s dad, they call me up, and I’ll come in for two days of work, and then fly back home, you know what I mean? “Our goal wasn’t, if you have THE ROOKIE in your title, it’s kind of a cookie-cutter thing, and this is how it’s going to be. I was really scratching the bottom of the barrel – I was beyond the bottom of the barrel.” There was a silver lining for Fillion, though. “Well, there were a couple of periods in there that were a little drier than others,” said the veteran Canadian actor, who currently is the star of CTV’s As for John Nolan, probably one of the oddest things was when he found a fella in the backyard making a homemade rocket. It’s simply another show in the same universe.” Meanwhile, the journey for Los Angeles Police Officer John Nolan – Fillion’s character on THE ROOKIE, and occasionally in crossover episodes on THE ROOKIE: FEDS – continues. And I think THE ROOKIE: FEDS is very strong in that department. “Our goal was not to make two shows that were identical,” said Fillion, who also is an executive producer on both THE ROOKIE and THE ROOKIE: FEDS. By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Nathan Fillion took a trip down memory lane when it was pointed out to him that he has been on TV, in one form or another and on a very consistent basis, since about 1993. But to your point, though, yes, there are times when people mention a project I was in, and I say, ‘Oh my god, yeah, I forgot about that.’ ” There’s no forgetting THE ROOKIE, which is in the midst of its fifth season, with another new episode airing Tuesday, Jan.