New Midweek Slot Bails Out `JAG'

Since he made the pilot for NBC's "JAG" last year, actor David JamesElliott has worked hard to fit his uniform.

"I have about six Navy manuals, and the odd thing is, I readthem," he joked.

On "JAG," 7 p.m. Wednesdays on Channel 5, Elliott plays Lt.Harmon Rabb, a lawyer, with Tracey Needham ("Life Goes On") as Lt.Meg Austin, a lawyer and computerized-weapons specialist.Both characters belong to the Navy's Judge Advocate GeneralCorps. Members of that group serve as investigators, prosecutors anddefense attorneys, but Rabb and Austin stretch the job descriptionfor TV, solving murders, tracking spies and settling internationaldisputes.Although "JAG" has evolved into a solid military-mystery seriesduring its first year, it has earned mediocre ratings, had tooverhaul its cast and switched nights. Lost at sea on Saturdaysuntil mid-March, "JAG" has gained more than 5 million new viewerssince moving to midweek last month.In effect, each "JAG" episode is like an hourlong Tom Clancymovie, with a price tag to match.The show is filled with splashy footage culled from militarytraining films and Hollywood studios' B-rolls, carefully adapted withcomputers. These clips are approved by the show's executiveproducer, Don Bellisario ("Magnum P.I.," "Quantum Leap"), whoestimated that each episode costs close to $2 million.The series, made to resemble the real Navy JAG Corps., employs aformer Navy man as a technical adviser, but the U.S. Navy wouldn'ttouch the show initially. Since then the Navy has conceded the useof certain film footage."JAG" is filmed all over California, Elliott said. And thescripts try to keep pace with world news. One episode drew an eerieparallel to the February downing of two American planes near Cuba,and others keep up with changes in Bosnia. "We are surfing the crestof history as it happens," he said.