Former “CSI” star Marg Helgenberger and TV acting/directing vet Eriq La Salle will find themselves stuck “Under the Dome” June 25 when the CBS summer series returns with its two-hour Season 3 premiere.
Both Helgenberger and La Salle bring a wealth of experience to the drama — and also a connection to “ER.” LaSalle co-starred on the long-running NBC medical drama as Dr. Peter Benton while, in 1996, Helgenberger played Karen Hines, the girlfriend of Dr. Doug Ross (George Clooney).
(Another “ER” alum, Sherry Stringfield, who played Dr. Susan Lewis, was featured on Season 2 of “Under the Dome” as Pauline Verdreaux Rennie.)
“We’re bringing on Marg as Christine Price … and she wreaks havoc in Chester’s Mill,” says “Dome” executive producer Neal Baer, alluding to the town trapped beneath the show’s titular dome for two full seasons now. “It’s really great to see Marg in a different role. I worked with her in my first writing job on ‘China Beach.’
“And we’re thrilled to have Eriq La Salle, who’s directing and acting in four episodes as a new character [Hektor Martin] who holds the key to understanding the dome.”
The “dome,” of course, is the massive, mysterious, indestructible structure that has cut off the citizens of Chester’s Mill from civilization.
The series, adapted from Stephen King’s 2009 novel (Helgenberger’s “Christine” is a nod to King’s 1983 novel/movie), has performed well for CBS, averaging around 9 million viewers with an ensemble cast including Dean Norris (Hank from “Breaking Bad”), Mike Vogel, Eddie Cahill, Rachel Lefevre and Grace Victoria Cox.
(Season One averaged 11 million viewers; that dropped to 7 million last season.)
“We left off with Barbie (Vogel) leaving the townspeople to a bright light and possibly going home — at least that’s what Melanie (Cox) said to him before she was sucked back into the tunnels,” says Baer. “This season … will be pivotal, because we’ll answer the question early on: why is the dome there, how did it get there and how they can possibly get it down?
“I think fans like to have the mystery, but they also do like to have the mystery solved at some point,” he says. “So we’ll solve some mysteries — only to produce some new ones.”
And Baer says there’s already a plan in place if “Under the Dome” is renewed for a fourth season.
“It was always the plan to continue the struggles of Chester’s Mill,” he says, “but whether that plan gets put into action I can’t say.”
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