LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY (TRANSCRIPT OF MARG’S INTERVIEW)
April 2, 2009
ABC
Regis: All right. She tracks down serial killers on CBS’ popular drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Please welcome, Marg Helgenberger!
Kelly: You look great, Marg. You look so gorgeous.
Marg: You too.
Kelly: So good to see you.
Marg: Thank you. So good to be here.
Regis: Marg used to be a weather girl at a station in what? Kearney…
Marg: Kearney, Nebraska.
Regis: Kearney, Nebraska. Yeah. Were you a pretty good weather girl?
Marg: No, I sucked. Excuse my language. (Everyone laughs)
Regis: But you had a lot going on there in Nebraska…snowstorms and tornadoes and…
Marg: Well, I was…I just did it for one summer and it was between semesters in college. I actually transferred then to Northwestern. And I was asked by somebody in my class…it was Interpretation of Drama…he said ‘we’re looking for a weekend person.’ And I went out, and I guess, auditioned, and I was bad. I was terrible!
Regis: But they gave it…
Marg: But I went like that (winks) to the lens and they liked that. They liked the wink at the lens and…
Kelly: Isn’t that funny? That’s the moment…
Marg: Yeah, that was it.
Regis: We have a little clip of you
Marg: In the weather…doing the weather?! (looks shocked)
Regis: Yes!
Kelly: No kidding. The wink?
Regis: It’s on YouTube. Take a look at this.
(weather clip is shown)
Marg laughs.
Kelly: Amazing…
Regis: It’s kind of fun!
Kelly: That’s amazing that somebody had that and was like ‘Oh wait a minute!’, you know…
Marg: That is amazing. It is. I actually had seen it recently, like maybe a few years ago, but I didn’t know it was on YouTube. Everything is on YouTube, right?
Regis: Oh sure. How’s your renovation coming along with your home out there in California?
Marg: Almost done!
Regis: Realy? It’s been a couple of years now, hasn’t it?
Marg: It has. Yes, it has been…it…they always tell you it’s going to be twice as long, twice as much…
Kelly: That’s right. Whatever they tell you, it’s twice that.
Marg: But it’s three or four times as long and three or four times as much money.
Regis: And three or four times as expensive too.
Marg: Yeah, exactly.
Kelly: But it will be worth it though. It’s so beautiful there.
Marg: Yes, it is. It’s a beautiful part of the city that I live in and it’s an old home. I love old homes, and I actually would never have thought of myself being like someone who likes to fix up old homes, but I’ve done three of them now so I guess I am one of those people.
Regis: Good for you.
Kelly: You have a knack for it.
Marg: I guess. Well, I have a knack for hiring the right people to help me out.
Regis: That’s good.
Kelly: There ya go. That’s what really matters.
Regis: So you were down in Washington for the President’s Inauguration, huh?
Marg: I was. Yes.
Regis: Exciting time.
Marg: Yeah, very special. Very special. I was…I had initially been invited by the American Legion to emcee their Medal of Honor event, which was one of the inaugural balls, which the Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest honor awards to soldiers, and…
Regis: Sure.
Marg: So there were several recipients there that evening and it was…I was very honored to be there, and I went to Walter Reed and visited a lot of patients there.
Regis: That’s something, isn’t it? We’ll have to hear…
Marg: Yeah.
Kelly: Changes your life – going there. Don’t you think?
Marg: Absolutely, yes. And I also went to an event with a lot of disabled vets. Everybody was just so amazingly…had such wonderful spirits and I didn’t…no one I spoke with seemed to have any regrets about their choices of going to…Iraq. Well, the guy at Walter Reed was in Iraq.
Regis: No, remarkably they don’t. They’re happy and would like to go back, as a matter of fact.
Marg: I know. Isn’t that amazing? I can’t…I know…There was one very young person – he was 20 or something, not much older than my son, and he said ‘Yes, ma’am. Yes ma’am.’ Of course, it’s all…’I can’t wait to go back there. It’s fun.’ As he’s rehabilitating his arm and hand…
Kelly: Well, they need, I think they need to be with their brothers and sisters that they’ve left behind maybe.
Marg: I think that’s a lot of it. There’s a real bonding that none of us that haven’t been in war can relate to.
Regis: So, what’s going on over there at CSI? How many years now?
Marg: Nine!
Regis: Nine. Nine years.
Kelly: 9 years?! (Audience claps). And always at the top of the ratings. Always.
Marg: Thank you. It’s still way up there. I think we’re still the number one scripted show.
Regis: Nine years, all of those episodes…have you ever not caught the guy?
(audience laughs)
Marg: Yes.
Regis: Really?
Marg: Yes.
Regis: Well, that’s really refreshing to hear.
Marg: Yes, there have been a few actually. Yes.
Regis: You mean, the show ends and there’s no one in cuffs or whatever.
Marg: He’s eluded us, yes.
Regis: Good!
Marg: It’s usually a serial killer that he tends to…
Regis: And does it go into a series of shows that eventually he gets caught?
Marg: Sometimes, yes. Sometimes.
Regis: I like the fact that not always do they catch the guy.
Marg: Right. And there’s actually been some that we have had the arc of the story but still haven’t found the guy.
Regis: Yeah, right.
Marg: He’s out there.
Regis: Good.
Marg: In Vegas…
Regis: I’m sorry he’s out there, but…
Kelly: The fans. They must write in constantly their theories when you have a big story arc with that kind of thing, right? The fans and their ideas?
Marg: I guess they do. I never go on those sites to…I think, I just can’t…I wouldn’t be able to handle all of the negative stuff because it seems like most people write a lot of negative stuff on those sites.
Regis: That’s all it’s about. You’d think they write…we have a- what do we have? Inbox? E-box? What is it? (Everyone laughs)
Kelly: Inbox.
Regis: Whatever it is. They’re… Right now, they’re emailing ‘You Stink!’ (everyone laughs)
Marg: I don’t know…
Regis: You never hear anything positive. It’s all negative. That’s why they take the time to write.
Marg: It is mostly negative stuff.
Regis: Don’t I know…don’t I know what you’re up to? (points at audience)
Regis: But yeah, how’s Laurence Fishburne working out?
Marg: He’s great.
Regis: Because he was on the show but we sent him off to start the CSI thing.
Marg: He’s wonderful. You know, he was at the top of my wish list.
Kelly: Yeah.
Marg: When William Petersen was – when we knew he was leaving and as it turns out, he was on the producers’ – he was on the top of their list too. And he was up and willing to do it.
Regis: I think it’s a great catch, really.
Marg: Yeah, it’s awesome.
Regis: So let’s take a look at you guys in action. Now, here you are with Laurence, discussing a case from …
Marg: Okay…
Regis: the Crime Scene Investigation. Take a look at this.
(clip of CSI is shown)
Regis: CSI, one of the hot shows on television. Airs tonight, 9:00, on CBS. Marge (Regis mispronounces her name), thinks so much for coming.
Marg: Thanks so much for having me.
Kelly: Great to see you. You look amazing.
Marg: Thank you.