LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY (TRANSCRIPT OF MARG’S INTERVIEW)
April 2, 2009
ABC
Regis: All right. She tracks down serial killers on CBSā 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? Kearneyā¦
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 Nebraskaā¦snowstorms and tornadoes andā¦
Marg: Well, I wasā¦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 classā¦it was Interpretation of Dramaā¦he said āweāre looking for a weekend person.ā And I went out, and I guess, auditioned, and I was bad. I was terrible!
Regis: But they gave itā¦
Marg: But I went like that (winks) to the lens and they liked that. They liked the wink at the lens andā¦
Kelly: Isnāt that funny? Thatās the momentā¦
Marg: Yeah, that was it.
Regis: We have a little clip of you
Marg: In the weatherā¦doing the weather?! (looks shocked)
Regis: Yes!
Kelly: No kidding. The wink?
Regis: Itās on YouTube. Take a look at this.
(weather clip is shown)
Marg laughs.
Kelly: Amazingā¦
Regis: Itās kind of fun!
Kelly: Thatās amazing that somebody had that and was like āOh wait a minute!ā, you knowā¦
Marg: That is amazing. It is. I actually had seen it recently, like maybe a few years ago, but I didnāt know it was on YouTube. Everything is on YouTube, right?
Regis: Oh sure. Howās your renovation coming along with your home out there in California?
Marg: Almost done!
Regis: Realy? Itās been a couple of years now, hasnāt it?
Marg: It has. Yes, it has beenā¦itā¦they always tell you itās going to be twice as long, twice as muchā¦
Kelly: Thatās right. Whatever they tell you, itās twice that.
Marg: But itās 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. Itās so beautiful there.
Marg: Yes, it is. Itās a beautiful part of the city that I live in and itās 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 Iāve 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: Thatās good.
Kelly: There ya go. Thatās what really matters.
Regis: So you were down in Washington for the Presidentās Inauguration, huh?
Marg: I was. Yes.
Regis: Exciting time.
Marg: Yeah, very special. Very special. I wasā¦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, andā¦
Regis: Sure.
Marg: So there were several recipients there that evening and it wasā¦I was very honored to be there, and I went to Walter Reed and visited a lot of patients there.
Regis: Thatās something, isnāt it? Weāll have to hearā¦
Marg: Yeah.
Kelly: Changes your life ā going there. Donāt you think?
Marg: Absolutely, yes. And I also went to an event with a lot of disabled vets. Everybody was just so amazinglyā¦had such wonderful spirits and I didnātā¦no one I spoke with seemed to have any regrets about their choices of going toā¦Iraq. Well, the guy at Walter Reed was in Iraq.
Regis: No, remarkably they donāt. Theyāre happy and would like to go back, as a matter of fact.
Marg: I know. Isnāt that amazing? I canātā¦I knowā¦There was one very young person ā he was 20 or something, not much older than my son, and he said āYes, maāam. Yes maāam.ā Of course, itās allā¦āI canāt wait to go back there. Itās fun.ā As heās rehabilitating his arm and handā¦
Kelly: Well, they need, I think they need to be with their brothers and sisters that theyāve left behind maybe.
Marg: I think thatās a lot of it. Thereās a real bonding that none of us that havenāt been in war can relate to.
Regis: So, whatās 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. Itās still way up there. I think weāre still the number one scripted show.
Regis: Nine years, all of those episodesā¦have you ever not caught the guy?
(audience laughs)
Marg: Yes.
Regis: Really?
Marg: Yes.
Regis: Well, thatās really refreshing to hear.
Marg: Yes, there have been a few actually. Yes.
Regis: You mean, the show ends and thereās no one in cuffs or whatever.
Marg: Heās eluded us, yes.
Regis: Good!
Marg: Itās usually a serial killer that he tends toā¦
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 thereās actually been some that we have had the arc of the story but still havenāt found the guy.
Regis: Yeah, right.
Marg: Heās out there.
Regis: Good.
Marg: In Vegasā¦
Regis: Iām sorry heās out there, butā¦
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 toā¦I think, I just canātā¦I wouldnāt 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: Thatās all itās about. Youād think they writeā¦we have a- what do we have? Inbox? E-box? What is it? (Everyone laughs)
Kelly: Inbox.
Regis: Whatever it is. Theyāreā¦ Right now, theyāre emailing āYou Stink!ā (everyone laughs)
Marg: I donāt knowā¦
Regis: You never hear anything positive. Itās all negative. Thatās why they take the time to write.
Marg: It is mostly negative stuff.
Regis: Donāt I knowā¦donāt I know what youāre up to? (points at audience)
Regis: But yeah, howās Laurence Fishburne working out?
Marg: Heās great.
Regis: Because he was on the show but we sent him off to start the CSI thing.
Marg: Heās wonderful. You know, he was at the top of my wish list.
Kelly: Yeah.
Marg: When William Petersen was ā when we knew he was leaving and as it turns out, he was on the producersā ā he was on the top of their list too. And he was up and willing to do it.
Regis: I think itās a great catch, really.
Marg: Yeah, itās awesome.
Regis: So letās take a look at you guys in action. Now, here you are with Laurence, discussing a case from ā¦
Marg: Okayā¦
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.