Assisting the Good Doctor (Dr. Phil, that is...)

January 15th and 16th found RM audio engineer Andrew Barker, international adventurer (and sound guy) Alex Marshal, and DV documentary whiz Don Downie teamed with L.A. based hidden camera duo JR Reid and Dawn Fleischman. In a period of 48 hours, under the direction of Dr. Phil producer Kathleen Killeen, the crew completely wired and covered six Manhattan locations, including Grand Central Terminal, with as many as 8 hidden cameras at any given time. With temperatures barely in the double digits, the coffee bill went into the triples- and herein lay the problem. While the crew worked together dynamically and admirably on the personal and technical fronts, they could not reach an agreement on who had the best cup of joe. In the end, the West Coast delegation held tight to the Green and White, while the NYC crew insisted on Oren's Daily Roast. It appears Oren's simply cannot make a double upside-down caramel soy latte to L. A. standards. Our bad- we thought you wanted coffee. All kidding aside, it was a pleasure as usual working with all the Dr. Phil folks. The "Ethics" episode, featuring actors in hidden camera scenarios testing the ethics of the average New Yorker- or at least the ones caught on camera- is at press time scheduled to air on February 27th. Look for it on CBS!