HOLLYWOOD -- Television viewers will witness the bizarre spectacle of a beautiful female surgeon operating in the nude March 17 in an episode of the 'St. Elsewhere' series.
Wielding the scalpel au naturel will be actress Sagan Lewis in the role of Dr. Jackie Wade, abetted by a couple of naked male doctors and a gaggle of nurses in dishabille.
Only the patient will be even somewhat modestly draped.
A device to attract higher ratings? Hardly. It is the sixth and final year of the critically praised hospital series and one of the last of the episodes.
And why would serious-minded medical professionals attempt a group striptease while operating on a life-and-death case?
'The story is based on factual operating room experiments in Scandinavia,' Lewis said. 'The theory is that surgeons and nurses working naked reduce the chances of staff infections.
'They are experimenting with the idea that the clothes worn by hospital workers in surgery spread infections. It hasn't been proved yet, but they're still working on it.'
To dismiss any anticipation by viewers of lurid shots of the 'St. Elsewhere' cast, it must be remembered this is TV, not the movies where the camera would linger.
'The cast, including myself, will be dressed mostly in body stockings,' Lewis explained. 'I haven't seen the footage yet, but I imagine the cameras focused mainly from the shoulders up.
'We were all a bit self-conscious at the beginning on the day we shot the scene, which is what the script demanded of the characters, too. Then as the scene wore on we all became more comfortable, as did our characters.
'All the same, we had a closed set with only the cast members and the crew present. I'm sure it will be edited very conservatively.
'It was fun because it was a daring departure for episodic TV. It's really not about nudity as much as it is about liberation and risk-taking.
'The hospital asks for volunteers for the experiment, and Jackie is one of the doctors willing to give it a try.
'Our series has always taken risks. We were the first show to do a story about a heterosexual AIDS patient. Ed Flanders was the first series star ever to moon the rest of the cast of characters on camera. And the show has regularly killed off major characters.'
Because the series has been innovative and uncommonly well-written, Lewis is saddened by the knowledge that within the next month 'St. Elsewhere' will have filmed its final episode.
'It's painful,' she said, 'like losing your family. But the people are ready and it's time to move on to other things.
'Jackie and I are both very different from what we were when the series began six years ago.
'I've undergone a personal metamorphosis since moving here from New York City. I was into cerebral stuff in New York and down-played the externals. I worked in intellectually stimulating things such as Chekhov and Shakespeare. I was intimdated when I first came here, but now I feel comfortable and much more alive.
'At the start of the show Jackie was shy and withdrawn and so was I. Now we're both doing surgery in the nude, which is quite a switch.'
Lewis will return to her New York apartment after the series is completed and look for work in the theater. She said she wants to play both coasts, balancing her career between the stage and Hollywood TV and movie roles.
She would even consider working in another TV series, but with reservations about signing a seven-year contract.
'I have no fears about being too closely associated with Jackie,' she said. 'She wasn't really in the forefront of the cast until the last two years. I'm not often recognized on the street because Jackie was almost always seen without makeup. I don't look the same when I put on makeup.
'And I rarely wore memorable wardobe. It was mostly hospital whites. We've downplayed our looks on the series.
'Because we had so many cast members, Jackie was never over-exposed on the show, except maybe in the nude scene.'
