'Key West' TV series wraps up local filming
Key West Citizen - 12/18/92
By Vernon Silver
Citizen Staff Writer

The TV show "Key West" had its last day of filming here Thursday, and today the operation will wrap things up and get ready to go back north.

They'll be back, though- if the show's ratings are good.

Producers seemed confident enough as the final week of production brought the cast and crew to locations in the streets of Key West, as well as to the sets built here especially for the show.

And as the final episodes are edited, the premiere of "Key West" looms just one month away. On Jan 19, viewers around the country will tune into their local Fox stations to see Seamus (Fisher Stevens) cruise down the Keys from New Jersey. The funky tunes will play as his junky convertible skims over the Overseas Highway. He'll crash into the water after driving past the zero mile marker on the beach.

The what?

Fine. So what if the real mile zero is nowhere near the beach (try in front of the Monroe County jail). This is not the real Key West. It is a fantasy loosely based on the island that will likely be good for tourism. The beaches look great, and are filled with plenty of skin. No shopping malls on this one. It's all cute, wooden houses.

So there's Seamus, the aspiring writer, standing on the beach firing his pistol at his car.

There is no law against shooting a car, but the sheriff warns Seamus to stay out of trouble. If he crosses to the "dark side," he cautions, the law man will become his "Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Well, as one character says, "This island is just crawling with crazy people."

And Seams wants to fit right in. "I'm going to sleep 'til 4 in the afternoon," he declares. "I'm going to howl naked at the moon in the cemetery."

He also wants to write for the fictitious Key West Meteor and be another Ernest Hemingway. "I want to do what he did," Seamus says. "You want to report on the Spanish Civil War," the editor of the small town paper retorts.

He also wants a place to live. "Tennessee Williams done one time lived in this fixed-up trailer," the landlord tells Seamus before the fella settles on a place to rest his books and typewriter.

Without giving away too much, the first, hour-long installment features a gay politician, a ruthless developer and the memorable line: "To hell with the dolphin reserve," and "I would barbecue Flipper and eat him."

With some clever ideas and a national audience, this show could forever change the real Key West. Although those changes are yet to come, the dozens of production folk who passed through said they've already been changed by the island.

While spending six or seven days on each of the first 12 episodes, some discovered the potent Cuban-style café con leche. Most found the good locals bars. Back in August, they faced Hurricane Andrew and not long after they filmed a hurricane episode.

For now, most of the folks who have made Key West their home for the past four months will scatter to New York, Miami, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Rumor has it a few have decided to stay.