Actually, not so much. No offense at all to Corbin Bernsen – and this may sound ridiculous to the average reader – but his roles in the highly acclaimed L.A. Law and the more recent Psych meant very little to me. They might in the future, but so far I haven’t really seen much of either of them. So how did Corbin Bernsen get on my want-list? It was actually for a very small part in The Trip episode of Seinfeld, in which Corbin Bernsen plays, of all things, Corbin Bernsen. Yes, he plays himself, confronted by George while Corbin waits for his slot on The Tonight Show. After recognizing him and saying “big fan! big fan,” George ends up annoying him so much by suggesting potential cases to do on L.A. Law, that both he and George Wendt, also as himself, end up discussing and belittling George while being interviewed on the show.
So, yeah, that’s why I wanted an encounter with Corbin Bernsen.
But I didn’t want it all that bad. In fact, I had bypassed him once before because the price to get a photo with him was so over the top. He may have deserved it for his other work, but since my interest was that small part in Seinfeld, I opted to walk on by (which, incidentally, might have been a great story that could be adapted into an L.A. Law in itself.)
What changed when he appeared at the Hollywood Show on February 12, 2011, you might ask? Well, I had never actually approached him before and tried to deal with him because at the particular Chiller Theatre show I saw him at, he was already swarmed with fans. But this time, I had the idea to approach him at the end of the show, with $20 in hand and basically say, “This here is the last of my money; feel free to say no, but would you accept it for a signed photo and picture with you?” I was fully prepared for a negative response, but much to my delight and surprise, he agreed.
He was a nice guy. He even joked when I asked him to move over to avoid the light behind us, for our photo op “hey, you’re not paying for this!…but okay.” It could have struck the wrong chord if it hadn’t been said in the spirit of fun. Perhaps this would make a great episode of L.A. Law. Either way, I followed my mantra of “it never hurts to ask,” and was pleasantly surprised with the result. Now this star of Seinfeld has been officially crossed off my want-list.
This concludes the celebrity encounters from the Winter 2011 Hollywood Show. Return to the original posting here…
Still love him from Major League.
Aaron
July 12th, 2012