While filming the new crime show “Elsbeth” in an Upper West Side apartment in January, Carrie Preston, playing the title character, tentatively patted the guest star Peter Grosz on the arm.
The combination of the gesture and Elsbeth’s hesitant expression made the attempt at comfort come across as simultaneously awkward and funny — and unmistakably true to the consistently awkward, funny Elsbeth.
Robert King, who created the series with his wife, Michelle, and was directing that particular episode, chuckled in delight as he watched on a monitor.
“That was probably not in the script.”Premiering Thursday on CBS, “Elsbeth” is a new project but Elsbeth herself is not.
One reason Preston inhabits her fully enough to improvise such small, telling gestures is because she has been playing her for almost 14 years.
Persons:
Carrie Preston, Peter Grosz, Robert King, Michelle, Jonathan Tolins, “, ”, Elsbeth, Preston, Elsbeth Tascioni, Columbo, Peter Falk
Organizations:
CBS
Locations:
Upper