What’s happening with “Legacy?”

Some Richmond actors who appear on the UPN television show wish they knew. UPN has officially placed the show on hiatus, replacing its Friday night slot with “America’s Greatest Pets,” though some unaired shows may broadcast this summer. (The official “Legacy” Web site has been replaced with an ad for UPN’s animated Dilbert show.)

“Legacy,” a period soap opera set in post-Civil War Kentucky, debuted in October 1998 and is filmed in Richmond. Its producers are said to be shopping it around to other networks in case UPN drops it, as expected. Its ratings haven’t been good but it has a small, loyal fan base, some of whom are organizing mail campaigns over the Internet to save the show.

“I’ve been champing at the bit wondering if anything is happening,” says local actress Bridget Gethins, who plays an Irish maid also named Bridget on “Legacy.”

Mark Joy, who plays Col. Griffith, a wealthy landowner, says, “If it isn’t picked up, it was a great ride while it lasted and there’s always been something else around the corner for me. I’ve sort of let go of it already.”

Gethins says she’s been hearing rumors that the producers were talking to NBC and she’s also heard rumors that the show wouldn’t film in Richmond anymore, but so far, they’re just rumors.

Though neither Gethins nor Joy remains very hopeful about the show’s future, they say they would return to the show if it were resurrected.

Says Joy: “I definitely think it has an audience and it has a place and if UPN or whoever would bring it back would just give it a chance, I think it would have several years of airtime.”

© Richmond Style Weekly