Coincidence? Product placement of the highest order? You be the judge.
A CBS spokesperson opts for the "purely coincidental" explanation. You know, lighting strikes, acorns fall, and--oopsie!--characters get named after a potential big-ticket sponsors and--yowza!--said big-ticket sponsors buy time on your show.
The Tiffany network (Tiffany...Hmm...Say, isn't there tie-in potential somewhere there, too?) doesn't shy away from the fact that John Tinker, who scripted Wednesday night's episode, did name its newest hospital staffer, Dr. Lisa Catera--a neurosurgeon, if you missed it, played by Stacy Edwards (In the Company of Men)--after the sporty Cadillac model. Tinker heard a commercial for the heavily hyped car--the spot that ends by asking, "Well, who is Lisa Catera?"--while pounding out a script and felt duly inspired, according to the spokesperson.
But as for Dr. Catera being linked to the actual Catera spot during the episode--well, that was just a big coinky-dink. Or at least that's CBS' story and it's sticking to it.
Last month, a Cadillac executive, in a magazine article about the impending arrival of the Dr. Catera, joked that there might be some cross-marketing potential. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Oh, come on, what do you think Emmy-winning prime-time dramas are, college football bowl games?
Come to think of it, would it be so wrong to rechristen the show's Chicago Hope Hospital, the Poulan Weed Eater Medical Center?
Well, maybe next year. For now, Cadillac is quite content.
Said company brand manager Dave Nottoli this week: "We think Catera would be a perfect car for someone like Dr. Catera."
(UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. on 10/31/97)