Dana Delany's Next Big Hit

Delany has played doctors before, but she notes that medical shows have changed since her China Beach days, when "I would say, 'Intubate him' and 'Don't die on me' and that was about it. They didn't sling medical jargon around as they do now. I think ER started it."

The new show is "a procedural and there is a different mystery every week. We also have my character's development. Her relationship with her daughter develops, her relationship with her ex-husband is growing and constantly changing. She finally gets a little love interest by the 12th and 13th episodes. A quirky FBI agent comes in. I got my friend Cliff Curtis to come in for that," she says.

Whether the future of her latest series endeavor is long or short, Delany is sanguine.

"I've been working for so long now, I have a different perspective than I did earlier. As anyone over 50 knows, as you get older you're not as attached to things. If something works out, great. If not, then I'll do something else."