One on One with Neal Baer

by Mary Tamer

Neal Baer, Ed.M.’79, is a man who seemingly keeps himself very, very busy.

With three Harvard degrees under his belt — a master’s in education, a master’s in sociology, and a medical degree — the former elementary school teacher from Colorado has taken storytelling to exceptional heights in Hollywood. During his seven seasons as a writer and producer on ER, Baer introduced storylines on Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, and doctors dealing with drug addiction, to name a few. As executive producer of the popular Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) franchise, Baer continues to mix his medical and educational know-how.

“Like it or not, people do learn a lot from watching television,” Baer said in a 2005 interview. “Because they do, I think we should be as accurate as possible.” In February, just days before the writers’ strike ended, Baer spoke about how he had spent his “off” time while production studios on both coasts had ground to a halt — he was part of a 17-member team that brokered the deal that gave writers a greater profit share in Internet-based work. Baer also devoted significant time to The House Is Small But the Welcome Is Big, a photo-based, storytelling project he cocreated that portrays women and orphaned children living with HIV and AIDS in Africa. On the side, he still manages to teach, develop curriculum for schools, serve on countless committees, and write about adolescent health issues, all while teaching his son, Caleb, the importance of being an engaged citizen of the world.

You’ve merged your interests in medicine, sociology, and education into a career that has used the medium of television to both educate and inform millions of people on topics that they otherwise may not know about. Do you consider the TV audience to be your classroom?
I don’t because that would just get me into trouble. It’s about storytelling. I don’t think about what I do as educating or entertaining because if I thought, “Oh, I have to educate people,” then I’d become pedantic. I don’t want to write exposition and do, as an aside, “And now, one out of three teenagers has an STD.” I work it into the dialogue. I don’t do these asides where all the action stops and people start giving facts and figures. And if I thought, “Oh, I’ve got to entertain people,” that has a pejorative connotation of being mindless. I don’t think in terms of truly educating or entertaining. I think in terms of storytelling. Is this a story that will capture people’s imaginations? Does it have that “Oh God” moment? Does it provoke difficult questions with no easy answers? I love to do those kinds of shows, and I could give you all kinds of examples on SVU or ER. For instance, we did an episode on Tay-Sachs disease and a mother had euthanized her child because she knew the child was going to suffer from a terminal disease that has no cure. Through our characters we can discuss really profound points about life: when it starts, who’s in charge of taking it away, is euthanasia acceptable, and under what circumstances? You can relate these various philosophical, ethical points of view through the characters and I love doing that, so I do that constantly.

You developed the story line on ER with Sally Field and bipolar disorder. How did that come about?
We were at a retreat in Hawaii, which was nice (laughs), and we were trying to come up with an interesting way of focusing on Maura Tierney’s character. I came up with two ideas: One about making Noah Wylie’s character a drug addict because, unfortunately, there’s not a low rate of drug abuse among physicians and it’s often very difficult to treat. And I have always loved Sally Field and said, “Wouldn’t it be great to have Sally Field come on the show?” I pitched the bipolar issue because I had read a lot about bipolar disorder when I was at medical school and found it really fascinating. She ended up winning an Emmy for it.

You have received a number of awards, including the Emmy. How important are the accolades when you work in Hollywood?
It’s nice to get nominated, certainly. It doesn’t legitimize what you’re doing, but it brings attention, and it’s great when someone like Mariska (Hargitay) wins because the show (Law & Order: SVU) has been on for so long. People are like, “Oh my gosh, it’s in its seventh year, but people are still doing interesting stuff.”

What about the awards shows? Fun?
It’s fun if you’re nominated. You don’t go if you’re not. Why go if you’re not nominated? It’s just painful.

Do you get star struck by certain people?
Not really. I worked with (George) Clooney before he was Clooney. I think he truly is the biggest star right now.

For those that don’t remember his Facts of Life days.
That and The Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

Do you think viewers realize the brainpower that goes into the creation of every episode?
No! We do huge amounts of research. We have a full-time researcher. We are doing a lot of research now on the neurobiology of ethics, its effect on the legal system. This entails a lot of research. It’s kind of like being a graduate student (laughs). “Oh, you’re still doing research.”

Any more degrees in your future?
Hmm, no. I do like teaching at the college level.

There was a pregnant pause with the degree question.
Because I thought I might become a psychiatrist, but no. I used to think that, but it’s not going to happen.

Let’s talk about The House Is Small project.
Our project is about giving cameras to people so that they can tell their own story. You have a different perspective, and it’s empowering. We’re doing a book that is composed of photographs taken by Cape Town (South Africa) mothers with HIV and by AIDS orphans from Maputo, Mozambique, called The House Is Small But the Welcome Is Big, and it chronicles the effect of AIDS on women and children in Africa. UNICEF estimates that there are 500,000 AIDS orphans alone in Mozambique, and that there will be 20 million by 2010 in Africa. We wanted to bring these stories to the public and we’re doing that through this book that we’re preparing, through our website (www.thehouseissmall.org), and through coursework. I went to Africa the last two summers, and I have a son who is in high school. It’s a great opportunity for him to see the world, so selfishly I take him with me.

You said that your son doesn’t consider you a big wig, but let’s say you called the Ivy and wanted to go there for a late lunch today. Any problem getting in?
Not if I use Mariska’s name. I’d say, “This is Neal Baer from Law & Order: SVU, the show with Mariska Hargitay . . . ”

Is she as nice as she seems?
Nicer.

About the Article

A version of this article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Ed., the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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