Hanks Leaves His Mark on ‘Moon’

The Scene: Tuesday’s screening of the first two hours of the most expensive production in TV history--the $68-million, 12-hour docudrama about the Apollo project, “From the Earth to the Moon.” What got the miniseries launched was Tom Hanks’ heart and HBO’s money. It was done as a drama because, in Hanks’ words, “By and large the world is split up into two very distinct groups: the vast majority who do not watch documentaries and a minority who do.”

Who Was There: Hanks, who did everything but the catering on the project, producers Brian Grazer, Michael Bostick and Tony To and co-stars Rita Wilson, Kevin Pollak, Ann Magnuson, Peter Scolari and Chris Isaak. Also among the 1,200-strong crowd were, in Hanks’ words, “VIPs galore, special guests and men who have walked on the moon.” Guests included astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Bill Anders and Dave Scott; Jenna Elfman, Phil Hartman, Ving Rhames and Bill Paxton.

The Party: A football field-sized tent was done in a space-race theme by Progressive Events with 40-foot tent poles transformed into Saturn 5 rockets, Lucite and chrome furniture decorating an “astronaut bachelor pad” and a massive patent leather bar. “We were going to have martinis made with Tang,” said designer Chris (no relation to space program pioneer Chuck) Yeager. “But sometimes you can take a theme just a little too far.”

Overheard: Said one agent, “Listen, if Tom Hanks wanted to do 12 hours on the Russian space program, he could get it financed.”

Quoted: “To me, the idea that there are footprints on the moon is as beautiful as the Sistine Chapel,” said Hanks. “There are periodic benchmarks in the history of mankind that are evolutionary moments and walking on the moon is one of them.”

Earthly Wisdom: Astronaut Dave Scott, the series’ technical consultant who went to the moon on Apollo 15, said the similarities between HBO and NASA are that “neither ever has enough money or enough time, and there’s always some boss who makes a decision you never understand.”