"They did so. The guy pulled the gun out of their faces, got in the car and drove away, just leaving them there, standing, hearts beating furiously. And the first question I thought to ask was, 'Are you still seeing her?"'

She was interested in how the event affected the pair.

"Did it bond you to this person in a way that you never would have had bonded if you hadn't experienced this brush of death together? And the moral of the story is — they are getting married."

Which got K.J. Steinberg thinking about how "fragile" life is in the modern world. Which led to a show about "a group of strangers experiencing a traumatic event together, learning stuff about themselves, learning stuff about each other" and then trying to figure out "how do you go back to your life with all that you know about yourself and about each other? And then what came to evolve is that it was really a show about a second chance at life."

A CERTAIN SITCOM made Tim Daly a star. And, according to the actor, prepared him for his role on "The Nine."

"I was on 'Wings' for eight years, so I have a lot of personal experience with hostage situations," Daly said.

He was kidding. I think.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com