HOLLYWOOD, California (CNN) -- James Brolin has had a long, successful television career -- winning an Emmy and two Golden Globes and making himself a household name with the 1970s series "Marcus Welby, M.D." and the '80s series "Hotel."

His latest series, the syndicated action adventure "Pensacola: Wings of Gold," seen worldwide, is about to be renewed for a second year.

So whose name is on the lips of every person who talks to him and his co-stars about the show?

CNN's Ron Tank reports

2 minute, 28 second VXtreme video

"Barbra. Do I know, have I met Barbra Streisand?" says Rodney Van Johnson, who plays 1st Lt. Wendell McCray on the show.

Salvator Xuereb (1st Lt. A. J. Conaway) gets the same kind of reaction from visitors: "Whenever someone comes to the set, 'Where's Barbra?'"

And Kathryn Morris (1st Lt. Annalisa Lindstrom) echoes more of the same. "You know, like my mom wanted to know immediately, what's Jim like, James, and of course Barbra."


Brolin and Streisand

Streisand and Brolin have been dating for two years. Their engagement became public last summer, when Brolin confirmed the rumors during an appearance on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." But the couple has put off the wedding until both of them can take the time to enjoy it.

"Before, it was a matter of: I wasn't going to run out and get married and then have to be at work at 6:45 the next morning," Brolin said. "So now, we've got some time off, so we've got to figure out what we're going to do."

Brolin has time off, because his show has wrapped for the season. The series, which airs on different stations across the United States and internationally, casts Brolin as Lt. Col. Bill Kelly, the new commander of an elite team of Marines. Over the course of the series, the team tackles everything from terrorist threats to drug dealers from a base in Florida.

The show actually is shot on a lot outside San Diego, and there's no shortage of appropriate backdrops for the shoots. Miramar Naval Air Station and its "top gun" school are just a few miles up the road, and the big Marine base, Camp Pendleton, is just to the north.

Shows are TV classics

Brolin won his Golden Globe and Emmy awards for his role as Dr. Steven Kiley in "Marcus Welby, M.D." Then, he landed another show with "hit" written all over it -- "Hotel."

He's twice-divorced, the last time in 1995, and admits he was getting used to the single life.


"Pensacola, Wings of Gold"

"I had a view of the ocean," he said. "As long as the L.A. Times was on my porch in the morning and the coffee was good, I was pretty happy. And then I had this blind date, and it was just instant."

At last year's Academy Awards, everyone, it seemed, wanted to talk to the then-newly engaged couple. But there aren't always crowds.

"We take long drives across the U.S. -- eight, nine hours at a time -- and she's really great at making deli sandwiches on the move," he said.

As for the reputation both have for working hard, he said, "Our favorite thing is just staying in bed all day with videotapes and stuff to read."

"The reason we both work so hard, and we've agreed on this, is we're the laziest people you ever met, we work very hard to get it over with so we can go back to bed."

Presumably, to watch "Pensacola."

Related sites:
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"Pensacola: Wings of Gold" Official Site
Total TV | James Brolin
E! Online

Hold Your Rice: No Streisand Wedding This Weekend - August 8, 1997

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