Bankrate: What effort are you proudest of?

Farrell: If there is an element of pride in my assessment of what I've been involved in, it would be that we are rethinking, despite the heavy opposition from the cowardly politicians who continue to insist that it is necessary, we are rethinking the death penalty. Because the fair-minded American citizens are taking a look and going, you know, it's not really what they told us it was going to be. It's not painless, it's not humanitarian -- there's no humane way to kill somebody -- it is in fact racist and economically infeasible and only used against poor people, and all these other things. That makes me feel as though the time and effort I've spent on those fronts has been worthwhile. Having been on Death Row and having spent time talking to some of these people -- some of whom were innocent, some of whom shouldn't have been there because they were crazy, some of whom are very guilty -- the human contact that I've had with them, the sense of somebody giving a damn, that makes a difference in those lives is something that one can never fully either comprehend or appreciate. I've had moments in that situation where just the immediate moment of personal contact has made a difference. You can't quantify that, but it is the sort of thing that makes me know that this is worth continuing to do.

Bankrate: Will you return to TV?

Farrell: Every once in awhile something comes up that is exciting, interesting, different, and I'll give that a shot just to kind of keep my hand in, but I felt, after "M*A*S*H," that I had done the most powerful, the best television series that could ever be done and I didn't see any great reason to redo it. But then 16 years later, there was this little show called "Providence" that I was asked to do and I just loved it. I didn't think it was going to become a series, but I was there for five years and had a wonderful time. Who knows, something like that might come along.