The Thing About the Media

[Meredith Quill]

Your Media Topic!

[DanaK]

Reminder that this is set to debut March 8 and run for 6 episodes

[Valny]

I can't wait for this one. I just started listening to the podcast and I'm flying through it. It's so weird that it's going to be on network tv! I had to double check.   You hardly see that anymore because so many things go to the streaming channels.

[peachmangosteen]

Is Renee Zellweger wearing a fat suit in this?

[DanaK]

5 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Is Renee Zellweger wearing a fat suit in this?

Yep. She didn't want to gain weight for the role because doing it for Bridget Jones' Diary had a negative impact on her health https://variety.com/2022/artisans/news/hair-makeup-thing-about-pam-renee-zellweger-transformation-1235194464/

As said in the article, you have someone of Zellweger's caliber wanting to do the role, you give it to them even if they aren't quite the right body type for the character. 🙄

[peachmangosteen]

That is probably enough of a reason for me to not watch tbh.

[Luckylyn]

Trailer

 

[Melina22]

On 3/7/2022 at 6:06 PM, peachmangosteen said:

That is probably enough of a reason for me to not watch tbh.

You should watch! The whole thing has such a comical, OTT tone that Rene's appearance isn't nearly as distracting as it would be in a show that was trying to be realistic. 

I hate to say this about a show about a murdered cancer victim, but it's pretty fun! 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 3/7/2022 at 5:06 PM, peachmangosteen said:

That is probably enough of a reason for me to not watch tbh.

Yeah and not just a fat suit, but prosthetics on her face that she said took 3-5 hours to put on everyday.

[Cinnabon]

Excellent article covering Pam’s involvement in this case and the Gumpenberger case. Don’t read if you don’t want to be spoiled.

https://www.stlmag.com/longform/pam-hupp/

[TOL]

I keep looking at RZ as Pam and finally figured out who she reminds me of:  Angie Dickinson.  (only people of a certain age will even know who she is lol )

[fishcakes]

The prosecutor Leah Askey talking about Judy Greer's portrayal of her in the miniseries (no spoilers):

She says that winning the Russ Faria trial was the worst thing that ever happened to her. I would say it was worse for Russ, but she probably doesn't care about that.

The other interesting thing was that she said she never had any interaction with Pam until after the first trial. She had to have interviewed her before trial, not to mention questioning her on the stand, so by "interaction" she must mean "social interaction." I interpret that as her saying she didn't socialize with Pam until after the trial. This is maybe not the great look she thinks it is.

Edited March 25, 2022 by fishcakes

[MilkMachine]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but if you go back a month or two Betsy's daughter Mariah has some things to say about the show, Dateline, and the trauma she experienced because of her mother's murder. Most of her more recent posts are about her adorable new baby.

[Crs97]

I found myself looking at Mariah’s Instagram and now wish I hadn’t.  She seemed to be blaming Russ for not accepting the apology she made to him on the news, but that apology was just that she was sorry for everything he went through and now they had to just move forward.  She also seems to shade him that there is nothing her son could do to her that would make her turn away from him.  I thought maybe she should wonder if her son would ever believe her guilty of a horrific crime.  It is all just so sad.

[DanaK]

Finale April 12 https://tvline.com/2022/04/05/nbc-season-finale-dates-chicago-fire-this-is-us-svu/

[JudyObscure]

I just noticed that, "To Die For" with Nicole Kidman has popped up on Tubi.  I've seen it before but this show has reminded me how good it was.

[Angeltoes]

23 hours ago, roughing it said:

And when it's over, I'm going to binge every news story and podcast regarding the case. 

I just got this book out of the library but I'm waiting to start it until after the last episode.

https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Deep-Untangling-Twisted-Tragic/dp/0806541970/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3EG7KUVJ908RU&keywords=bone+deep+pam+hupp&qid=1649194875&sprefix=bone+deep%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNjRKRDdMWUNYMkRQJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDMxMTQ4MUoySFVPUlBBQVQ4RCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDQyNjQ4M1AxSEU5TkQ3RkRCSSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Cinnabon]

11 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

I just noticed that, "To Die For" with Nicole Kidman has popped up on Tubi.  I've seen it before but this show has reminded me how good it was.

Yes! I need to watch that again.

[Fig Newton]

This series is just incredible on so many levels. From the distortion of truth, the psychopathy, the absurdity of the trial to the simply stellar performance from Renee Zellwegger. So, I had to do a Google search (I have no patience to wait to hear in the series, LOL) and came upon this . Quite interesting.

 

Who knew? 

Not me. 

https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/where-is-pamela-hupp-from-the-thing-about-pam-now

[SunnyBeBe]

Interesting photos of the actual person and actors.

 

https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/thing-about-pam/

 

 

[AZChristian]

I had two friends mention this series to me on the same day, after 3 episodes had already aired.  Went to On Demand and watched the first three and then had to wait (impatiently) for Tuesday evening to roll around.

Friday.  Me.  Popcorn.  The follow-up is gonna be awesome!

[AheadofStraight]

14 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Interesting photos of the actual person and actors.

 

https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/thing-about-pam/

 

 

Yikes!

In 2011, Pam Hupp and her friend Betsy Faria, who was suffering from terminal cancer, collected money for another family affected by cancer without that family being made aware of the collection. Pam and Betsy went door to door passing out flyers and reportedly collected $10,000. The flyer had a picture of the Murphy Family from their Christmas card and stated that this would be James Murphy's wife Laura's last Christmas.
The real Pam Hupp (left) came up with a scam to collect money for a family battling cancer and then keep the money. Actress Renée Zellweger (right) plays Hupp in the miniseries.

In researching The Thing About Pam fact vs. fiction, we learned that Betsy was indeed thrilled to be helping another family affected by the disease that was killing her. She saw her role in the collection as a way she could be remembered after she was gone. The problem was that Pam had gone behind the Murphys' backs and exaggerated Laura Murhpy's story for her own financial gain. While Laura Murphy did have cancer, she wasn't on her deathbed (she actually survived two more Christmases). No evidence was found to suggest that Betsy had any knowledge that Pam intended to keep the money instead of giving it to the family. -FOX 2

[fishcakes]

Real Pam looks like a beat down Martha Plimpton.

[Cinnabon]

20 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Real Pam looks like a beat down Martha Plimpton.

Not fair to Martha, lol.