More Dramatic Than the Show: Behind the Scenes

[Ms Blue Jay]

Thanks Black Knight.

[Kromm]

Just basically that her contract was up at the end of S6. Her impending departure became public knowledge with the announcement that she'd signed a development deal with Fox to star in a show for that network once they find something she's interested in. AP has said that she's known since S4 that she wanted to leave and that it's time for her to try something new.

Of course she's known since S4.  That's when she knew it was a hostile workplace and it wasn't going to get any better.

[Nono Ono]

So now we've seen the BIG LAST SCENE between Alicia and Kalinda, and I'm not convinced that wasn't CGI. I noticed as they sat at the bar, they never touched, nor did their hands or arms overlap. The scene kept cutting to a view of the out-of-focus back of Alicia's or Kalinda's head, we never saw one in profile with the other face at the same time, just those few seconds of ostensibly sitting together. At least once, Kalinda's gaze wasn't quite lined up to be looking at Alicia. And I also noticed that in the bar scene later with Alicia and Finn the strange posing featuring the back of Alicia's head was repeated, probably to "help" us believe the earlier scene wasn't bogus, but it just looked weird and reinforced my opinion.

Alicia's almost teary nostalgia was unearned, and her burning of Kalinda's confession just seemed a na-na-na-na-na at Bishop's slimey little minion.

Very disappointing.

[JodhaBai]

Archie's costars share their favorite scenes

(lol at Julianne's lame response )

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/good-wife-kalinda-goodbye-794728

[JessePinkman]

It's almost like...she hated the way the show used to be? The bar stuff was never like Cheers, what is she even talking about? 

[galax-arena]

(lol at Julianne's lame response )

I wonder if Julianna was grinding her teeth at even having to say that much. 

[kdm07]

From the media thread and Archie' EW interview:

Why haven’t Kalinda and Alicia been in many scenes together in the last couple of years?
I think that’s a question you need to ask the producers.

 

I mean...what else can you add there? She pretty much confirmed what most people thought.

[galax-arena]

And notice how she says the producers and not the writers or showrunners or Kings, heh. 

Were you happy with the way you were written out?

 

Honestly speaking, I would’ve liked something that would have featured Kalinda a little more, but they have restrictions and I respect that.

"Restrictions"... mmhmm.

[JessePinkman]

Juliana Marguiles: Every scene and story must center entirely around me. You know what this scene needs? More me. One of the failings of the Cary in prison story was definitely the lack of me, I should have been his prison buddy. Diane's husband should have married me too. I probably should have gone to college with Zach too. And Grace's bible study. You know what scenes don't need me at all? Kalinda scenes. Are you writing this down?

 

And then the Kings genuflect to her or whatever.

[Maherjunkie]

I wish the interviewer had said "But you are a producer.  What do you think?"

[Readalot]

And notice how she says the producers and not the writers or showrunners or Kings, heh.

"Restrictions"... mmhmm.

could the restriction be a restraining order? It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

[Black Knight]

I wish the interviewer had said "But you are a producer.  What do you think?"

AP wasn't a producer, so that question wouldn't have made any sense directed to her.

 

JM, of course, is a producer, which is what made AP's "ask the producers" reply hilariously awesome.

[Maherjunkie]

Oh sorry, I thought it was the reverse.

[JodhaBai]

An attempt to figure out what was going on in that Kalinda/Alicia scene on Good Wife

 

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/11/8585897/good-wife-alicia-kalinda-finale?utm_campaign=tvoti&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

[GHScorpiosRule]

An attempt to figure out what was going on in that Kalinda/Alicia scene on Good Wife

 

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/11/8585897/good-wife-alicia-kalinda-finale?utm_campaign=tvoti&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

 

What's the point now? Archie is gone. It's not as if anything can be done about it, except that those that believe Margulies had a hand in it can get validation or that Panjabi refused, for whatever reasons. Unless they speak up, or someone on the crew does, all we can do is speculate and infer based on actions and words.

 

ETA: But based on everything I've seen and read, I do think Margulies had something to do with it, and I just go back to my very first post--Regardless of whatever personality clashes they may have had, they should have left it at the door and just done their jobs.  It sounds like Archie was willing, but Margulies was not, so it's her that was being the unprofessional I'd say.  And if it turns out I'm wrong, then I'm wrong.

Edited May 11, 2015 by GHScorpiosRule

[JessePinkman]

Did anyone else feel like AP put so much more into the scene than JM? Like she was actually doing her job and inhabiting the character? And not just getting through it, which is what JM appeared to be doing to me.

Edited May 11, 2015 by JessePinkman

[Janimo]

I agree with you, JessePinkman. (Y)

[Maherjunkie]

I think Queen Bee had something to do with it.  It's just too weird.

[Whimsy]

could the restriction be a restraining order? It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

This is the only thing that makes any sense given the lengths they (seemingly) have gone through to make sure that the actresses were never on the same set together.  That makes me think there was a physical altercation of some kind but that seems strange.  I wish they'd just tell us so we can stop speculating. 

[Black Knight]

Did anyone else feel like AP put so much more into the scene than JM? Like she was actually doing her job and inhabiting the character? And not just getting through it, which is what JM appeared to be doing to me.

 I was actually pretty amused at how unconvincing JM's delivery of "That's too bad" was, upon Alicia being told that they would never see each other again.

 

Today I'm just curious if JM has a publicist, because if she does, that's one lazy/incompetent publicist.

[Kromm]

could the restriction be a restraining order? It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I don't think a restraining order could be filed without any public record of such being available. Someone would have found it by now.

[galax-arena]

I do think ego had a lot to do with it. Kalinda was the breakout character of the earlier seasons and Julianna might have felt overshadowed on her own show. After all, this is the woman who complained that she was "only" the third choice for Alicia and was tempted to turn down the role because of that. 

 

And I'm not discounting the possibility that Archie had/has an ego, either - this is Hollywood, after all, it's an industry fueled by massive egos and narcissism - and that she contributed to her feud with Julianna, but regardless, it was most likely Julianna's ego that resulted in the clusterfuck on screen, and so it's her ego I'm going to blame for that mess, along with (of course) the Kings for being so spineless. This would have never flown in Shonda Rhimes' universe. 

[crashdown]

Today I'm just curious if JM has a publicist, because if she does, that's one lazy/incompetent publicist.

 

 

That was a major topic of conversation on Twitter last night among fans--JM is really looking worse and worse in more and more mainstream publications, and nobody on her end seems to be lifting a finger to stop it.  Weird.

[blixie]

 

This would have never flown in Shonda Rhimes' universe.

 

Shonda allowed a lot of nonsense to go unchecked which lead to the blow up on set between two of her actors and the rest of the cast was in the crosshairs. Also it's not really comparable. Grey's anatomy was never a star vehicle for Ellen Pompeo, and Ellen Pompeo has never been a problem on that show. Margulies was a producer, and it was NOT some vanity title, CBS backed her all the way (they own as well as air the show). There is no other reasons the Kings would have had to capitulate otherwise, with the S4 storyline evaporation for Kalinda and Kalicia. I do wonder if the death of Tony Scott, made it easier for Margulies to flex storyline muscle on the Kings.

[crashdown]

Here's yet another article--this one from Vanity Fair--on why the A/K bar scene in the finale was likely faked with split screens.

[Nono Ono]

Proof:

 

[whatsatool]

I had never heard about the women in refrigerators. So that's why Kalinda was in the frozen food aisle.

[Morbs]

The eyeline in the double shot VF used for their article is hilarious.

 

Gawker has some comments allegedly from crew members that say the two had verbal arguments on set and went to holiday parties in shifts.  One says Archie's husband was involved.

 

I don't feel bad for speculating in gossip.  They are the ones who can't even get it together to film a scene together.

[galax-arena]

Gawker has some comments allegedly from crew members that say the two had verbal arguments on set and went to holiday parties in shifts.  One says Archie's husband was involved.

I'm reading that post right now! Juicy, lol.

 

Another person said this:

 

 

As someone who had worked behind the scenes in the show, I can say that the actresses were filmed separately for the bar scene. Julianna was extremely upset after the first season because the attention was shifting from the lead to the supporting actress. Archie’s role was supposed to be minor, but because audiences liked her she soon had stories being written for her. This lead to a lot of tension between the two actresses, and it got to the point where scenes would be edited again and shots would be retaken. Archie spoke to Matt and the make-up team about it, and when Julianna found out, the **** hit the fan. There were a lot verbal fights on set between the two. Julianna threatened to walk out of the show if they gave Archie more screen time and the showrunners offered an olive branch deal: the two would not be onscreen together anymore. Julianna dictated that Archie’s role should be essentially window dressing. This lead to Archie looking for meatier roles outside TGW and her ultimate exit.

Of course, anyone can make anonymous comments on the Internet, so grain of salt and all that. 

 

ETA: I'm also reading Matt Czuchry's AMA. It's interesting to compare and contrast his comments about Julianna with his comments about Christine. 

Edited May 12, 2015 by galax-arena

[LadyHa]

One thing that I am glad to see is that this topic is bringing up the awkwardness of how "single-camera" type shows are filmed.  

 

I recently read up about the whole multi-camera vs single-camera setup (usually discussed with comedies).  I was surprised to read that actors in single-camera are generally not even talking to each other and that they are filmed separately.  Ever since reading about this, I have found many TV shows distracting because it is now often obvious to me that the actors aren't reacting to each other and it feels stilted.  The scene with Kalinda & Alicia was a prime example of this.

 

This ties in with how exhausting the actors have said shooting the Good Wife can be.  In fact, isn't that why Josh Charles left?  I am inclined to think that this "feud" is about working styles in the face of extremely long hours.  (Isn't there a post somewhere about how Archie is meticulous, while Juliana prefers efficiency on set?)

[blixie]

 

I was surprised to read that actors in single-camera are generally not even talking to each other and that they are filmed separately.  Ever since reading about this, I have found many TV shows distracting because it is now often obvious to me that the actors aren't reacting to each other and it feels stilted.

 

Yes but a good deal of that time, the other actor is reading the dialogue off camera, in character to the one shooting, so they *are* still reacting (it's a basic and useful professional courtesy), and there still a lot of two shots, as that comparison of S1 shows, they are clearly both on the bar set and their body language isn't being choreographed to match up with an imaginary to not cross line.

 

I love Matt and Archie they are master shade throwers, having said that I don't feel bad about speculating because Julianna rightfully seems to give zero fucks what anyone thinks, and she did eventually get her Emmy's for the show, and the season where Kalinda was most marginalized was the shows critical high water moment.

 

 

Gawker has some comments allegedly from crew members that say the two had verbal arguments on set and went to holiday parties in shifts.  One says Archie's husband was involved.

Link?

Edited May 12, 2015 by blixie

[Black Knight]

And sure enough, MC's AMA promptly inspires a speculative article about what his responses indicate about the feud: http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/200619/20150512/the-good-wife-season-7.htm

 

Seriously, where's JM's publicist? I get JM has zero fucks to give, but a publicist's job is to kind of smooth the edges and make it a little less obvious. Maybe her publicist hates her. Heh.

 

Oh, and I'm reading MC's AMA right now and died laughing at the question where he's asked to describe Alexis Bledel and JM in two words:

Alexis Bledel: sweet heart.
Julianna Margulies: hard worker.

 

Elsewhere he says that Michael J. Fox is an incredible actor and person, gushes about CB, tells a cute story about AP...

 

but all JM gets from him is that she's incredibly prepared and a hard worker.

 

Like blixie said, MC and AP are master shade throwers.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Black Knight

[Kromm]

Here's yet another article--this one from Vanity Fair--on why the A/K bar scene in the finale was likely faked with split screens.

Don't tell that Emily Yahr lady who wrote that Washington Post piece about how people claiming that are "truthers" and conspiracy nuts!   I guess Vanity Fair is drinking the Kool Aid Yahr insists most of us are.

[blixie]

Responding to an article on kpopstarz isn't really something her Publicist SHOULD be doing, almost none of these online articles are from anyone with traction in the real world entertainment news: if E! News or Entertainment Tonight picks it up (or ends up in PRINT in like Time and VF) then you'll see something, but as long as most of the chatter stays in the interwebs?  Nah. Her career has endured and flourished despite a rep for being a diva bitch going back to ER.

[pennben]

Agreed, blixie, she'll be fine.  However, because I'm petty, I giggled that she had to address the Kalinda issue when she was getting her star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

[Kromm]

it won't affect her career as long as The Good Wife is on the air and her meal ticket.

 

What it might affect are things like future projects (movies especially--not that those are really her prime area of success in the past either), where some influencer has to decide if an actress is worth the production headaches she might bring to the table.  Having a rep as a spoiled brat isn't going to recommend her to future producers.

[Black Knight]

Here's the Gawker link for those interested - there's an article and then the comments from people purporting to be cast members in the comments section: http://morningafter.gawker.com/the-good-wife-conspiracy-actress-rivalry-led-to-doctor-1703816484

 

I know it'll piss Kromm off that the word "conspiracy" is used by Gawker, but the author doesn't try to debunk anything.

 

Hey, the publicist is doing something! (not my Tumblr, but funny nonetheless - and seriously, WTF Buzzfeed? of all the useless things to post about...) http://anothertgwfan.tumblr.com/post/118761211912/did-you-know-that-julianna-margulies-husband-is

Edited May 12, 2015 by Black Knight

[crashdown]

I think that Gawker thread is fascinating--no way to prove that anyone on there has any inside information, of course, but it's entertaining nonetheless.  I really hope we DO find out something real eventually.  I've always said that if I'm being cheated out of the story that I want (Kalicia), at the very least I want the full story about WHY I'm being cheated!

 

Someone on Twitter said to Emily Nussbaum that the case of JM versus AP ought to be Season 2 of Serial.  I think if I were dying, that would be my Make-A-Wish choice: Sarah Koenig would get to the bottom of all this!

[apgold]

This is sort of OT, but also speaks to JM's reputation as a diva.

 

I volunteer for a communications non-profit that recently held their annual awards luncheon to benefit scholarships for young women. Anyway, this year, JM was supposed to be honored (along with 6 other prominent women in politics, communications, marketing, etc).  After the initial announcement (which included a New York Times full page ad) of the honorees, JM suddenly dropped out, citing a scheduling conflict with her family.  This was approximately 2 months before the event occurred, which was on April 27th. 

 

I had heard that she pulled out b/c she didn’t want to be bothered with the fundraising aspect (each honoree or their employer, unless they are in politics, is required to purchase a table at the luncheon, take out an ad in the program, etc.) and reach out to deep pocketed donor friends for the scholarship fund. 

 

I had also heard that she would’ve been a nightmare to deal with due to her demands, so it was probably best that she turned down the honor.

Edited May 12, 2015 by apgold

[SaabStory]

In hindsight, I bet the Kings wish they would have just let AP out of her contract. Bring in a new investigator with superpowers of his/her own and continue on with the cases of the week with bits and pieces of the characters' personal lives. Maybe even have Kalinda make an appearance every now and then.They went from fighting for Alicia/Kalinda scenes to not wanting to have a public fight with JM to being surprised that someone noticed they were not in scenes together for thirty episodes to saying it was intentional and story driven to cutting and pasting two ridiculous scenes of JM and AP "together" and going as far as publicizing the final scene as a great payoff for the fans of the relationship. We might hear from them sooner or later. :) They look as silly as anyone in this whole thing.  At least JM was very clear in her public opinion of Alicia and Kalinda. It seems to me like they thought things might change behind the scenes.

Edited May 12, 2015 by SaabStory

[blixie]

I actually think if anyone suffers from this debacle it will be the Kings, we know it wasn't JUST the way they handled Archie's situation with Julianna, how many times did story lines fall apart because they never locked down an actor, or locked an actor down and proceeded to give them NO story (Marc Warren obviously, Jess Wexler that I agree was an attempt to buffer the Kalinda problem, Taye Diggs, Michael Ealy, all Kalinda's gay girlfriends, Maura Tierney, and even Nathan Lane), Their showrunning abilities have proven to be pretty shit, even if the writing itself could be fantastic.

 

I think of all their options 1) Let Archie out of her contract, written Kalinda out 2) if they weren't willing to do that they should have walked and TALKED about why they were walking, aka creative differences with the star and network about the narrative direction of the show. They chose the worst of all options for everyone involved.

[whatsatool]

I think Madam Secretary is a bit of a queen bee. So you have back to back queen bee shows.

[possibilities]

There are plenty of talented actors and actresses around, so why does anyone cast a diva or put up with that kind of behavior? If Juliana threatened to leave, they should have called her bluff. I'm sure her contract had penalties for leaving early, and that might or might not have given her pause, but either way, she'd never work again if she was going to ruin a show by walking out over the most popular aspect of it. The Alicia-Kalinda relationship was both critically and popularly loved, AP was getting awards, and the show was thriving at that point. For JM to very publicly torpedo it would have been followed by terrific fallout-- all of it on her. Let her take the hit.

 

It's true there were a lot of other mysterious disappearances of actors and characters. What happened to Robin, I wonder?  Was she also too popular for JM?

[Morbs]

The amount of guest stars who seemed like they were going to have an arch and then disappeared is astounding to me.  Maybe it's just not a fun set to be around.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'm pretty sure that Margulies was not a producer when the show started. And when she did become producer, unless she was the MAIN and SOLE "MONEY MAN" if you will, I see no reason why the Kings should have caved into her demands, if what's being rumored is true.  Like possibilities said, they should have called her bluff. This was supposedly THEIR show, not Margulies', so What the Fuck?

 

The more I read, it's like she was the most sought after actress in the industry and that the Kings were lucky to get her, when by all accounts, she wasn't even their first choice.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see a movie made out all this backstage shennanigans a la David Letterman v. Jay Leno. Okay, maybe not, considering, that Margulies and Panjabi aren't as high profile as those two, or as big in the industry.

 

Truth to tell, I haven't watched a single episode since the show returned from winter hiatus. Just reading everyone's comments here assured me I did the right thing.

[OptimisticCynic]

The amount of guest stars who seemed like they were going to have an arch and then disappeared is astounding to me.  Maybe it's just not a fun set to be around.

 

I honestly wonder if this is why Josh Charles decided to leave. Yes, I know the press is that JM convinced him to come back for more episodes, and that may very well be true. But I think if anything directing episodes is what enticed him to come back and that the set atmosphere was probably a major factor in him not wanting to extend the contract further.  

[CleoCaesar]

ETA: I'm also reading Matt Czuchry's AMA. It's interesting to compare and contrast his comments about Julianna with his comments about Christine.

 

This is gushing:

 

"Christine Baranski is amazing. I love working with her. I love that relationship between Cary and Diane, and I hope we get to see more of that in season 7! Christine is always singing in the hallways, and at our wrap parties, I actually sang a song with her - it wasn't Sondheim, but I did sing a song with her! And yeah, it was awesome, although my singing left something to be desired. But Christine was great, as always."

This is not gushing:

 

Q: I am so in love with Julianna Margulies; what is she like in real life?

Matt's answer: "Incredibly prepared as an actress, and her work (not only just THE GOOD WIFE) speaks for itself."

[spiritof76]

 

 

Q: I am so in love with Julianna Margulies; what is she like in real life?

Matt's answer: "Incredibly prepared as an actress, and her work (not only just THE GOOD WIFE) speaks for itself."

Tee-hee! I love Matt! 

 

Look I think JM should fire whoever her publicist is because she has come out worse for the wear in this whole Archie/Kalinda thing. Not all publicity is good publicity. After the season finale for the show which you are the lead on, the prevailing chatter should not be about whether or not you and a departing actress were actually in the same room to film a scene together. And the fact that no one from the show or the network or anywhere, has come out and said, "Are you crazy?! Of course they filmed the scene together! What a silly question!" tells me all I need to know about the situation. And it whether is is fair or not it makes sense tha JM will take the brunt of the blame because she is the one with the producer credit (and the star of the show) and thus more power. I just have a hard time believing that Archie, as a supporting character a best, could declare she wasn't filming scenes with the lead of the show anymore. Either they would have drug her but into court for breach of contract or they could have fired her for breach of contract.  On the other hand JM is the star of the show. No one is firing her, unless they are cancelling the show. 

 

I'm not even all that much of a Kalinda fan. I think Archie is great, but Kalinda was kind of hit or miss to me. Partly because they never seem to know what to do with her. But to ask the viewers to believe that it is completely normal for Alicia to film scenes with every other castmember, supporting cast member and extra, but not Kalinda is ridiculous. She didn't need to be friends with her to be in a scene with her. She wasn't friends with Cary Zepps. She just worked with him, and somehow she still filmed scenes with him. She was certainly not friends with David Lee and yet, scenes still filmed together. There was absolutely no in-story reasons that they wouldn't have been in the same room together at some point over the last 2 years.

[crashdown]

And the fact that no one from the show or the network or anywhere, has come out and said, "Are you crazy?! Of course they filmed the scene together! What a silly question!" tells me all I need to know about the situation

 

 

Quite.  Several journalists have asked the Kings and CBS for comments, and they've all been met with deafening silence.  This also is the first season that the Kings aren't doing a series of post-finale interviews--we haven't heard a peep from them anywhere.  The whole thing is an embarrassing mess, and I agree that, whatever talents the Kings might sometimes display as writers and directors, they've really blown it as showrunners.

[Ohmo]

There are plenty of talented actors and actresses around, so why does anyone cast a diva or put up with that kind of behavior? If Juliana threatened to leave, they should have called her bluff. I'm sure her contract had penalties for leaving early, and that might or might not have given her pause, but either way, she'd never work again if she was going to ruin a show by walking out over the most popular aspect of it. The Alicia-Kalinda relationship was both critically and popularly loved, AP was getting awards, and the show was thriving at that point. For JM to very publicly torpedo it would have been followed by terrific fallout-- all of it on her. Let her take the hit.

 

It's true there were a lot of other mysterious disappearances of actors and characters. What happened to Robin, I wonder?  Was she also too popular for JM?

 

I don't know if CBS would have actually allowed that, but I like the sentiment of the comment.  I haven't seen the finale yet, but I've spoiled myself and read about it.  I'm just so frustrated at the absolute waste.  As has been said, Archie's gone.  No more Kalinda, and I didn't want a scene at a bar. I wanted the lovely Kalinda/Alicia friendship that I had seen at the beginning of the series. I wanted to watch that friendship over the coarse of years. There's also something else that I wanted. If it's true that Julianna decreed that Kalinda be "window-dressing" (and I completely buy this as very likely true), then I did not get something else that I wanted either.  Will and Kalinda had a history, one that was alluded to but never explored, and I always wanted it to be. That wish died with Will, so this "blackballing" (or whatever you want to call it) of the character of Kalinda really ticks me off!

 

I don't feel badly for speculating either.  This has been going on for years, and it hasn't been addressed, or even acknowledged.  If no one is going to say anything, people are going to speculate and infer. If those involved would like that to stop, then by all means, act like adults and say something! Something happened between these two people.  I may never know the particulars, but don't for one second try and tell me that nothing happened because that is a flat-out lie!

 

I'm with GHScorpiosRule. At this point, based on everything that I've read, I'm most inclined to believe that Julianna has the vast, vast, vast majority of culpability in this situation.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Ohmo