Behind The Scenes: The Drama Behind the Drama

[pennben]

So, she took a break and came back after. Still don't see a problem here. 

[Chas411]

Callie was definetly written differently in season 12 then she had been in previous seasons. She was always the star of her own storylines yet she became a supporting character to Penny. Whether that was to do with Sara asking for a lighter workload or not I don't know but there definetly was something weird about her departure. It was so last minute that I feel had the known for absolute sure she was leaving they'd have publicised it like the did for Sandra Oh. I think she had conditions for staying and they weren't met.

[Layne]

On 11/11/2017 at 3:51 AM, gator12 said:

Isaiash did more than say something heinous to a cast member, he tried to choke another cast member.

Source?

[gator12]

55 minutes ago, Layne said:

Source?

https://www.today.com/popculture/report-greys-anatomy-hunks-fight-set-2D80556035

[Guest]

Quote

with TRK- at the point when they killed George off, they weren’t doing anything with the character. He was sadly getting shoved into the background, so I get why the actor was getting frustrated. Plus it’s obvious there’s no bad blood witH him and Shonda, he was a guest star on that short lived show she had last year about the con man romance.

I don't think TRK can afford to have a no assholes policy.  I recall thinking there were definitely signs that TRK had a problem with how Shonda handled the situation with IW and felt that influenced his later stories in his exit interviews.

[GalvDuck]

I don't think Sara Ramirez will want to come back (or will be invited back) to ABC for a while.  

http://deadline.com/2017/02/sara-ramirez-abc-the-real-oneals-bisexual-joke-1201914471/

[Joana]

On 13.11.2017. at 5:21 AM, WhosThatGirl said:

 same with TRK- at the point when they killed George off, they weren’t doing anything with the character. He was sadly getting shoved into the background, so I get why the actor was getting frustrated. Plus it’s obvious there’s no bad blood witH him and Shonda, he was a guest star on that short lived show she had last year about the con man romance.

Yes, but he got that role YEARS after the whole Isaiah debacle. He clearly wasn't happy with how he (and his character) were treated and spoke out publicly about it. Altough, he didn't really burn bridges behind him the way Heigl did, so it wasn't too surprising to see him back under Shonda's wings eventually. 

[Joana]

20 hours ago, GalvDuck said:

I don't think Sara Ramirez will want to come back (or will be invited back) to ABC for a while.  

http://deadline.com/2017/02/sara-ramirez-abc-the-real-oneals-bisexual-joke-1201914471/

I don't think it would be an issue as far as GA is concerned, that 300th episode almost treated her like she's dead already.

[OtterMommy]

In the Spoilers and Speculation thread, @MrWhyt wrote:

Quote

if you read the article Grey's has pulled in $3 Billion Dollars for Disney, Ellen's deal is peanuts compared to that. And she is entitled to it, Shonda has said the show will go on as long as Ellen wants to do it. Disney should be grateful (and from her deal it appears that they are) that she still wants to keep generating money for them.

I actually don't have a problem with Ellen's deal either.  I will say that some of the things she said in the interview turned me off, but more on a personality level than a business one.  $575,000 per episode for a blockbuster show is, frankly, reasonable.  I do wonder, though, how much of this was merit-based and how much of it was retention.  As noted in the other thread, there are actors who have done far more work behind the camera than Pompeo and for her to make the jump from actor to actor/producer before, say, Kevin McKidd or Chandra Wilson makes me think that more than merit is in play.   I found it interesting that she is now a producer on both Grey's and the still unnamed spin-off--only because her anger with Kate Walsh getting a spinoff all those years ago is pretty well-documented. 

If this were a case of retention, I really don't have a problem with that either.  ABC wants Grey's to continue and they believe they can only do that if Ellen is in the show (I actually don't think that's a case, but whatever).  I guess my only inkling of doubt here is the producing side.  To be fair, I don't know exactly what that entails, but I would hope that Ellen has shown an ability to do whatever that is before she was given the responsibility.

[Joana]

There were some interesting parts in that interview and it's certainly refreshing that she openly admits she doesn't even like acting all that much - and, frankly, as an actress, she's mediocre at best.

However, I'm really over the whole men vs women power struggle thing. I can imagine TONS of women asking for a pay raise the way she did, just as I can see a lot of men not doing it. She does come across as somewhat entitled too.

Oh, and she's trying way too hard to be cool with dropping the F-bomb that often.

[funnygirl]

Ellen walked into negotiations with the biggest bargaining chip: give me the goods or I walk. And if there's no Ellen, there's no Grey's Anatomy. Shonda has made that clear on several occasions. Since ABC is making bank on Grey's alone, of course they are going to do whatever they can to keep "the sun" happy and staying put for the foreseeable future. As far as her producing credit on GA and the spin-off go, I predict those are vanity titles. And even if she's genuinely doing producing work on GA, she all but said she's staying out of the way for the spin-off so that for sure was a an extra perk to pad her IMDB producer credit. 

I don't begrudge her new deal, more power to her. It seems pretty clear as far as acting goes that this is it for her, and when the show eventually ends she really doesn't have to do anything for the rest of her life and can still live her lavish lifestyle if she wants to. 

I can only hope that Chandra, Justin and James are getting a nice chunk of money for continuing on with the show. The three of them, while probably nowhere near Ellen's salary, should be making at least 100k more than the rest of the cast. 

It's important to note, though, that pay disparity isn't just between men and women, and that women of color generally make less than everyone. And not only is Chandra the best actor on the show, she's directed a bunch of episodes over the years (without fanfare), so I hope she is getting the respect in pay that she most certainly deserves. 

Edited January 18, 2018 by funnygirl

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, funnygirl said:

Ellen walked into negotiations with the biggest bargaining chip: give me the goods or I walk. And if there's no Ellen, there's no Grey's Anatomy. Shonda has made that clear on several occasions. Since ABC is making bank on Grey's alone, of course they are going to do whatever they can to keep "the sun" happy and staying put for the foreseeable future. As far as her producing credit on GA and the spin-off go, I predict those are vanity titles. And even if she's genuinely doing producing work on GA, she all but said she's staying out of the way for the spin-off so that for sure was a an extra perk to pad her IMDB producer credit. 

 

This is what I don't agree with (I'm not saying I don't agree with Funnygirl or saying that Shonda doesn't think this, but rather that I don't agree with the idea of this).  I honestly believe that Meredith Gray could be lifted out of the show with minimal impact.  Despite it's name, this is an ensemble show.  As far as compelling story lines, it has been quite some time that Meredith has had one that has lasted more than a few episodes.  How long has this show dealt with Jo's past or the Jo/Alex relationship?  How about the Owen/Amelia relationship?  Or even the (retching just a bit) Maggie/Jackson potential relationship.  The closest we've gotten to Meredith being the center of anything for a while is, well, an episode or two with Riggs--which Pompeo admits in the article just didn't work and they gave up on--and when she was attacked last? (the season before last?) season.  Other than that, she's been an accessory to the story lines belonging to other characters pretty much since Derek died.

There have been shows that have successfully lost their main character--I'm thinking mainly of Call the Midwife which, while it had always been a great show, actually improved when its main character left (although the older version of her lives on in voice overs).  I've never felt that the "Grey's" part of Grey's Anatomy was solely Meredith Grey.  Instead, I saw it more as Meredith Grey in the shadow of Ellis Grey--something they've backed away from sort of in the past few seasons (and, could always come back to, if needed).  Heck, they have another daughter of Ellis Grey around--not that I'm advocating a Maggie-centric series, but rather just pointing out that Meredith isn't the only Grey around.  Heck, they don't even need any of Ellis's spawn to live up to the name anymore as the hospital itself is Grey Sloan Yada Yada Yada Hospital.

I'm not saying that they should let Pompeo walk or that she was not entitled to her new deal.  I'm just saying that, if it is what it looks like, it may not have been a deal based completely in reality.  Which, you know, is fine.  I just hope that they took into account that this is an ensemble piece and maybe they should recognize the contributions of other performers, especially those who have also given 14 years of their lives to this show.

[OtterMommy]

Just now, Inerttt said:

 For real? ? Can you tell me more about this?

When it was announced that Private Practice was happening, there have been published accounts (and one that I heard from someone who knew someone and that was in line with other accounts) that Ellen Pompeo pitched a fit because she was the star of the show and she should have been consulted about this, whatever.  I was never sure if this stemmed from some sort of desire not to share the spotlight or if she felt that she had the right to approve something like this.

I don't know if this is still the case, but my former manager's college roommate (the one mentioned above) was some sort of production assistant on the show during the first few seasons.  She told my manager that the cast was "the greatest collection of divas outside of an opera house." I'd hope that things have mellowed since then.

[flickers]

1 hour ago, OtterMommy said:

I don't know if this is still the case, but my former manager's college roommate (the one mentioned above) was some sort of production assistant on the show during the first few seasons.  She told my manager that the cast was "the greatest collection of divas outside of an opera house." I'd hope that things have mellowed since then.

It sounds like one diva prevailed...

[funnygirl]

1 hour ago, OtterMommy said:

When it was announced that Private Practice was happening, there have been published accounts (and one that I heard from someone who knew someone and that was in line with other accounts) that Ellen Pompeo pitched a fit because she was the star of the show and she should have been consulted about this, whatever.  I was never sure if this stemmed from some sort of desire not to share the spotlight or if she felt that she had the right to approve something like this.

I don't know if this is still the case, but my former manager's college roommate (the one mentioned above) was some sort of production assistant on the show during the first few seasons.  She told my manager that the cast was "the greatest collection of divas outside of an opera house." I'd hope that things have mellowed since then.

This doesn't surprise me. In 2015, Entertainment Weekly had their big Shondaland issue with an interview with Shonda, Ellen, Kerry and Viola, and somewhere during the interview Ellen got up and walked away because Viola corrected Ellen when the discussion turned to black actors and she tried to add her two cents as if she knew from experience. 

I also remember someone on Reddit saying he worked on the Grey's crew for some years and that Ellen was a nightmare on set. However, it wouldn't surprise me if she has mellowed out in these later years because there are more newer and less big-name actors/characters on the show then in the earlier seasons. I think at this point with Patrick, Kate, Katherine, Sandra, Sara gone, Ellen has easily asserted her "I'm #1" and the rest of the cast lets her get away with it. 

[OtterMommy]

5 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

This doesn't surprise me. In 2015, Entertainment Weekly had their big Shondaland issue with an interview with Shonda, Ellen, Kerry and Viola, and somewhere during the interview Ellen got up and walked away because Viola corrected Ellen when the discussion turned to black actors and she tried to add her two cents as if she knew from experience. 

I also remember someone on Reddit saying he worked on the Grey's crew for some years and that Ellen was a nightmare on set. However, it wouldn't surprise me if she has mellowed out in these later years because there are more newer and less big-name actors/characters on the show then in the earlier seasons. I think at this point with Patrick, Kate, Katherine, Sandra, Sara gone, Ellen has easily asserted her "I'm #1" and the rest of the cast lets her get away with it. 

I remember reading an interview with Shonda where she said that Meredith was originally supposed to be paired up with Burke, not Derek, but that Ellen had her change that because, as she was in an interracial relationship IRL, she didn't want to have one on TV.  I remember having 2 thoughts about it: 

1- Why would her off screen relationship have anything to do with her on screen relationship?

2 - Is it strange that Shonda was letting Ellen, who was not exactly an A-lister at the time, make such huge creative decisions for this show?

(Also 3 - No matter what, Meredith and Derek were better than Meredith and Burke.  I never liked Derek and I saw a lot of problems with that relationship, but I detested Burke and his controlling ways....)

[MrWhyt]

3 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I'm not saying that they should let Pompeo walk or that she was not entitled to her new deal.  I'm just saying that, if it is what it looks like, it may not have been a deal based completely in reality.  Which, you know, is fine.  I just hope that they took into account that this is an ensemble piece and maybe they should recognize the contributions of other performers, especially those who have also given 14 years of their lives to this show.

Whats more real than the creative force behind the show (Shonda) saying that the show will go on as long as the star of the show (Ellen) wants to do it? Grey's Anatomy- The Drama might not rest entirely on Ellen's shoulders but it appears that Grey's Anatomy - The Billion Dollar product does.

Edited January 18, 2018 by MrWhyt

[funnygirl]

42 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

2 - Is it strange that Shonda was letting Ellen, who was not exactly an A-lister at the time, make such huge creative decisions for this show?

 

Shonda was very green when it came to showrunning in the earlier seasons of Grey's, she's all but said that it's what taught her how to run a show. Think of all the behind the scenes drama back then, and so by the time Scandal debuted she had a handle on things and adopted a "no asshole policy".  

[flickers]

55 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

I remember reading an interview with Shonda where she said that Meredith was originally supposed to be paired up with Burke, not Derek, but that Ellen had her change that because, as she was in an interracial relationship IRL, she didn't want to have one on TV.  I remember having 2 thoughts about it: 

1- Why would her off screen relationship have anything to do with her on screen relationship?

2 - Is it strange that Shonda was letting Ellen, who was not exactly an A-lister at the time, make such huge creative decisions for this show?

(Also 3 - No matter what, Meredith and Derek were better than Meredith and Burke.  I never liked Derek and I saw a lot of problems with that relationship, but I detested Burke and his controlling ways....)

I thought the story was that Isaiah was originally gonna to play McDreamy until Ellen objected, rather than Meredith and Burke were supposed to be a couple. Not 100% sure about that though.

 

1 hour ago, funnygirl said:

I think at this point with Patrick, Kate, Katherine, Sandra, Sara gone, Ellen has easily asserted her "I'm #1" and the rest of the cast lets her get away with it. 

Whether it's a factor or not I don't know, but IMO the quality of the show has noticeably declined in the time Ellen's been promoted as the solo lead. 

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, MrWhyt said:

Whats more real than the creative force behind the show (Shonda) saying that the show will go on as long as the star of the show (Ellen) wants to do it? Grey's Anatomy- The Drama might not rest entirely on Ellen's shoulders but it appears that Grey's Anatomy - The Billion Dollar product does.

That's not exactly what I meant when I said the deal might not have been based in reality.  What I meant was that it was based on the idea that she show would not survive without Ellen, which I don't think is true.  It is true that Shonda has said that she will keep the show going as long as Ellen is in it.

57 minutes ago, flickers said:

I thought the story was that Isaiah was originally gonna to play McDreamy until Ellen objected, rather than Meredith and Burke were supposed to be a couple. Not 100% sure about that though.

That could have been it.  Admittedly it has been some time since I read that interview.  Still, it makes me wonder why she had such leeway in the beginning.  But, as someone said, Shonda was still green at the time (and I can see how this may have lead to some of the rumored behavior behind the camera).

58 minutes ago, flickers said:

Whether it's a factor or not I don't know, but IMO the quality of the show has noticeably declined in the time Ellen's been promoted as the solo lead. 

To be fair, I don't think that is as much that Ellen can't carry it as the more interesting characters are no longer there.  Honestly, I still feel that Cristina Yang remains the most fascinating character that show has had and, frankly, I think a show built around her would have been even more interesting than early season Grey's.

[flickers]

I think the writers not trying as hard anymore is a big factor. The show still rates its socks off, why should they bother?

[funnygirl]

2 hours ago, flickers said:

Whether it's a factor or not I don't know, but IMO the quality of the show has noticeably declined in the time Ellen's been promoted as the solo lead. 

I won't argue with that. It is of my opinion that Grey's Anatomy is the type of ensemble show that is only as good as the sum of it's parts. And when a good chunk of really strong, really great characters have departed and are replaced with uninspired new characters that don't add much more than a warm body to fill a proverbial void, that's when weaknesses are exposed. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

$575,000 per episode for a blockbuster show is, frankly, reasonable. 

Whatever else is going on with Ellen Pompeo (personally or professionally), I agree with this. The cast of Friends negotiated $1 million per episode while the eighth season was airing. Their previous contract negotiation two years before that gave each of them $750K per episode. The cast of The Big Bang Theory has been making $1 million per episode since 2014 (I think that was TBBT's eighth season). However much I bitch about Grey's Anatomy, the show is still raking in money regardless of how stupid I think certain plots are. I know it's an ensemble show with a large cast, but Ellen Pompeo has been on this show for fourteen freaking seasons and she's the title character. I have no issue with her asking for a raise in order to commit to two more seasons of the show.

[ladymon]

10 hours ago, flickers said:

It sounds like one diva prevailed...

This attitude!  My God!  The whole point is for women to VALUE themselves and VALUE their work and NOT be disparaged with an easy insult "diva!".  If you read the article you would see that she decided to make this about BUSINESS and wanted to share her experience openly so other women would know what the highest paid woman on a drama gets paid and exactly what she went for and why.  Young women in the profession would benefit greatly by thinking about profit sharing and percentages as a goal in their career and not only the artistic expression.  Make it a well paying and more all around satisfying career.

 And a bunch of women who want the best for themselves creatively and/or financially and stand up for themselves and demand that are NOT DIVAS.  Please let's stop making that reference!  It serves no one!  Especially our daughters!

[flickers]

1 hour ago, ladymon said:

This attitude!  My God!  The whole point is for women to VALUE themselves and VALUE their work and NOT be disparaged with an easy insult "diva!".  If you read the article you would see that she decided to make this about BUSINESS and wanted to share her experience openly so other women would know what the highest paid woman on a drama gets paid and exactly what she went for and why.  Young women in the profession would benefit greatly by thinking about profit sharing and percentages as a goal in their career and not only the artistic expression.  Make it a well paying and more all around satisfying career.

 And a bunch of women who want the best for themselves creatively and/or financially and stand up for themselves and demand that are NOT DIVAS.  Please let's stop making that reference!  It serves no one!  Especially our daughters!

I was referring to the stories of Pompeo's rumored on-set behaviour and attitude towards her co-stars, eg. pitching a fit over Kate Walsh's spin-off. Not the recent news of her contract negotiations.

[ladymon]

9 minutes ago, flickers said:

I was referring to the stories of Pompeo's rumored on-set behaviour and attitude towards her co-stars, eg. pitching a fit over Kate Walsh's spin-off. Not the recent news of her contract negotiations.

I apologize for the specific reference error.  Not cool. And I thank you for the clarification.

I maintain my point that "diva" is an oft-used throw away reference for women who stand their ground.   And it needs to stop.  I'm quite sure there are a ton of men who display poor behaviour on set and pitch fits and don't get called divas.  That's all.

[jschoolgirl]

21 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

Heck, they have another daughter of Ellis Grey around--not that I'm advocating a Maggie-centric series, but rather just pointing out that Meredith isn't the only Grey around. 

I figured they were force-feeding us Maggie in case EP did leave.

[OtterMommy]

8 hours ago, ladymon said:

I maintain my point that "diva" is an oft-used throw away reference for women who stand their ground.   And it needs to stop.  I'm quite sure there are a ton of men who display poor behaviour on set and pitch fits and don't get called divas.  That's all.

I agree that men are held to a different standard, but I do think a fair amount are also called out on their divaness.  I don't, however, think it is necessarily harms them professionally.  Instead, they are seen as eccentric while women, who are called the same term, are seen as problematic.  And, yes, it's all wrong.

My original quote from the former PA about the cast Grey's being a bunch of divas was, as far as I understood it, applied to everyone in the cast--male and female.  I don't think, from the context I was told about it, that it referred to the cast standing their ground, but rather being demanding about about trivial things (like catering..), generally not getting along with each other, and making life unnecessarily difficult for production crew.  

[Chas411]

13 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

I figured they were force-feeding us Maggie in case EP did leave.

To be honest it's more the Maggie show then it's been the Meredith show in years.

[jschoolgirl]

What was EP's relationship with Dempsey like? The article is intriguing when she mentions the "nice chuckle" after seeing the ratings spike post-McDreamy.

[anna0852]

Supposedly the relationship was good. Until she caught him cheating on his wife and promptly told his wife.

[pennben]

On 1/17/2018 at 6:02 PM, OtterMommy said:

I do wonder, though, how much of this was merit-based and how much of it was retention. 

I do understand this post, but I also want to question it.  I guess I'm questioning whether we dissect deals for male leads of shows as much as we are dissecting whether this woman deserves her money that she is getting after 14 years. I feel like generally it isn't questioned when a male lead gets a huge bump after years of huge ratings nearly as much as when Ellen just got her payday.

On 1/17/2018 at 9:37 PM, flickers said:

It sounds like one diva prevailed...

One thing, among many, I enjoyed about her interview here was her owning up to being an ass in the early years.  No denying it, just saying 'yep, I was an ass back then'. 

Quote

"On the outside, we were a massive success, but there was all of this tumult on the inside: It was a lot of rivalry, a lot of competition. It starts with actors behaving badly, and then producers enabling them to behave badly. And, by the way, I'm guilty of it, too. I saw squeaky wheels getting all the fucking grease, so I was like, “OK, that's how you do it,” and I behaved badly as well. I mimicked what I saw. I'm not perfect."

So, diva is a good characterization early on, now.....I see someone who has grown up and grown into what is expected of her. There is something I really like about her saying that acting for her isn't the be all/end all.  It's a job to her.  It's not the job she loves the most, but it is the one that has made her financially secure and something she can build off of to get things that are more fulfilling to her.  I can identify with sticking with that kind of job for what it gives me on the back end, as opposed to me loving it right now.

Finally.....this quote.....made me laugh out loud...regarding Dempsey's departure!:

Quote

So, what does it look like when he leaves the show? First, it looks like a ratings spike, and I had a nice chuckle about that

I remember when he was being written out, and folks were UP IN ARMS!! Saying the show would tank...never watching again...it's gonna tank in the ratings and be cancelled now, etc.   And I was angry, because I never thought the show was all about him and I felt it was incredibly insulting to Ellen and others (I was also afraid I was wrong, and it would tank).  So I too was laughing how the ratings went up for a bit, the next season was fantastic, and even through a bad year last year, the ratings are fairly stable and this year is fantastic again.  

Edited January 20, 2018 by pennben

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, pennben said:

I do understand this post, but I also want to question it.  I guess I'm questioning whether we dissect deals for male leads of shows as much as we are dissecting whether this woman deserves her money that she is getting after 14 years. I feel like generally it isn't questioned when a male lead gets a huge bump after years of huge ratings nearly as much as when Ellen just got her payday.

I think I'm coming at it a little differently.  If Ellen were a man in this situation, I would see it 100% as retention--which I realize makes me sound a bit cynical towards men in the field.   I do think, no matter what my feelings are about Ellen Pompeo, that she deserves this pay raise.  What I can't quite buy into is the idea that she is getting it because Grey's couldn't survive without her (Shonda says it wouldn't, but that's not what I'm talking about).  If someone were to say that Pompeo is getting $20million so that Grey's can survive, I'd have to call bullshit.  However, I can completely side with Pompeo is getting $20million because she stars in one the most successful and longest running shows on TV.  Does she merit it?  Yes..but I don't think she merits it in the way it is presented to us.  And, yeah, there might be some retention in there too...and that is just fine.

[Bort]

12 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

I think I'm coming at it a little differently.  If Ellen were a man in this situation, I would see it 100% as retention--which I realize makes me sound a bit cynical towards men in the field.   I do think, no matter what my feelings are about Ellen Pompeo, that she deserves this pay raise.  What I can't quite buy into is the idea that she is getting it because Grey's couldn't survive without her (Shonda says it wouldn't, but that's not what I'm talking about).  If someone were to say that Pompeo is getting $20million so that Grey's can survive, I'd have to call bullshit.  However, I can completely side with Pompeo is getting $20million because she stars in one the most successful and longest running shows on TV.  Does she merit it?  Yes..but I don't think she merits it in the way it is presented to us.  And, yeah, there might be some retention in there too...and that is just fine.

I totally agree. They said the show wouldn’t survive without Patrick and it did. It would survive without Ellen as well. There’s a reason they keep stockpiling extra Greys on the show — first Lexie, now Maggie — so they have a backup title character if Ellen decides to pack it in. That said, she deserves the raise because she deserves the raise.

[pennben]

22 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

I think I'm coming at it a little differently.  If Ellen were a man in this situation, I would see it 100% as retention--which I realize makes me sound a bit cynical towards men in the field.   I do think, no matter what my feelings are about Ellen Pompeo, that she deserves this pay raise.  What I can't quite buy into is the idea that she is getting it because Grey's couldn't survive without her (Shonda says it wouldn't, but that's not what I'm talking about).  If someone were to say that Pompeo is getting $20million so that Grey's can survive, I'd have to call bullshit.  However, I can completely side with Pompeo is getting $20million because she stars in one the most successful and longest running shows on TV.  Does she merit it?  Yes..but I don't think she merits it in the way it is presented to us.  And, yeah, there might be some retention in there too...and that is just fine.

Okay, I confess  I’m not following all of your thought processes here.   But I also think that’s part of my point...lots of people get paid and we never think about it.   Ellen gets paid and we tie ourselves in knots thinking about it and wondering whether it’s merited and should it be merited (for whatever reason), etc., etc.

[MrWhyt]

13 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I think I'm coming at it a little differently.  If Ellen were a man in this situation, I would see it 100% as retention--which I realize makes me sound a bit cynical towards men in the field.   I do think, no matter what my feelings are about Ellen Pompeo, that she deserves this pay raise.  What I can't quite buy into is the idea that she is getting it because Grey's couldn't survive without her (Shonda says it wouldn't, but that's not what I'm talking about).  If someone were to say that Pompeo is getting $20million so that Grey's can survive, I'd have to call bullshit.  However, I can completely side with Pompeo is getting $20million because she stars in one the most successful and longest running shows on TV.  Does she merit it?  Yes..but I don't think she merits it in the way it is presented to us.  And, yeah, there might be some retention in there too...and that is just fine.

Greys - The Drama might survive without Ellen, but it seems, based on Shonda's comments, that Grey's - The Billion Dollar product won't. While you could conceivably have entertaining and functioning storylines without Meredith Grey, you won't have a show to put them in without Ellen Pompeo. Ellen is getting mad stacks of cash to stay with the product so that the product can continue to make madder stacks of cash for Disney.

[moonorchid]

I think a network that has used EP’s face and voice for over a decade to make billions definitely needs to pay up, I don’t begrudge her her money and her candidness is both refreshing and off putting at the same time. 

Would I have felt the same if this were a man who has said the same things she did, I truly feel I would. 

The only part that rubbed me wrong was when she went on about how any sctrsss can do a season or two and win awards but can they do 14 years? That’s a skill. No that’s stamina. And I agree with the other poster, if let’s say Ellen left and Sandra oh we’re still here I do think the show would be doing about he same. 

All this and I still do not begrudge her getting paid and using this to give herself opportunities in other ways like with her producing. Get yours

girl. 

[seasonedscribe]

Let me start off by saying that I won't be answering any questions after this post, and I apologize if this reads like a riddle—although I want it to, and my usage of the word actor includes both genders. The network is trying to patch up leaks and is becoming more like Fort Knox as each day passes. I'm here because I don't like liars, or manipulators.

A decade ago, things were a heck of a whole lot different, and the ego of a fellow colleague on [various projects] had not yet exploded the way they have now. The charm has now run out, and as a result we're seeing more shameless behavior.   

Do not let the forced and phony attempts at PR to salvage unnecessary actions fool you, don't fall into the same trap these actors did.  In late 2016, carrying into 2017, meetings were held with the cast, sometimes in groups and sometimes one-on-one, these meetings served as a way for actors to provide positive feedback, or constructive criticism of their current storylines and to pitch future ones.  One actor in particular was very adamant about what they wanted and stood in solidarity with a co-star—who previously pitched a very successful storyline, which had a few people on and behind screen seeing green and feeling undermined.  The actor received an affirmative response but there no intention on going in the direction they were promised.

What caused the breakdown and the take back on a promise?  Egos and results from focus groups.  One of the top billed actors had seen a slip in likability on screen, but it wasn’t significant enough to worry about, but created even more of a one sided rivalry rooted in jealousy.  Others did well as expected, yet saw a significant drop in airtime to reset things; viewers expressed that they could relate to these core characters, felt sympathy for the characters, felt represented and would change very little about them and their current stories.  As I continue, please keep in mind that successful pitches that positively impact ratings, create significant fanfare, and positive focus group results is great leverage for negotiations.  

Another soon to be top billed actor already apart of the main cast scored very poorly, initially the reaction had been indifference which was expected due to the lack of development, however the second round of results provided unexpected negative reactions to the character from the audience despite attempts to make the most ideal character that the audience would root for and sympathize with.  Typically, this would result in either a complete revamp of the character, integrating them more with the popular characters or a reduction in airtime.  In order to fill a much-desired [and needed] quota, a reduction in airtime was completely off the table, so a hard push toward integration was made despite overwhelming negative responses.

So what happens next?  The overall new direction left a few in the shadows, but in order to appease—because of previous success, another storyline pitch was given the green light and again could be used as leverage to garner a lucrative deal not close to one we all know about, but one that would be well deserved and most likely granted despite how stingy our network is.

This pitch was the perfect scenario for our agenda and vendetta driven crew to follow through with their premade plan.  A seed was planted, but wasn’t expected to flourish because of promises previously made and our parties were told not to worry and to just go with the flow. Unbeknownst to our main parties, this was not going to be a comeback story but a way to get over what was considered a roadblock. So here’s the thing, you can go around or over a roadblock, but it’s still there, so it’s much better to have it removed.  A semi collective agreement was made, but in order for it not to look like this was an agenda driven blindside, collateral damage was made. Those who opposed fought hard, but the bottom line is to always to preserve the almighty dollar, so it was already a lost cause as others gained. And with that I bid you all adieu.

[moonorchid]

This is a lot of info that I spent the day yesterday mulling over. If this is true and it makes too much sense not to have weight to it...then I am filled with so much rage right now.

[SnoGirl]

Wait, what? Who posted that and can someone explain it? Im feeling super dense that I can’t follow that vague post.

[moonorchid]

46 minutes ago, SnoGirl said:

Wait, what? Who posted that and can someone explain it? Im feeling super dense that I can’t follow that vague post.

Someone posted this yesterday. It’s vague and reads like a riddle. But it’s insinuating that an actress lost her job because greys wants another soon to be top billed character to be much more popular. To do that they hooked that character up with a popular male but he was a part of another popular ship so instead of just keeping that ship apart, they are removing the road block.

but it’s also insinuating that actors were lied to about storylines and a pitched storyline was used to write a character off the show instead for what it was pitched for which was character growth. 

I  personally feel this is about Sarah drew. There a lot going on with this statement.

[HazelEyes4325]

1 hour ago, moonorchid said:

Someone posted this yesterday. It’s vague and reads like a riddle. But it’s insinuating that an actress lost her job because greys wants another soon to be top billed character to be much more popular. To do that they hooked that character up with a popular male but he was a part of another popular ship so instead of just keeping that ship apart, they are removing the road block.

but it’s also insinuating that actors were lied to about storylines and a pitched storyline was used to write a character off the show instead for what it was pitched for which was character growth. 

I  personally feel this is about Sarah drew. There a lot going on with this statement.

First of all, I'm a little wary of anonymous posts...but this one does seem to match up.  So, I'm cautious and not 100% on board with it...

That being said, it sounds like (to me) that Jessica Capshaw was forced out because the powers that be wanted Kelly McCreary to be more popular.  Apparently, there is only so much audience goodwill to go around and they thought that they could take that which was directed to Capshaw, get Capshaw out of the way, and just transfer it to McCreary?  

But, to make McCreary more popular, they had to put her in a ship...the only two popular ships going into this were Jackson and April and Jo and Alex...and Jo and Alex are still together.  So, to get THAT to work, they had to get rid of Sarah Drew.

As I said, I'm wary of how accurate this is--but if it is even somewhat accurate, it is supremely shitty.

Oh, one other very general question.  Is it normal in scripted TV shows for actors to pitch story lines?  (If it is, that would explain A LOT about some things I've seen...not just on this show, but on a number of other shows as well).

[Bort]

12 minutes ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

Oh, one other very general question.  Is it normal in scripted TV shows for actors to pitch story lines?  (If it is, that would explain A LOT about some things I've seen...not just on this show, but on a number of other shows as well).

Yeah, it happens, especially on long-running shows like Grey's. The shows don't often go with what an actor might pitch but they may go with it if they think it's a good idea. April's storyline about losing Samuel was pitched by Sarah Drew.

[doingthejackal]

Quote

One actor in particular was very adamant about what they wanted and stood in solidarity with a co-star—who previously pitched a very successful storyline, which had a few people on and behind screen seeing green and feeling undermined.  The actor received an affirmative response but there no intention on going in the direction they were promised.

Okay, so is the adamant actor Jesse who stood in solidarity with Sarah--who had previously pitched the Samuel storyline, which was very successful? And he was adamant about Jackson and April reuniting...

Quote

A seed was planted, but wasn’t expected to flourish because of promises previously made and our parties were told not to worry and to just go with the flow. Unbeknownst to our main parties, this was not going to be a comeback story

...and the seed that was planted was Jackson and Maggie, but the promise (made to an adamant Jesse) was no, no, no, it's just to throw people off, Jackson and April are the thing, go with the flow.

And am I to guess that the envious other folks are or at least include Ellen who would have been totally fine with the idea of removing Sarah to hitch Maggie to Jackson to make Maggie more likable? And to make this not look like it was all just about the Maggie/Jackson ship, the "collateral damage" is firing Jessica Capshaw as well?

I totally buy it. This is the gossip I LIVE FOR. I do not need a portrait in my attic; tea like this keeps me young!

Edited March 21, 2018 by doingthejackal

[funnygirl]

I can't help but wonder if Jo was the character who scored poorly in the focus groups. She has been on the show longer than Maggie, but has barely had decent character development and only started being part of the main group, aka attached to Meredith, this season.  Maggie fits if only for the Jaggie pairing and Sarah being the obvious roadblock, but she has also been part of Meredith's circle since season 11 and there's been plenty of character development for her in the time that she's been on the show.  

Edited March 21, 2018 by funnygirl

[moonorchid]

Like this is speculative but I tend to believe it. 

I maggie was failing with the focus groups and after being written specifically so people would root for her, this didnt please them. 

I think Jesse and Sarah stood together to pitch a japril story and was told yes but they never had any intention of following through. This fits with the fact that Jesse was trolling the crap out of fans in the first half of the season and then abruptly stopped. I think Sarah pitched that and this crisis of faith storyline and was told it’s all good but they are using it to write her out.

I do think they are writing her or cause jaggie is the new endgame and they don’t want fans holding out hope for japril. I think Arizona has been shafted for years so they figure instead of coming up with a half ass storyline for her they’ll write her out too to make it seem like thisnisnt a rail road job against Sarah Drew. 

I do think Ellen is jealous of japrils popularity. I think Debbie Allen and Krista Vernoff feel undermined by Sarah Drew. 

I even if none of this true there’s enough evidence by what we do know as fact to illustrate that none of this is copacetic.

7 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

I can't help but wonder if Jo was the character who scored poorly in the focus groups. She has been on the show longer than Maggie, but has barely had decent character development and only started being part of the main group, aka attached to Meredith, this season.  Maggie fits if only for the Jaggie pairing and Sarah being the obvious roadblock, but she has also been part of Meredith's circle since season 11 and there's been plenty of character development for her in the time that she's been on the show.  

I think it’s maggie cause it said “soon to be top billed actor” and maggie just fits the profile. She’s been inserted all over the place and giving the most favorable writing meant specially for people to love her.

[HazelEyes4325]

12 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

I can't help but wonder if Jo was the character who scored poorly in the focus groups. She has been on the show longer than Maggie, but has barely had decent character development and only started being part of the main group, aka attached to Meredith, this season.  Maggie fits if only for the Jaggie pairing and Sarah being the obvious roadblock, but she has also been part of Meredith's circle since season 11 and there's been plenty of character development for her in the time that she's been on the show.  

 

The reason I don't think was Jo was because it sounds like (again, I could be wrong) that the poorly scoring character was a newer character who had not "yet" been developed.  That is definitely more Maggie than Jo.

As for all the jealousy--it's been pretty well documented that Ellen can be (is) very jealous of her fellow cast mates.  Both April and Arizona have large and dedicated fan bases and people relate to those two characters in a way they may not relate to others.  All this not only plays into the idea that they are trying to make the show Meredith-centric (which they haven't been able to do in 13.5 seasons, so why start now?) but also the idea that Ellen, like Meredith, sees herself as the sun and doesn't want any bright stars orbiting her.  That is, of course, all speculation on my part.

Edited March 21, 2018 by HazelEyes4325

[funnygirl]

27 minutes ago, moonorchid said:

I think it’s maggie cause it said “soon to be top billed actor” and maggie just fits the profile. She’s been inserted all over the place and giving the most favorable writing meant specially for people to love her.

Fair. But "soon to be top billed actor" could also be Camilla in that Jo is now engaged to one of the four originals, Alex, and basically now Jolex is the sole "flagship" pairing on the show by process of elimination. 

Again, I don't doubt that the motivation for Jaggie isn't a part of it. I think there's a lot of pieces to this. For instance, I think that the previous pitch that was successful came from Sarah and the Samuel storyline. And that they appeased her this year with April's crisis of faith, only it's not going to pan out the way Sarah had hoped/thought because this is where April's story ends instead of flourishing into something more for future seasons. 

Curious what exactly Ellen presumably is threatened by? She should be thanking her lucky stars that both Sandra and Sara left, because had either still been around, no way would tptb let their contracts expire in favor of "the sun". And Cristina and Callie were heavy hitters in their own right. 

22 minutes ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

The reason I don't think was Jo was because it sounds like (again, I could be wrong) that the poorly scoring character was a newer character who had not "yet" been developed.  That is definitely more Maggie than Jo.

 

But Maggie has been getting developed since season 11. Her third episode on the show was a centric one! Jo hasn't really had much outside of her relationship with Alex and random pile-ons stacked on top of her past without any sort of development, until this season that is. She's the only one left from her intern class, and all of a sudden she's Meredith's new bff. Maggie's the easy target, but she's only more disliked now for the Jaggie angle than she was for being the Mary Sue before. Stepping outside the shippers and Twitter bubble, I haven't seen much favor for Jo. (Arizona's not the most popular character, either. Her being attached to notoriously hated Dr. Minnick last season didn't do her any favors. However, at most Jessica was probably the collateral damage; an easy choice for tptb since her contract is up and they've struggled to give Arizona anything compelling to do in two seasons.) 

But I'm just as in the dark as anyone else. 

Edited March 21, 2018 by funnygirl

[HazelEyes4325]

14 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

But Maggie has been getting developed since season 11. Her third episode on the show was a centric one! Jo hasn't really had much outside of her relationship with Alex and random pile-ons stacked on top of her past without any sort of development, until this season that is. She's the only one left from her intern class, and all of a sudden she's Meredith's new bff. Maggie's the easy target, but she's only more disliked now for the Jaggie angle than she was for being the Mary Sue before. Stepping outside the shippers and Twitter bubble, I haven't seen much favor for Jo. (Arizona's not the most popular character, either. Her being attached to notoriously hated Dr. Minnick last season didn't do her any favors. However, at most Jessica was probably the collateral damage; an easy choice for tptb since they've struggled to give Arizona anything compelling to do in two seasons.) 

I guess part of it depends on what is considered "top billed."  Personally, I think everyone save the non-Jo interns/residents (so, DeLuca and the new crop)  would be considered top-billed.  Jo has actually had quite a lot of airtime during her tenure--although we saw less of her last season.  However, that was because of her maternity leave.  Now, if you look like who has been  more integrated into the main story lines this season, that would definitely be Maggie.  Jo is as integrated as she has always been, at least since her character paired up with Alex.  There doesn't appear to be a substantial move to integrate her more.

So, now the scenario that is running through my head is:

Jesse Williams sort of tied himself to Sarah Drew, who had pitched a crisis of faith story line that would ultimately reunite Jackson and April.

Someone was jealous of Sarah Drew's/April's/ Jackson and April's popularity and that person had enough pull to move the pieces the way they wanted.  

The powers that be wanted to up Maggie's profile on the show and a supposedly easy way to do that would be to pair her with Jackson, which runs afoul of the story line Drew proposed, and they accepted with no real intention of following through on it.  But, to make it work for Maggie, they had to get rid of April.

They didn't want to look bad over this (too late!), so they fired let Capshaw go so that it didn't look like a targeted campaign against Sarah Drew.

Edited March 21, 2018 by HazelEyes4325

[LaughingOne]

Who knows if this is true, but we do know that Sarah Drew pitched the Osteogenesis Imperfecta story and if she also pitched April’s crisis of faith, somebody needs to make that girl a showrunner. Those were April’s two best, most emotional storylines by far. She seems to know what her character needs more than the writers do. I could see that making some people mad.