Behind The Scenes: Trivia And Other Gossip

[ParadoxLost]

21 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

  I imagine that she felt she had hit the big time with movies and could burn bridges at that point.  But that just isn't cool. 

I completely agree with this.  She did deliberately burn her bridges in every scenario she wasn't thrilled about.  She did it on Roswell.  She did it on Grey's.  She did it with Apatow.  If you do that, you better make sure you make more money for the decision makers than the people you insult.  That might not even be enough if the people you disparage are your boss.  Heigl ended up not being as solid on the movie trajectory as she thought she was.

[GaT]

Katherine Heigl's momager Nancy, is also considered to be part of her problem. She's apparently very difficult to work with.

[merylinkid]

Kathryn Heigl is also over 18 years old.   If her Momager is causing her to lose jobs, she has the ability to fire her mother.   If it's her mother making her say things like she did about the writing on Grey's and the Apatow movies, then Heigl needs to remember she is over 18 and doesn't have to parrot her mommy.  At some point Heigl needs to take responsibility that she said the things she said and she did the things she did.   Which she has to some extent.   She has admitted that she thought she was going to be some big movie star and acted accordingly but having kids brought her down to earth.   As kids will because a 4 year old doesn't care how many magazine covers you have been on when the kids wants something in the store and you are in a hurry.

[roseha]

I thought I might be going back too far with this one but I can see some of these are even farther back in time so --

My two favorite Hollywood actors are Buster Keaton and Humphrey Bogart.  There's a very interesting six-degrees connection between them - Sybil Seely, Buster's charming leading lady in such early short silent classics as One Week and The Boat, married none other than Jules Furthman, the co-screenwriter (with William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett) of The Big Sleep, my favorite Bogart/Bacall noir.  Furthman was also the screenwriter for Shanghai Express.

Edited October 17, 2016 by roseha
typo correction

[Sweet Tee]

Quote

I don't believe Shonda had a grudge. 

Maybe not to Heigl but Knight's screen time was severely cut for about a season before he was killed off in a pretty hilarious/embarrassing way.  I can't see any reason for that happening unless SR wasn't thrilled with him.  Whether that was about Washington or something else, I don't know.  But, I remember it sticking out to me at the time. 

But, for Heigl, I agree that she has no one to blame but herself for the nosedive her career took.  At the very least, she jumped the gun in burning her bridges.  She did seem to be on the cusp of movie stardom but she blew it because she thought she was already there.

[Blergh]

roseha,

That's an interesting coincidence. Mr. Keaton not only was one of the most creative film makers of the silent film era (e.g. having multiple images of himself simultaneously via multiple exposures of the film itself) but he also took incredible physical risks to make these movies. The list of injuries he incurred down the years is downright appalling but at one point he literally broke his neck when a train engine watering tank's output knocked him off the top of the train in Sherlock, Jr. and onto the rail itself him hitting in with his neck. Amazingly, he kept pushing himself and it wouldn't be until years later when neck problems surfaced that prompted him to have x-rays done which showed the true impact.  And we need to keep in mind that for most of the silent era, he himself produced and directed his movies so it wasn't a case of anyone else forcing him to do these stunts.

     To keep everyone else's  eyes from glazing over, he does have another interesting  connection besides Bogie. In the latter years when, due to alcohol and bankruptcy issues, his star had waned by the Depression and by WWII he had become a bit player.  He still had his admirers, though, and amongst them was Lucille Ball herself whom he taught a great deal re physical comedy and reactions at her pleading. Sadly, they'd only perform on film together once when they did a silent pantomime comedic routine in 1965 during a tribute to the recently deceased Stan Laurel only months before Mr. Keaton's own death.

[DisneyBoy]

I will always wonder what kinds of frantic phone conversations went down in the wake of Robert Downey Junior's arrest at the end of the fourth season of Ally McBeal. They were in the process of filming the season finale entitled The Wedding and clearly had intended for him to become a permanent fixture on the show as Ally's husband. Then WHAMMO! He's busted for drugs...

Apparently he was considered such a liability in Hollywood at the time that no company would insure him so David E Kelley really had to go out on a limb to bring him into the cast in the fourth season. For things to have gone so well and then fall apart so quickly must have been an utter nightmare.

I wonder how much David E Kelley knew about Downey's problems at the time. Did he know he was still a drug user? Were there signs leading up to the arrest that he was that he was struggling? Was RDJ just basking in the glow of his newfound success and being reckless? Was David E Kelley and just hoping they could get the finale in the can and then lay down the law with RDJ over the summer to get clean? Was Calista livid to find out the finale had to be rewritten considering that would mean the entire direction of the show was in question?

The series never recovered, we know that now, but as a fan I found it telling that not only half the cast disappeared between seasons four and five but that David E Kelley also passed off the writing duties to a bunch of other writers at the start of season 5. It just felt like he couldn't have been more fed up. I wonder if he and Downey have ever spoken since...

The most I've ever heard Downey say about the whole fiasco was that he "blew it". This was of course during an interview for the Actors Studio with James Lipton.

 

Maybe it was good for him in the long run because it seemingly made him reform himself and turn things around in a big way with Iron Man, but as an Ally McBeal fan I will always be deeply deeply bitter about how blatantly his character was shoved down our throats in the fourth season only to bail and take the show with him.

Edited October 17, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[Chaos Theory]

This is why I tend to avoid gossip about shows when they are on the air.  It just might ruin a show for me.  Years later it might be interesting but I don't want to know when I am watching a show that my favorite couple hate each other in real life or that my favorite showrunner is a douche. 

The only show I did hear rumors about while watching was Sliders. There were a lot of "personality issues" on that one which began to show when actors began to jump ship.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Chaos Theory
Because personally is NOT the same as personality

[UYI]

On 10/13/2016 at 4:18 PM, phoenics said:

 

 

This is why I'm very sensitive to seeing lead actresses (this never seems to happen to men) getting sidelined or pushed out in favor of "busty" blondes like KH.  

 

 

As a busty blonde myself, I resent being lumped in with someone like KH. ;)

And I'm sure there are brunettes/redheads/flat chested blondes who are guilty of stuff like this on TV, too. :)

Edited October 17, 2016 by UYI

[meep.meep]

UYI,

Represent!  Busty blondes with attitude!  I bet KH isn't a natural blonde.*

We need a club.

 

*For all you non-blondes, this is the worst insult we have.  Don't judge us.

[topanga]

Is this blond? Not being facetious. I really don't know....  (And I have no idea how to make the image smaller. Sorry!).

Her hair did darken during during the remainder of her childhood years. Then she was a teenager, and Pow! Her hair turned light, light, blonde. 

Edited October 17, 2016 by topanga

[UYI]

Does anyone know just how the work relationship between Roseanne and Natalie West (Crystal) broke down? Because before that, NW was the only cast member outside of the immediate family circle to ever advance to Roseanne's opening credits. By the end of the series, she was all but forgotten. 

[Bastet]

I've always wondered that, too, but never come across an explanation.  It did seem to have been the result of some sort of issue (or at least that there was something going on in addition to a character having run her course), and it stands out because the rest of the core cast was so close and remains so today.  I didn't miss Crystal, as I could only ever handle her in small doses, but her absence was noticeable and made me curious.

[Dee]

Ally McBeal seemed to be a haven for troubled actors.

Didn't Lisa Nicole Carson have her breakdown shortly before Robert Downey Jr. had his?

[ikmccall]

Kris Kristofferson is a Rhodes Scholar.

Nick Nolte's hobby is glass working.  

Edited October 17, 2016 by ikmccall

[Enero]

1 hour ago, Dee said:

Ally McBeal seemed to be a haven for troubled actors.

Didn't Lisa Nicole Carson have her breakdown shortly before Robert Downey Jr. had his?

Not sure. But LNC had issues i.e. breakdowns before Ally McBeal.  She did an interview with People last year saying she started having issues in the early/mid 90s. She was diagnosed with bi-polar, but was in denial about the diagnosis and thus didn't take her prescribed medicine. As a result her issues progressed until she had the really bad breakdown in the late 90s early 2000s (?)  She was in a psychiatric hospital for a while due to that breakdown. However, she was able to return to Ally McBeal, but unfortunately was not renewed when her contract expired, I believe at the end of that season.

[roseha]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

Sadly, they'd only perform on film together once when they did a silent pantomime comedic routine in 1965 during a tribute to the recently deceased Stan Laurel only months before Mr. Keaton's own death.

Thanks Blergh, I didn't know about that.  Buster made a lot of appearances on early television after being rediscovered so I did wonder if he'd ever appeared on I Love Lucy, certainly a lot of other celebrities did.  I know he made an appearance on The Twilight Zone, though I've yet to see it.

[atomationage]

For me, the most interesting thing about Buster Keaton was that he collaborated with Samuel Beckett on "Film" and the documentary "Notfilm".  Everything else was before my time.  I do remember him in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.

[AgentRXS]

Quote

Does anyone know just how the work relationship between Roseanne and Natalie West (Crystal) broke down?

From what I've heard, Natalie West was originally meant to play a bigger part in the show, fulfilling the "wacky BFF " sitcom trope. Of course, Laurie and Roseanne has such great chemistry and comedic timing together, that Natalie's part got diminished in favor for more screen time for Laurie. All of the storylines revolving around Jackie being unlucky in love? All that was originally meant for Crystal. When Tom Arnold came along, he pushed Roseanne to add Sandra Bernhard to the show and I'm assuming that is when Natalie West either quit or got fired. (Knowing how Roseanne's temper was in those days, probably fired. ) No loss for me as I could never stand Crystal.

[Blergh]

Considering ALL the behind-the-scenes conflicts  re Roseanne and/or Roseanne Barr that DID get blanketed all over the media during the show's tenure, I think it's just as well Miss Barr and Miss West actually managed to keep whatever may have happened between them to themselves. In fact, I think it's a bit of a relief that there's the possibility that ONE piece of dirty laundry managed to get quietly taken care of without the rest of the world having to see it re that show.

 

   This somewhat reminds me of when Polly Holliday exited Alice. Despite the efforts of the media to goad Miss Holliday and Linda Lavin to talk trash re each other, Miss Holiday was able to simply make her short-lived spin off of Flo then keep having the rest of her career unimpeded by any lingering drama.

[UYI]

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

Considering ALL the behind-the-scenes conflicts  re Roseanne and/or Roseanne Barr that DID get blanketed all over the media during the show's tenure, I think it's just as well Miss Barr and Miss West actually managed to keep whatever may have happened between them to themselves. In fact, I think it's a bit of a relief that there's the possibility that ONE piece of dirty laundry managed to get quietly taken care of without the rest of the world having to see it re that show.

 

 

It stands out, though, because most of Roseanne's issues seemed to be either with ABC, her producers, and most infamously, with her writers (and Tom Arnold, but him being her ex-husband, in addition to being the former executive producer, adds another layer to that battle). The majority of the cast seems to love and adore her, for the most part. 

Edited October 18, 2016 by UYI

[Bastet]

It's also more abrupt than Jackie getting some of the storylines and interaction with Roseanne originally intended for the stock "wacky sitcom friend" character, because that transition happened early on and Crystal didn't disappear until much later.  And she's rather purposely not spoken of when the tight-knit cast reflect on the show, even when they're doing DVD commentary and Crystal is right there on screen.

[ParadoxLost]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

Considering ALL the behind-the-scenes conflicts  re Roseanne and/or Roseanne Barr that DID get blanketed all over the media during the show's tenure

Speaking of BTS issues getting plastered over all kinds of media.  Designing Women.

Delta Burke began believing that she was the star of the show which many lay at the feet of her husband Gerald McRaney.

She started badmouthing the producers to the press.  This is kind of an understatement.  The Thomason's retaliated in kind, publically.  It as tabloid madness.  Burke asked to be released from the show (taken as a negotiating tactic).  Burke started calling in sick.  They started filming with two scripts, one with and one without Suzanne.  The whole cast didn't go to her vow renewal when Dixie Carter was matron of honor the first time around.  They hired someone else to replace the Thomasons and play peacemaker because they were "busy" with Evening Shade.  They didn't tell the Thomasons and they refused to return to Evening Shade if they didn't run both shows.  Thomason's were reinstated.  Cast and producers had an impromptu vote after Delta left set and decided she would be written out.

What struck me as odd in all this is Jean Smart's departure shortly thereafter.  She has never said anything beside wanting more time with her family and to do other projects as far as I know.  But I've always suspected that she left not in support of Burke but because of how the Thomason's handled the whole situation.

For all the credit the Thomason's get for handling Burke's weight gain in her Emmy winning episode before she started publically acting out, I've always felt that they used Suzanne to punish Delta Burke once she started talking to the press about the show.  What I remember around the time the tabloids were going crazy is that nearly every episode was antagonistic and pitted the petite intellectual women (Mary Jo and Julia) against the big stupid women (Charlene and Suzanne).  It was not funny and there was a noticeable lack of affection that made it seem mean in a way that it didn't earlier in the series .  I thought it sent a terrible message to the viewers and I was always really sad that Jean Smart was caught in the cross fire.

I'm not sure if it was deliberate and Jean Smart was used to obscure that they were bullying Burke.  Or if they just couldn't write for Burke given the infighting.  Or maybe the set was so toxic that Annie Potts and Dixie Carter couldn't portray any kind of positive relationship with Delta Burke while Jean Smart was able to pull it off.  But I've always found it curious that Smart decided to leave shortly after the only "problem" on set was removed.

[Bastet]

Bloodworth-Thomason and Burke both commented on that time, and the misunderstanding of each others' motives, most recently in a really nice group interview about the series.

Edit: Because that interview as long as it is wonderful, let me quote the most-relevant section:
 

Quote

 

VI: The Drama

It’s no secret that there came a time when Designing Women was not only ripping stories from the headlines, it was making headlines. Tabloids followed Burke’s weight gain like a sport, taking odds on whether it would affect her new marriage and her job on the show. Despite the show ‘s earning three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series (for Seasons 3, 4, and 5) and Burke nabbing two Emmy nominations herself (the first for Season 4’s “They Shoot Fat Women, Don’t They?”, which addressed Suzanne’s weight), the set became strained to the point that Burke’s contract wasn’t renewed for Season 6. People magazine ran a 2,000-word feature in July 1991 asking, “Was Delta Burke a disruptive egomaniac? Or a troubled victim of a vindictive set?” The piece ended with Harry Thomason saying, “I don’t know what happened or what we did. We wish her well. We hope she has every success in the book.” Twenty-five years later, there is a better understanding of what went wrong: None of those 2,000 words were “depression” and “panic attacks.”

Burke: Everything that I had ever wanted was coming true. I was starring in a TV show, I had a wonderful part, I’m making great money, I’ve met the man of my dreams. But something was going on — the pressure of something was too much. I began to have those horrible panic attacks. Nobody had heard of them back then. Nobody talked about depression, No. 1, and they didn’t talk about panic attacks. They were totally unaware of them. They would hit me out of nowhere, like you know the cartoon where the 10-ton weight smacks the coyote. Out of the blue, this thing would hit me over the head, and I would just freeze where I was on the stage, and I wanted to say “I’m so sorry,” but I couldn’t speak. I would just try to stagger off the set, and by that time, I would start making screaming sounds and shaking and Meshach would catch me and take me back to my dressing room. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just having a complete meltdown panic attack.

Then, apparently, the girls were all thinking, “Who’s going to go in and talk to her?” They would send Dixie in, of course. And Dixie would go in there and just pet me and love me and tell me everything was all right and I was going to be OK and calm me down. At first they began to treat me with medication: Whenever I would have an attack, I would take this pill. Then they began to teach me that when you feel this attack coming — which I never felt it coming, but I paid attention and did notice that yeah, my body did feel kind of strange — take your pill then, and you won’t have the attack.

I thought, “What if this happens while I’m shooting?” I’d be so embarrassed and mortified because it was so humiliating. I remember shooting one day, and I said to the second AD, “I’ve got to go to my dressing room.” He said, “No, we’ve got to shoot something.” I said, “I’ve got to take a pill.” He said, “Go. Go. Go to your room.” Because they knew what would happen if I didn’t take that pill. Finally I learned how to not have the attacks without having to take medicine. I was dealing with a psychiatrist, like four or five days a week at that point, because I was in a high-pressure situation and I had to function somehow.

Bloodworth-Thomason: I didn’t realize that’s what was wrong with her. I just couldn’t figure it out. We were all in a big misunderstanding. That sounds like a cop-out, but we really were. Nobody had the right information. Everybody was acting on wrong information. We were thinking, “My God, what’s wrong with you? This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to all of us. You’re making a bundle of money, you’ve got the role of a lifetime, and really, you can’t be happy and you’re mad at us?” We just kept saying, “Why are you mad at us? Nobody wants you to lose weight. Stop saying this.” She had a different thing going on in her head, and we did not know, or understand, about the panic attacks. It really affected me deeply when I found that out, because had I known that, I would have had a completely different perspective on how we talked to her.

 

Edited October 19, 2016 by Bastet

[Kromm]

On 10/12/2016 at 8:16 AM, roamyn said:

I didn't know any of those!

DdV & MD sound like an interesting pairing.

I've heard Hoffman talk at length in one specific interview about his days with Hackman. I believe it was actually on Alec Baldwin's Podcast/Public Radio show.

I've also seen mention of that Connie Britton and Lauren Graham roommate thing mentioned upthread too. One or the other of them have posted pictures online. Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones is one I've heard mentioned over the years as well.

A few more:

Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake were roommates (but it makes sense since they were in The New Mickey Mouse Club together).

Lindsay Lohan and Raven Symone were roommates for a short while (I doubt that helped either of them stay all that grounded).

John Cusack and Jeremy Piven were roommates, but apparently came out of it hating each other.

Conan O'Brien and Jeff Garlin both lived in Chicago at one point and were roommates.

Ilana Glazer and Rachel Bloom were roommates in Brooklyn, NY.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Kromm

[Enigma X]

25 minutes ago, Kromm said:

John Cusack and Jeremy Piven were roommates, but apparently came out of it hating each other.

The John Cusack and Jeremy Piven rift is actually quite recent when compared to how long they  considered each other good friends. Cusack made some negative comments on Piven's Entourage success and then Piven made some comments on Cusack.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Enigma X

[atomationage]

1 minute ago, Enigma X said:

Piven made some comments on Cusack.

He must have been channeling Ari Gold.   Ari Gold was based on Rahm Emmanuel's brother.  Josh Lyman on TWW was based on Rahm Emmanuel. 

[Princess Sparkle]

18 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake were roommates (but it makes sense since they were in The New Mickey Mouse Club together.

 

Another fun fact on top of that - because Ryan Gosling's mother had to go back to Canada (due to something work related) Justin Timberlake's mother became Ryan Gosling's legal guardian for a short period of time; I think it was between 6 months to a year. 

[Enigma X]

3 minutes ago, atomationage said:

He must have been channeling Ari Gold.   Ari Gold was based on Rahm Emmanuel's brother.  Josh Lyman on TWW was based on Rahm Emmanuel. 

I honestly could not make it past an episode of Entourage but loved The West Wing and am from Chicago. It is very interesting to know that Josh Lyman was based on Emmanuel.

[AgentRXS]

Quote

It's also more abrupt than Jackie getting some of the storylines and interaction with Roseanne originally intended for the stock "wacky sitcom friend" character, because that transition happened early on and Crystal didn't disappear until much later.  And she's rather purposely not spoken of when the tight-knit cast reflect on the show, even when they're doing DVD commentary and Crystal is right there on screen.

Yes, thats why I believe that Tom getting Sandra Bernhard hired on the show and the 3 actresses becoming a trio during the "Lunch Box" era of the show is what set the final nail in the coffin for Natalie. Either Roseanne no longer saw a permanent use for her and cut her to recurring,or she was offended at the lack of screen time and quit. The riff probably started when Roseanne brought Bonnie on and threw a lot of screen time at her---it may have pushed her over the edge when Sandra got hired. If I remember correctly, isn't the "Lunch Box" era around the time Crystal disappeared?

Whatever the issue, its sad that their is apparently still bad blood between the two.

Edited October 19, 2016 by AgentRXS

[ParadoxLost]

Simon Cowell was arrested at age 12 for hijacking a bus with a pee gun as a prank.  '

I have no idea if this is true.  Cowell told the story himself but I kind of take him with a grain of salt.

[Dee]

I loved that all too brief era of Roseanne where Roseanne, Jackie, Anne Marie, Crystal, Bonnie and/or Nancy were a tight little group.

But then, Roseanne was always more fun when she was surrounded by girlfriends, like her co-workers at Wellman's and the beauty salon, IMO.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Dee

[tenativelyyours]

I had always wondered about the season shifts in Roseanne that seemed to just drop things kind of suddenly.  The hair salon for instance.  It seemed that they were building this kind of new forum to take over from the one her character had with Wellmans and it just seemed to disappear as if it never happened.  I think one reason I found it odd, was I watched Roseanne in syndication completely.  And I recognized many of the actresses she brought on for the beauty shop staff even if I did not know their names and so there was an established sense to it and then it just went away. 

Somehow I did read that article/interview with her and Arnold that had them showing off their tattoos and that was some really weird marriage they had.  I really think it is a wonder the show survived him at all in many ways.

[Chaos Theory]

Some couples are a perfect storm of disfunction.  On their own both parties might be a little out there but they are functional but together for whatever reason they bring out the crazy in each other.  Roseanne and Tom Arnold always felt like that for me.    

[atomationage]

14 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Delta Burke began believing that she was the star of the show which many lay at the feet of her husband Gerald McRaney.

I never liked McRaney after this whole mess which I do put at his feet.  Delta Burke was and may still be a beloved icon in Orlando.  WIkipedia doesn't mention that she went to Rollins College in Winter Park, and I can't find a source for that,  but  they have this:

Quote

she won the Miss Florida title for 1974; she was the youngest Miss Florida titleholder in pageant history. She was subsequently paired with Miss Georgia, Gail Nelson, in the Miss America 1975 pageant. Burke won a talent scholarship from the Miss America Organization, allowing her to attend a two-year study program at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

[MargeGunderson]

14 hours ago, Kromm said:

John Cusack and Jeremy Piven were roommates, but apparently came out of it hating each other.

Oh, that seems like the only possible outcome for that pairing.

[atomationage]

14 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I honestly could not make it past an episode of Entourage

Just watch the Ari Gold clips with Piven:

I didn't care for the rest of the cast.  Grenier's character was supposedly based on Leonardo di Caprio and his "entourage", which included his brother, Jesse Bradford, and Mark Wahlberg at the time of Basketball Diaries.   At least one of the entourage was a Wahlberg follower, so it was sort of a combination of both I guess.

[Princess Sparkle]

14 hours ago, atomationage said:

He must have been channeling Ari Gold.   Ari Gold was based on Rahm Emmanuel's brother.  Josh Lyman on TWW was based on Rahm Emmanuel. 

And here's a fun little piece of Entourage trivia (that actually ties in with the roommates trivia).  In one episode, Ari is trying to find a director for a movie of Vince's, so he calls the director Peter Berg who he describes as "my college roommate."  Peter Berg was in fact Ari Emanuel's college roommate at Macalester College.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Princess Sparkle
forgot a word

[anna0852]

No, no she's not. I was born and raised here. Nothing against Ms. Burke but she is not an area icon or anything. 

[Blergh]

atomationage,

 

 Two things re the Delta Burke deal I'd like to put out.

While I do believe that Mr. McRaney's urging her to somehow get more than her previous share of billing and/or monies was a contributing factor to the dispute,  IMO Miss Burke was a grown person who ultimately was the one responsible for how she herself interacted with her employers and colleagues.

2ndly, Miss Burke and the producers WERE able to at least learn to be civil to each other a few years later when they all made the short-lived spin-off Women of the House based around Suzanne's character. Not that it was very good nor was I surprised to see it sputter out almost as soon as it came on. However; the fact that these three DID put forth the effort to at least to not  let their differences sink the possibility of them working together again was a good thing.

 

  Oh, and as long as we're talking backstage re Designing Women, if it's true that none of them saw Alice Ghostley after the show nor attended her funeral, that would be most infuriating because often  the late Miss Ghostley's flaky but likable character alone kept the show from becoming too depressing or upsetting to watch.  Regardless, I'm glad that (thanks to this show)  there's a generation of folks who will remember the iconic performer more for her Designing Women role than her cringing role of Esmeralda in the latter-day Bewitched.

[DisneyBoy]

On 17/10/2016 at 7:33 PM, Enero said:

Not sure. But LNC had issues i.e. breakdowns before Ally McBeal.  She did an interview with People last year saying she started having issues in the early/mid 90s. She was diagnosed with bi-polar, but was in denial about the diagnosis and thus didn't take her prescribed medicine. As a result her issues progressed until she had the really bad breakdown in the late 90s early 2000s (?)  She was in a psychiatric hospital for a while due to that breakdown. However, she was able to return to Ally McBeal, but unfortunately was not renewed when her contract expired, I believe at the end of that season.

Yes, Lisa Nicole just disappeared during the third season in a really awkward way. Billy had just died, leaving Ally in a major emotional slump for which her best friend was nowhere to be found. Then after a short break, the show came back and suddenly Ally was there talking to Renee in their apartment about how she had hooked up with someone online to help get over the grief of losing Billy (it ended up being Jonathan Taylor Thomas). The whole episode was royally awkward but most especially because the writing didn't address where the hell Renee was during those final days and funeral.

Then Renee disappeared again between seasons four and five (after RDJ was arrested). The character only popped up again for the series finale. I was really happy she came back, even though that finale was a disappointing reunion, with everyone looking glum.

I only found this out last year, but David E Kelly wrote the character of Renee into what ended up being the final episode of his Kathy Bates legal drama. She was the presiding judge in that final case, and then later appeared at a bar with the other lawyers to sing and have fun with them. It was really nice to see Renee move up in the world since she started off as district attorney and then open her own practice and then ultimately became a judge. I don't get the sense from that that DEK held any kind of a grudge against her, which is really cool.

It's a shame that her personal issues derailed her career a bit - let's not forget they also killed her character off on ER presumably for similar reasons - because she was really charismatic and had a fantastic voice. I've always hoped she would release an album but that doesn't seem to have happened.

Edited October 21, 2016 by DisneyBoy

[UYI]

On 10/19/2016 at 9:24 AM, Chaos Theory said:

Some couples are a perfect storm of disfunction.  On their own both parties might be a little out there but they are functional but together for whatever reason they bring out the crazy in each other.  Roseanne and Tom Arnold always felt like that for me.    

And yet, their work on Roseanne together as producers resulted in the strongest era of the series. In fact, some have speculated that Tom was someone who could say "no" to Roseanne about a story idea, and she would actually listen to him. The seventh season was the first season of the show after their divorce, and it was during that season that Roseanne's more...outlandish ideas started to show up onscreen more often (and that was BEFORE the Conners won the lottery!).

[Chaos Theory]

30 minutes ago, UYI said:

And yet, their work on Roseanne together as producers resulted in the strongest era of the series. In fact, some have speculated that Tom was someone who could say "no" to Roseanne about a story idea, and she would actually listen to him. The seventh season was the first season of the show after their divorce, and it was during that season that Roseanne's more...outlandish ideas started to show up onscreen more often (and that was BEFORE the Conners won the lottery!).

Once you go crazy you never go back?  

I am not saying they didn't do good work together.  Sometimes it works both ways.  Passion is like that.  You either want to kiss or kill the other person but they do bring out the creativity in you.

[Blergh]

  Chaos Theory,

 

 Not a bad hypothesis yet I seriously doubt that Miss Barr or Mr. Arnold  would EVER retrospectively consider the positive aspects of their relationship which ended quite toxically .    They been by no means   Lucy/ Desi in that capacity.

[legaleagle53]

6 hours ago, Blergh said:

  Chaos Theory,

 

 Not a bad hypothesis yet I seriously doubt that Miss Barr or Mr. Arnold  would EVER retrospectively consider the positive aspects of their relationship which ended quite toxically .    They been by no means   Lucy/ Desi in that capacity.

Indeed not.  I remember when TVGuide did a cover story on them some 20-odd years ago, with her dressed and made up like Lucy and Tom dressed and made up like Desi.  TVGuide even went so far as to declare Roseanne to be the Lucy of the 90s, at least in terms of having the same level of clout in Hollywood.  To say that Lucy's fans hated the comparison is putting it mildly -- I remember "Blasphemy!" and "Sacrilege!" being thrown around a lot in response to that article.

[Blergh]

OK, here's one from way back. In 1959 at age 67, the silent screen legend Mary Pickford gave a very detailed, introspective interview to the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) Radio . Whilst she gave well-thought out insight re her views of her early life (even discussing her actual original name and why she picked her stage name) , theatrical performing, the earliest days of moviemaking and then becoming on of the first major motion picture stars and views of other performers like Chaplin, it somewhat failed to touch on her then-current situation. For instance, if one went solely by that interview, one would have thought that she and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. had only been married to each other, never divorced and had no previous or subsequent spouses. Yes, she spun a fun tale re how their courtship started with Mr. Fairbanks picking her up from a log to prevent her from falling into the creek  it bridged or ruining her new shoes but she failed to mention that they both were still married to their first spouses. Moreover she totally ignored  the existence of her adoptive children by her 3rd husband Buddy Rogers (whom she was becoming estranged from by this point) and even her stepson Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. whom she'd stay friends with to her own death in 1979.

[HunterHunted]

On 8/12/2016 at 4:12 PM, orza said:

Assaulting a coworker will get you fired pretty much everywhere. Firing a violent person is the responsible thing to do. He was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

This reminds me that I'm still irritated about Isaiah Washington being fired from Grey's Anatomy for calling TR Knight a faggot. Yeah, he shouldn't have done it. However, the context for it was that Washington was in the middle of an argument with Patrick Dempsey. The fight turned physical when Washington started strangling Dempsey. Literally fire him for that!!!! And I loved Isaiah on Grey's, but you can't have people trying to kill each other on set.

Edited January 1, 2017 by HunterHunted

[joelene]

16 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

This reminds me that I'm still irritated about Isiah Washington being fired from Grey's Anatomy for calling TR Knight a faggot. Yeah, he shouldn't have done it. However, the context for it was that Washington was in the middle of an argument with Patrick Dempsey. The fight turned physical when Washington started strangling Dempsey. Literally fire him for that!!!! And I loved Isiah on Grey's, but you can't have people trying to kill each other on set.

Sounds like a double whammy then. Personally I'm glad the focus was on the homophobia if they for some reason had to choose, but it should have been on both.

What happened anyway? I always thought the fight was that Dempsey defended Knight after the name calling. But they were already fighting and Knight stepped in and that's when the name calling came? What were they fighting about?

Edited December 31, 2016 by joelene

[HunterHunted]

2 hours ago, joelene said:

Sounds like a double whammy then. Personally I'm glad the focus was on the homophobia if they for some reason had to choose, but it should have been on both.

What happened anyway? I always thought the fight was that Dempsey defended Knight after the name calling. But they were already fighting and Knight stepped in and that's when the name calling came? What were they fighting about?

The funny thing is that Knight was never really involved in the fight when it was verbal or when it turned physical. I believe Dempsey was late on set. Washington got pissed off. An argument ensued. Washington said something to the effect of "You think I'm going to take it (waiting around for Dempsey to show up)? I'm not your little faggot like TR." Washington then tried to strangle Dempsey. When details of the fight started leaking to the press, Knight freaked out because he was afraid he'd been outted. However, the initial reports indicated that Washington had assaulted Dempsey and used some disgusting language. Information that the disgusting language was the word faggot surfaced after Knight came out. Heigl was upset because she felt that Knight, a friend of hers, was forced to come out.

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

[joelene]

Ah, yes, I remember it now. I wonder how Dempsey responded to that lovely phrase for it to accelerate from verbal to physical unhinged throttling.