Bull in the Media

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Articles, interviews, and other media related stuff goes here!

Geneva Carr discusses the show on Build:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Chris Jackson discusses Bull:

[JessDVD]

https://deadline.com/2018/07/bull-annabelle-attanasio-exits-season-3-cable-mccrory-1202426351/

All that mystery last season about whether Cable would come back and now she's gone forever.

[may flowers]

Behind CBS’s Secret $9.5 Million Settlement With ‘Bull’ Actress  
https://nyti.ms/2zZ7axs?smid=nytcore-ios-share

 

This was just posted in The New York Times. 

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, may flowers said:

Behind CBS’s Secret $9.5 Million Settlement With ‘Bull’ Actress  

That's a hella good story idea.

[pennben]

Almost as good of an idea as Matthew Weiner writing an episode of The Romanoffs about sexual harassment issues. Translation: shitty idea. 

[enoughcats]

One way to make a budget spin on its axis

How many millions.......

[CheetaraThunder]

Not shocking since Weatherlys on set behavior dates way back to Dark Angel.

[ByaNose]

I’ve never watched any of Michael Weatherly shows. Odd. Anyway, I know who he is though. I used to watch him on Loving in 90’s. After that, I would see him on the talks shows (most recently with Kelly Ripa...they were friends back in the day) and, he was always OTT in the interviews. He was always ON. He's always been a good looking guy (he reallly looks like a young Robert Wagner) but none of this surprises me. He’s the star of the show(s) and, probably did anything he damn well pleased. I’m curious to see if he recovers from this. Everyone else has been fired (Charlie Rose, Les Moonves, Matt Lauer et all) from their jobs. How can CBS let him continue?

Edited December 14, 2018 by ByaNose

[Slade347]

He played Wagner in a movie about Natalie Wood, and in turn Wagner played his father on NCIS.

[Notwisconsin]

One wonders if the heart attack was a ploy to end the show if somehow this got worse than it was.

Also, there's the thing about the two leads hating each other's guts in Castle. Did that get into a lawsuit?

[mythoughtis]

17 hours ago, may flowers said:

Behind CBS’s Secret $9.5 Million Settlement With ‘Bull’ Actress  
https://nyti.ms/2zZ7axs?smid=nytcore-ios-share

 

This was just posted in The New York Times. 

That article really spells out the behavior.   I wonder where this show goes from here- if it goes from here.  It’s not really an ensemble show and I don’t think the other characters are beloved for themselves a la Roseanne. 

Add this to MW’s DUI before this show began airing.  Does he have an alcohol issue or is this his behavior while sober? 

This does explain why her character just disappeared from the show without explanation.  

Edited December 14, 2018 by mythoughtis

[Trey]

I think, if they were going to cancel the show, they would already have done so. They've had enough time to cancel it, since the settlement is a done deal.

It would be a crappy thing to do to the other actors who would lose their jobs and, probably,  wouldn't get a $9 million dollar settlement. 

But Michael Weatherly should go.  Perhaps Bull could have another, fatal, heart attack and someone else could take over.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Trey

[scorpio1031]

47 minutes ago, Notwisconsin said:

One wonders if the heart attack was a ploy to end the show if somehow this got worse than it was.

Also, there's the thing about the two leads hating each other's guts in Castle. Did that get into a lawsuit?

No.  Nathan Fillion was a jerk to Stana Katic, but I don't think there was any harassment.  Apparently it got to where they could barely stand to be around each other.

2 minutes ago, Trey said:

I think, if they were going to cancel the show, they would already have done so. They've had enough time to cancel it, since the settlement is a done deal.

The settlement was a done deal, but it was a secret until this week.  Now the network and Weatherly are facing the backlash, so who knows what will happen.

[TWP]

6 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

No.  Nathan Fillion was a jerk to Stana Katic, but I don't think there was any harassment.  Apparently it got to where they could barely stand to be around each other.

Innuendo from tabloids stated as a fact.  More likely they were jerks to one another.  

[thewhiteowl]

If Fillion and Katic hated each other they were much better actors than I have them credit for.

[rhys]

I read the above article last night and heard about it on NPR today. So it's all over the place by now.

[statsgirl]

It's an interesting situation. Dushku did the right things, she said she was uncomfortable with what Weatherly was doing. He complained about her and she lost her co-starring role.

It's a lousy way to do business. She was reimbursed for getting dropped but I wonder what if she hadn't had the clout that she does?  Would she just have been dropped and lost out on it all?

[shrewd.buddha]

10 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Dushku did the right things

Sometimes it sucks for the people who do the right thing. Even tho she is not the cause of problem, will this impact her when looking for other work? (Tho no one would admit it.) In many ways, it is a no-win situation for the cast and crew. 

CBS is racking up the sexual harassment count.

Edited December 15, 2018 by shrewd.buddha

[sashayshante]

Thee are two issues here: Did Weatherly act inappropriately (uh, hell yes) and was she not picked up as a series regular because she complained.

Just curious if anyone actually watched her episodes. I did and remember thinking that she was miscast.  I like Dushku, but let's be honest, she has one speed: badass rebel. The character was supposed to be playful and flirty but still a force to be reckoned with. The latter she did well, the former not so much. The character didn't work. Forget about the lack of chemistry between her and Weatherly (which has now been explained), her performance was wooden and humorless. The character and the actress didn't work. Fillion and Stanic at the very least had chemistry. They wrote around their intense dislike for each other, which is why they were always being separated for the last two seasons.  You can't write around a lack of chemistry.

Weatherly won't be fired. He'll get some minor reprimand because he makes the network money. The only people being fired are the ones networks were dying to get rid of in the first place.

 

ETA Read the comments from her episodes on this site. They're almost across the board critical of the character.

Edited December 15, 2018 by sashayshante

[scorpio1031]

4 hours ago, sashayshante said:

Thee are two issues here: Did Weatherly act inappropriately (uh, hell yes) and was she not picked up as a series regular because she complained.

Just curious if anyone actually watched her episodes. I did and remember thinking that she was miscast.  I like Dushku, but let's be honest, she has one speed: badass rebel. The character was supposed to be playful and flirty but still a force to be reckoned with. The latter she did well, the former not so much. The character didn't work. Forget about the lack of chemistry between her and Weatherly (which has now been explained), her performance was wooden and humorless. The character and the actress didn't work. Fillion and Stanic at the very least had chemistry. They wrote around their intense dislike for each other, which is why they were always being separated for the last two seasons.  You can't write around a lack of chemistry.

Weatherly won't be fired. He'll get some minor reprimand because he makes the network money. The only people being fired are the ones networks were dying to get rid of in the first place.

 

ETA Read the comments from her episodes on this site. They're almost across the board critical of the character.

The plan was to give her a 4 year contract cause they liked her character and she had chemistry with Bull.  Once the actress confronted Weatherly, she was fired.

[sashayshante]

21 minutes ago, scorpio1031 said:

The plan was to give her a 4 year contract cause they liked her character and she had chemistry with Bull.  Once the actress confronted Weatherly, she was fired.

She was offered an multi-episode deal, and if the character was well received, then they'd discuss a series regular spot. CBS fulfilled the original contract. She was never at any time offered a series regular role and then had it taken away. It was always an if not a when. She's claiming she wasn't offered a series regular role because of Weatherly, which might be true, but she's glossing over the fact that the character was not well-received by the audience.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sasha Alexander, and Pauley Perrette (spelling?) are both saying that they never had any issue with Michael Weatherly.       However, just because some people don't have an issue with a person, doesn't mean he wasn't inappropriate to another person.     

There's also the factor that at NCIS, Weatherly was part of the cast, and at Bull he's the big star, so he might have acted very differently. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[rhys]

I wonder what a cancellation of Bull (due to Weatherly's behavior) would do to the rest of the cast. Would some of them be pissed off about the loss of income his actions caused? I think I would be.

[mythoughtis]

3 hours ago, rhys said:

I wonder what a cancellation of Bull (due to Weatherly's behavior) would do to the rest of the cast. Would some of them be pissed off about the loss of income his actions caused? I think I would be.

Yes, just like i bet the Cosby and Roseanne cast were annoyed at the lost of the residuals from syndicated reruns. At least the Conners got restarted. 

[Sarah 103]

On 12/14/2018 at 12:45 PM, Notwisconsin said:

Also, there's the thing about the two leads hating each other's guts in Castle. Did that get into a lawsuit?

 

On 12/14/2018 at 1:37 PM, scorpio1031 said:

No.  Nathan Fillion was a jerk to Stana Katic, but I don't think there was any harassment.  Apparently it got to where they could barely stand to be around each other.

This is my understanding. I don't think there was ever a question of harassment or lines being crossed. I think Castle was an example of actors not getting along, which could happen for a number of reasons completely unrelated to harassment. 

[Dr.OO7]

18 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Sasha Alexander, and Pauley Perrette (spelling?) are both say that they never had any issue with Michael Weatherly.       However, just because some peo

Ironic, considering that Tony said and did a HELL of a lot of things to Kate that would have gotten him written up for sexual harassment. My jaw dropped (along with Kate's) when he once asked her point blank why she was in a bad mood--"It can't be PMS, that's not for another week."

[shrewd.buddha]

I am sort of annoyed with the headlines that imply that Dushku publicly filed sexual harassment charges against Weatherly or some kind of MeToo public shaming.
My impression was that she went to HR, or whatever at CBS - and they handled it behind the scenes - and now someone has made the settlement public.
Sometimes the media does twist the details for dramatic, shocking headlines, purposefully fanning the flames of outrage..
(Which is sad during a time when the free press is under attack from the same government who realized its importance years ago.)
 

[jerseyflower]

Geneva Carr just Tweeted in support of MW.

 

[Beatrice]

Very disappointed in the women coming forward to support him. Just because he never harassed them doesn't mean he wasn't inappropriate with others. I would just like some standard about who gets fired or not in these situations. Roseanne was fired, I remember the actor from Grey's years ago was fired for homophobic language, Matt Later fired, Megan Kelly fired, the president of CBS fired, Weatherly, same company, sexual harasser not fired. What is the standard? To be clear I'm not calling for anyone's job, it's just hard to distinguish what is acceptable and not these days.

[scorpio1031]

34 minutes ago, Beatrice said:

Very disappointed in the women coming forward to support him. Just because he never harassed them doesn't mean he wasn't inappropriate with others. I would just like some standard about who gets fired or not in these situations. Roseanne was fired, I remember the actor from Grey's years ago was fired for homophobic language, Matt Later fired, Megan Kelly fired, the president of CBS fired, Weatherly, same company, sexual harasser not fired. What is the standard? To be clear I'm not calling for anyone's job, it's just hard to distinguish what is acceptable and not these days.

I'm disappointed in that there is proof on video, he admitted it and yet, the women are supporting him.  

[SamBeckett]

Just my opinion (and let me say, none of us know all the facts) — it doesn’t sound as though he was trying to get her into bed, and he wasn’t promising her something for sex. It sounds like he’s guilty of making stupid and lewd jokes (which based upon seeing him in character on NCIS, I can believe)(It also seems that anyone in Hollywood would know that about him.) Should he be fired for telling lewd jokes? He says he apologized. (Again, don’t know if this is true.)

Where I think this turns is what happened to her “deal?” If he had a hand in having it cancelled, which would have  been out of retaliation one would think (again, don’t know), then he should be fired in a New York minute. I suspect that with everything going on — investigations & interviews of all kinds of people because of Moonves(?) — we might not hear the real ending for this for a little while.

I also don’t know (was it reported?) If Weatherly contributed to the settlement. That would be telling.

[Netfoot]

13 hours ago, SamBeckett said:

It sounds like he’s guilty of making stupid and lewd jokes...

Which nowadays, is inappropriate behaviour, harassment, and molestation, and  earns you dismissal from your job and life-long condemnation.  Meanwhile, any long-time friends who speak out on your behalf get accused of rape-apology and other disappointing behaviour, but people who don't know you from a rat's ass, get to spout off about it with all the self-gratification that only virtue-signalling can deliver.

[SamBeckett]

We are in a different world, in some ways better, in some ways not.

[Beatrice]

57 minutes ago, SamBeckett said:

We are in a different world, in some ways better, in some ways not.

Better for women and men harassed. Worse for the harassers. 

[sashayshante]

Weatherly has been around for 20+ years. I have never seen an interview with him when he wasn't making jokes, some involving innuendo. I'm with the poster above that the comments he made - and he did make them - were not attempts to have sex with Dushku or embarrass her. They were Weatherly being Weatherly - the guy he's been for 2 decades on set without one complaint from cast members - riffing on dialogue in the script (the rape van and threesome comments) and repeating a well-known Movie quote (the bend over my knee remark.)

Where it took a wrong turn is when the sleazy crew member followed Weatherly's lead and made a completely inappropriate and crude comment to Dushku about wanting a threesome. That understandably made her feel violated. But instead of going to Weatherly first, she went over his head, which is just a bad move in any HR situation like this.

The only reason I don't think Weatherly was retaliating when he talked to the boss about Dushku's humor is because I can distinctly remember watching those episodes and thinking she was terrible in the role.  I really wish the people assuming Weatherly was getting back at her would watch those episodes. Her character - or how she was playing her - was utterly humorless.

[ByaNose]

I’m curious to see what happens in January regarding the show. I can’t imagine Weatherly able to make talk show appearances without having to continually discuss this. Also, the network is probably going to have to publicly reprimand him in some way now that the secret is out. Of course, it might be due to peer pressure. The network and actress were fine with the payout when no one knew anything about it. Now, it’s out there. Just today Les Moonves was denied his severance package from CBS. Of course, he had sexually harassed woman for decades and tried to bribe one not to go public. It’s triple the stuff that Weatherly did but the negative press won’t help. It will be interesting to see how Weatherly (and, Bull) are handled going forward. 

[SamBeckett]

I wonder if they’ll pull Bull tonight. It’s a rerun, so ...

[Mikita]

5 hours ago, SamBeckett said:

I wonder if they’ll pull Bull tonight. It’s a rerun, so ...

Disney's not pulling Andi Mack episodes that feature an actor that was arrested on Friday for attempting to meet a 13 year old for sex. The actor was fired. But episodes featuring him continue to air. I had to turn the channel in disgust as soon as I saw his face. That's much worse than what's going on with Bull so.... It probably ran.

[jmonique]

Eliza has come forward with her side -- and Weatherly shouldn't have a job, IMO. 

"Eliza Dushku: I worked at CBS. I didn’t want to be sexually harassed. I was fired"

[scorpio1031]

37 minutes ago, jmonique said:

Eliza has come forward with her side -- and Weatherly shouldn't have a job, IMO. 

"Eliza Dushku: I worked at CBS. I didn’t want to be sexually harassed. I was fired"

She is so, so lucky that the network shared those tapes.  What is so sad is that none of the execs at CBS, or their chief compliance officer making sure they followed the rules even recognized what was on those tapes as a "problem."  

[Beatrice]

1 hour ago, jmonique said:

Eliza has come forward with her side -- and Weatherly shouldn't have a job, IMO. 

"Eliza Dushku: I worked at CBS. I didn’t want to be sexually harassed. I was fired"

No one should have to put up with that behavior at work. That's just unbelievable how many stories like this are finally coming to light. I'm happy all these perverts are being outed but saddened as well it's such a common story. She did everything right in reporting it and CBS failed once again.

[SamBeckett]

Yeah, this is sayonara for Weatherly. 

Just curious: I realize that there can’t be a policeman on every set, but isn’t there someone on set who’s, you know, in charge? I suppose it’s not the director since he/she can come and go every week. Is it the show-runner? But I guess he/she is to make sure the show gets made on time. So, if someone HAPPENS to overhear an actor being an ass (as in sexual harassment) no one does anything?

You know, I think of those people who KNEW these people were/are bad seeds but said nothing. That’s unconscionable.

I watched a rerun of NCIS this weekend and there were scenes of Tony DiNozzi being his typical sexist jerk. What once had maybe been seen as funny is now ICKY.  I think it’s possible that NCIS might suffer a hit from this, at least as far as reruns. I bet there will be some people who might have purchased a particular season of the show but will now pass on it. Then again, all the people at NCIS have enough money. And that’s what this is all about, right? Money? Not fairness.

[Aliconehead]

8 minutes ago, SamBeckett said:

Yeah, this is sayonara for Weatherly. 

Just curious: I realize that there can’t be a policeman on every set, but isn’t there someone on set who’s, you know, in charge? I suppose it’s not the director since he/she can come and go every week. Is it the show-runner? But I guess he/she is to make sure the show gets made on time. So, if someone HAPPENS to overhear an actor being an ass (as in sexual harassment) no one does anything?

You know, I think of those people who KNEW these people were/are bad seeds but said nothing. That’s unconscionable.

I watched a rerun of NCIS this weekend and there were scenes of Tony DiNozzi being his typical sexist jerk. What once had maybe been seen as funny is now ICKY.  I think it’s possible that NCIS might suffer a hit from this, at least as far as reruns. I bet there will be some people who might have purchased a particular season of the show but will now pass on it. Then again, all the people at NCIS have enough money. And that’s what this is all about, right? Money? Not fairness.

I have been down on Tony for a while, he was a sexist and a bully to every single person around him except his superiors. Maybe there were no stories previously because all his harassment had been script approved before.  

[scorpio1031]

42 minutes ago, SamBeckett said:

Yeah, this is sayonara for Weatherly. 

Just curious: I realize that there can’t be a policeman on every set, but isn’t there someone on set who’s, you know, in charge? I suppose it’s not the director since he/she can come and go every week. Is it the show-runner? But I guess he/she is to make sure the show gets made on time. So, if someone HAPPENS to overhear an actor being an ass (as in sexual harassment) no one does anything

With everything going on at CBS, there was a chief compliance officer making sure there were no more issues.  He is actually the one who gave the tapes to Dushku's lawyer because they showed her cussing on set.  He wanted to prove she was the problem.  However, the tapes showed the harassment, and he didn't recognize it as such.  So I think it's so pervasive as CBS, it's either not recognized, noticed, etc.  Those that do notice it probably are scared to say anything.

[ByaNose]

I think it’s kind of funny how they thought her cursing would show her being in the wrong. Didn’t anyone actually see the tapes beforehand? If so, did they think what Weatherly was saying and doing was harmless? That alone shows you what kind of set Bull was like. Everyone behind the scene are just as guilty but nobody can come forward when it’s the star and breadwinner of the series doing the crime. 

Edited December 19, 2018 by ByaNose

[VCRTracking]

Since we've seen an example of how NOT to behave when you're the star of a show, here's two contrasting examples of stars able to be decent human beings toward  a guest:

Gerald McRaney talking about the first time he guest-starred on The Rockford Files. From the AV Club:

Quote

But I’ll tell you something very important about The Rockford Files: That’s where I learned how to handle myself like a gentleman on set, because Jim Garner set such a great example of exactly how to do that. My first day on that show, I got my little cubicle dressing room, and there’s a knock on the door. I open the door, and there stands Jim Garner, saying, “Hey, hoss, I’m Jim. It’s nice to meet you. Welcome aboard.” Well, shit! [Laughs.] You know, I’m just a day player, but that was the reception I got!

And a clip of Michael Chiklis talking about guest appearing on Murphy Brown and how star Candice Bergen made him feel welcome:

[Ms Blue Jay]

The craziest thing about SO. MANY. of these stories is that the perpetrator doesn't even deny anything!  The perpetrator often admits EVERYTHING!  And in this case, there is even TAPE!  And yet people (like Caron, like his costars) still defend the guy.  Lord have mercy....... That tells you how pervasive the issue is.  Good for Eliza.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[VCRTracking]

Chiklis makes a very good point that how the lead of the show affects everyone on the set and if they make you feel uncomfortable it affects your work. Bergen made everyone around her feel relaxed and as a result they did their best. People posted Dushku wasn't great when she was on the show but maybe if she felt at ease and supported behind the scenes it would've been a different story.

Edited December 20, 2018 by VCRTracking

[SamBeckett]

13 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

Chiklis makes a very good point that how the lead of the show affects everyone on the set and if they make you feel uncomfortable it affects your work. Bergen made everyone around her feel relaxed and as a result they did their best. People posted Dushku wasn't great when she was on the show but maybe if she felt at ease and supported behind the scenes it would've been a different story.

Yeah, how can you be playful and flirtatious if the lead is being an ass? Sort of spoils the mood. It would definitely make you not want to try hard.

Then again, I never have understood how actors can do kissing scenes. Two strangers. Pretending to be in love or lust. Then again, I’m not an actor.