S01.E04: The Table Read

[Katy M]

4 minutes ago, Bringonthedrama said:

"Stop acting like I'm not even here" is directed toward all of them, implies the person has been there the whole time of the reboot trying to interact with the cast

Well, Nate was trying to escape the party until he started talking to Shay.  And Christine has had tons of interaction.  Nobody's "acting like she isn't there."  Could go back to Carol Potter, I guess.  Everyone ditched out of her session. 

Maybe it's a prop guy or a PA.  One that was on the orginal show that they haven't acknowledge and we would know nothing about. 

[nuraman00]

14 hours ago, sistersledge said:

Did she though? I thought she was just saying that to take the heat off, hence Jason and Gabby's 'how does she do that, she's good' remark afterwards.

I think the key with her was in that "girls" conversation when she says to Jennie- "you never got any bad press!" Seems like they're playing off of that? I felt like the vibe between her and Jennie was pretty tense, hopefully they will relax more. But maybe they're just acting that way on purpose?

i don't know but I'm loving this show!

It seems to fit Shannen's "character", of saving animals and helping charity.  So that's why I thought it was possible that she really would donate her salary from the reboot to charity.

 

How about the arsonist being Willie or Nadine, from The Peach Pit?

That's Wesley Allen Gullick, or Nancy Fernandez.

It could also be Kyler, who might be having a tough time with a smaller role.  Isn't she too old to play one of Tori's daughters, anyways?

Also, how did Brian break into Zach's house?  So he just commits breaking and entering?

[methodwriter85]

16 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Now I'm thinking its going to be a surprise former cast member that is pissed they weren't asked back.  Thiessen or Marcil.  Hillary Swank would be hilarious.  Maybe the actor who played David's friend is still mad at being killed off. Or James Eckhouse.

I think it'd be hilarious if it's Doug Emerson. LOL.

[JenE4]

Wasn’t there a storyline in which Kelly was “single white femaled” after rehab and the stalker friend tried to burn down the building with Kelly in it? It could be that person—or it’s just a callback to the story. (Assuming I’m not just imaging this—it’s been a long time!) Otherwise I had the same two thoughts as everyone else. I think Joe E Tata would be the fun choice because Nat was such a sweetheart and “everyone’s dad” that it would be hilarious for him to be a psychopath. But, then again, Tiffani would also make the most sense since she was next in line as a long-term regular, and she was also the “bad girl” for the first several of her seasons.

ETA: I loved the literal peach pit wallpaper in the hallway of the club they were writing in.

Edited August 29, 2019 by JenE4

[Katy M]

20 minutes ago, nuraman00 said:

It could also be Kyler, who might be having a tough time with a smaller role.  Isn't she too old to play one of Tori's daughters, anyways?

But the dolls happened well before the table read.  Kelly and Donna are the same age, so if she could play Kelly's daughter, I don't know why she'd be too old to play Donna's. Especially since she is Jennie's daughter.

[Nonja]

21 hours ago, Aileen said:

I feel like the note from the arsonist implies that it’s someone from the show being ignored and pissed that they’re not part of the reboot. I’d love it if they are setting up a Tiffani Thiessen appearance. As many have pointed out elsewhere, she was on the show longer than Shannen.

Me too! I read somewhere that she confirmed she will not be on the show, but maybe its a surprise so its not too predictable (Pffft). It only makes sense to me, especially since she was a big love interest for Brian on the show and Zach stated that his mom has done a lot of "bad things". It would also make sense that she would be mad they brought Shannen back and not her.  

I dont think it would be Vanessa Marcil, since she DOES have a son with Brian and supposedly its been a contentious custody relationship. I know they are supposed to be playing "heightened" versions of themselves, but that would just be too real. 

 

I really dont like the writer lady, she is way too combative and uptight with no redeeming qualities as a character so far. Ian was sincerely apologizing and she wouldnt have it, then he bails her out anyway.  

 

6 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I think it'd be hilarious if it's Doug Emerson. LOL.

That would be hilarious!

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Ohmo said:

Tori's husband also doesn't like working but he likes money.  Tori makes the money on which he lives.  He'd be severely cramping his lifestyle.

Maybe another thing that Tori and Nate have in common with Tori and Dean is that they're being supported by Tori's mom, and thus have a fancy lifestyle even when neither of them work.

My friend who I'm watching this with (who has maintained a "love to hate" relationship with the original all these years) rattled off about as many possibilities for the stalker last night as have been mentioned on this forum.  I don't begin to know enough about the original series to speculate, but if it's not a character we've already met, it pretty much has to be an actor from the original series (who will be appearing as a faux version of herself/himself, not just name-checked as a dangerous psycho!) or, if some random new person, someone acting based on a storyline on the original show -- if there's no big meta payoff, it's totally out of place within the style of this show.

It being the guy who played David's dorky friend cracked me up.  Same with it being James Eckhouse or Carol Potter.  I don't think it's any of those three, but those were the theories that most made me laugh to picture.  And they're going to have to somehow have this be something we can laugh at, which is not easily done with a stalker - especially one who sets fires.  I'm not sure they can pull it off, but I guess we'll know soon (unless they go the cliffhanger route, hoping for additional episodes, but I hope these six were written as a self-contained run). 

Edited August 29, 2019 by Bastet

[mtlchick]

I think Douglas would be the most natural choice if it was a former cast member.  I mean, he was in the pilot and was there for the first season, but by the second season he was already demoted to guest star and then killed off, right when the show was becoming part of the pop culture landscape.  He's like Brian Dunkleman from American Idol. 

Not sure if I liked this episode.  Jason's line to Gabby about dating the same woman was the best line, but it felt clunky.  

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Ohmo said:

I'm not feeling the "former cast member" theory because there's a difference between destruction and a prank.  

What this show actually is is kind of a mess in terms of what it is.  Shannen seems to be super sensitive to how she is portrayed because she's been carrying the rep from the first time around for 30 years.  Tori, Brian, and Jennie seem more open to parody.  Its not out of the realm of possibilities for someone to have enough of a sense of humor and confidence that the audience isn't that stupid to think this show is real to be the crazy villain.

For all we know, they might reveal next episode that the fire was because some idiot decided to rebuild the Peach Pit with original 30 year old props and the message was coincidental.

10 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Color me surprised that people aren’t enjoying the Gabrielle and Christine Storyline.  I thought it was done really well.

I think its because its a well done story line in the middle of a show about aged celebrities with messy lives that isn't that good.

Its actually the most Andrea thing that could have happened to this show.  Gabi/Andrea can be the best thing ever but its not Brenda/Luke/Kelly triangles or BTS gossipy shenanigans.

7 hours ago, seaELare said:

Why is Steve providing hidden camera footage to help her write?  How does that play into writing dialog for the Kelly/Donna/Brenda/Gabby/Brandon/Steve/David story? 

This show does not pace well.  Given that, I think they were setting up that in show they are going to decide to do a spoof of their real lives because the Peach Pit burnt down.  It is simultaneously setting up a future plot development and making no sense within the current plot.  Is it good writing?  Is it bad writing?  Depends where you are in the space time continuum.y 

I think if its a former cast member they will appear and agree to it. 

1 hour ago, Nonja said:

I dont think it would e Vanessa Marcil, since she DOES have a son with Brian and supposedly its been a contentious custody relationship. I know they are supposed to be playing "heightened" versions of themselves, but that would just be too real. 

But I wouldn't have thought Brian would allow for a long lost son story line for the same reasons but that is happy.  

Spoiler

While I think the arguments against Marcil are valid.  That she tweeted about her son and herself visiting Brian on set makes me wonder if that wasn't just a visit.  Was she also filming?

[Mikita]

I really wanted to like this but, sadly I do not. I came back for Shannen and they did not have enough of her in the first 3 episodes. She had more to do in this episode but I'm still not getting past, the I don't like the show bit. So I'm going to bow out now rather than watch the final 2 episodes.

[Aileen]

5 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

How about the arsonist being Willie or Nadine, from The Peach Pit?

That's Wesley Allen Gullick, or Nancy Fernandez.

It could also be Kyler, who might be having a tough time with a smaller role.  Isn't she too old to play one of Tori's daughters, anyways?

Also, how did Brian break into Zach's house?  So he just commits breaking and entering?

Why do you think he broke in? Zach was right there. I just assumed he showed up and demanded to talk to Zach.

[Kdel1079]

Why does BAG even need an assistant? So contrived , lol. If anyone had an assistant in the cast, I’d believe it if shannen did, just because it would annoy the others.

And I think it would be great if Jennie’s daughter turned out to be the stalker. Someone very unexpected, and she does seem jealous of her mother’s success and very desiring of the spotlight and maybe the line about the mother not ‘seeing her’ in the audition was some foreshadowing? It would make sense to me. She was also mad about them not mentioning her name in the social media posts. And she slashed the tire. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Kdel1079

[screamin]

I must whisper it very softly but...I feel that Shannen was phoning it in. At least, judging from the scene where she pleads for the poor orphans who will be deprived of so much if she doesn't get her 200% payday. If that was supposed to be her giving a heartbreaking performance that convinced everyone to lay off, I didn't believe her and I didn't think anyone else there would.

Then again...maybe "Shannen" the character is not actually supposed to be convincing them. Maybe she is supposed to be conveying this: "I'm selling you bullshit, and I know you all know it's bullshit, but I'm betting none of you will quite have the nerve to call me on it." Which would make "Shannen" the character a master of manipulation rather than thespian brilliance. Yet while I think making "Shannen" a rogue would be interesting, I don't think the show has managed to convey that either in the rest of what little we've seen of her. I find that unsatisfactory either way.

[Ohmo]

Quote

Maybe she is supposed to be conveying this: "I'm selling you bullshit, and I know you all know it's bullshit, but I'm betting none of you will quite have the nerve to call me on it."

That's the way I took it...along with a bit of "I'm on a higher plane of zen, nirvana, or whatever then the rest of you, so all of this just barely interests me."

[Sakura12]

I think they are portraying "Shannen" as more of a thespian pro, meaning she knows how Hollywood works and what to say. She knew to hold out for a bigger payday. Then when the rest found out she spinned a story that none of them would call her on unless they wanted to look like they hated orphan children. 

That's why after Brandon whispered to Gabbie, how did she do that? She managed to flip it around to them being the assholes instead of her. 

[MeLikesTV]

20 hours ago, TomGirl said:

Andrea dreamt that she walked into the Peach Pit, was rudely snubbed by Brenda, Kelly and Donna, and went after them with a chainsaw.

Is every episode going to start off with a dream/nightmare from a different cast member?  I remember that being the opening scene of ep 1, when I was excited that it was a straight up reboot of the show.  I remember it being Tori’s dream.

[juliet73]

I never liked the Brenda character in the original and I'm really not liking Shannon in this. She's written so OTTP that it's comical...and not in a good way.

I don't like Christine. I HATE Shay. There's zero chemistry between her and BAG and her character is beyond annoying. 

I love Jennie's clothes!

I thought the stalker could be Kellie's daughter or Tori's husband. Whatever happened to Donna's hot boyfriend from the later seasons? I think he lived on a boat. Maybe he's the stalker. I doubt it's Ray Pruitt since being an abuser on TV ruined his career in entertainment. But maybe he'll come and put the fire out since he's a FF in real life.

[Aileen]

57 minutes ago, screamin said:

I must whisper it very softly but...I feel that Shannen was phoning it in. At least, judging from the scene where she pleads for the poor orphans who will be deprived of so much if she doesn't get her 200% payday. If that was supposed to be her giving a heartbreaking performance that convinced everyone to lay off, I didn't believe her and I didn't think anyone else there would.

Then again...maybe "Shannen" the character is not actually supposed to be convincing them. Maybe she is supposed to be conveying this: "I'm selling you bullshit, and I know you all know it's bullshit, but I'm betting none of you will quite have the nerve to call me on it." Which would make "Shannen" the character a master of manipulation rather than thespian brilliance. Yet while I think making "Shannen" a rogue would be interesting, I don't think the show has managed to convey that either in the rest of what little we've seen of her. I find that unsatisfactory either way.

This is how I take it. She's full of it and knows they won't call her on it. That money was not going to orphans and everyone sitting around knew it, but no one wanted to accuse her of using orphans to get more money.

[angelusgirl]

Still loving this show. I’m pretty sure that the arsonist/stalker is Jamie Walters. That’s verbatim what Ray said to Donna before tossing her down a flight of stairs in Palm Springs. 

Edited Ed to add The reboot is Tori and Jennie’s baby. There is no way they’d have Tiffani. Whatever their issue is, Jennie seems to seriously hate the girl.  

Edited August 30, 2019 by angelusgirl

[BrindaWalsh]

I'm going with Jamie Walters- the stop acting like I'm not even here is a direct line from his character during one of the most famous scenes in the show.  Furthermore, the character of Ray Pruitt kind of ruined Jamie's career, didn't it?  One of those bizarre cases of where the fans couldn't distinguish fiction and reality.  If they are playing heightened versions of themselves, perhaps Jamie Walter's is playing a character who went on to exact revenge on a cast/show that ruined his life, when in reality I think he went on to be this really upstanding guy.  

Just my theory. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by BrindaWalsh

[methodwriter85]

What if it's the actor who played Matt? He's played bad guys before and I can see him really hamming it up.

[nuraman00]

On 8/29/2019 at 2:40 PM, Katy M said:

But the dolls happened well before the table read.  Kelly and Donna are the same age, so if she could play Kelly's daughter, I don't know why she'd be too old to play Donna's. Especially since she is Jennie's daughter.

I meant Kyler only as the arsonist, not the doll mutilator.

I also just thought Donna's kids were younger than Kelly's.  I thought Donna's oldest was still 4-5 years younger than Kyler.

 

23 hours ago, Aileen said:

Why do you think he broke in? Zach was right there. I just assumed he showed up and demanded to talk to Zach.

Maybe you're right.  Just the way it cut away, with Shay saying she hired a private detective, I thought Brian and the private detective broke in and found the connection map.

But your explanation is more reasonable, that he went to his house and wanted to talk to him.

 

22 hours ago, Aileen said:

This is how I take it. She's full of it and knows they won't call her on it. That money was not going to orphans and everyone sitting around knew it, but no one wanted to accuse her of using orphans to get more money.

Just the way I see it, but if Shannen puts so much effort into saving animals, I could see her wanting to do something for orphans too.

If it was Valerie, Gina, or John Sears, then I wouldn't believe it.

 

20 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

What if it's the actor who played Matt? He's played bad guys before and I can see him really hamming it up.

Good theory.

I just think that they haven't made any references to the last few years of the show.  No mention of Noah, Lindsay Price, Joe Patch (during Jennie's dream sequence).

So I don't think it's anyone from that era.  But if it is, maybe that's a good set up, to not draw any references to that era of the show, until near the end.

[HerkyJerky]

22 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

Jason's line about Gabby and him dating the same woman, was the funniest line of the night.

That was a good one but my favorite line of the show was when the bodyguard told Jenny that FOX was re-assigning him.  Jenny asked him where would he go and he said he didn't know but that he had heard there was some problems over at Empire.

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

I meant Kyler only as the arsonist, not the doll mutilator.

I also just thought Donna's kids were younger than Kelly's.  I thought Donna's oldest was still 4-5 years younger than Kyler.

Did they have kids on the orginal run?  I wasn't aware.  I stopped watching shortly after Shannen left.  They'll probably just retcon then.

[ethankoo]

I didn't understand the logic of how that girl writer knew how to rewrite the characters after seeing the real life actors interact.   How does seeing Gabi/Jennie made up made her understand Andrea/Kelly better?  Their personal lives have no bearing on what the characters become on the show. 

I love Brenda and Shannen is one of the main seasons I tuned in but I am kind of over Zen Shannen.  It was was funny at first but it seems like she has mellowed too much.  I hope they don't make Brenda this soft.   I better see some drama on the actual reboot! 

[screamin]

1 hour ago, ethankoo said:

I didn't understand the logic of how that girl writer knew how to rewrite the characters after seeing the real life actors interact.   How does seeing Gabi/Jennie made up made her understand Andrea/Kelly better?  Their personal lives have no bearing on what the characters become on the show. 

It's not about writing to suit the characters at this point; the writer knows the characters fairly well as a TV viewer. But she doesn't know the actors at all, and currently the problem is trying to suit them. Seeing what kind of people they are and how they interact with each other would probably help her tailor their characters' lines and actions to a measure they would be more comfortable with.

Edited August 30, 2019 by screamin

[Lady Iris]

I am enjoying this way more than I thought I would. Kudos to coming up with this format whoever did it.

David was never one of my fave characters, he was a bit man-whiny for my tastes but I really enjoy watching Brian Austin Green in this version. If I were Tori I'd be falling for him too.

[Ohmo]

2 hours ago, ethankoo said:

I better see some drama on the actual reboot! 

I don't know anything more than the average fan, but I'm not sure the plan was ever for there to be an actual reboot.  I think this is the cast's vision or interpretation of what they want to do.  If they wanted to do an actual reboot, I think FOX would have been pushing for us to see that now since that's what many fans were expecting and ratings have been declining since Week 2.

Which brings me to another point.  If the cast didn't want to do a traditional reboot, I understand that.  They can't be forced to do something that they don't wish to do.  However, I find it somewhat disingenuous for them to be talking so much about how much their characters mean to them when they were dealing with Anna's script.  I thought, "The characters that mean so much to you, but yet they apparently don't mean enough to you for you to actually play them in an actual reboot that you know would likely do well with fans."

It felt like fans were being played.  No traditional reboot?  Got it.  Understand, but then they shouldn't get to comment on how much their characters mean to them.  I felt like they won't play the characters again, but they sure have no problems using those characters to their advantage in this show.  I didn't like that.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Ohmo

[angelusgirl]

8 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

I don't know anything more than the average fan, but I'm not sure the plan was ever for there to be an actual reboot.  I think this is the cast's vision or interpretation of what they want to do.  If they wanted to do an actual reboot, I think FOX would have been pushing for us to see that now since that's what many fans were expecting and ratings have been declining since Week 2.

Which brings me to another point.  If the cast didn't want to do a traditional reboot, I understand that.  They can't be forced to do something that they don't wish to do.  However, I find it somewhat disingenuous for them to be talking so much about how much their characters mean to them when they were dealing with Anna's script.  I thought, "The characters that mean so much to you, but yet they apparently don't mean enough to you for you to actually play them in an actual reboot that you know would likely do well with fans."

It felt like fans were being played.  No traditional reboot?  Got it.  Understand, but then they shouldn't get to comment on how much their characters mean to them.  I felt like they won't play the characters again, but they sure have no problems using those characters to their advantage in this show.  I didn't like that.

They were pretty clear from jump street what it was going to be.  Every interview and every bit of press reiterated the concept.  This is an idea that Jennie and Tori came up with and got everyone on board.   I am actually quite loving it.  Having been disappointed by both Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars new seasons, this was a breath of fresh air.  There is no way to live up to the expectations on fans and this way we got to see the group we love, together in an unexpected but refreshing way and get glimpses of the characters as well.

[Katy M]

22 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

However, I find it somewhat disingenuous for them to be talking so much about how much their characters mean to them when they were dealing with Anna's script.  I thought, "The characters that mean so much to you, but yet they apparently don't mean enough to you for you to actually play them in an actual reboot that you know would likely do well with fans."

Maybe the characters mean so much to them that they don't want to tarnish them with a traditional reboot.

[Ohmo]

2 minutes ago, angelusgirl said:

They were pretty clear from jump street what it was going to be.  Every interview and every bit of press reiterated the concept.

This isn't about knowing about or not knowing about the concept.  Ypu're right.  The concept was well known. However, to put it bluntly, all of this talk about knowing their characters in this episode came across to me as. "We don't actually want to play the characters again, but we have no problems talking about how much those characters mean to us if it helps us get paid."

It felt manipulative.   They're into the nostalgia as long as they don't have to play it again.  If they don't want to play it, fine, but it felt like they were trying to gain from not playing it.

[Whimsy]

11 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

I meant Kyler only as the arsonist, not the doll mutilator.

I also just thought Donna's kids were younger than Kelly's.  I thought Donna's oldest was still 4-5 years younger than Kyler.

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

Did they have kids on the orginal run?  I wasn't aware.  I stopped watching shortly after Shannen left.  They'll probably just retcon then.

I wasn't a die-hard fan towards the end so didn't watch religiously and don't remember a lot of the story lines, but I am pretty sure Kelly and Donna didn't have kids at the end of the run.  They already said the "reboot" that was done a few years back wasn't canon to this show, so whatever children they may have had (I didn't watch it) don't count.  Kyler is age appropriate to be Donna & David's daughter.  

16 minutes ago, angelusgirl said:

They were pretty clear from jump street what it was going to be.  Every interview and every bit of press reiterated the concept.  This is an idea that Jennie and Tori came up with and got everyone on board.   I am actually quite loving it.  Having been disappointed by both Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars new seasons, this was a breath of fresh air.  There is no way to live up to the expectations on fans and this way we got to see the group we love, together in an unexpected but refreshing way and get glimpses of the characters as well.

I actually think this concept is pretty genius and I'm loving it. 

3 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

This isn't about knowing about or not knowing about the concept.  Ypu're right.  The concept was well known. However, to put it bluntly, all of this talk about knowing their characters in this episode came across to me as. "We don't actually want to play the characters again, but we have no problems talking about how much those characters mean to us if it helps us get paid."

It felt manipulative.   They're into the nostalgia as long as they don't have to play it again.  If they don't want to play it, fine, but it felt like they were trying to gain from not playing it.

Except, it's not the REAL actors REALLY saying how much they love their characters, etc.  It's the characters within the show pushing back against a crappy script that had everyone so ridiculously out-of-character with really stupid storylines.  So, in context of the show this made perfect sense. 

I THINK, but may be wrong, that Steve was showing the writer how much the actors care about their characters and the reboot and weren't just being divas.  They actually care and want to make a good show, which lit a fire under the writer's butt to try harder and actually make changes that actually fit the characters. 

[nuraman00]

20 hours ago, HerkyJerky said:

That was a good one but my favorite line of the show was when the bodyguard told Jenny that FOX was re-assigning him.  Jenny asked him where would he go and he said he didn't know but that he had heard there was some problems over at Empire.

I've never seen Empire.  Is there some tension within the cast, or something?

12 hours ago, Katy M said:

Did they have kids on the orginal run?  I wasn't aware.  I stopped watching shortly after Shannen left.  They'll probably just retcon then.

Oops, I meant Tori's kids, not Donna's kids.

There have been a few scenes in this series where they show all of Tori's kids, and her oldest looks 9-11.  Whereas Kyler, Jennie's kid, is of late high school age.

So what I mean is that if Kyler was auditioning for Jennie's daughter, that seems to be the right age.

But when she got switched to Tori's daughter, Kyler seems too old, based on the other scenes with Tori's kids, and how young they are.

Maybe I'm getting confused.  Maybe Kyler is supposed to be auditioning for Donna's daughter, and got switched to Kelly's daughter.  In that case, we have no idea when Donna might have had a kid, nor Kelly.

But it would have been after 2000, which means that again, the kid would have to be younger then the age Kyler currently looks.

 

11 hours ago, ethankoo said:

I didn't understand the logic of how that girl writer knew how to rewrite the characters after seeing the real life actors interact.   How does seeing Gabi/Jennie made up made her understand Andrea/Kelly better?  Their personal lives have no bearing on what the characters become on the show. 

I love Brenda and Shannen is one of the main seasons I tuned in but I am kind of over Zen Shannen.  It was was funny at first but it seems like she has mellowed too much.  I hope they don't make Brenda this soft.   I better see some drama on the actual reboot! 

Yes, there was some sort of bridge missing with how that helps the writer write better scenes.

We also didn't have too many specifics of what was wrong with the first version, only generalities.

Edited August 30, 2019 by nuraman00

[Katy M]

7 minutes ago, nuraman00 said:

I've never seen Empire.  Is there some tension within the cast, or something?

Are you serious?

7 minutes ago, nuraman00 said:

Oops, I meant Tori's kids, not Donna's kids.

There have been a few scenes in this series where they show all of Tori's kids, and her oldest looks 9-11.  Whereas Kyler, Jennie's kid, is of late high school age.

Oh. Well, that would have nothing to do with Donna's kids' ages.

[nuraman00]

8 hours ago, Katy M said:

Oh. Well, that would have nothing to do with Donna's kids' ages.

I edited my post from a few minutes ago, see my edit.

 

On 8/29/2019 at 1:00 PM, nuraman00 said:

How about the arsonist being Willie or Nadine, from The Peach Pit?

That's Wesley Allen Gullick, or Nancy Fernandez.

It could also be Kyler, who might be having a tough time with a smaller role.  Isn't she too old to play one of Tori's daughters, anyways?

20 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

I meant Kyler only as the arsonist, not the doll mutilator.

On 8/29/2019 at 1:32 AM, nuraman00 said:

Douglas Emerson or James Eckhouse are good picks.

My guess is Joe E. Tata.  (But if anyone knows for sure what Joe's role will be on the show, don't tell me.  I don't want spoilers.)

The arsonist and doll mutilator could be separate people.

A few other possibilities:

* The bodyguard, as the doll mutilator, so he could be "assigned" to Kelly.

For the arsonist:

* Mrs. Teasley, Denise Y Dowse

* Mel Silver, Matthew Laurance

* Jackie Taylor, Ann Gillespie

(I won't say Grandma Rose, as she never had any bad things about her.)

* Felice Martin, Katherine Cannon

* Steve Wasserman, writer?

* Lucinda Nicholson, Dina Meyer

* The 2nd actress who played Erica Steele in Season 8, Johna Stewart-Bowden?

* Professor Randall, Scott Paulin.

* Sheila Silver, Caroline Langerfelt

I'll skip any of the actresses that played Erin Silver.  Even though her character did have mental health issues on the spin-off, but I don't think they want to cross into that show.

[Miss Bones]

22 hours ago, Bringonthedrama said:

A rational person thinks this way, yes. But there are people who can show the world a facade of who they are and still be irrational/have some sort of psych pathology. There are people who are desperate for attention and have a need to feel important, so they create situations (e.g. arson, keep a family member ill, cause some accident and then report it) in order to be the hero. (Psych pros have a name for it.) She could be doing this to scare the shit out of the people she despises for dismissing/overriding her authority, and then turn around and 'save the day' in some way. Plus there's a lot of free, feel-bad-for-us victims type of publicity to be gained in a situation like this.  This opportunity could be dragged out into creating a longer reboot with more money.

The Ray Pruitt suggestion is interesting. I just feel like "Stop acting like I'm not even here" is directed toward all of them, implies the person has been there the whole time of the reboot trying to interact with the cast, has history with all the original cast members, and is pissed off that he/she is not getting deserved respect.

Hey, Ray's momma could only afford one "T".  It's Pruit.   hehe

[JenE4]

1 hour ago, nuraman00 said:

I've never seen Empire.  Is there some tension within the cast, or something?

Oops, I meant Tori's kids, not Donna's kids.

There have been a few scenes in this series where they show all of Tori's kids, and her oldest looks 9-11.  Whereas Kyler, Jennie's kid, is of late high school age.

So what I mean is that if Kyler was auditioning for Jennie's daughter, that seems to be the right age.

But when she got switched to Tori's daughter, Kyler seems too old, based on the other scenes with Tori's kids, and how young they are.

Maybe I'm getting confused.  Maybe Kyler is supposed to be auditioning for Donna's daughter, and got switched to Kelly's daughter.  In that case, we have no idea when Donna might have had a kid, nor Kelly.

But it would have been after 2000, which means that again, the kid would have to be younger then the age Kyler currently looks.

I think the show within a show concept is confusing you. They’re “casting” for the reboot, so this would be playing “Donna’s” and “Kelly’s” kids, which can be any age the fictional show wants them to be. Tori and Jennie’s actual kids’ ages (or ages of the actors playing their kids on this show) are irrelevant.

Even without watching Empire, sounds like you somehow missed the Jussie Smollett (Empire actor) drama.

[Sakura12]

This show is fake, the characters may have the same name as their actors, however they created these characters for this show within show concept. Having watched Episodes with Matt LeBlanc for 5 seasons which had a similar premise (done much better) this concept is not that confusing for me. This show like Episodes, is just the actors making fun of themselves as actors and the Hollywood process. It's not a reality show.  The confusion is probably more Tori's fault since the rest of them are not showing their real life's so completely like she is. 

Them saying they care about the characters, is them as actors, acting in this universe as if they are doing a straight reboot (although it's This show is trying to do something different instead of the millions of rebooted old tv shows we have already. I'm liking it because it's different. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Sakura12

[meggonzo]

On 8/29/2019 at 1:00 PM, Katy M said:

Maybe it's a prop guy or a PA.  One that was on the orginal show that they haven't acknowledge and we would know nothing about. 

It's probably "Rex" the boom mic guy!

[Ohmo]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

Maybe the characters mean so much to them that they don't want to tarnish them with a traditional reboot.

I was not a fan of the way that Anna was juxtaposed up against the cast when we know they didn't want to do a traditional reboot.  Eons ago in life, I wrote some fan fiction.  Not 90210 fan fiction, but my point is, that I know that terrible fan fiction exists.  Yet, we were also told that she watched each episode twice.   The script was terrible, but the cast was set up as the authority about their characters.

A different example: Justin Timberlake has repeatedly said that he's not interested in doing an "NSYNCH reunion.  Yet, he sure has no problems being in a commercial for Bai that uses a line from "Bye, Bye, Bye."  That irks me, and it's a similar feeling here.

We know that the cast didn't want to do a traditional reboot.  OK, but then don't set them up as experts about characters that they don't wish to play by making the head writer look exceptionally inept,  Anna is head writer and she said she's familiar with the series because she watched each episode twice.  Some notes, fine, but to say that a head writer wrote a trash script came across to me as "We really don't want to be our characters again, but we have no problems using those characters if it serves our purpose."

[Sakura12]

Anna only got the head writer position because they had to fire the other one for sleeping with Jason's wife. I also saw it as she's not experienced enough as writer.

26 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

We know that the cast didn't want to do a traditional reboot.  OK, but then don't set them up as experts about characters that they don't wish to play by making the head writer look exceptionally inept,  Anna is head writer and she said she's familiar with the series because she watched each episode twice.  Some notes, fine, but to say that a head writer wrote a trash script came across to me as "We really don't want to be our characters again, but we have no problems using those characters if it serves our purpose."

In this fake universe the fake actors are doing a straight reboot, so why wouldn't they care how their characters are portrayed? 

[LabScientist]

20 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

Quote

I also just thought Donna's kids were younger than Kelly's.  I thought Donna's oldest was still 4-5 years younger than Kyler.

Donna and Kelly didn't have children in the original run of the series. Didn't Donna and David get married on the series finale? That was years 19 ago so, it is completely believable that they could have a teenage daughter that is Kyler's age.

[desertflower]

10 hours ago, Ohmo said:

It felt manipulative.   They're into the nostalgia as long as they don't have to play it again.  If they don't want to play it, fine, but it felt like they were trying to gain from not playing it.

I get what you’re saying, but from what I’ve read they are going to play the characters again, just in a limited capacity. Both Jennie and Tori said in interviews that there would be scenes from “the show within the show” as their characters. They said they wanted to do that for the fans. Also, in Brian’s podcast he said they might even do a stand alone episode where they are only playing the characters. (But I think there is going to be just a little of it in season 1, then in the second season they would have more scenes as the characters.) So I think they are ok playing them but just didn’t want to ONLY do that. 

[nuraman00]

Even if this is true about Carteris signing a contract stating she was 21, don't they (the show crew) check IDs?

Or did she have a fake ID too, that said she was 21 instead of 29?

https://people.com/tv/gabrielle-carteris-recalls-lying-about-her-age-for-90210-and-her-characters-teen-pregnancy/

Edited August 31, 2019 by nuraman00

[screamin]

One thing I noticed about this last episode - Jason was earlier giving updates about his pregnant wife's condition as if they were back together, but then toward the end Gabby apologizes to Jason for not letting him know she wasn't coming home last night - which seems to mean that he's still staying with Gabby. Does that mean there isn't much of a real reconciliation with his wife yet? Or did the writers just screw it up?

[Ohmo]

8 hours ago, nuraman00 said:

Even if this is true about Carteris signing a contract stating she was 21, don't they (the show crew) check IDs?

Or did she have a fake ID too, that said she was 21 instead of 29?

I think back then, there wasn't as much ID checking for jobs.  I've heard of it more now, but not back then, unless a background check was done.  Again, back then, background checks were usually done if you had a government or state job or if you were working with kids.  I don't think they would have done one for an acting job.

[psychoticstate]

I will die laughing if the stalker turns out to be Single White Tara.   Or if SWT is Zach's mom.  Ha! 

I am still loving this show.  Jennie's snark is gold.  I think Tori and Brian still have great chemistry.  Jason's inflection is reminding me of his Tony Tatterton in the Lifetime "Heaven" series.  We need him to bray at people and play pocket pool, like Brandon did.

I'm enjoying Christine Elise.  Her disdain for the original cast is a hoot.  I do wish Shannen had more scenes.  

[methodwriter85]

On 8/29/2019 at 6:34 PM, mtlchick said:

I think Douglas would be the most natural choice if it was a former cast member.  I mean, he was in the pilot and was there for the first season, but by the second season he was already demoted to guest star and then killed off, right when the show was becoming part of the pop culture landscape.  He's like Brian Dunkleman from American Idol.  

Or Angelina from Jersey Shore. (Who? Exactly.)

I'd also suspect Claire/Kathleen Robertson because the rumor is that she had a REAL rough go of it with the cast.

Edited August 31, 2019 by methodwriter85

[Koco321]

One thing I noticed was how Jason complained that the initial script called for so many "claustrophobic interiors" when nearly the entire episode was set inside the halls and rooms of that dimly lit club. They're definitely trying to be "meta" about the whole thing. I agree with everyone who said the pace was slower on this one and that they need to beef up Shannen's part already. Only two more episodes so we'll see what they do in the short time left. Overall, I'm still enjoying the chemistry, esp between BAG and Tori and btw Tori and Jennie. They all looked gorgeous in that slo-mo scene where they're walking toward the set before they notice the vandalism.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Koco321

[TeenMom69]

I think this format is genius. Of course fans of the show would be consumed with all the behind  the scenes drama, just as we were in the 90s. Had they just done a straight reboot the script and show would have been savaged by fans. So it's smart to minimize the show, and show us the behind the scenes stuff that we want. It's hilarious and campy and I'm here for it.

And I love the passive aggressive swipes at Dean McDermott.