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alcalavicci · 4 years ago

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So there’s a really interesting interview with Deborah Pratt here. If you don’t want to pay for it, I’ll paste what I can below, but a few points first.

Deborah says she doesn’t know where Dean is, and says she misses him. I guess she hasn’t had contact with him since he left for NZ? And with Russ Tamblyn saying Dean’s hanging in there in answer to a recent Twitter question, that brings up more questions about his condition.

Deborah claims she came up with the idea of Quantum Leap, which I’ve never seen come up before. Also Don wanted to send Sam home?? I feel like she’s misremembering a lot of details/making herself seem better than she is.

“Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished… He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time tht his next leap will be the leap home…”

The premise of Quantum Leap succinctly and empathetically explained by a voice that spoke to viewers week to week, setting the scene at the opening of the episode. It is a voice that left an indelible print on the show, from its inception to its finale. This is the voice of its Head Writer. No, not Donald P. Bellisario, but a woman of color who was leaps ahead of her time – co-executive producer and uncredited co-creator, Deborah M. Pratt.

Deborah wrote or co-wrote 40 episodes of this sci-fi gem and her authorship of the show runs deep through its five seasons. Aside from the opening narration, Deborah is audible as the voice of Admiral Al Calavicci’s pocket computer, Ziggy. She also guest stars in the episode ‘A Portrait for Troian’ (S2, Ep11) as a grieving widow who hears the voice of her husband calling her.

Deeper still, Quantum Leap was a family affair. It was co-created with her husband at the time, Bellisario, and their daughter, also named Troian, appears as a little girl in ‘Another Mother’ (S2, Ep13, who can not only see Al, but also sees Sam as he really is, rather than as her recently divorced mom.

Prior to helming Quantum Leap, Deborah rose through the ranks as an actress, racing the screen in Happy Days, CHiPS, The Dean Martin Show and many more, and was also a writer on shows such as Airwolf and Magnum P.I. She is a five-time Emmy nominee, Golden Globe nominee and winner of countless other awards. She went on to produce CBS comedy cop show, Tequila and Bonetti, and then to co-create and produce the TV series adaptation of Sandra Bullock tech thriller, The Net. But Quantum Leap was Deborah’s brainchild – one which is emblazoned on the hearts of its faithful fans.

Deborah has since moved into directing, including on hit show Grey’s Anatomy (2020), but was generous with her time when spoke in late 2020 to leap back into the past.

It does seem that you were really ahead of your time as a female head writer and a showrunner in the ’90s, especially in science fiction TV. Was it hard for you to progress and to get Quantum Leap made?

“Usually women were relegated to comedy, very rarely was it drama or heavy drama. It’s changed, finally, with people like Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton, Scandal). But yes, I was a true pioneer, even though I don’t have a ‘created by’ credit, it was a ‘co-created by’ show – with Don. I brought him the original concept, and we were married, and he said ‘Let me just run with this. I can get it made.’ And to his credit, he understands how to tell a story to the audience. He simplified it in a way that you could welcome Quantum Leap into the world. But it was still a tough show to sell.

“I think we went back three times to pitch it to the network. It was complicated to explain. Brandon Tartikoff [the executive] said ‘It’s a great idea – It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen on TV. Let me think about it.’ Then he asked us to come back, ‘I want you to pitch it to me like I’m six years old, then pitch it to me like I’m 80 years old’ and finally he took it. Then even after the show first aired, they decided to introduce that opening where I tell the story. That was created to explain every week to a new viewer what was going on and it worked really well.”

On rewatch now, the best part of three decades later, the show feels groundbreaking in terms of the subjects you cover. Did you feel like you were pushing the envelope?

“I feel we got to do so much on that show. I remember when I did ‘Black on White on Fire’ [S3, Ep7], the networks in the South in the United States wouldn’t air it because it was a black/white relationship. Even though there is no scene where you see a black person and a white person being intimate.

You saw Sam, who was white, and the girl who was white, but because he was playing someone who was black, it was an issue. They wouldn’t air the show in the South. This was around 1992.

“It was challenging for sure. I think we pushed the limits.

“The beauty of the show too, was that it was about hope, which I see so little of on television today. Everything’s so dark, so mean, so vicious, bloody – how many people can you kill? How mean can you make your lead characters and antiheroes. I think it’s why I didn’t work as much afterwards. A) I was a woman, and B) a black woman. There weren’t any black female executive producers that I knew of in drama. I got to do The Net because it had a female lead, but that was almost ten years after Quantum Leap was created. Any show I brought in that had a black lead was never bought, or a female lead, was never bought.

“I remember I wrote a big action piece – like an Indiana Jones, but female-driven, feature film – and pitched it and the studio executive said, ‘Yeah, yeah, but when did the guy come and rescue her?’ And I said, ‘She doesn’t – she rescues him.’ The look on his face. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

The show darted around TV schedules, but the fans remained with it, and still to this day hold it dear to their hearts. Was that palpable at the time, or has that grown since?

“I think near the end of the first season, Harriet Margulies [Production Assistant on the show] found a chat room after an episode where people from across the country talked about it and it became the ‘watercooler.’ We were the first television show that had a chat room as a watercooler. Before that, it was literally you going into your office and standing around the watercooler and talking about movies or TV shows you were watching. Suddenly, it was online. So we started to go into the chat room and talk to people about what they liked and what they didn’t. Not necessarily telling them who we were, but that fan base is what kept us on the air because the network didn’t know what to do with us. There was no show like it, so they couldn’t like pair us with anybody.

“In the five years we were on, I think they moved the show six times and the fans still found it, they followed it, they watched it. That’s how we knew we had something unique and special. To this day, I’ll go into a meeting with a young executive who’ll go, ‘I have to tell you, I loved Quantum Leap. I used to watch it with my mom and dad’.”

Scott Bakula was such a great hero and heartthrob as Dr. Sam. What was he like to work with?

“He was so approachable, you know, in the sense that he had this great, easy acting style. He took chances and he was likeable – in a way that he could be a man’s man and a woman’s man at the same time. He’s really a brilliant actor. I am saddened by the fact that he has not had the opportunity to do movies in the way that could really have lifted his career. He’s had an incredibly successful television career. He’s a good actor. He’s a kind man. I’ve always admired him and felt like when we were working together, I had a friend that I loved to write for because he was always so giving and willing and wanting to take chances as an actor. So it was fun to go down to the trailer and say, ‘Guess what? You’re going to be pregnant this week’.

He does everything in the show from sing and dance to baseball, football, hopping over car bonnets to fights and martial arts. Did you know he had such a wide skill set from the outset, or did you write the challenges for him to rise to?

“I think we had conversations with him about that. I also knew that he had been on Broadway doing musicals. I knew he could sing and dance. When I wrote ‘Sea Bride’ [S2, Ep20], I wrote a tango number – that was unique for him. When Don knew that he could play the guitar… We asked Scott, ‘What do you want to do?’ And he said he wanted to do a musical and I think that’s how the ‘Catch a Falling Star’ episode [S2, Ep10] came about, which involves a performance of ‘Man of LaMancha’.”

Admiral Al Calavicci – he’s so much more than wisecracking and surface jokes or flirtation. There’s so much depth to his character. Was that fleshed out early on with an end to end journey for him in mind, or did his character evolve through the seasons?

“It was a little bit of both. Dean Stockwell had been on Broadway at five-years-old and had been a major child movie star. I remember when we wrote the show where Sam had the chance to save Al – ‘The Leap B4, Ep1] – he was so good in that. I’ll never forget how beautiful that was. And then in the very, very end, I love the fact that Sam did change history and Al ended up wih his beautiful wife with five kids.

“I remember once asking Dean, ‘Do you want us to write more drama for you? Big dramatic moments?’ And he said, ‘I want you to look at me right now. I want you to tell me what you see.’ And I said, ‘Well, your performance, the pain, fear and loss and all that, because you’re such an incredible actor.’ And he said ‘For me to perform that, I have to be it and live it. So don’t do too many.’

“He had that depth of acting talent. He is so good – Dean, wherever you are, I love you. I miss you.”

The episodes that follow later in the seasons involving celebrities – Sam as Elvis, Dr. Ruth, or Lee Harvey Oswald, was that kind of a direction that you always foresaw? It feels like a sea change as the show progressed.

“The stories were designed, for the most part, to be so, so simple in that they were everyday stories. They weren’t change-the-world stories. I think the biggest one was Lee Harvey Oswald, and maybe the one involving Marilyn Monroe – those were with people that could have had a ripple effect.

“But there were other little kisses with history in the show, but they were very hard to do. They ran into a child version of Donald Trump in a taxi cab, [‘It’s A Wonderful Leap’ – S4, Ep18], then they ran into a little boy who is supposed to be Michael Jackson – Sam teaches him to moonwalk [‘Camikazi Kid’ – S1, Ep8]. The first time I did a kiss with history was ‘Star-Crossed’ [S1, Ep3] – Sam meets up with the woman that left him at the altar and they’re at the Watergate Hotel. That was fun stuff.”

Sam managed to awkwardly kiss lots of ladies in that sense of ‘Oh God, they’re going to kiss me and I’ve got to be this person, what am I supposed to do.’

“We never, ever really discussed what happened to Sam. We didn’t want him to be encumbered by a relationship. But I didn’t get to kiss him. My husband wouldn’t leave the set on the episode I was in!”

Your move into directing – from your TV drama Cora Unashamed back in 2000, to Grey’s Anatomy just last year. Is that something you wanted to do sooner? Were there barriers prohibiting you?

“I was supposed to direct on Quantum Leap four times. Every time it was coming up, something would happen. The only women who directed on the show were two black women – Debi Allen [Fame, Everybody Hate Chris, Jane the Virgin] and the other was a woman named Anita Addison. They each did two shows.

I said, ‘If I’m not doing this, I want black women.’ There were no other black women. And it was a fight. I tried to get black women directors on the show, but I could never get them past.

Then when I went to do The Net, the studio blocked it. I give huge amounts of credit for executive producing to Shonda Rhimes and what she has been able to do. She did what I thought I was going to be able to do. She’s so talented and I’m such a fan of her and her shows. I’m looking forward to what she’s going to do on Netflix. And it was an honour to do Grey’s Anatomy because I’m a fan of the show and I’m really grateful to have that opportunity.”

Has there been progress in terms of female directors and filmmakers being given opportunities?

“It’s very hard for women because there aren’t a lot of women executives at the studios. There are more now. And so there is an evolution that’s happening, but it still feels slow. There were shows run by people I gave opportunities to back in the day, but when I said, “hey, I want to direct on your show,” the response was, “oh, there’s too much machismo. There’s too many male hormones around here. They’ll eat you alive.” And I went, “no, they won’t, you’ll protect me. How about if I do my job?” And that was only last year. But there are more opportunities. There are more women making decisions, but we have to do more because women’s stories and women’s voices are more than half the population – we need to hear those stories. The historic ones as well as the contemporary ones.”

Is there a leap that was your favourite overall? That you feel made you made your mark with?

“’The Color of Truth’ [S1, Ep7] touched so many people and it opened a dialogue. I remember we got a letter from a teacher who said she brought the VHS in and she played it to her class, up until Jesse [Sam as an ageing black chauffeur in ’50s Deep South] goes and sits down at the counter in the restaurant. Then she stopped it and asked the students what they thought happened next. They thought that he just ordered lunch. And then she played the rest and that hostility and the animosity he endures and the fact that he had to get up and leave really incensed these children. They had never heard of or experienced racism. They didn’t want to believe that it really happened. This is how history gets buried and why television is so powerful and important. It opened a conversation that she could not have necessarily had in her classroom, according to her, had she not brought that show in to share with her students.

“We had another letter that was very moving, and I want to say it might’ve been ‘The Leap Home’ [S2, Ep1-2]. There was a couple who wrote and said they had a child that was on a cancer ward and every Thursday the whole ward would watch Quantum Leap. Their child was dying and they had kind of given up and it was just time to help that child transition out of this world. They watched the show and she said, ‘We realized we gave up hope. When we watched the show, we realized we didn’t have to give up hope and we wanted to write to you. It’s now six months later and the crisis has passed. The cancer is in remission. Our child is up and going back to school. And we just want to thank you for reminding us that hope has its own power’.”

Its power and poignancy has never diminished. Though the final episode, ‘Mirror Image’ (S5, Ep22), with the caption saying Sam doesn’t get to go home, does leave a sucker punch.

“That was our last fight. Don was going to send him home. And I said, ‘You can’t, you can’t send him home. If you ever, ever, which we’ve not ever been able to get Universal to let us do it, want to do a movie… If you want to keep the story going, you have to leave Sam out there in the hearts of people, leaving people thinking he could leap into their lives’. And at first Don said, ‘No, no, we need to bring him home’. And I said, ‘Do not bring him home. Or you will end the show. If you leave the hope out there, that Sam is out there and he could leap into your life and make a difference’. You keep the show alive in the hearts and the minds of the fans. And I think I was right.”

The ending was poetic for me as a viewer, but your point about Sam still being out there – Is there a leap back to the future for Quantum Leap?

“I started writing a project called Time Child about Sammy Jo Fuller. I actually wrote a trilogy in Season 5 where Sam leapt back three times into the same family and the second time he leapt he ended up in bed with this character and conceived a child. Then the third time he leapt in, he met her at 10 years old – a girl named Sammy Jo Fuller. So in my vision, Sammy Jo Fuller grows up. I actually have Al say, ‘Sammy is in the future with me. We’re trying to bring you home.’ That was my set-up way back in 1993, in Season 5, to say someday, Sammy Jo being his daughter might take over….

“This was the ’90s. Women heroes didn’t exist really – other than comic books – Wonder Woman was there, Super Girl was there. But I set it up in the show that Sammy Jo was going to bring him home. Sadly, I have not been able to get Don and the studio to give me the green light for Time Child. It might happen someday.”

Right now, it feels like we need more shows that offer hope. Is there a place for a reboot on streaming platforms?

“Universal keep saying they want to bring it back. They’re not going to give it up to Netflix because they have [US streaming service] Peacock now and still have NBC. I personally think it should be on a full blown network. The hard part would be that it would have to be recast if there was a female version using my character Sammy Jo Fuller. Or if they just redid the show, it would be interesting in the sense that there was such an innocence about the show. I still believe that there is an audience out there that wants it, that longs for looking at the past through the eyes of somebody in the present. But who would that person be if you did the show now, what are those eyes like?

“We’re living in the time of COVID and suddenly you go back in time. How do you warn people that this is going to happen? How do you warn people about 9/11? How do you warn people about things in the future?

“I mean, one of the beauties of that innocence too, and I thought that was a great gift from Don to the concept, was that Sam’s memory as Swiss cheese – he didn’t remember things and that made it a lot easier, and Al was not allowed to tell him what was happening in the present. There’s a lot of detail woven into the mythology that allowed it to be innocent and in the moment of time travel. You didn’t have to drag the future back with you.”

Do you have an actress in mind to play Sammy Jo in a reboot?

“Oh my gosh, Jennifer Garner. I always felt she would be a great female Sam. She’s an ‘every woman.’ She’s funny. She does great drama. When I think of a female Sam or even Sammy Jo, I think Jennifer – in a heartbeat. She’s so great in Alias. That show just never stopped. You couldn’t take a breath. If I had to go younger, somebody that would have that kind of believable humour that you think could actually rescue you – maybe Jennifer Lawrence. She’s pretty formidable in that sense.”

“To bring Quantum Leap back. If they’re thinking about it, now’s the time to happen. Tell people to write to Universal! Write for the attention of Pearlena Igbokwe – if anyone can bring it back, she can do it. Write! Write to Pearlena – she’s the one that’ll make it happen. That’s how we stayed on the air for five and a half years. Fans unite and write!”

#quantum leap #article

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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How Clarice Continues Agent Starling’s Story

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In 1991 The Silence of the Lambs became a phenomenon; cleaning up at the box office, winning all five major Academy Awards (Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Actor) and turning both of its lead characters into overnight icons. But while antagonist Hannibal Lecter has scarcely been away from our screens, the steely yet vulnerable hero of the film, Clarice Starling, only reappeared in the poorly received 2001 sequel Hannibal. Even Bryan Fuller’s cult classic TV adaptation of Thomas Harris’ source material novels couldn’t use Clarice due to complicated divisions of the rights.

But now Clarice is back, headlining a new CBS drama that picks up where The Silence of the Lambs left off and charts the next stages of the young agent’s career. For fans of the film it’s an enticing proposition, albeit one that has to contend with the inverse of the rights situation that plagued Fuller’s show; Clarice can use any character that originated in The Silence of the Lambs, but none from the rest of Harris’ works, meaning that Hannibal Lecter is nowhere to be seen.

In some ways this is a blessing in disguise, allowing Clarice to chart its own path. The early episodes of the show demonstrate a commitment to Clarice’s point of view, paying tribute to what came before but never losing sight of whose story this is. We sat down with showrunner Elizabeth Klaviter to explore the genesis of the show, how she interpreted Thomas Harris’ world and characters, the challenges of reimagining a beloved icon, and what the series has in store going forward.

Den of Geek: Seeing Clarice Starling back on screen is a real thrill. Can you talk us through the genesis and development of the series?

Elizabeth Klaviter: Creators Alex Kurzman and Jenny Lumet both started asking themselves the question, “Where’s Clarice Starling now? What happened to her after The Silence of the Lambs when she was no longer in Quantico? And how did she deal with the trauma of Buffalo Bill’s basement while she was still a cadet?” Jenny is the most obsessed, amazing Thomas Harris fan and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all of his books completely available to her at any moment, just through her brain. It’s incredible. She was like, “I want to know what it looks like if Clarice and Ardelia live together? I want to know if they share shoes? Who does Clarice love? What does that look like? What does she eat for breakfast? How does she go through the world being Clarice Starling?”

So the two of them were really asking themselves that question in a deep and rich way. And then we were in the middle of a feminist revolution with the #MeToo movement and those things intersected. When Jodie Foster talks about reading the script and deciding to take the role, she has said “this is the story of a woman who is saving a woman in a well.” And that was revolutionary. That is revolutionary. It goes against the stories that we’ve heard since the dawn of time, since human beings were telling stories to each other.

It seemed like the cable space would be the most logical place for the advancement of Clarice’s journey, but David Nevins at CBS was really interested in putting it on network television, where it could shine and be unique. And he said, “if you will be our partner in putting this on network television then we’ll give you guys creative freedom.” And that has definitely been true. They’ve been our true partner; incredibly collaborative, incredibly generous, and really supportive of Alex and Jenny’s vision of the show moving forward.

Outside of The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice has previously only reappeared in the novel/film Hannibal, which is largely built around her getting kicked down again and again. How important was it to you guys to see Clarice have some genuine successes?

One of the most fascinating junctures in a person’s life, but especially a woman’s life, is moving forward from being in school to being a professional. What does that look like? How do you carry yourself? How do you answer the questions of your childhood? How do they inform who you are? And then you get pushback to be maybe a different kind of person, to work harder, or to make sacrifices that maybe you don’t want to make as a professional, let alone an FBI agent who is constantly dealing with morality, ethics, and justice. So, I think that’s a particularly exciting time for a woman’s life.

It translates to the year that we set the show in, in 1993, but also really to today, particularly as it affects both our Clarice storyline, but also Ardelia’s storyline, which grows and becomes much more significant, both in relation to Clarice and also in her own right as the series progresses. In The Silence of the Lambs Clarice was still a student, still studying; she was close to graduation, but she wasn’t there yet. And this is the first time we’re really getting to see the beginning of who she is as an FBI agent.

This is the second TV adaptation of Thomas Harris’s properties, and Hannibal did garner quite an intense cult following. Did you feel any pressure following not only that series, but also being a direct sequel to one of the greatest films of all time?

Thomas Harris created amazing characters who are complex, who have a variety of drives and nuanced motivations. So I feel like anybody who gets to play in the Thomas Harris sandbox has to A) be a fan, and B) feel the pressure and the responsibility that brings. But there’s another thing that it brings, which is pure joy and delight.

Clarice: How Does The Show Compare to Hannibal?

By Gabriel Bergmoser

Everybody who is involved in this show on every level, from our costume designer to our production designer, have all studied in the library of Thomas Harris. And also Jonathan Demme and his extraordinary visuals and filmic language. We really wanted to bring to life all of the textures of Thomas Harris’s work; the opulence, the extraordinary lavish visuals of his imagination, and most importantly, I think, the characters.

On that, let’s talk about Paul Krendler. In the source material Krendler is a lot more overtly slimy and antagonistic towards Clarice, particularly in the novel Hannibal. At least in the first three episodes of the show, he comes off more as a tough but fair boss who Clarice is slowly warming towards. Can you talk a little bit about the change to his character from the text to the show and what the impetus for that was?

I think a lot of it had to do with the question of who we’re spending time with. Certainly fans know where Krendler ends up; we all know his outcome in Hannibal, that his character gets progressively more awful and he ends up having a fitting demise. So we’re putting together this team on the show and have to ask if we want this awful, badly intended character in such close proximity to Clarice while she’s fighting monsters.

We honor his history having been in the Department of Justice, but now we’ve brought him back to the FBI and given him a backstory that he was formally in that FBI before he went to the DOJ. Then we explored “what drives this man? When is he wrong-headed? And when is he right-headed?” And the answer that we all really enjoyed is, this is a man who is trying to keep his unit safe, who wants everybody to come home tonight.

That means that Clarice can’t explore this case in the way that she wants to; to just run off and use her intellect to solve the crime and get an audience with the bad guy in a potentially unsafe way. Now she’s in the bigger world, and she’s having to learn what the rules are and how she has to function within them. Now when we talk about Krendler and his future, we’re not certain where we’re going. We don’t know who he will become in seven seasons because we have seven years until he ends up being the man in Hannibal.

So, in the minds of the writers’ room, are the events of Hannibal still off in the future, or is this potentially a re-imagining of where Clarice might have gone next after The Silence of the Lambs?

We don’t have the answer to that question yet. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility right now. We definitely are going to honor Thomas Harris, look at the path and see how it goes. I mean, Ardelia is in the book Hannibal, and there are some really interesting details. She and Clarice end up living together in that book, or not living together, but owning condos that are like a duplex together. And so there are definitely moments of characterization that we draw from, from that book. Then we’ll see where we get. And we should be so lucky that we have seven seasons to fully answer that question.

The show so far moves between more a traditional case of the week stories and this overarching conspiracy plot. How do you work in the writers’ room to balance that?

It’s my favorite kind of storytelling to have a balance between those two things. I’m a huge X-Files fan, and they definitely had their overarching serialized plot. But the episodes I always responded to the most were the monsters of the week. I’m a sucker for a good monster of the week story. I’m also obsessed with, not just seasons, but series-long arcs for characters; with personal growth and character relationship growth. So, putting those two things together is my personal sweet spot. I feel like as long as the story that you’re telling for your case of the week is truly compelling and you’re honoring where the character journey is, you can organically bring the audience on a journey that includes both. It just takes some attention.

Rebecca Breeds does such a fantastic job as Clarice. Her work feels of a piece with what Jodie Foster did, but also very distinct. Was there a lot of discussion about where the line should be drawn between impersonating Foster but doing something new as well?

Rebecca had her finger on the pulse of that from, really, her audition. She was stunning. I think it was a last-minute decision for her to add an Appalachian accent. She added the accent and then she said, “I just found Clarice.” And for all of us, the reason why we’re all showing up to work every day is because we’re incredible fans of Thomas Harris’s universe. His novels, yes, but also the movie. Jodie Foster is an incredible actor who gave an incredible performance and really embodied this character. So, honoring Jodie and her performance has always been paramount in all of our minds and yet we need to move forward and fully embrace Clarice as our own. And for us; for Alex, Jenny, myself, and Rebecca, the answer to that question has always been a truthfulness in writing and then a truthfulness in acting. That if the moments are real and genuine and fully present for all of us, then it becomes its own thing. It takes on its own life.

Due to the rights situation Hannibal Lecter is a notable absence, but in some ways a bigger one is Jack Crawford, who fulfilled the mentor role to Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs. Did you feel in any way limited by not being able to use him?

It’s interesting to look at the events of The Silence of the Lambs and the relationship with Crawford purely from Clarice’s point of view. For me, that relationship became caught up in the trauma. I feel like we are honoring his presence in her life, but in a very unpredictable way. When she went to see Hannibal, I feel like she was being given, yes, one of the most exciting opportunities of her life, but also being thrown into the deep end of the pool. And that’s part of what she carries with her. One of the definitions of trauma is “too much too fast”.

Clarice got too much, too fast, and now she’s unraveling that. So to my mind Crawford is a part of that. And that is how we’re paying tribute to him in our show. That’s how we’re thinking of him. And then to your point earlier, I feel some of the more mentor pieces of Crawford have become part of the Krendler character and will grow their relationship. It’ll have a lot of ups and downs, of course. But I think there are pieces of him in her relationship with Krendler.

One of the complex things about the relationship with Crawford is the fact that it is inherently built on an act of manipulation. He sends her in without giving her an agenda so that he can try to coax information out of Lecter.

And later when she needs back up they’re all the way across the nation. To me, that’s also part of the male gaze. They asked her to go do this thing and then they didn’t listen to her. They just missed a lot of it. The way that has translated into our world is in the exploration of bosses asking young women to do things, and then maybe not listening to all of the answers or the pieces of the answers that are inconvenient for them even though they’re honest and truthful. It’s definitely something that we explore in the series.

Something that’s refreshing about the show is the fact that it’s a period piece but never feels like it’s hitting you over the head with the 90s setting. What kind of discussions did you have about engaging with the time period?

We talk about it quite a bit. And of course there are all the practical conversations about making sure that the items that we’re using are accurate and the cars for those periods are correct. As we’re moving forward, there are more details that we’re drawing specifically from the FBI in 1993. We talk a lot about how our world view has and hasn’t shifted since 1993. An example would be how does the Waco siege inform the standoff at Novak’s in episode two. Who are these FBI agents, were they at Waco, were their friends at Waco, were they heard at Waco? What were their feelings from there and how did those attitudes inform this?

Movies

The Silence of the Lambs and Clarice’s Lifelong Battle Against the Male Gaze

By David Crow

Movies

Hannibal: Did Author Thomas Harris Try to Destroy Dr. Lecter?

By Don Kaye

In the world of the show Ruth Martin is the first female Attorney General, and that creates more pressure for her. And the FBI has a legacy that was started with J. Edgar Hoover, which is filled with white supremacy. It’s hard to succeed there if you aren’t a white man. So, those are ways that it informs it. Lucca De Oliveira (Tomas Esquivel) showed up on-set one day and he called me and he’s looking around and seeing all of our extras being white and said; “it makes me feel so other”. Those are the ways that we started really exploring what it means to be in 1993. And we’re shooting those from the perspective of the non-white characters.

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Going forward, what can fans expect to see from the show?

We will watch all of our characters get to know each other better and get to know themselves much better, particularly Clarice. Clarice goes on quite a turbulent journey of self-discovery. We really enter very deeply into Clarice’s relationship with Ardelia and what the differences in their worlds are as they’re learning. What it means to be a Black female agent, and what it means to be a white female agent, and how those two things are very different. We get to meet some more monsters and some of those monsters are vanquished quickly within an episode, and some of them will be around with us for the entire season.

The post How Clarice Continues Agent Starling’s Story appeared first on Den of Geek.

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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years ago

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LUCY THE STAR-GAZER! ~ Part Two

On “Here’s Lucy,” more than any other series, Lucille Ball used her vast network of Hollywood celebrities as guest stars! Here are some of the famous and near-famous who braved Lucy’s comedy Olympics!

LUCY FACES THE MUSIC: THE MUSICIANS

LAWRENCE WELK

Welk was a musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program “The Lawrence Welk Show” from 1951 to 1982 on ABC. Like Lucy, one of his favorite words was “Wonderful!” Welk was to music, what Lucy was to comedy - classically old school in a changing world. He was one of the most mentioned celebrities on “The Lucy Show” and played himself on “Here’s Lucy.”

RUDY VALLEE

Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and became a popular bandleader, hosting a hit radio program in the 1930s. He played himself on the very first episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1957. Here he plays himself, dealing with the changing music scene head-on!

PATTY ANDREWS

Patty and her sisters, Maxene and LaVerne, were one of the most successful women’s singing groups, with 19 gold records and sales of nearly 100 million copies. With Patty on her own here, Lucy and Kim pose as her sisters to perform some of their greatest hits!

DINAH SHORE

Dinah Shore was a singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era. She played herself here, one of Lucy Carter’s favorite singers.

PHIL HARRIS

Phil Harris was a bandleader who became a comic radio star as a Jack Benny sidekick in the 1930s. He played a songwriter named Phil Stanley on “The Lucy Show.” He was sometimes the butt of jokes on the series for his reputation for drinking. Here he plays himself and sings his signature song “That’s What I Like About the South.”

‘TENNESSEE’ ERNIE FORD

Ford was the first and only celebrity to make three guest star appearances (playing a variation on himself) on “I Love Lucy.” A popular country singer of the 1950s, this was his first credited ‘acting’ job, before his big hit with the song “Sixteen Tons” in 1955. He then appeared (also as a variation on himself) on “The Lucy Show.” This is his fifth and final appearance on a Lucille Ball sitcom, playing a singer named Ernie Epperson.

LIBERACE

Dubbed “Mr. Showmanship,” he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with established residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Prior to this episode playing himself (of course), his only appearance with Lucille Ball was the musical film ‘Best Foot Forward’ (1943).

SAMMY DAVIS JR.

Davis was a singer, dancer, actor and comedian noted for his impressions of actors, musicians and other celebrities. His comic talents were a good match for Lucille Ball. He later matched wits with Archie Bunker on “All in the Family.” Playing himself here, he sings “And When I Die.”

WAYNE NEWTON

One of Lucille Ball’s favorite singers, Newton makes his second appearance as himself on “Here’s Lucy,” having also played himself on “The Lucy Show.” He is one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas, known by the nicknames the ‘Midnight Idol,’ ‘Mr. Las Vegas’ and ‘Mr. Entertainment.’ Here he performs “I’ve Got the World on a String” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.”

STEVE LAWRENCE & EYDIE GORME

Steve and Eydie were one of the most popular singing married couples in show-business, headliners in Las Vegas and around the world. Eydie had a hit with “If He Walked Into My Life” from the musical “Mame,” which Lucy then sang in the film version.

ANN-MARGRET

Ann-Margret is one of Hollywood’s most enduring sex symbols, singers, and actors. Craig and Ann-Margret perform the song “Country Music” by Steve March, the son of Mel Torme and adopted son of Arnaz family friend, Hal March.

FRANKIE AVALON

A recording star and musician, Avalon’s movie career took off when paired with Annette Funicello in “Beach Party” (1963) and its string of sequels. He played Teen Angel in “Grease” (1978) and considers “Beauty School Dropout” to be his most popular song. He previously played Tommy Cheever on “The Lucy Show” in 1967 but here plays himself. He memorably impersonates Sonny Bono opposite Lucie Arnaz as Cher.

PETULA CLARK

Clark is a British-born singer and actor who became well-known for her pop hits “Downtown”, “I Know a Place”, “A Sign of the Times”, “Color My World”, “This Is My Song” and “Don’t Sleep in the Subway”. She was dubbed ‘the First Lady of the British Invasion’. Playing herself (and pregnant) she appears here with her real-life husband Claude Wolff.

JOHN DAVIDSON

Davidson is a singer / actor who appeared on Broadway and television, and made the transition to game show host with “The Hollywood Squares.” Davidson plays music professor John Kleindorf here, and sings “Happy Together” and “I Believe In Music.”

BUDDY RICH

Rich first appeared with Lucille Ball as a member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in “DuBarry Was a Lady” (1943). Widely considered one of the most influential drummers of all time and known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed, Rich was billed as ‘the world’s greatest drummer’ during his career. Naturally, here he is teamed with Desi Arnaz Jr., a drummer like his father.

DONNY OSMOND

Donny began his career singing with his brothers, The Osmonds. Osmond became a teen idol in the early 1970s as a solo singer, while continuing to sing with his older brothers. Here, as himself, he sings “Too Young” (to Eve Plumb!) and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” with Lucie Arnaz.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB: NIGHTCLUB PERFORMER SUPERSTARS!

TOTIE FIELDS

Fields was a nightclub comedienne whose first big break came on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” After that, she appeared on many TV talk and variety shows. This appearance (as Mrs. Poopsie Butkus, the milkman’s wife) was just one of handful of 'acting’ jobs. Fields also sang her signature tune, “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You” as part of the episode.

JOAN RIVERS

The legendary performer was a stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host. Rivers gained prominence in 1965 as a guest host on “The Tonight Show,” interviewing Lucille Ball three times. Here she plays jury member Joan Reynolds.

JIM BAILEY

Bailey was spotted by Lucille Ball and had this episode written for him. He became one of the world’s most famous female impersonators, transforming himself into such stars as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Peggy Lee, and Phyllis Diller, who he impersonates here, although he also appears out of drag, singing “Fever” with Lucie Arnaz.

FOSTER BROOKS

Brooks’ drunk act went over well with crowds at Las Vegas nightclubs and on television. He was a frequent guest on talk and variety shows and several Dean Martin celebrity roasts. Here he plays an alcoholic mystery novelist, David Benton Miller, that Lucy helps finish writing his latest book.

RICH LITTLE

Is a Canadian nightclub comic who became famous for his vast repertoire of impressions. His screen career began in 1964 and he appeared on virtually every TV talk and variety show over the next thirty years. He was known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices.” Here he does John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Jack Benny on the episode.

MY NEXT GUESTS: TV HOSTS!

JOHNNY CARSON

Carson was a talk show host and comedian, best known for his 30 years as host of “The Tonight Show” for which he received six Emmy Awards. Carson and Lucille Ball appeared together many times on TV specials and award shows. Carson played himself on “Lucy Moves to NBC” in 1980.

ED McMAHON

McMahon was a comedian, actor, singer, game show host, and announcer. He is most famous for his thirty year run as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, announcer, and second banana on “The Tonight Show.” In his first appearance on “Here’s Lucy” he played himself with Johnny Carson. In his second he played a bank loan officer named Ed McMillan. In 1977 he acted with Lucille Ball on “Lucy Calls the President” where he became the only other actor besides Desi Arnaz to play Lucy’s husband on television!

ART LINKLETTER

Linkletter was the host of “House Party” (aka “The Linkletter Show”) which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and “People Are Funny,” on NBC radio and TV for 19 years. He was mentioned on “The Lucy Show” and where he also played himself in 1966.

ALAN FUNT

Funt is best known as the producer, director, and host of the hidden camera show “Candid Camera.” He produced “Candid Microphone” on radio before moving the format to television in 1948. Here he not only plays himself, he also plays a con-man pretending to be Funt. It was a stretch for him, as he was not an actor.

STAGE TO SCREEN: BROADWAY BRILLIANCE!

HELEN HAYES

Hayes was known as ‘The First Lady of the American Theatre’. She won a 1932 Oscar for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet.” On Broadway, she won Tony Awards in 1947, 1958, and a special Tony in 1980. She has had two Broadway Theatres named after her. Hayes threw herself into television and screen work after being diagnosed as allergic to stage dust! Lucille Ball was in awe of Hayes, who played an Irish widow named Kathleen Brady.

ROBERT ALDA

Alda originated the role of Sky Masterson in Broadway’s “Guys and Dolls,” winning the 1951 Tony Award. He was seen in a variety of character roles (usually eligible bachelors) on both “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.”

HOWARD KEEL

Keel was discovered by Oscar Hammerstein II during auditions for John Raitt’s replacement in Broadway’s “Carousel” in 1946. After that, he also went on to play Curly in “Oklahoma!” Here he plays big game hunter Stanley Livingston, on the trail of the wild Gorboona, in what is widely considered the worst episode of the series! What’s worse, it is a non-musical episode!

JACK GILFORD

Gilford began his career in the Amateur Nights of the 1930s moving on to nightclubs doing satire and pantomime. He was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actor in the musicals “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (1962) and “Cabaret” (1966). Here he plays a driving instructor with Craig behind the wheel and Lucy as back seat driver!

SPORTS & POLITICS: PLAYERS IN THE LIMELIGHT!

O.J. SIMPSON

An alumni of the University of Southern California and winner of the Heisman Trophy, he is is former NFL running back for the Buffalo Bills (1969-77) and the San Francisco 49'ers (1977-78). Once a popular figure with the public, he is most well known today for his trial and acquittal for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

JOE NAMATH

Joe Namath was a record-setting and award-winning professional football player. His career on the gridiron began in 1965 with the Jets and ended 1977 with the Rams. Nicknamed ‘Broadway Joe’, he also was an actor doing stage, screen, and television commercials.

JACK LaLANNE

LaLanne was a nationally known exercise guru who owned a chain of health clubs and hosted a long-running television show from 1952 to 1983.

SAM YORTY

Yorty was the mayor of Los Angeles from 1961 to 1973. During his tenure he earned numerous nicknames from both admirers and detractors, such as Travelin’ Sam, Airplane Sam, Shoot-From-the-Lip Sam, the Maverick Mayor, Mad Sam Yorty, Scrappy Sam, Suitcase Sam, Saigon Sam, and the Reform Republican. In 1997, a survey of urban historians and political scientists rated Yorty the third worst big-city mayor in the USA since 1960.

BEST FOR LAST: THE QUEEN OF COMEDY!

LUCILLE BALL

Ball plays herself in this episode where she meets the mother of a look-alike contestant, Lucy Carter. Ball was the star of three hit television shows and numerous Hollywood films.

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abumblebeeat221b · 7 years ago

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Sherlock and the Female Gaze

If anyone asked me to point them to the most revolutionary piece of media ever created I’d probably show them Doctor Who (because guys - nothing beats a show that is basically Sherlock Holmes in space and keeps reinventing itself every other year).

But the second thing would be Sherlock. Not Doyle’s original, not the Rathbone, Granada, Soviet, new Russian adaptations (even though they are dear to me). Just 13 episodes of a TV show that was only ever meant to win some obscure film award in Eastern Europe and became a success over night instead.

The fandom that does its research has spent seven years trying to pinpoint its secret and the only thing we can agree on are three little words: it looks pretty.

On a more serious note: it is probably the first thing which made male eye-candy unashamedly mainstream. It is the millennial version of Pride and Prejudice, of Mr. Darcy, only that this time society doesn’t expect the story to bore our boyfriends to death.

And I’m not even sure that was something Mofftiss and Co were aiming for.

You see. It is a truth universally acknowledged that men have no idea what women like. They confuse it with male power fantasies ALL THE TIME because that’s what the media tells them we are day dreaming about. They are shocked to learn that we think Loki to be the sexually most appealing hero villain in the Avangers, that we consider Rodger from the original 101 Dalmatians to be perfect boyfriend material, that yes, we’d happily choose a dog loving, kind individual (with great hair) over most more manly super heroes out there.

And Sherlock ticks all the right boxes for women to find him attractive, while most guys wouldn’t think that lanky nerd to be much of a competition for them.

The cherry on our metaphorical fandom-cake is that Sherlock is pretty much the first thing produced for a main stream audience I know of* which treats its leading male character as if he was a woman in order to cater to the female gaze (because the lgbqt+ community was not the only reason why the name Cumberbatch has showed up on most versions of the sexiest men alive lists since 2010/11).

Women look at Sherlock and think ‘sexy’ because we’ve been conditioned by the media to recognise this is what ‘sexy’ looks like.

And this my friends is where the magic happens.

You want the list? Here have the list:

A well-tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men. And let me tell you Sherlock wearing suits doesn’t look like a coincidence from over here.

The coat. It’s like a cape. Only way cooler.

The buttons which deserve their own award™. We all know the story behind the coat™, but I’m not aware of the official one explaining why Sherlock couldn’t buy the purple shirt of sex™ in a bigger size (lucky us he didn’t). On a sidenote: too small dress sizes and strained buttons are exactly what actresses are expected to wear in front of the camera.

The white sheet of possibilities. Sherlock Holmes visits Buckingham palace wearing nothing but a sheet BECAUSE THE SCRIPT SAYS SO and I can’t be the only one feeling reminded of the long standing tradition of women having to take off their clothes for very important plot reasons™. Two series later, Moffat does it again, and while IMHO Sherlock should have kept his hospital gown on in His Last Vow, I’m aware that is a pretty problematic™ thing to say given how it belongs to the most beloved (i.e. gifed and photoshopped) bits of that episode. (While at the same time, apart from Irene Adler, we have no idea what the Sherlock ladies wear underneath).

The cheekbones. Oh. The. Cheekbones. It is shocking exactly no one that Carrie Fisher was asked to lose weight every time she played Princess Leia (yes, also that one). Benedict Cumberbatch lost weight for series 2, then went to play the villain in Star Trek: Into Darkness, came back to series 3 having to lose those muscles and some weight - which goes against the *typical* male beauty standards in the industry, just saying. (NB: I’m pretty sure he did it again for TAB and series 4, but series 2 and series 3 are the only instances I’m aware of him mentioning it).

The weapons of a woman. When was the last time the male hero was allowed to lose? James Bond gets the girl because he is the best agent out there. It’s always the best knight who slays the dragon and saves the princess. I agree today personality matters - but that just means that now he needs to slay the dragon AND be charismatic on the top of it.

Heroes aren’t damsels in distress, they don’t get favours because of their looks and smiles, they don’t rely on other people or need emotional support. They are lone wolves, strong and self-efficient in every possible sense of the word and they have more than just their muscles to show for it.

Not in Sherlock.

Odds (*literally odds*) are Sherlock wouldn’t have survived the first episode without John.

Here we have someone who manipulates Molly (and clients alike) using his charm to get what he wants. Sherlock relies on his social network all the time, his adventures are about showing us how being the Cleverest™, the Best™ does not equal success.

He gets saved, beaten and drugged by Irene Adler, and just in case we’d still have some illusions left, the script for that scene describes the leading male character with the words ‘weak as a kitten’. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

In the same episode he wins a fight because of pepper spray.

He relies on his brother’s help to beat Moriarty. He shoots Magnussen because even Mycroft’s long arm doesn’t end up being long enough. The only reason he makes it out of that mess alive is his freaking sister he isn’t even aware of.

The point is. Sherlock is right when he points out the obvious: he is no hero, but a mess who solves crimes as an alternative to getting high. Yes, he is phenomenally good at what he does. But he also needs an assistant, someone who takes some part of the responsibilities off his not-so-bulky shoulders and helps him to win those victories.

The fairytale of the high-functioning sociopath. For some baffling reason, sometime between now and the dark middle ages humankind decided that European culture only ever allows men to seek companionship when somehow sex (or bragging about sex) is involved.

This is why “being friendzoned” is the worst that can happen to the modern man™. This is why they honestly don’t get the concept of just friends™. To a good deal of them female friends are like unicorns in that they don’t exist. To them the age old “if I’m not getting sex out of it then why should I bother?” argument works on both sides: “if you are not getting sex out of it then why should you care?”.

(Before you spam my inbox yes, I know Scrubs exists, I’m more than just familiar with House MD *laughs uncomfortably for ten years*. But. For every single piece of media that happens to get it right there are 10 AU remakes of Fifty Shades of Grey being published).

Now. What on Earth does this have to do with Sherlock?

NOTHING. We see Sherlock having more healthy relationships in every single episode (yes even that one) than Bond will have in a lifetime. And no matter how much Sherlock insists on being a sociopath, the hero in this story has friends, imperfect friends, and whether he likes it or not they do care about him. And he cares about them too.

Otherwise Mycroft wouldn’t need to tell his little brother that caring is not an advantage and Sherlock wouldn’t meet those words like an old friend.

On top of it, the writers never code Sherlock and John as gay. No, they don’t. To be fair, they also don’t say he’s straight. However, they do make him canonically fall for Irene Adler (FYI: if him going ALL THE WAY to Karachi for her sake wasn’t a big enough clue, then MP!Sherlock keeping a picture of her in his pocket watch should have been).

And while we do see Sherlock invested in plenty of typical male stuff (he fights, he wins, he plays the rude smart arse, the hero, the brilliant detective) at the same time he also accepts it when in TEH John decides he wants to keep his distance, and Sherlock leaves the matter in Mary’s capable hands, John’s love interest, the woman who should be traditionally the mortal enemy of male friendships.

We had a whole episode which was basically Sherlock helping Mary with wedding preparations and not (just) having a bad time.

The next episode has him do his best to save his friends’ marriage. It also has him fake a relationship with a woman (who ends up owning a cottage in Sussex that comes with bees). But he never takes advantage of her even though she wouldn’t mind being taken advantage of. And when she gets her well deserved revenge he admires her for her agency. That boy is so smitten by Janine Hawkins that the original shooting script for His Last Vow had them agreeing to marry each other should they end up without anyone else by the time they are old end grey (page 72, you’re welcome).

Sherlock gets his support system and it doesn’t ask for anything in return. He is allowed to struggle, to become emotional, to not deserve his victories and still be the hero of the show. Those 13 episodes have Sherlock stumble from one failure to the next but every single time we learn it doesn’t matter. He gets to learn from his mistakes, he gets to grow.

Yes, he has his ghosts and demons but he never needs to face them on his own, which is something I’ve only ever seen on this stupid show

_____ * If anyone wants to point out the masterpiece that’s George from the Jungle then yes, I’m aware of it (also, surprise surprise another film that was pretty popular with the LGBTQ+ folks). However, generally speaking it never became mainstream. Which is what I’m talking about here. And while Marvel’s Loki is mainstream, he is not the main character in The Avengers.

#Sherlock #Sherlock BBC #BBC Sherlock #Benedict Cumberbatch #Steven Moffat #Mark Gatiss #long post #now excuse me as I look for the alternative universe where Martin Freeman got to play Sherlock and Benedict Cumberbatch became his Watson

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onaudiopost · 7 years ago

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30 Years Later, ‘The Golden Girls’ is Still the Most Progressive Show on Television

“I had to write ‘Golden Girls’…I’ve never gotten excited about a network idea before, but this was compelling. I could write grown-ups.” — Susan Harris, creator of ‘The Golden Girls,’ September 1985

Picture it: Hollywood, 1985. The first episode of The Golden Girls airs, introducing the world to Blanche Devereaux, Rose Nylund, Sophia Petrillo, and Dorothy Zbornak. The show attracted more than 25 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated program of the week and consistently ranked in the top 10 sitcoms during its run. Over the course of seven seasons, the show racked up 68 Emmy nominations, 11 wins, and is one of only 4 shows in TV history whose principal actors all won Emmys for their roles. Despite Hollywood’s obsession with youth, The Golden Girls is still beloved by audiences thirty years after its premiere.

Beyond the fact that the show is extremely well-written and well acted (thanks to Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White), The Golden Girls also stands out for being one of the last sitcoms where progressive values were part of the show’s DNA.

In an interview with Out Magazine, show creator Susan Harris explained, “We liked to tackle — not outrageous issues — but important issues. Things that I knew that people went through that hadn’t been addressed on television.” Harris was no stranger to shows that incorporated political story lines, having previously worked on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking All in the Family, and having written the historic abortion episode for Maude, which won her the Humanitas Prize — an award for film and television writing that promotes human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It is not surprising then that Harris brought this tradition to the writer’s room of The Golden Girls each week. The following are just some of the reasons why, after 30 years, The Golden Girls is still the most progressive show on television.

A Feminist Show

The very premise of The Golden Girls — four women navigating life after marriage and finding companionship in one another — is feminist in nature.While the women exchange quips and get into fights, the overarching message of the show focuses on the importance of chosen family, and women supporting other women. Further, we see the women enjoying life after marriage. Over the course of the series, we see the characters focus on career ambitions, new hobbies, and more often than not, their unapologetic enjoyment of sex. So much so that the blog Refinery29 recently tallied how many men each character slept with (naturally, Blanche had the most at 165). What made their love lives particularly important was the fact that television shows rarely portray older women as sexual beings.

The very premise of The Golden Girls — four women navigating life after marriage and finding companionship in one another — is feminist in nature.

“Television is always several steps behind life. When do you see passionate older people on television?” Susan Harris told The New York Times in a 1985 interview shortly after the show’s premiere. “There is life after 50. People can be attractive, energetic, have romances. When do you see people of this age in bed together? Eventually on this show, you will. It’s kind of pathetic that this show is television’s baby steps.’’

And the impact this had on audiences was clear. During an episode of The Phil Donahue Show, an adoring caller thanked guests Bea Arthur and Betty White for making her “feel 52 and gorgeous.” And the Winter 1989 issue of Media & Values magazine included survey responses from middle aged viewers of the show, such as one woman who responded, “I like this program because it gives me hope that there’s life after 50!” Beyond the message of female empowerment, the fact that the characters were older was significant in and of itself for the unprecedented portrayal of aging on television.

Portrayals of Aging

“Probably the single most effective product to come out of Hollywood in terms of turning around the cultural stereotypes about older women was the hugely popular and successful television show The Golden Girls in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” activist Ai-jen Poo wrote in her book Aging with Dignity. “Those four women, each with her own distinct history and personality…shattered the silence and the invisibility around aging in the most hilarious and endearing ways.”

While the entertainment industry pressures actresses to go to great lengths to maintain or restore their youth, The Golden Girls embraced aging and all the humor, wisdom, and vulnerability that comes with it.

This is evident in the episode “Rose Fights Back,” when Rose is cut off from her deceased husband’s pension plan and must find a new job. She is soon faced with age discrimination and the fear of not being able to make her rent. In a poignant scene, Rose discusses often seeing an older woman digging through the trash. She tells the other ladies, “I wondered, what did she do to get herself into a fix like that? I thought, well, she must be lazy, or she must be pretty stupid to let something like this happen to her. The truth is: she’s me.”

In another episode, Sophia makes a friend, Alvin, at the Boardwalk, but soon discovers that he has Alzheimer’s disease. She tells Dorothy, “people think if you live to be my age you should be grateful just to be alive. Well, that’s not how it works. You need a reason to get up in the morning and sometimes even after you find one, life can turn right around and spit in your face.”

Gay Rights

While the show’s message about women and aging is tied to its premise, The Golden Girls was often ahead of its time on other social issues. Twenty-four years prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling on marriage equality, The Golden Girls defended same-sex marriage before it was a mainstream position. In this episode, Blanche’s brother Clayton pays a visit and announces that he is engaged to his partner, Doug. In one scene, Sophia perfectly explains marriage equality to an upset Blanche:

In an interview with Vulture, show writer Marc Cherry recalled, “We were young writers, and we got to say a little something about gay rights and how gay people see themselves. It was about two men getting married, which is something people at the time didn’t talk about. And it was a really funny episode.”

Off the screen, the actresses were dedicated to advancing the cause of gay rights. At the height of the AIDS epidemic, which tragically hit the gay community, Estelle Getty was a staunch AIDS activist. In a 1989 interview, she explained, “I’ve been in show business all my life, and the majority of my friends are gay…A lot of my friends have died from AIDS.”

The show tackled the stigma surrounding AIDS head on in the episode “72 Hours,” and worked to counteract the myth that it was a gay disease or punishment. In the episode, Rose finds out she may have contracted the disease from an operation, and grows increasingly scared and angry. In one scene she exclaims, “This isn’t supposed to happen to people like me…I’m a good person!” Blanche argues back, “AIDS is not a bad person’s disease, Rose. It is not God punishing people for their sins.” The scene manages to be both humorous and raw.

Confronting Race

Much like the show did with gay rights, The Golden Girls confronted issues related to race in honest ways, rather than the imaginary “post-racial” interactions many sitcoms favor today. In one episode, Dorothy’s son Michael announces he’s getting married to Lorraine, a black singer in his band. The news causes Dorothy to cringe and cry out “Oh God,” but she recovers to explain that her race doesn’t matter. The scene portrays the complexity of prejudice, and dispels the idea that racism is something only “bad people” are guilty of — a recognition that is necessary in order to truly overcome prejudice.

Rarely is America’s complicated history with race woven into a sitcom storyline, much less as part of a white character’s backstory.

In another episode, we are introduced to Blanche’s “Mammy” from growing up, Viola Watkins. When Viola reveals that she had an affair with Blanche’s father, she explains, “In another time and place, we would have been married. But at that time in the South, it wasn’t an option.” The episode highlighted how often white children grew attached to their black caretakers, while underscoring the racial animosity that existed around them. Rarely is America’s complicated history with race woven into a sitcom storyline, much less as part of a white character’s backstory.

Disability Visibility

One subject matter that most television shows ignore altogether is disability. The Golden Girls, however, had multiple episodes revolving around characters with disabilities, usually as part of the women’s love lives. In these episodes, the women are forced to confront their own prejudices and misperceptions around what it means to be a person with a disability.

According to Lawrence Carter-Long, an expert on disability and media, “The best writing about disability focuses on character. Not a rehash of the same two-dimensional tragic or heroic movie-of-the-week stillness we’ve all seen a hundred times before.”

This sentiment is perfectly demonstrated in the episode “Stand By Your Man.” Blanche is nervous about dating Ted, a man in a wheelchair, played by Hugh Farrington, an actor who was paraplegic in real life. In the episode, Blanche gets past her prejudices and discovers that Ted is no different than anyone else, for better or worse. After learning that he has a wife, she says, “It never dawned on me that you could be a jerk in a wheelchair.”

In another episode, Rose is dating Jonathan Newman, a doctor at the grief center where she works. Rose is initially embarrassed to reveal their relationship because Jonathan is a little person, but she is determined to make it work. In the end, however, Jonathan breaks things off with Rose because she isn’t Jewish.

Fighting Poverty

Finally, as someone who does research and advocacy around fighting poverty, I am often frustrated by the myths and stereotypes that persist in film and television. The Golden Girls is not one of those shows. On many occasions, the show discusses poverty, but there is no better scene that demonstrates how well they did on the subject than in the episode “Have Yourself A Very Little Christmas,” when the ladies volunteer at a church to serve Christmas dinner to the homeless. They soon discover that Dorothy’s ex-husband, Stan, is among the people in need. The Church’s Reverend goes on to perfectly explain how poverty is an experience (rather than a moral failing, which is often the message), how public policy plays a role, and closes the scene with a direct jab at then-President Ronald Reagan:

REVEREND AVERY

You’d be surprised how many people are only two or three paychecks away from being on the street. The suddenly poor are all around us. Once you’ve been knocked down like that, it’s very hard to recover.

DOROTHY

What’s going to happen to all these people?

REVEREND AVERY

I don’t know. There’s no affordable housing, the rents keep going up and up, and the minimum wage has been held down.

ROSE

Seems so unfair.

REVEREND AVERY

Well, that’s because it is. There are three million homeless, hungry people in this country.

BLANCHE

What bothers me is, those people out there are being fed today because it’s Christmas, but what will they eat tomorrow?

REVEREND AVERY

When the great communicator talked about his vision of a city on a hill, I wonder if it included people sleeping on gratings in the street.

Over the past few years, many politicians have credited television for advancing their views on gay rights. And a growing body of research confirms that “as we grow emotionally attached to characters who are part of a minority group, our prejudices tend to recede.” In other words, television has the power to change the world. This makes what The Golden Girls accomplished even more critical. While the show wasn’t perfect on every issue, particularly on perpetuating hurtful plot lines around trans characters, The Golden Girls was an unapologetically progressive show. The show gave visibility to older women while using this unique platform to champion a number of progressive ideals that often go untouched by television shows. Not only is this level of progressivism unmatched on the small screen, the entire show was made possible by the understanding that older actresses have value and women can be funny.

The strength of the characters, the incorporation of storytelling, and punch lines delivered with a simple facial expression are among the many devices that make The Golden Girls one of the funniest sitcoms of all time. But it’s progressive message makes it one of the most important.

As a loyal fan, I’ll be celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary with my favorite episodes and a slice of cheesecake.

#television

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toldnews-blog · 6 years ago

Photo

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/celebrity-parents-and-the-bizarre-cheating-scandal/

Celebrity parents and the bizarre 'cheating' scandal

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption Actors Felicity Huffman and William H Macy at the Golden Globe Awards in January

A network of affluent parents were this week accused of using audacious practices to secure their children places at elite US universities. What exactly is alleged?

“What we do is we help the wealthiest families in America get their kids into school.”

It was quite the mission statement.

The words were spoken by the alleged kingpin of United States’ biggest ever university admissions scam, William “Rick” Singer, according to prosecutors.

He was making a pitch to a potential client, a wealthy New York lawyer, explaining the ways to get his child into a prestigious university.

There were the normal channels – which rich people did not want to be “messing around with”, he said. And then there was the back door and the side door.

The back door necessitated contributing to “institutional advancement” – ie family connections or a multi-million-dollar donation, such as funding a new building, which is all legal.

But the side door – the one that Singer had his foot jammed in and has drawn the attention of the authorities – was more accessible.

He could guarantee success, he said. All you had to do was make a “financial commitment”.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Police named their investigation after the 1999 film Varsity Blues, starring James Van Der Beek

The revelations

On Tuesday, reams of FBI documents were unsealed from “Operation Varsity Blues”, an investigation named after a 1990s film about the pressures of sports scholarships.

The case looked at a period between 2011 and 2018, when, according to the authorities, $25m in bribes were paid by people looking to sneak around the usual university admittance process.

Fifty people – including 33 parents and various sports coaches – were indicted.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine, which is dedicated to making higher education and business more inclusive in the US. “The depth of it, the number of people involved, the amounts of money. It’s mindboggling.”

It feels like a “slap in the face” for those genuinely trying to make change, she told the BBC.

Among the most jaw-dropping revelations was the alleged involvement of Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

Actresses sued in college cheating scam

TV network drops Loughlin over ‘bribes’

“Ruh roh!” as Huffman might say.

The authorities alleged the star of TV series Desperate Housewives using this Scooby Do expression in email exchanges with Singer.

According to the FBI, she was responding to news – in October 2017 – that her daughter’s school wanted to use their own exam invigilator, rather than a compromised one who would be able to boost her scores.

She allegedly emailed her concerns to Mr Singer. “We will speak about it,” he reportedly replied.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption William “Rick” Singer has pleaded guilty to charges

The architect

Rick Singer, a Californian life coach in his late 50s, presented himself as an expert in the university admissions process.

He wrote books about it, including the self-published Getting In: Gaining Admission to Your College of Choice, which opened with an inspirational quote from Nelson Mandela.

However, he kept his more illicit techniques within a closer circle.

The FBI has traced his scam back to 2011. It is not known if this was a particular turning point in his three-decade career.

In 2014, he founded a non-profit organisation called Key Worldwide, which claimed to help “disadvantaged students around the world”. The website said it would “open doors” for young people escaping troubles such as gang violence.

However, according to the authorities, the organisation functioned as a slush fund. It became a façade through which payments could be funnelled as “charity donations”. Singer pocketed some of the cash and paid the rest in bribes to those who could help him get the results he guaranteed.

Over time he had developed two possible paths to success. One would involve manipulating exam results. The other would involve securing special treatment – most typically via faked sporting prowess.

According to the FBI, the two Hollywood actresses went down separate routes.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Felicity Huffman (left) pictured alongside her Desperate Housewives co-stars in 2006

Huffman, Macy and the ‘exam plot’

The authorities claim that Felicity Huffman knew she needed to send her oldest daughter to a specific exam centre in West Hollywood to follow the plan. Hence the “ruh-roh” when it nearly went wrong.

Singer had connections there.

It is alleged that he would typically suggest his clients faked learning disabilities for their children and then, once they got a medical certificate, they would be granted extra time and could make a more believable case for switching to external exam centre.

Huffman had allegedly already secured 100% extra time for her daughter’s SAT (college entrance) exam. It is unclear how.

Apparently, this was not enough.

The next step involved bringing in someone else to take the test for her.

Singer often used the services of a man called Mark Riddell. He was in his mid-30s, an ex-tennis professional, and the director of college entrance exam preparation at a boarding school in Florida.

According to the FBI, he would fly in, take the test for students in a hotel room, or sneak them the correct answers in the exam room, or inflate their scores when they finished. Sometimes he would be given a sample of the teen’s handwriting so he could copy it.

Riddell did not know the questions in advance, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrew Lelling. He was “just a really smart guy”.

Image copyright IMG Academy

Image caption Mark Riddell has pled guilty and apologised

It is not yet known how Huffman first came into contact with Singer.

In 2017, he visited the Los Angeles home she shares with her long-term partner, William H Macy, the star of Shameless and Fargo, the court documents say.

The couple – who met in the early 80s and married in 1997 – are not usually caught in negative headlines. Macy’s hobbies reportedly include woodturning and playing the ukulele, while Huffman has been running a wholesome parenting site, What The Flicka, based on her childhood nickname.

They have been known to post loving messages to each other on social media.

Early on Tuesday morning, FBI agents turned up at their door.

Only Huffman was indicted. The crime she stands accused of relates to mail fraud, which is when communication methods are used to conduct a scheme that intentionally deprives another of property or honest services. Macy has not been charged.

Neither has commented publicly.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionStudents react to cheating scam: “This is how we got into an elite college”

The couple made a $15,000 payment to the Key Worldwide Foundation for their older daughter’s exam scheme, according to court documents.

In an art-mirrors-life twist, it was the exact same amount that Huffman’s character in Desperate Housewives had paid to a headmaster in an episode about corrupt schools admissions.

In real life, her older daughter’s exam score jumped 400 points – a huge leap – after Singer’s involvement, it is claimed.

If those claims are proven, Huffman and Macy appear to have secured a bargain. Many people paid hundreds of thousands for his help. He usually paid $10,000 to the surrogate test-taker alone.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption The sailing coach at Stanford University has been fired for alleged involvement

The sports scam

Academic manipulation was only one side of this story, and the alleged sports scam was even more outrageous.

Singer was taking students with no prowess, and turning them into sporting stars on their applications, it is claimed.

In some cases he would arrange for their heads to be Photoshopped on to more sporty bodies. In others, their basic stats would be manipulated – one basketball player had his height changed from 5ft 5in to 6ft 1in, presumably betting on a once-you’re-in-you’re-in outcome.

Police found their first strong piece of evidence of this scheme during a wiretapped encounter in a hotel room in Boston, Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe.

The newspaper says that investigators had been working on an entirely different story – alleged fraud in the stock market – when they received an unexpected tip.

A financial executive told them a sports coach from Yale University, Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, asked for a bribe to help the businessman’s daughter gain admittance to the Ivy League school.

The executive agreed to wear a recording device and meet Meredith, who then offered to designate the young woman as a member of his soccer team.

Meredith – as well as Singer and Riddell – have been working with the police, hoping to reduce their sentences.

Sports bring in such huge amounts of money and prestige to US universities that they will often lower academic requirements to bring in new talent.

“Student athletes often have excellent leadership qualities and excel both in the classroom and on the field, recognising that makes sense for colleges looking for the best students,” says Eric Yaverbaum, author of Life’s Little College Admissions Insights.

“The hard work it requires to be a student athlete is what makes the fact that some of these parents took advantage of this route so disturbing. It’s appalling that some parents and coaches betrayed those students by buying and selling those coveted positions.”

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Lori Loughlin with her daughters in West Hollywood last year

The daughters of Full House actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli were not outstanding sportswomen.

However, the couple allegedly spent $500,000 to get them into University of Southern California by presenting them as accomplished rowers. They have not commented since the charge were filed.

LLori Loughlin’s daughters in spotlight

Actress free on bail over college scam

After getting her place, their youngest daughter, Olivia Jade, made matters worse by bragging online, saying she would rather be concentrating on her Instagram career. She is an influencer and has 1.3 million followers.

“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all,” she said on her YouTube channel. “But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”

She has since apologised for her comments, but the backlash has been huge.

It is not clear how much any of the children knew about the alleged plots. According to the court documents, some were involved, at least to a certain degree, while others were in the dark.

“[The entire scandal] is a perfect example of the entitlement that comes with wealth and privilege,” adds author Eric Yaverbaum.

“We knew the system was unfair (after all, wealthy parents can pay for multiple test retakes and expensive tutoring, and the wealthiest can pledge large donations to a school just as their children are applying), but we didn’t know wealthy parents were taking it even further. In either case, it only reiterates the need for the admissions process to be re-evaluated.”

In recent days, the US media has uncovered that Loughlin’s Full House character, Aunt Becky, was also involved in a school cheating story – perhaps indicating just how common the idea is, at least in theory.

In real life, however, the story unfolding in the news has outdone the scriptwriters.

Though the focus may have been on the two actresses so far, the rest of the cast of real-life characters is almost as intriguing.

Other parents indicted include a self-help author, a casino operator and a Napa Valley vineyard owner.

One of the many questions outstanding is – who will play whom in the inevitable TV adaption?

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grumpyandgorgeous · 7 years ago

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Today’s the day: it’s Emmy longlist day.

If you have followed me for awhile, you know I always do this; this year I thought I’d link back to my previous write-ups and realized there were eight previous posts for me to link back to. Eight! This is my ninth time doing this. I am just as surprised as you are. Here they all are, if you are interested. And here we go!

We start this year with Voice-Over Performance in animation, and Bojack Horseman breaks in with its first ever nomination, for Kristen Schaal as Sarah Lynn. I would be pleased if she took this--I just like Kristen Schaal--but honestly, this category is an enigma. Some years it seems to be about a celebrity guesting on the Simpsons, sometimes its about a nuanced performance in a long-running animated series, and sometimes it about the breadth instead of the depth by nominating a performance who just does a lot of characters on one show. There's some of all of that this year (if we're counting Kevin Kline's nomination for Bob's Burgers, which we so are). I don't know who will win this.

Likewise, I am not sure of what to root for in Animated Program, as the episode of Archer is just the premiere (which is fine, but not great) and the Bob's Burgers and Simpsons episodes are pretty week. Kind of nice to see Elena of Avalor get a nomination though, right?

I tend to not focus heavily on the casting categories when I haven't seen a majority of the nominees, but the Casting for Limited Series has to go to Big Little Lies, right? Even the children are excellent, just amazing. I'll be offended if this doesn't win. I understand how Fargo could win it... but it shouldn't.

A nice surprise in Choreography--Mandy Moore (not that Mandy Moore) gets nominated twice, but once for Dancing With the Stars, and once for So You Think You Can Dance. I don't think I've seen that before!

Heading back to Big Little Lies, I don't know how much of a chance it has in a lot of the technical categories, but I would be pleased if it saw wins for Cinematography, Contemporary Costumes, Single-Camera Picture Editing... the list goes on. (I think Handmaid's Tale probably has Period/Fantasy Costumes sewn up, ha.) I forget how much I liked the show until I think back on these aspects of it and remember, Oh wait, it was really very good. I would love for this to carry over to Directing too, but I am surprised as how strong The Night Of has come on in the technical categories, not because I doubt its merit, but because it wasn't really the buzziest thing on HBO this year. There must have been some heavy HBO campaigning, because I saw it turn up on a number of critics' lists to expect nominations, but I am still a little surprised.

In lieu of any Queen Sugar nominations, I would be pleased to see Ava DuVernay win a directing award for 13th.

Main Title Design! I was so excited for this and to be honest, the nominees are a little disappointing. The opening for Feud: Bette and Joan was in my mind the frontrunner heading in, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. The problem here is that three of these are the exact same set of titles. I actually quite liked the American Gods theme when I first started watching it, but then I saw the Crown... they're the same title design. So is Stranger Things, but at least it has the benefit of the image that it it focuses on in very tiny amounts on a black background being typography. Honestly, go watch them. These are all the same titles. It's amazing. Westworld's theme is nice, but Bette and Joan's is something special. I hope it wins. (This is possibly the one place I want it to win.)

Did you know Lifetime had mad a movie version of Suite Francaise? I did not either, but it got a nomination for Original Dramatic Score for a limited series or movie.

Original Music and Lyrics is weird. I don't really get the Mickey Mouse short nomination (although you should totally go watch it because there's a real Ren and Stimpy vibe to it which I never would have expected), and I'm not into the Lemonade homage from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, so that leaves us with the songs from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, SNL, and 13th, all of which I think have a reasonable shot. The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song grows on you as it goes along, but "Last Christmas" and "Letter to the Free" both feel a lot more relevant and political. I could see this one going either way. SNL might win on a wave of SNL wins, but there are a surprising number of technical nominations for 13th that lead me to believe there's some real industry support for the doc and this could win from that. It's an interesting category.

I'm not so good at discussing the intracacies of music, so the Original Main Title Theme Music is a difficult category for me to assess. However, in my opinion anyway, I would rule out the themes to Victoria and The Good Fight right off the bat, and i would through Genius in there too were it not composed by Hans Zimmer, and so for that reason we can't rule it out. Stranger Things I think is the leader here, because it manages to be iconic and retro all at once. The Feud music is also nice, but I am actually very fond of the Westworld music, even if in the key changes it kind of reminds me of the Carnivale theme. (Miss you always, Carnivale.) Still, I think Stranger Things is almost a lock on this one.

Finally, the acting categories.

Lead Actor in a Comedy is basically all the same faces, plus Donald Glover. It's the only one of these shows I watch, and he is wonderful in it, but I feel its more likely he'll be taking awards for his work behind the camera. Jeffrey Tambor could take this again, but with Transparent not taking a series nom for the first time, it might be on its way out. Anthony Anderson then? I thought he would have won this already, to be perfectly honest. Who knows how this will go.

Lead Actor in a Drama is equally mystifying. Several of the actors in this category are overdue--Matthew Rhys, Bob Odenkirk--and some shouldn't be here at all--Liev Schreiber, Kevin Spacey, Milo Ventimiglia--and then we have Anthony Hopkins, who is legendary but maybe not for Westworld, and Sterling K. Brown. This Is Us broke a lot of ground this year, so I would not be shocked by Sterling K. Brown winning, but network dramas are always going to have a hard time going up against the prestige nominees on cable. This is one to watch.

Every time I think Sherlock is the worst its ever been, it wins awards in America, so I think Benedict Cumberbatch is a solid choice to win Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Should this go to Ewan McGregor for going all Tatiana Maslany? Probably. But honestly i have no stakes in this race. Just not Cumberbatch.

So both the leads of Grace and Frankie got nominations for Lead Actress in a Comedy, which I think means they will cancel each other out. There are a couple familiar names here (I keep waiting for Tracee Ellis Ross' moment but I fear it's not coming), and a new face in Pamela Adlon, which between that and her TCA achievement lead me to think she's a frontrunner here. But... Allison Janney has moved herself up to Lead from Supporting, and it is very hard to place bets against a prior winner, even if it wasn't for this specifically. So who knows? Here's a fun fact though: if Janney wins this category, she will have Emmys for Supporting Actress in a Drama, Lead Actress in a Drama, Guest Actress in a Drama, Supporting Actress in a Comedy, and Lead Actress in a Comedy. All she'll have left is a Guest Comedy Actress and the Limited Series awards! I don't know if this will be some kind of a record for sheer breadth of acting categories, but it would be fun for someone to find out.

But hey, can we talk about how for yet another year, there's nothing for Catherine O'Hara killing it on Schitt's Creek? Seriously, she is just straight-up nailing it on a weekly basis. David and Alexis are the heart of the show--and a good amount of the humor, yes--but Moira is just an eccentric actress delight. Robbed yet again. And if not Catherine O'Hara, why not her SCTV co-star Andrea Martin, so much fun all decked out in Chico's looks on Great News? She's the best part of the show, and I'd much rather see them here than Grace and Frankie.

Lead Actress in a Drama--I've heard zero buzz for How to Get Away With Murder this year, but she was a previous winner, and there is some recenty history of repeat winners in this category. I thought the Americans was going to win some acting trophies last year, but nothing came of it... and I wouldn't put it past the Television Academy to give an award to a show just as the critics have said it had a weaker season. So who knows, if the episode really sells Keri Russell, or Matthew Rhys back in Lead Actor, I could see it. The same goes for the perennially-nominated Robin Wright. My heart wants to give this to Elisabeth Moss though. This is Hulu's breakthrough year so this could be the winner.

Ooooooooooooof, the category that has been the heaviest now for two straight years. I have seen a LOT of awards prognosticators say this is Jessica Lange's, which shocked me, because I would have absolutely said it is Nicole Kidman's, because she was breathtaking, and Feud was only OK. But the problem here is that Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon could split the Feud vote, and Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon could split the Big Little Lies vote, and then where are we? Felicity Huffman for American Crime, or Carrie Coon for Fargo. I wouldn't mind either of these, necessarily--all the women nominated here are very talented--but this is a Big Little Lies award if there is any justice in this world. And Nicole Kidman, unlike Julia Roberts when she got that Normal Heart nom a few years ago, is not so snobby as to talk down about the Emmys while she's at the damn Emmys, so she's definitely a winner that TV could get behind even though she's primarily a film actress. I mean god, she went to the Stanley Cup playoffs and wore a jersey and everything. SHE'S OF THE PEOPLE NOW. Give this to Nicole, please.

Also, many apologies to Lauren Graham, totally shut out for the Gilmore Girls revival. One day you'll get something, Lorelei.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy is so many repeat nominees and winners, but if Alec Baldwin doesn't win this, it will be an actual honest to goodness upset. Who else has a chance? It doesn't matter if you don't like the Trump impression (which I don't, for the record). It was the buzziest comedy performance of the year. The president got angry about all of it. He's gonna win.

I don't know anything about Supporting Actor in a Drama except that I have been rooting for Jonathan Banks for like, many years now, on two different shows, so I would be very happy to see him win.

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series... I haven't seen The Night Of. I kind of figure it's going to go to The Night Of. But Alexander Skarsgard is very good at being very awful and having two faces? It feels almost cruel to reward him for being a good abusive husband but he's a very good abusive husband. I also enjoyed Alfred Molina's performance in Feud, so who knows where this is going.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think Anna Chlumsky has fallen out of her possible winning window for Veep, so I don't think it is ever going to happen at this point. But there rest of the faces for Supporting Actress in a Comedy are good ones. I think you have to give it to Kate McKinnon for just wearing so many hats this year, but I love Kathryn Hahn in absolutely everything she does, and Leslie Jones feels just as deserving as any cast member of SNL. And while I am not a huge Vanessa Bayer fan, I'd be happy for her to win just for that damn Totino's ad. No bad wins here.

Uzo Aduba hasn't won for Supporting Actress since Orange is the New Black switched to drama, right? I don't know if any women of the Handmaid's Tale are going to break through this one when they don't have quite the role recognition here as the other nominees. Millie Bobby Brown could win, as crazy as that sounds, considering that the cast won the SAG. Chrissy Metz is the name I am seeing from a lot of prognosticators. And Thandie Newton--well, how can you root against Thandie Newton. I'm going to give this to Millie Bobby Brown for now, but I am keeping my eyes on Chrissy Metz.

Regina King has now won the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for two years running, and I am not about to root against her for a third trophy, even if this year was the least buzzed about season of American Crime, and it was subsequently canceled. She's going to have strong competition--watch out for Laura Dern, I think--but she's had strong competition before. I liked Jackie Hoffman a lot in Feud, but i don't really think either of the Feud roles really hold a candle to the rest of the nominees here. Could be interesting on Emmy night but, once again, I am rooting for Regina King.

There is something a little insulting about the only nominees for a show called Girls being random male guest stars, right? A little bit? No offense to Riz Ahmed or anything. I don't love Girls by any measure, but it's a little weird. I would give this one to Tom Hanks because of David S Pumpkins but hey, who knows how these things work anymore. I certainly don't. Guest Actor in a Comedy--some host of SNL, a guy on Girls, or Hugh Laurie on Veep. I think Dave Chappelle killed his chances when he said to give Trump a chance, but it was a big deal for him to be on SNL, so I wouldn't necessarily discount that. If I had to nominate an SNL host here though, it really should have been Chris Pine. Boy was totally ignored.

I think Carrie Fisher has the sentimental vote for Guest Actress in a Comedy, but Melissa McCarthy honestly was much better as Sean Spicer than Alec Baldwin ever was as Trump. The thing working against her is she submitted her own episode, and it was arguably her weakest appearance.

Honestly, the best thing for the guest categories is Nightcap, the underseen heir to 30 Rock on Pop!, the channel that replaced the TV Guide Channel. Ali Wentworth knows a lot of people and they all seem game to come on and skewer their image in the most embarrassing way possible. There were a number of standouts in season one, but Gwyneth Paltrow as a kleptomaniac who doesn't eat "that goop shit" and who apparently goes around negotiating guys down to handjobs from blowjobs was my personal favorite, but really so many celebs were great. Debra Messing also should be really gunning for a nomination for this for next year with the episode that just aired this week. idk, I'm a fan.

I'm all in for Alexis Bledel for Handmaid's Tale as I frequently hear that she's a person's favorite part, but I don't know if that's likely. Ann Dowd is here after being a nominee in supporting actressi in a limited series, so maybe she has a real shot at one of them. And you can't rule out Barb, because the academy is just as dumb as the rest of America for nominating an extremely minor character who barely appears for an Emmy.

I know Ben Schwartz already has an Emmy that he shares with Dan Harmon for writing that "Recession Oscars" opening theme where Hugh Jackman said he hadn't seen the Reader , but if he can win outright for the Earliest Show, I am fine with that. Same for Lauren Lapkus, easily the highlight of Pete Holmes' Crashing, which is pretty weak overall.

I can't be the only one rooting for Martha and Snoop for reality hosts for their dinner party show, right?

Outstanding Comedy Series: the same old names, plus Atlanta. I'll root for Atlanta or black-ish. Veep had a very weak year and Silicon Valley was dreadful. This category needs some refreshment.

Outstanding Drama Series went the opposite direction: two repeat nominees in Better Call Saul and House of Cards, but five new faces in first season shows The Crown, Handmaid's Tale, Stranger Things, This is Us, and Westworld. Again, the SAG for best cast went to Stranger Things, so I would not be surprised at it coming through here too, even though it is not at all the type of drama the Emmys typically go for. I would think it comes down to Stranger Things or This Is Us, both of which got heavily nominated all over, but especially in acting.

Fargo did better in nominations than I think anyone expected it to, so it can't be entirely ruled out for Outstanding Limited Series. I want this to be for Big Little Lies, but female-centric domestic series don't have a good history here--I think this show was excellent in all facets, but its recognition really came down to the fact it has movie stars in it and a high-profile team behind it. I don't know if that's going to carry over to a win here, even if it absolutely should. The Night Of has done very well in nominations, and the subject matter is far more up the Television Academy's alley. Also, this category tends to be a good one for Ryan Murphy, so a Feud win isn't out of the quetion either. I am hoping level-headedness prevails and we get a Big Little Lies win. But I also know exactly why that won't happen.

Outstanding Television Movie will probably go to Sherlock because it wins at its worst, but I think it's very promising that Black Mirror got nominated here for San Junipero, the one episode everyone loved this year. The lack of nominations overall for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, despite the attachment to Oprah's name, does not bode well for it. The Wizard of Lies has a healthy little group of nominations and this is Weighty Serious Stuff which the voters tend to go for, so that's my dark horse here.

A number of the nominees in Variety Talk had kind of breakthrough moments in the era of Trump. John Oliver won this last year and were it not for all these Trump-reactions, I'd give him an easy repeat. And that could still happen! He could be the new Daily Show. The voters are notoriously lazy--after all, we saw Modern Family get nominated again this year for Best Comedy and it is 2017. If I had to tip it away from him though, I would say this is Stephen Colbert's or Jimmy Kimmel's to lose. Jimmy got nominated elsewhere and made headlines for the stuff with his son; Colbert really turned it around and put Jimmy Fallon out of contention in both nominations and the ratings and that could be rewarded. I'll be interested to see where this goes.

Best Friends Whenever, also known as My Beloved Show About the Gay Teens, was never going to get a kid's programming nomination, but why did Girl Meets World get one for its worst season? Ughhhhhhhhhhhh.

I said several years ago we need a teen category for the MTV shows and Degrassi, and I still believe that. Several years ago they consolidated the informational children's into the scripted kid's stuff and that was a mistake--we should have like three or four kids categories, not one. If I ever get to be on the board, I will be address this, you better believe me. There are children who can vote, I am sure, and I want their opinions.

Very happy Leah Remini's Scientology show got a nomination for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. Good for Leah Remini.

BIG DEAL ALERT: in this year of Chip and Joanna Gaines being EVERYWHERE, will Fixer Upper win the Emmy for Structured Reality? I think they might. This would be huge for HGTV. And yet another puzzle piece in the Gaines world domination plan. I wouldn't necessarily mind that, but I don't want to live in Texas, and I don't want my furniture to have chipped paint on it, so maybe I do mind actually.

I think Born This Way is likely the lock for Unstructured Reality, but I wasn't even aware Gaycation had aired a second season to make it eligible and... I should give it another chance, probably. But why is this getting nominated when States of Undress is also on Viceland and it is fantastic? I know, I should shut up about States of Undress, but it's just so goddamn thoughtful. Even if Hailey Gates doesn't always get it quite right in her ending narration, I think there is something about her that makes the show so much more compelling than Gaycation. I think it goes to more interesting places--not on the map, but just with what it chooses to explore. I'm always enchanted by it, I always learn something. I just want it to have a million seasons forever.

oh my god am I almost finished please

Writing in a Comedy! This is a definite toss-up between "B.A.N." and "Streets on Lock" from Atlanta. I could see "B.A.N." winning just because of the sheer variety of what composes the episode, and because Donald Glover wrote it and the Emmys like to reward the mastermind of the series here. But I think "Streets on Lock" is actually the stronger episode, so Stephen Glover could get a win here. I don't think Silicon Valley or Veep have a shot, and Aziz won last year, and this category (unless you're a 30 Rock who stays around forever) likes to inject fresh blood. So this is an Atlanta win, but the episode has yet to be determined.

(Though if Veep DOES win the comedy writing, it'll have to be for Georgia, which is the most heartbreakingly painful episode of the season, and also the best one.)

I genuinely don't know where Drama Writing is headed. Stranger Things? Let's guess Strangers Things.

I can't believe I'm rooting for David E Kelley but--Big Little Lies for Limited Series writing, please! Please. Charlie Brooker has a nom here for San Junipero again, and that would be a pleasing result as well. And I even like the Oscars episode of Feud, but I think that would be a better win for direction than writing (was it even nominated for direction? I'm not going back to look now). Fargo, again. The Night Of, again. This could be a really good night for The Night Of, I'm thinking.

Seth Meyers gets his first Emmy nomination for Late Night in Variety Series Writing. (Sidenote: Vox wrote a thing about snubs and said he got no noms, which I tweeted them about, and then got a "we'll make it more clear." Which they then changed from "Seth Meyers--HOW DID IT GET ZERO, it needs to be recognized, it's so good, blah blah blah, why hasn't it made a breakthrough" to "SETH MEYERS--ONLY ONE?" which is not making it clearer, it's re-writing it, it changes your original point even when you don't change the text. I know people make mistakes but if you are a tv critic, and it's Emmy nominations day... read the longlist! Please! This is like when, oof what was it, Vanity Fair? I forget. But I think Vanity Fair--no, it was Harpers Bazaar--did an Emmys write-up and totally made up history by saying "oh, remember when Fargo controversially beat True Detective for best miniseries a few years ago" when THEY WEREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME CATEGORY. OK, these aren't the same, but I just get annoyed by things that can be very easily cleared up.) I think this is going to Colbert, Oliver, or SNL though. Probably SNL unless we're just staying in the John Oliver lane, or rewarding Colbert for overcoming Jimmy Fallon. (I realize I talk about Jimmy Fallon like he's a dragon, but I really don't like him.)

Now Variety Special Writing--here's where Samantha Bee has a very good chance with her Not the White House Correspondents Dinner.

And that's it! I did it! Like four hours... but I did it. And we'll be back next year, guys! My tenth edition then! But before that, we'll have Emmy night. :) Thanks for reading!

#emmys #no one's gonna read this lets be real alex

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ecoorganic · 4 years ago

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'Ted Lasso' and the Journey From Viral Promo to TV Series

Jason Sudeikis reprises his role as a befuddled coach in England, with his viral NBC promos evolving into a full-on TV show. He explains the story of how it happened.

There’s a scene in Ted Lasso, where the title character–Jason Sudeikis’s American football coach who abruptly turns into a Premier League manager–sprints to the assistant referee in the middle of a crucial match after raising his flag for an offside call.

“Come on, now! What do you mean? How’s that offside?” complains Lasso, with his characteristic Kansan drawl as the linesman looks at him with confusion.

“What?” asks the official.

Lasso gets closer. “No, I’m serious. How’s that offside...I don’t understand it yet.”

This lack of complete understanding and across-the-pond confusion is one way to describe the essence of Apple TV+’s latest sitcom, which originated from a 2013 NBC Sports promo. That's where Sudeikis introduced his character as part of the network’s acquisition of the Premier League broadcast rights.

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The idea was simple. Lasso, an intense, wide-eyed college football coach from Kansas City arrives in London and enters the alien world of the Premier League. In the promos, he takes over Tottenham (the following season,

he returns as head coach of youth girls' team St. Catherine Fighting Owls), questioning why players don’t wear more pads and teaching the art of flopping. He has no knowledge of the game or its cultural and historical significance. It was a satiric outlook at two different worlds seen through the eyes of a naïve American, and for NBC, it was a way to both attract a loyal, knowledgeable soccer fan as well as appeal to a new audience.

In the end, it worked, as both promos (2013 and 2014) went viral and gained a tremendous amount of attention. Combined, the videos have generated more than 20 million views on YouTube and helped the network build a strong foundation for its Premier League audience.

It’s been six years since those promos aired, and soccer in the U.S.–without Ted Lasso–has grown tremendously in popularity. So how was the character revived?

“I guess it’s a dozen little things that go right that you’re willing and ready to receive,” Sudeikis told Sports Illustrated. “After doing the second video (in 2014), it really unlocked elements of the character that we found very, very fun to write and portray and view the world through. So, one day in 2015, my partner Olivia (the actress and filmmaker Olivia Wilde) came up to me one day and said, ‘You know, you should do Ted Lasso as a show,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know,’ but then after marinating on it, I thought maybe this could happen.”

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In spring of the same year, Sudeikis got together with his creative partners and writers, Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt–the three of them started together with Chicago’s well-known improv group The Second City and Amsterdam’s Boom Chicago; Hunt also plays Lasso’s assistant coach and confidante Coach Beard–and powered through for a week to see if they could create a show out of it.

“When you have a germ of an idea, you don’t know if it’s something you say out loud or if it’s a tweet or a letter or a screenplay, who knows," Sudeikis said. "So, we sat down, and we were able to bang out a pilot pretty quick in that week. As well as outlining six to 10 episodes of the first season. And that let us know, ‘O.K., there’s something here.’”

Despite the excitement for the idea, that’s all it was at that moment–an idea without a home. So, life continued, and the three friends left Ted Lasso alone for a few years and diverted their focus to their respective careers.

“But that allowed us to get a little space from it, and low and behold, the showbiz gods looked and smiled down on us and brought Bill to our doorstep,” Sudeikis said.

"Bill" is Bill Lawrence, the experienced television writer, producer and creative force behind award-winning shows such as Scrubs, Cougar Town and Spin City. Lawrence entered the frame in 2017 when he and Sudeikis played pickup basketball a couple of nights a week and one night, the idea of Ted Lasso came up. After a few more chats, he read the script and the concept and was immediately interested.

“I wanted to work with Jason Sudeikis, he just cracks me up. I thought he was awesome on SNL, whenever he shows up in a movie, I’m immediately into it and he seems like that dude you want to hang with,” Lawrence said. “I’d also seen those sketches, the promotional videos for the Premier League back when he did them and I thought they were so funny, and he said, 'What if we made that character three-dimensional and really rounded him out?' Ted Lasso can still be goofy and funny, but we could also have our version.”

And this was critical for Sudeikis. In the commercials, Lasso’s unawareness is funny and often endearing, but for a show, there had be more to him for the audience to not just laugh, but also root for him.

“I think Scrubs is a fantastic show. You can put the 10 best episodes of it up against any show,” Sudeikis said. “Bill writes male characters and relationships so beautifully, his use of music and dealing with heavy duty issues of life and death. And now, two years later, here we are talking about it. It’s actually really gonna happen and I can’t kind of believe it.”

Not only is the show happening (it premieres this Friday), but it also succeeds in its mission. Ted Lasso is warm, it’s funny and–like the main character–it has heart. Unlike the commercials, where Ted’s biggest trait is his buffoonery, the show celebrates his relentless thirst for hope. He is a man with passion, dignity and someone you for whom you cheer. Lasso is the eternal optimist, whose naivety is both a strength and a weakness, and just like J.D from Scrubs, Lasso is vulnerable (in the show, he actually leaves the U.S. to escape from a troubled marriage) and aches for comfort. That’s what he offers his new team in return–an arrogant, underachieving Premier League side controlled by a scorned owner. It’s not Tottenham this time around, but the fictional AFC Richmond.

Lawrence sees Lasso as the perfect example of the inspiring teacher. A sports version of Robin Williams's John Keating from Dead Poets Society, where his personality is a weapon against cynical reporters and resentful fans who naturally express their disgust at the thought of an American with no knowledge of the game taking over their beloved club.

“We all grew up with a favorite teacher or a favorite coach. They put us on a path. These people never force you into doing anything. It’s just good folks,” Lawrence said. “Me and Jason overlap cause we also like doing shows with heart and because it’s such a dumpster-fire time in the world, Jason really wanted to do a show that was hopeful and optimistic, and most sports movies have that. That’s what's at their core. It’s the underdog. We were trying to capture that optimism and hopefulness that comes with those iconic figures from your life, whether it’s a coach, a teacher or a parent.”

If there's a coach in the real Premier League that emits optimism and hopefulness, it's Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, and Sudeikis admits that Lasso's character in the show is partly inspired by him.

“Man. When I heard about him taking his squad to go do karaoke, I was like, ‘hellooooo, story idea…’” said Sudeikis, who also admires Pep Guardiola. “I really love those coaches. I really like the way they handle themselves as leaders of an organization. They are guys who I would follow into a fist fight.”

Sudeikis loves the game but fully admits he still needs to do more before calling himself a hardcore, scholarly fan.

"I love the sport. My joke has been that I have a deep appreciation for it but a shallow understanding. But that’s why I keep company with Brendan and Joe, who know their stuff,” Sudeikis said. “But it’s still all new to me. Every time I go to see a match, I buy a kit for me at the gift shop and a kit for my little boy. I’m ready to be a fair-weather fan for whoever needs it [laughs]. I know people hate for me that, but that’s the truth.”

The showrunners put together a cast with colorful characters who add depth to the multiple plots. There’s the tough-as-nails veteran midfielder Roy Kent (surely inspired by Roy Keane and played by Brett Goldstein), the narcissistic Man City loanee Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), the charismatic duo of Dani Rojas (Mexican star played by Cristo Fernandez) and Nigerian forward Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh). Nick Mohammed (who can be seen in Sky TV/Peacock’s Intelligence) also shines as the quiet kitman. It’s also refreshing to hear NBC’s Arlo White serving as the show’s commentator throughout AFC Richmond’s season.

But if there’s someone aside from Sudeikis's Lasso who steals the show, it’s Keeley Jones, the confident and no-nonsense TV celebrity/model/PR guru played by Juno Temple. She was the only actor who didn’t audition, as Sudeikis, who knew her work, wanted her in the show from the get-go.

“I met Juno with Olivia when they were on Vinyl (Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese’s 2016 HBO show), so I’ve done karaoke with her. I’ve been in a room with her. I knew her,” Sudeikis said. “She’s so fun and dynamic and just pro-female. She’s just a kick-ass that lives with an excitement that’s fun to be around, and that’s a little bit of what the character had.”

In the end, Ted Lasso is exactly what an audience needs right now. It’s a story that makes you laugh and reminds you to smile at adversity. It’s a lesson that’s less about football management and more about unity, and the script works because it takes a hold of our differences and embraces them as one. And it echoes Lasso’s favorite Walt Whitman quote, “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Lasso is heroic, not because he commands respect but because he earns it. He is kind, because he doesn’t know any other way. But like us, he is also vulnerable, and that’s why we can relate to his journey.

“He’s more white rabbit than white knight, but he’s actually becoming the change he wants to see in the world, without any agenda,” Sudeikis said. “And these days, that’s unusual, both in real life and on television.”

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blschaos3000-blog · 4 years ago

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Its 6:26 pm warm/muggy/writing

Welcome to 8 Questions with……

I met our next guest,Allyn Morrison,about six weeks ago when I asked her if she would like to do a interview with me. She very graciously said “I would like that” and of course I sent her my questions. Now normally I have a 21 day turnaround period so I can these interviews coming but as we were entering May,I just lost track of what I was doing,meaning I was (and am) struggling to keep writing. May is not a fun month for me. So I reached out to Allyn to see about her interview and she wrote back saying how sorry she was,she wrote her mother had a dance with something I know all too well. I admit,reading Allyn’s response choked me up,imagine having to tell a stranger whom you just barely met that you are facing a potential life altering event. I know sometimes that “fearless” is a somewhat overused word but it Allyn,whether traveling to Belize to help children learn,deciding not to play it safe career wise and chase her dreams or even writing films reviews like the cheetah and I do (trust me,you need DO need to be brave to do that),I don’t think there is a mountain that Allyn wouldn’t be afraid to climb. After seeing this,how can you not like this hard working actress whose love of family is so strong,am I right? While this pandemic has stopped everything in its tracks,it hasn’t stopped us from introducing some amazing artists like Allyn who just want to create and entertain us. I really hope you enjoy getting to know a all around outstanding actress (and an amazing daughter) Allyn Morrison as she answers her 8 Questions……

Please introduce yourself and tell us what your current project is at the moment.

Hi there! My name is Allyn Morrison, and I am an actress based out of the Dallas- Fort worth area of Texas. I’m not working on a specific project right now what with Covid-19 happening, so I’m doing lots of research and getting ready for the future!

How are you coping with the Covid-19 pandemic? What are you doing to stay sane?

Quarantine has definitely been hard. I live by myself, so I’ve had to get creative in order to stay cheerful. I’ve been going on walks everyday, and the fresh air and sunshine definitely help keep me sane. I’m keeping in touch with my family and friends and zooming with people pretty frequently. I’ve also made myself a to-do list, and that has given me some structure.

What was growing up in your house like? What was your favorite vacation as a child?

I’m originally from Arizona, land of the heat, and that was an experience let me tell you. I’m the youngest of three kids and was actually pretty shy as a child. When I discovered theater during junior high, I felt really alive for the first time. My family has been really blessed in that we’ve been able to travel quite a bit. I hate having to pick a favorite trip, but if I had to choose I’d say it had to be the trip to Scotland and England my family went on when I was around 10. My family’s Scottish, so we wanted to go see where our ancestors were from haha. Scotland is absolutely beautiful, and England has so much history. I’d go back again in a heart beat if I could.

What led you to become an actress? What steps did you take in realizing your goals?

Like I said earlier, I was very shy growing up as a kid. However, I distinctly remember watching movies at a very young age and thinking, “I could do that. I could get up in front of a camera and say lines.” Ironic, I know. I was cast in my first musical in seventh grade (I was Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man Jr.), and my parents were actually pretty concerned. They told me, “You know you have to get up in front of people and sing right? On a stage?” And I said, “Yeah I know.” They told me later that when they came to opening night they were both dumbfounded while watching me perform. “What happened to our Allyn?” They had absolutely no idea haha. I continued doing theater throughout junior high and high school and wanted to pursue it in college, but my parents and I realized that I wouldn’t make much money pursuing acting. So I decided to become a teacher instead. However, as soon as I started tutoring during college I realizing that a) I didn’t like tutoring and b) I wasn’t very good at it. Go figure. And I realized that I really loved acting. I graduated from college with an English degree and took a year off to do a leadership/discipleship program before I started working as an extra part time for two years. I’ve been pursuing acting full time now for a year and a half.

Walk us through your first audition…..how did you handle that entire experience and what did you learn from it?

My first real audition for a speaking part went really well (or at least I thought it did). I made the people in the room laugh, and one casting director gave me a redirect. Now looking back, I realize that I made a few mistakes. First of all, I shook everyone’s hand both before and after my audition! I didn’t know that you’re not supposed to do that. Oops. Also, I wrote down on a form that I wasn’t very available during the shoot dates. I now realize that that was incredibly stupid. No one wants to hire someone who isn’t available! Needless to say, I didn’t get the part.

How do you approach the roles you play? Do you do anything special or different before you hit the set?

Each role is different. In college I took classes that centered on the Stanislavski method, which includes sense memory and dealing with the given circumstances of a role. That basically means that I try to take experiences from my past and incorporate those experiences into my current role. I won’t have experience to draw from for every role (example: I’ve never murdered anybody), so I have to envision how and why my character is the way she is.

Recently you have started to move behind the camera, what led you to do this? Would you like to get into directing someday?

I actually started working as a production assistant so that I just could be on set. During my first year of pursuing acting full time I also did a program called Friends in Film. This program gives you the tools to get on set as a crew member and then work your way up into the niche that you ultimately want to get to. Learning how a crew works and how everyone’s job works together has given me a fuller understanding of what a set looks like. It’s not just about actors and people behind the camera. We each have a part to play (no pun intended), whether we’re crew or cast, and together we make something much bigger than ourselves. Plus working in production is a wonderful networking opportunity. I get to tell people that I am an actor, and hopefully they’ll remember me for future jobs. I’ve already gotten a few jobs from working as a PA! I used to want to be a director but I’ve since learned that I don’t have those particular skill sets. Big picture thinking isn’t my strong suit. However, I think I could be a pretty decent producer. Detail work and spreadsheets are my jam.

What is the acting community like in Ft. Worth? How do you learn about upcoming films being shot around you?

The acting community in Fort Worth is definitely small, but we are a very tight knit community. I attend class at a wonderful actor’s studio every week (shout out to Fort Worth Actor’s Studio!), and classes are led by working actors. Our community is very supportive, which is amazing and invaluable as we try to make it in this business. I have an agent in Dallas who submits me to projects in and around Texas, but I do a lot of research on my own. I participate in a lot of acting Facebook groups, and I keep up with new projects that way. If there’s a project that I definitely want to be considered for, I let my agent know.

Who has given you the best advice/encouragement and what did they share with you?

My acting teacher Nathan has told me and everyone in our class multiple times that the right project will come along. If I didn’t book after a particular audition, that means it wasn’t the right project. In an industry where there can be a lot of downtime between projects, it’s encouraging to be reminded that the right projects are out there; they’re just not here yet.

What three roles do you enjoy playing the most and what three roles challenge you the most?

I enjoy any type of role that makes people laugh. Whether that means being the side character whose sole purpose is comic relief or having a larger part, comedic parts are my favorite. I’ve been told that I’m particularly good at portraying people in high authority, such as a lawyer, cop, or doctor. I’m a very laid back person, so portraying someone who is more authoritative and bossy can be a bit of a challenge, but it’s a good one for sure!

What do you like to do in between projects?

I love to read. Like, I LOVE to read books. I’ve been keeping book lists since high school, so I’m definitely a nerd. Historical fiction is my favorite genre, but I try to throw in Christian theology, nonfiction, and acting books. I also love to watch movies. Every week I try to watch at least one movie that I haven’t seen and write a review on it. They can be award winning movies, cult classics, or popular films I haven’t seen yet. I call it #movieresearchnight and you can find my reviews on Instagram!

How important is it to promote yourself as an artist and how do you promote yourself?

As an actor, you are self-employed. The only way that you can grow any business is by promoting it. And when you’re an actor, you are your own business, so self promotion is extremely important. For me that includes being active on my acting social media pages, networking with other actors and casting directors, and working as a production assistant.

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch your latest film but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide, what are we doing?

If we’re in Fort Worth, we’re going to Heim BBQ and Melt Ice Cream for some quality Texas food, next on a tour of Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, and then an exploration of the Stockyards. If you’re lucky, I’ll take you to my favorite spot: the local library! Just kidding. Kind of.

I like to like Allyn for taking the time to chat with us in what was a stressful time. Right before I posted this,her mother got a happy ending and thank heaven for that. I hope you enjoyed meeting Allyn and thank you for supporting her interview.

Like everyone,Allyn has various social media outlets so you can follow her next steps in her career.

You can follow Allyn on her InstaGram page You can what Allyn’s next project will be on her IMDb page. You can also visit Allyn’s personal website here.

If you are new to the blog and the “8 Questions with” interview series,you can catch up by clicking here and read over 100 interviews with folks from all over the world.

8 Questions with……….actress Allyn Morrison Its 6:26 pm warm/muggy/writing Welcome to 8 Questions with...... I met our next guest,Allyn Morrison,about six weeks ago when I asked her if she would like to do a interview with me.

#8 Questions With #acting #actor&039;s life #Allyn Morrison #auditioning #books #comedy #education #Ft Worth Texas #interview #Producer #reading #self-promotion

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uniquepuppytrash · 5 years ago

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MOST POPULAR FASHION BRAND - VERSACE

Gianni Versace S.r.l. (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒanni verˈsaːtʃe]), usually referred to simply as Versace, is an Italian luxury fashion company and trade name founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The main collection of the brand is Versace, which produces upmarket Italian-made ready-to-wear and leather accessories.

In the fashion world, Gianni Versace is credited with being the first to blend fashion and Rock & Roll, influencing pop culture with a force never seen before. Having been a costume designer for many years, Versace dressed top celebrity artists for stage, including Tina Turner, Elton John, and Madonna.

The merging of fashion and music cultures quickly translated into the now common practice of seating celebrities in the front row of fashion shows, giving credibility to the fashion labels in the minds of consumers. Becoming a celebrity himself through this practice, Gianni Versace went on to dress some of the world’s most distinguished people of his time, including Princess Diana of Wales.

Versace’s celebrity also helped to establish the celebrity of others, launching the careers of “supermodels” like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington. Actress Elizabeth Hurley was virtually unknown before wearing the now famous “Safety Pin Dress” when she accompanied Hugh Grant at the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994.

Gianni Versace was a highly decorated designer, with truly award-winning style. He received an American Fashion Oscar in 1993, as well as theater’s Maschera D’Argento prize for his achievements in theatrical costume design. Versace’s designs have also been featured around the world in prestigious museums, such as Chicago’s National Field Museum, London’s Royal College of Art, Japan’s Kobe City Museum and Germany’s Kunstgewerbem

After having influenced the world through fashion culture, the House of Versace experienced a nearly fatal blow when founder and visionary, Gianni Versace, was murdered in front of his Miami home in 1997 by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. Versace’s killer would later commit suicide with the same gun, leaving officials and the family no answers concerning the reason why Versace was targeted and killed. Cunanan senselessly murdered at least five people including Versace on a killing spree that lasted three months.

Donatella Versace – A New Vision

Credited by her late brother, Gianni Versace, as his muse, Donatella Versace has risen to power in the fashion world by revitalizing and redefining Versace style for modern times. Having worked as a stylist for her brother Gianni and being a designer in her own right, Donatella was the clear choice to continue the line. Through hard work and innovation, Donatella Versace has become notorious for rebellious but elegant sensuality in her designs, and her connection to some of today’s most bold and outrageous music artists, including Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj.

Although the death of Gianni Versace rocked both the fashion world and the House of Versace with an impact that would be felt for years to come, Donatella Versace successfully rose from the ashes. She continued to influence popular culture through music with the donning of Jennifer Lopez in the now famous “Green Versace Dress” she wore when she accompanied Sean ��P Diddy” Combs to the Grammy Awards in 2000. Versace would officially enter the 21st Century with a fresh interpretation of celebrity style, and go on to become an illustrious symbol of American affluence and influence.

Today, Versace is a household name. The star power of both Gianni and Donatella Versace has translated into infusion of the Versace brand and style into music and entertainment media, appealing especially to young and urban audiences.

Lady Gaga, an admitted muse of Donatella Versace, modeled for the brand in spring of 2014, and released an upbeat song called, “Donatella”, homage to the fashion icon and style mentor.

The rap group Migos expresses the urban connection to the brand in a song called, “Versace”, in which the remix by Canadian rap star Drake instantly went viral.

The fame of the House of Versace has even been expressed on screen, in the made-for-TV movie, The House of Versace, by the Lifetime network. Supposing to be a biographical account of the events surrounding the untimely death of Gianni Versace and Donatella’s rise to power, Donatella Versace calls the film “a work of fiction” and refuses to endorse it.

Now recognized worldwide, Versace is best known for the Medusa head, Greek key, and gold chain design elements. These quintessential features were made popular by the brand and have been essential to the Versace fashion line since its inception. Of the Medusa head logo, Donatella Versace says, “In mythology, the Medusa can petrify people with a look — which is a good thing, I think. But the Medusa is a unique symbol — something strong. It’s about going all the way.” Connecting their Italian roots to the strength of Medusa, the House of Versace seeks to make women and men feel bold, strong, and empowered through beauty and expressive personal style.

The Versace ready-to-wear brand aesthetic is an evolution of edgy, modern chic, meant for men and women who use their look to turn heads and express power. Versace haute couture embodies sensual elegance, yet uses strong lines and colors to contrast hard and soft in a way that causes classical glamour to evolve into a new look that is modern and relevant. The Versace brand is iconic for intense, sleek, fashion forward style.

The name Versace now covers a wide range of fashion offerings, from haute couture to retail fashion, making the luxury of Versace available to everyone. The Atelier Versace line is a custom, handmade, one-of-a-kind haute couture line that is responsible for dressing international celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Claudia Schiffer, and Angelina Jolie.

Versace Shoes

Versace is also known for their super sexy shoes, handbags, and sunglasses. Inspired by classic Greek footwear and designed with a modern twist, Versace shoes are always an indication of where fashion is headed. Made with the richest materials, Versace shoes are indulgent and bold, with a style signature that is highly recognizable by the fashion elite.

Perfectly complementing the shoes are Versace handbags, which often feature oversized classic Versace design elements, like the Medusa head, Greek key, or gold studs and safety pins. A favorite of celebrities, Versace eyewear is glamorous and ostentatious, yet sleek in execution. The often oversized sunglasses demand attention, and have become an important fashion accessory.

In addition to clothing and accessories, Versace produces many fragrances for men and women. Versace also offers luxury home furnishings, including furniture and tableware. The brand will no doubt continue to grow under the design leadership of Donatella Versace, introducing new products and lines as the demand for Versace style in every area of life continues to grow.

Today, Versace is currently valued at $5.8 billion. The success of the brand over the past three decades has caused the net worth of the company to continue to rise, despite the brief period of decline after Gianni Versace’s untimely death.

Gianni and Donatella Versace With Elton John

Versace Home Collection

Versace Perfumes

Versus Versace

Lady Gaga For Versace

Jennifer Lopez In Versace Grammy’s Dress

Versace Heels

Versace Women’s Accessories

Versace Palazzo Bag

Versace Greek Key Medusa Logo

Versace Sunglasses Collection

Gianni Versace Fashion Show

Princess Diana and Elton John By Gianni’s Funeral

Donatella With Nicki Minaj in Versace For H&M

Angelina Jolie In

Versace Wedding Dress

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biofunmy · 5 years ago

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Diahann Carroll, Actress Who Broke Barriers With ‘Julia,’ Dies at 84

Diahann Carroll, who more than half a century ago transcended racial barriers as the star of “Julia,” the first American television series to chronicle the life of a black professional woman, died on Friday at her home in West Hollywood, Calif. She was 84.

Her publicist, Jeffrey Lane, said the cause was complications of breast cancer. Ms. Carroll had survived the cancer in the 1990s and become a public advocate for screening and treatment.

A situation comedy broadcast on NBC from 1968 to 1971, “Julia” starred Ms. Carroll as Julia Baker, a widowed nurse with a young son. The show featured Marc Copage as Julia’s son, and Lloyd Nolan as the curmudgeonly but broad-minded doctor for whom she worked. (“Have you always been a Negro or are you just trying to be fashionable?” he asks Julia in an audacious, widely quoted line from the first episode.)

Popular with both black and white viewers, “Julia” in its first season reached No. 7 in the Nielsen ratings, the highest position it attained in its three seasons on the air.

Reviewing the show in The New York Times, Jack Gould noted its penchant — then par for Hollywood’s course — for “tiptoeing around anything too controversial.”

However, he added: “At all events the breaking of the color line in TV stardom on a regular weekly basis should be salutary.”

Widely known for her elegant beauty and sartorial glamour, Ms. Carroll began her professional life as a singer and continued to ply that art. She sang on television, in nightclubs, on recordings and on Broadway, where she won a Tony Award.

In films, she starred opposite the likes of Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, James Earl Jones and Michael Caine. On television, she played the scheming, moneyed Dominique Deveraux on ABC’s prime-time soap opera “Dynasty” in the 1980s.

But it was for “Julia” that she remained most enduringly known. Created by the writer, director and producer Hal Kanter, the show was a novelty for its day: Black women, when they were seen at all in series television, had long been relegated to marginal roles. The few larger parts that came their way were invariably those of domestics.

“Julia” divided critical consensus. It was praised in some quarters as groundbreaking and criticized in others as reductive, Pollyannaish and accommodationist — condemned, in short, for glossing over the stark realities of life that black Americans faced daily.

Though Ms. Carroll publicly defended “Julia,” she acknowledged that in portraying the black experience it made many concessions to the middle-class white viewers it hoped to attract. She also said afterward that her experience playing the character had been both a professional boon and a professional hindrance.

The series made her one of the most visible performers of her day, booked regularly on TV talk and variety show. But in addition, it entailed her becoming a de facto spokeswoman not only for “Julia” but also seemingly for her race, an onus for which she had never bargained.

Child of Harlem

Carol Diann Johnson was born in the Bronx on July 17, 1935, to John and Mabel (Faulk) Johnson and grew up in Harlem. Her mother was a nurse, her father a New York City subway conductor.

(Though Ms. Carroll sometimes stated publicly that her middle name was originally spelled “Diahann,” she confirmed through her publicist in 2017 that she had adopted that spelling as a teenager, when she began entering TV talent competitions.)

A gifted singer as a child, she was performing with the children’s choir of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem by the time she was 6. She was soon taking lessons in voice and piano, though she objected that they took precious time from roller skating.

As a student at the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, she began modeling for Ebony magazine. She also began entering television contests, including “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,” under the name Diahann Carroll.

In the early 1950s, while still in her teens, she won “Chance of a Lifetime,” a television talent competition, three weeks running. Her prize was a thousand dollars a week, plus an engagement at the Latin Quarter, the Manhattan nightclub.

Because her parents insisted on a college education, she enrolled in New York University. But she left before graduating to pursue a show-business career, promising her family that if the career did not materialize after two years, she would return to college. She never did.

In 1954, at 19, Ms. Carroll was cast in a small part in “Carmen Jones,” Otto Preminger’s all-black screen adaptation of Bizet’s opera “Carmen.” The film starred Harry Belafonte and, in the title role, Dorothy Dandridge.

That year she also made her Broadway debut, in the role of Ottilie, alias Violet, in “House of Flowers,” the Truman Capote-Harold Arlen musical set in a West Indies bordello. Captivated by her performance, the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers was determined to use Ms. Carroll in one of his own shows.

He tried to cast her in “Flower Drum Song,” his 1958 musical with Oscar Hammerstein II. But whatever makeup she was put into, she could not be got to look like any of the Chinese-Americans on whom the show centered, and it opened without her.

Ms. Carroll played Clara, the fisherman’s wife, in Preminger’s 1959 screen adaptation of “Porgy and Bess,” the opera by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. But because the film’s music supervisor, André Previn, deemed her voice too low, her singing — including the emblematic number “Summertime” — was dubbed by the soprano Loulie Jean Norman.

She met with particular acclaim in early 1962, when she at last starred in a musical by Rodgers, “No Strings,” written expressly for her. He composed both music and lyrics: It was his first show after the death in 1960 of Hammerstein.

In it, Ms. Carroll portrayed an American fashion model living in Paris who embarks on a romance with an American novelist, played by Richard Kiley. That the romance was interracial was largely incidental to the plot.

The performance won her the Tony Award for best actress in a musical.

The next few years brought a few guest roles on television shows. But jobs remained far between.

“I’m living proof of the horror of discrimination,” Ms. Carroll said in late 1962, testifying at a congressional hearing on racial bias in the entertainment industry. “In eight years I’ve had just two Broadway plays and two dramatic television shows.”

She added: “I’ve asked repeatedly why. Surely I’m not so difficult to include.”

Then along came “Julia.”

Rosy Picture of Black Life

Ms. Carroll’s portrayal of Julia Baker was generally praised for its poise and warmth. For the role, she received an Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe Award.

But the show as a whole was criticized on several fronts. One was the fact that Julia’s elegant apartment, magnificent wardrobe and saintly, unruffled temperament were surely unrepresentative of the life of any single working mother of a young child.

More serious charges concerned issues of race. Though the show’s scripts dealt with various slights of racism — or “discrimination,” as it was called then — in a gentle, homiletic manner, many critics felt that “Julia” painted a far rosier picture of American racial amity than actually existed in 1968.

In an interview with TV Guide that December in which she addressed the portrayal of black characters on television, Ms. Carroll acknowledged: “At the moment, we’re presenting the white Negro. And he has very little Negro-ness.”

In a first-person article in Ladies’ Home Journal in 1970, Myrlie Evers, the widow of the slain civil-rights leader Medgar Evers, summed up the contradictions inherent in “Julia.”

“Of course, Julia bears little resemblance to me or any other flesh-and-blood woman,” Ms. Evers wrote. “She is a television fantasy like so many others. The significant difference is that Julia Baker is black.”

She continued: “Perhaps the most significant thing about ‘Julia’ is that it is carried by many stations in the South. My relatives in Vicksburg, Miss., watch it every week. Not so long ago, as I can testify, the appearance of a black face on a network program was a signal in Mississippi for the set to go dark. Then a sign would appear: ‘Circumstances beyond our control. …’”

Ms. Carroll went on to play a woman very different from Julia in the 1974 film “Claudine,” a drama also starring Mr. Jones. For her portrayal of the title character, a single mother of six in Harlem, she received an Academy Award nomination.

Among her other films are “Paris Blues” (1961); Mr. Preminger’s “Hurry Sundown” (1967); and “The Split” (1968), based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake.

Her television credits include the mini-series “Roots: The Next Generations” (1979) and the TV movies “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (1979), an adaptation of Maya Angelou’s memoir in which she portrayed Ms. Angelou’s mother, and “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years” (1999), in which she played the indomitable Harlem centenarian Sadie Delany opposite Ruby Dee.

Ms. Carroll had recurring roles on several television series, including “A Different World,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “White Collar.”

Onstage in the 1990s, she was Norma Desmond in the Canadian company of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Sunset Boulevard,” the first African-American to play the role.

Ms. Carroll’s first marriage, to Monte Kay, a casting director and music impresario, ended in divorce, as did her second, to Fred Glusman, a Las Vegas boutique owner. Her third husband, Robert DeLeon, the managing editor of Jet magazine, died in a car crash in 1977, two years after they were wed. Her fourth marriage, to the singer Vic Damone, ended in divorce. (Mr. Damone died last year.) She also had highly public engagements to Mr. Poitier and the English television journalist David Frost.

She is survived by a daughter from her first marriage, Suzanne Kay; a sister, Lydia; and two grandchildren.

She was the author of two memoirs, “Diahann” (1986), with Ross Firestone, and “The Legs Are the Last to Go” (2008), with Bob Morris.

In one respect, Ms. Carroll said, she was a victim of her best-known show’s success: After she became widely associated with the motherly Julia Baker, her nightclub bookings as a glamorous chanteuse in slit-up-to-there evening gowns dried up for some years.

In mirror image, Ms. Carroll’s glamour had nearly cost her the role of Julia in the first place. Keenly aware of her glimmering image, Mr. Kanter, the show’s creator, was reluctant to consider her for the demure Julia Baker.

Knowing of his reservations, Ms. Carroll arrived for their first meeting, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, wearing a very plain dress. Granted, it was a Givenchy, but it had simple, modest lines.

When she entered the hotel, Mr. Kanter did not recognize her. But he pointed to her anyway.

“That’s the look I want for this character,” she later learned he had said to a colleague. “A well-dressed housewife just like that woman.”

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

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immykidsmanager-blog · 6 years ago

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Acting in Trump’s Gilead (An Actors Blog)

Advertisers and marketing professionals spend their days (and probably a lot of sleepless nights) wondering about and/creating buzz around the next big thing… but being able to identify a trend is not just their job, it’s also the job of the actor. Knowing that wider ties, and longer hems, often coincide with automakers manufacturing cars in shades of pink and turquoise is an example of identifying a trend. How do I know that? When you live long enough you start to see everything come back around. Now, to me a trend - is different than a fad. A trend will stick around for a while and then reappear in an updated form at least every twenty years or so. But a fad is something that is with us for a year or six months and then disappears just as quickly as it came - probably never to be heard from again. For example, it’s been a while since my kids mentioned Fidget Spinners. I’m sure those useless pieces of Chinese rubberized plastic will sit idle at the bottom of my kids desk drawer until i secretly toss them out. That obsession has given way to their current addiction; slime. I’m hoping slime is just a fad too - or a phase they grow out of at least, kind of like my mom’s approach to me being in to dudes. Sorry Mom, guess that was more of a trend that was here to stay.

As an actor what do you do when you’re not part of a trend? By that, I mean your “type”…your race, your age, your sexual orientation, even your religion. It might sound callous to break us all down into categories, but that’s what our brains do every single day as we file away and classify every new piece of information we encounter.

It’s no surprise that 2018 was definitely the year of the Asian actor, and it’s about time. An Asian actor hasn’t gotten an Oscar since Haing S. Ngor won in 1984 for “The Killing Fields.” You might say this all started with the popularity of Crazy Rich Asians and I would agree, but what led to that? With my 20/20 hindsight I would say that George Takei and his autobiographical play about his childhood experience being held in a post World War II Japanese internment camp shined a light on the Asian immigrant experience. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a hugely popular #Twitter feed dominated by daily anti-Trump tweets.

Another 70-ish celebrity with daily anti-Trump tweets is Cher who happens to be having the best year ever. She’s doing movies again, has an amazing new album of ABBA covers, a broadway show about her life, and is about to embark on a huge European tour. Is Trump the recipe to new found relevance - or is ageism finally dead in Hollywood?

On Sunday I kept seeing Carol Burnett in my news feed. She was definitely trending. I thought OMG did she die or something?! I was Immediately relieved to figure out that she was just being honored at The Golden Globes and not actually dead. So if Carol Burnett is in the news again what does this mean? If I were her manager what would be my game plan?? …what’s next? Maybe nothing. She’s got like a gazillion Emmys - she doesn’t have to do a single thing, but that’s not usually how successful people think. What this tells me is that there’s about to be a lot more roles for older actresses in #Hollywood. Perhaps at first for the A-listers but hopefully that trend can trickle down to the commoners like us too.

A few years ago my kids went in for a sitcom pilot audition that was starring Ms. Burnett playing a famous retired actress who was renting out part of her home to make some extra income. Then they went in for another one with a similar premise with a cast lead by Candice Bergen. Not sure if either pilot was ever made… but then the reboot of Murphy Brown happened and I assume the Bergen pilot died a quick death in the script pile at ABC Television Network. Anyway these projects are out there, which is a good sign that ageism is a dying fad. How ironic is it too that Jessica Lange has had a career resurgence doing campy horror just like her character in "Feud" (Joan Crawford) had in real life.

I asked my kids’ agent why my son always got more auditions and more bookings than my daughter. She said writers just don’t write for little girls the way they write for little boys. This is the same argument that’s been made at the very top of the food chain by Oscar winners like Jennifer Lawrence. Often we roll our eyes when someone as successful as she makes this claim but the amount of opportunities for women is just not the same as for men - and it has been even worse if you’re past a certain age.

So for the non-famous, for the everyday working actor, what can we do when a trend is not working in our favor? Make lemonade? No - Make Movies! My friend, Sarah Megan Thomas, has done just that. Instead of complaining that only 32% of all speaking roles in films belong to female characters, she wrote, produced, and acted in three of her own female driven films; "Backwards," “Equity,” and her third film “Liberté”. In each project she has immersed herself into three very different worlds focusing on the roles women play in: Sports, on Wall Street, and in WWII. Not really since “A League of Their Own” have we seen a film explore the feminine experience during war. This subject is very close to my heart since both my grandmothers worked for the war effort - one making bullets and shells in a gunpowder factory, and the other on an air force base. Both my kids had roles in her film Equity, so we saw firsthand that not only is she creating jobs for actresses but her crews are also heavily comprised of women, with all three films having female directors.

As Heidi Klum says “You’re either in or you’re out,” and as the former titans of film and TV are being dethroned by sex scandals, women are rising up to take their rightful place. We saw the peak of the #MeToomovement at last years Golden Globes. This year we saw The Hollywood Foreign Press reaffirm the strength of journalists, and vow to not let governments make them the enemy of the people. We also saw an Asian actress not only host the show, but win the award for best dramatic TV actress. So… is an awards show the barometer for what’s trending - or just the moment when enough people come together on a network TV platform to oppose Trump’s Republic of Gilead?

Speaking of critically acclaimed television series, sometimes I have a hard time telling the difference between a plot point from “The Handmaid’s Tale” and an actual Tweeted proclamation from the baby king himself. Here’s a list. Can you tell the difference?

Women should be punished for abortion. Total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States Transgender people banned from military service The Press is declared “The true enemy of the people” Separating immigrant children from their parents at the border Calling for the firing of NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem

Sounds like we’re all gonna be hanging on that wall of his!

Like it or not, Trump is an equal opportunity offender and every group that he attempts to marginalize seems to rise up and have their place in the sun. He discriminates… then whoever the oppressed group is…African Americans, Muslims, Women, Gays, Native Americans…that group is suddenly trending. We are lucky enough to live in a time when we are celebrated for our differences and the entertainment industry is finally responding. As soon as Trump offends, then I start to notice that minority group in more roles in commercials, TV, and film. Writers are now creating more diversity in their characters and in the stories they tell. So if you are an actor in one of these minority groups - you’re probably trending. This trickles all the way down to child actors too. Now I notice a lot more diversity in the acting pool at castings than I did 5 years ago when we had a president that rarely used Twitter - and if he did it was never used to offend anyone.

So now what? You’re part of a growing trend. How do you take advantage of a trend in your type? Well, first leaving your apartment is a good step. In the brief window where #GayDads were everywhere we did just that. It was about 2011 and the fight for marriage equality was in the news every day. As courts ruled and legislative branches voted in our favor state by state and eventually sea to shining sea, we made it our mission to attend every equality march, rally, and #Pride Parade in NYC and DC. We wrote letters to state senators, appeared on the local news and in the “failing” New York Times! We did print campaigns for Marriott and MetLife. Marriott even gave us our own float in the New York City Heritage of Pride Parade! I can’t begin to count the number of reality shows we were interviewed for. We actually filmed segments on two shows, one for Oprah and another for a Jerry Seinfeld comedy show on marriage, neither of which actually aired, but the point is we got “out” there (pun intended) and milked that trend for all it was worth. All you can do is create opportunities for yourself when you’re lucky enough to be part of the zeitgeist. Now if you’re gay and married, the only way to get exposure on social media is to take your shirt off and take a #BedSelfie with your husband. Aside from the occasional GymSelfie for my own motivational purposes - that is really not us, so hopefully sexy couple pics will die out soon. I can’t compete!

So if you’re not part of the “in” crowd my biggest piece of advice is to not start taking naked selfies with Ricky Martin’s baby, just BE YOURSELF!!! In college I spent a lot of time playing roles that I would never play in the real world, and I would compete with actors for those roles that I would never be sitting across from in a real casting office waiting room. When I first moved to New York, I wasted so much energy trying to be something I wasn’t. I look back at my old black and white headshots and I remember the photographer trying to make me pose like a soap opera hunk - which I wasn’t. Soaps and teen dramas were big business then. I was young but my hair was thinning, so I couldn’t be the hot teen and I was still too young to play the dad. I definitely wasn’t trending! I should’ve just shaved my head already and embraced roles like the comic book villain born out of a botched laboratory experiment. That would have been so much more fun! So as they taught us at @University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music - CCM… get out of your head and just beeeeeeeeeee……..(deep breath)

Sooner or later everything comes back around…. even you.

I’m My Kids Manager

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