Speak Up Saturday

[feurioo]

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Comments

[shadowkat]

When I listened to the back stage story of Moonlighting on Audible - I thought, okay, I get why this series was cancelled, and why Cybil Shepard wanted out. (I felt sorry for Cybil Shepard, which was most likely the opposite of what the writer/narrator of the audible book intended). Willis also wanted out. Basically they had a show that by the second season? Both lead actors wanted out of their contracts, despised each other to the point that by the third they could barely stand to be in the same room together, and the show-runner wouldn't let them out of their contracts for obvious reasons. But the show-runner was charmed by Willis - Willis was basically playing a character that the show-runner based loosely on himself, and the showrunner had a unrequited crush on Shepard. Willis got time off to do a movie. Cybil didn't. Willis got time off for a broken leg. Cybil was harassed for asking for time off for maternity leave.

They had to keep shooting around the leads, and coming up with creative ways to keep them apart, since they couldn't stand each other.

Actually Remington Steele ran into similar problems. Bronsan wanted to do Bond, Zimbalist a producer of the show, wouldn't let him out of the contract. He had to pass initially - that's why we got, I think, Timothy Dalton? Finally he got out, and we ended up with someone else in the show for a bit, then he came back. But they disliked each other too - he was liberal, she was conservative, and they had very different perspectives and clashed. Great on-screen chemistry though.

Castle had the same problems. Those two leads hated each other as well, so much so, that the female lead left the show - I think they fired her? It was a toxic set.

Bones? Was among the few that didn't have that problem. Say what you will about David Boreanze, his female co-leads/romantic interest, loved him. Charisma did, Gellar did, and so did Deschanel.

[tinny]

Ooh those are all interesting insights! I knew about Moonlighting, and suspected about Castle. But Remington Steele I didn't know (apart from the Bond contract thing), but it makes sense in hindsight.

And it does make me wonder about how charming Boreanaz must be irl for them all to love him despite it all.

[olivermoss]

That's interesting. I remember Moonlighting being huge, and also viscerally hating it. It if got delays, I can see that making the fans even more hungry. Delays were rare back then. I kinda want to see a few episodes at some point to see why I hated it so much, but also being a romance from that era.... it's not surprising.

[shadowkat]

It does not hold up well. I tried the pilot again recently and remember enjoying the first two seasons for the most part? It was different, and Willis had charm, and was fun to watch back then? But I can't watch it now. The banter is sexist. Also it kind of goes off the rails by the 4th season.

[china_shop]

Oh, I didn't know that about Remington Steele (except for the Bond thing). (Timothy Dalton was my first and only Bond, so I'm grateful for the contractual mess. ;-p)

And that's nice to know about David Boreanaz, aww. I never particularly cared for Angel as a character, but that does make him more appealing.