Jump to content

Behind-the-Scenes Feuds & Drama: TV’s Most Dysfunctional Sets


Faulkner

Recommended Posts

  • Members

The recent (unsurprising) stories about Lea Michele’s bullying and racist microaggressions on the set of Glee made me think: which TV series have had the most dysfunctional sets? Glee certainly seemed like anarchy BTS, and the downward spirals and deaths of Cory Montieth and Mark Salling just underscored that.


The recently ended Criminal Minds has revealed itself to be a cesspool of abuse and toxicity over the years. In the ‘80s, we had a constant barrage of stories about Bea Arthur vs. Betty White on The Golden Girls and Bruce Willis vs Cybill Shepherd on Moonlighting.

 

What are some feuds or stories about BTS dysfunction that you recall? Which set seemed like the worst of all?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 79
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

I've always read that there was a lot of behind the scenes drama and antics on the set of Beverly Hills, 90210. There seemed to be lots of tension in particular with the female cast members. I know Shannen had her issues with everyone which isn't a surprise and Jennie Garth had some issue with Tiffani. There was also lots of rumors of hookups and drug use, but I think when you have a particularly young cast those things were the norm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Please register in order to view this content


 

I still want to know what exactly happened here. We know details about Nicollette’s issues with Marc Cherry, but I’ve never quite understood why they hate Teri Hatcher so much and who was in the wrong there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I read a rumor long ago that Luke Perry would eat food to make his breath bad before having any kissing scenes with Shannen. Not sure if it's true, but jeez.

 

Vivian Vance and William Frawley of I Love Lucy had problems. Vivian disliked playing frumpy, homely Ethel and that she had to be "married" to Frawley, who was old enough to be her father. Bill thought she was full of herself, and so there was friction from the beginning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Wait? There was drama on THE GOLDEN GIRLS?

 

That said...The BTS drama on the last few seasons of BUFFY. I think now I would be comfortable knowing. And if there was any BTS with ANGEL...other than Charisma vs Joss Whedon during Season 4 which seems like watch under the bridge now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Janet Hubert's beef with Will Smith and Alfonso Ribiero.

 

What I haven't been able to find out is if anyone from Family Matters had beef with Jaleel White when the show became more focused on Urkel than the Winslows.

Edited by kalbir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

By 1978, Welcome Back, Kotter was a nightmare.

 

People, 11/6/78

By then Kotter had become less a set than a civil war. The cast Softball team had long since hung up its gloves and, more significantly, the feud spread to the Sweathogs, who, willingly or not, are lining up in rival camps. John (“Barbarino”) Travolta and Lawrence-Hilton (“Boom Boom”) Jacobs remain pretty much above the battle. Still close to both, Travolta goes to movies occasionally with Gabe and dines weekly with Strassman; Jacobs continues to hang out with Kaplan but no longer meets Strassman after-hours. Robert (“Epstein”) Hegyes is on the Kaplan side, but he’s stopped seeing him socially (and is also less tight with Travolta these days). Marcia’s main ally, Ron (“Horshack”) Palillo, barely talks to Gabe and sees none of the others outside work. The one vestigial source of Kotter cast unity is that virtually nobody can stand executive producer James Komack.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It feels like there’s always this narrative with female ensembles, even though it’s probably just as common with male actors (look at Lethal Weapon with Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans). We can add Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City to the list of feuds.

 

Betty admitted that Bea wasn’t a fan of hers. The GG enthusiasts on the board may have more info, and certainly the Bea/Betty feud was an OBSESSION when I posted on Datalounge years ago.

 

More here:

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a44957/betty-white-and-bea-arthur-feud/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I remember the Vanity Fair article from which this photo is taken. Nobody wanted Teri Hatcher in the centre of the picture, and Marcia Cross was especially aggrieved about this (she apparently stopped the photoshoot mid-session and screamed at their handler "MOVE HER! DO YOUR [!@#$%^&*] JOB!" So I wondered if Marcia Cross was the one with the problem.

 

That being said, the crew apparently disliked Teri Hatcher also. Unlike the rest of the cast, she did not give them goodbye gifts when the show finally ended.

 

 

They say SMG was a rather reserved person onset and that could be taken as standoffsihness. I am speculating, but a part of me feels she was harshly judged because she wasn't super touchy friendly and because she didn't overly kiss Joss Whedon's ass. Wheedon, for example, would host dinners at his family home where cast members he favored would get invited and perform scenes from Shakespeare or play improv games. I think Charisma Carpenter might have been the same -- she was friendly and on good terms with the Angel cast, but was never invited to the Wheedon family home for fun game night.

 

And I suspect that Joss finally got bored with writing for both Buffy and Cordelia. With Cordelia, he was very angry CC got pregnant and basically wrote her character out saying that it had run its course. With Buffy, he couldn't say that because the show was called BTVS! So he soldiered on, but it became clear in the last few seasons that he was not interested in exploring the layers of Buffy as a person. It was around that time that SMG looked like she wanted to move on too, because the show was no longer giving her interesting material.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think SMG also had some issues with the show's stunt coordinator. And there were rumors of her falling out with Alyson Hannigan at the time.

 

Buffy for me just wasn't good after season 3, aside from the odd episode, and the concept did not really warrant such a long run. SMG seemed to age out of the role, especially after she had brief film success. She lost all her spark (along with a noticeable amount of weight) - seeing such a brittle presence still having to spit out the same old "clever" Joss Whedon one-liners (that he has been regurgitating for 30 years now) was incredibly sad to watch.

 

I think the ugly and unnecessary Spike/Buffy story also ruined SMG's friendship with James Marsters, from what he's said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Let's not forget The WB's Charmed 

 

A lot of BTS upheaval centered around the series for years. 

 

Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano's issues and Shannen's departure 

 

The issues between Constance M. Burge and Brad Kern

 

From Wikipedia 

 

Ahead of the third season, Burge left her former position as executive producer to Kern, after she reportedly became frustrated that storylines for the third season were going to become more focused on the sisters' relationships with their love interests than each other.[19] She had disagreements with Kern over bringing the character Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) into the show as a love interest for Alyssa Milano's character Phoebe, as there was already enough focus on the show's established couple Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause).[20] However, Burge remained on Charmed as a creative consultant until season four.[21] Her departure resulted in changes in the story structure of the show, from a "demon of the week" system to using third or half-season-long story arcs. In addition, more importance was given to the protagonists' personal lives. The serial connection of episodes culminated in the second half of season four. Despite the ratings increasing during season four's final story arc from 4.19 to 4.21, The WB asked Kern to abandon the serial system. This led to the largely episodic structure of season five, and resulted in the two systems being balanced from the sixth season onwards.

 

Budget Cuts 

During the seventh season and for the first time in its history, the show had been in limbo as there was no guaranteed renewal for an eighth season.[32] Charmed was ultimately renewed for a final season, but the budget was cut considerably compared to previous seasons due to expensive special effects and props and highly-paid actresses.[18][33] Executive producer Brad Kern revealed that they had to cut back on special effects and guest stars, and that the entire season was shot only on the Paramount Studios lot as they could not go out on location anymore.[34] These budget cuts also led to cast member Dorian Gregory being written out of the final season and Brian Krause being written out of several episodes as a cost-saving measure.[18][33] Kern revealed that the show could not afford to have Krause in all 22 episodes of the final season, but he was brought back for the final two episodes to help bring closure to the storylines

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

See? I didn't know ANY of that!! re:Burge vs Kern.  And while I agree with Burges, I am glad we got Cole. I also liked the arcs and hated when the WB told them to do standalones. Burges had standalones with a slow build on arcs if I remember correct with character development and she had a balance then. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

 

 

 

Kern was a cancer to the show in the long haul. The minute the show featured that crappy Phoebe mermaid arc I knew the show was sliding downwards. I quite well remember when I think it was TV Guide gave Kern the dubious distinction of "Worst Show Producer of 2004". The last three seasons of the show were a mess. Kerr Smith's character was promising but completely wasted. The final season the audience was tortured by Kaley Cuoco giving the worst performance of her life.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Great pairing that seemed to come out of the blue! Around that time, it felt like Sheffer/Goutman didn’t really know what to do with Emily or Hal. And KM and BH had surprisingly great chemistry. It was good for Emily especially because she was coming off those unsympathetic years with the Tom affair and then running the Intruder and essentially just being a busybody.
    • I think the issue with Lulu is less the character (which was the issue in the Julie Berman days under Guza II) and more the lack of nuance. The current GH team rarely writes nuance for any character or at least can't sustain it for long, or they reserve it for a favored few. I also think the rooting interest at GH BTS often remains on preferred characters or actors - BLQ/Setton - vs. Laura's kids. So it's easy to make Lulu the heavy if you think Brook Lynn and Chase are the money on this show. I don't, but I think FV does. And that's not to say I think Amanda Setton is bad in the role, or that I would get rid of BLQ. I don't trend towards either (though I do think that if Setton's personal beliefs keep getting in the way of material I would reluctantly recast). I think Brook Lynn is essential to use as a lead presently. But I don't think it needs to be the black and white dichotomy of suffering young matriarch BLQ and aggressor Lulu. While it's good that unlike in the Guza years they can recognize that Lulu can be obnoxious and rash, can be her own worst enemy and that that is part of the character, it can be toned down or given more layers than it has of late. There's nothing wrong there the writing can't fix.
    • 1999: I just watched it. It felt so primetime. La Lucci is making history. Aretha's daydreaming segment. @Contessa Donatella Thank you, my love. So helpful and informative as always. adding them to my queue.
    • I know this isn’t a usual or anywhere near universal take, but I loved the relatively brief Hal/Emily relationship/marriage more than I ever thought I would have with KMH/BH.
    • In my field (not that) I've written my share of dreck when it's what people wanted vs. something good. In the end what matters is the check. These pilots may not be great, but whether or not those writers intended otherwise they got paid.
    • I think there is plenty to critique and/or roast about the show, but I think there's also good bones and a lot of progressive improvement. It's the Bell/B&B formula and house style that is hardest for it to shake and the most necessary IMO, as well as some dead weight actors or characters, but that formula also apparently works for a lot of general viewers and I suspect CBS. OTOH it's also very modern in certain ways (sometimes overly hip dialogue, and some story) that still make it feel like a show that's bouncing between distant past staples of soap opera fundamentals and the present moment. And the old fashioned product placement is fun but also so goofy, while material like June is hysterical. Imagine leading with 'the underpass is where I live, and I like it there!' It's an unusual show in that way, because its identity and tone is still not fully formed. You don't know what it'll be. But that's normal at this juncture. The closest thing to a glimpse of the future foundation, I think (besides the obvious core family setup that's been there since Day 1), is the rivalry and future familial bond - and likely love/hate relationship - between Kat and Eva. A la many central sisters or siblings throughout soap history.
    • I loved Kelley Menighan! She was an MVP, especially during the show’s last few years. I always looked forward to anything she did with MM, BH, CZ, MW,  and the two grownup Alisons. Wasn’t a big fan of her with RH’s Paul. I always admired how she balanced being a vixen and being neurotic.
    • LLC can be a lot (lady definitely doesn’t phone it in), but her scenes with Rena made me wish they played actual sisters on a better platform.  Aside from JE, who is a legend so it’s no surprise when she’s excellent, Amanda Setton is my MVP of this story and she hasn’t always been great in this role. You see so much happening in her face as she’s navigating the shifts and layers of this story. She’s fully locked in. Glad Rory Gibson is getting his due on GH. I knew he had more to give than what Y&R was giving him. The writing will be a factor here as well because the character of Michael hasn’t been written well in ages (if ever, arguably). GH just can’t sustain the good stuff for more than a few weeks. Alexa Havins is a very good actress and was widely embraced as Lulu initially, but the character’s one-note abrasiveness has a lot of folks wishing she was gone at this point. 
    • It's pilots like "Hurricane Sam" and "Anything for Love" that makes me so afraid to write professionally, because, my God, what if I actually tried and came up with something just as awful, if not worse (if that's even possible)?
    • JANUARY 1974 SPECIALS ADDED... Here are the January 1974 specials which have been added to the yearly list on page 76:

      Please register in order to view this content

       
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy