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TV Shows that you imagine were a nightmare behind the scenes

Started by confettiinmyhair, May 18, 2022, 02:33:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Quote from: pigamus on May 20, 2022, 08:22:05 AMReally? What did they fall out over?

Not sure if there was any specific trigger, but AFAIK they weren't friends in real life, and it seems the relationship got more and more frosty the longer the show went on.

Old Thrashbarg

Quote from: oggyraiding on May 19, 2022, 11:50:10 AMhttps://www.vice.com/en/article/neaxqq/how-gogglebox-is-made

Lot of effort just to get mildly amusing soundbites.

Alternatively, not much effort to get a massively successful TV show that has an indefinite lifespan.

Replies From View

Quote from: Ron Maels Moustache on May 20, 2022, 08:40:38 AMNot sure if there was any specific trigger, but AFAIK they weren't friends in real life, and it seems the relationship got more and more frosty the longer the show went on.

I like to think of them as Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, in every single aspect.

bobloblaw

Quote from: Old Thrashbarg on May 20, 2022, 09:12:26 AMAlternatively, not much effort to get a massively successful TV show that has an indefinite lifespan.

Many tales of burnt-out junior crew made to work long hours to turn around that show. And the exit of its creator in 2020 under 'mysterious' circumstances.

bobloblaw

Quote from: Ron Maels Moustache on May 20, 2022, 08:40:38 AMNot sure if there was any specific trigger, but AFAIK they weren't friends in real life, and it seems the relationship got more and more frosty the longer the show went on.

lucky that can all be brushed aside by the brilliance of those final eps eh readers?

bobloblaw

Quote from: badaids on May 19, 2022, 10:13:20 PMHe was always criticising his production team on air, and Im sure he sacked on too. Or maybe I dreamt that last bit.

not to mention his reputation of 'doing a Barrowman' at every opportunity for the LOLs

studpuppet

Quote from: Replies From View on May 20, 2022, 10:21:38 AMI like to think of them as Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, in every single aspect.

There's a bit at the beginning of Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?, where Tom is introduced to a woman at a party who says they've met before. When he asks her where, she replies, "We were married to each other."

pigamus


Jittlebags

I bet the little cunts on Why Don't You.... used to beat the shit out of each other when not on camera.

Video Game Fan 2000

#99
The Generation Game: hosted by cuntish national treasure types and involved members of the public doing things designed to end in chaos, in front of a live audience. And an island of 70s sexism in the 90s tv schedule too, can't imagine being a dancer in one of Brucie's terrible Folies Bergere or South of the Border sketches if you weren't previously on Allo Allo or something. Horrible.

Fun House and Finders Keepers I imagine having more puke and tears than a mismanaged leisure center.  Considering the kids on these shows were apparently often the brats of tv producers and higher ups, I imagine tantrums behind the scenes too. I imagine Knightmare being a laugh though, the kids are just sitting around and basically improvising so they can throw something together afterwards. Although if it were me I'd have had a screaming panic attack seeing that room with the face in the wall and they'd have had to hold me down.

Replies From View

Quote from: bobloblaw on May 20, 2022, 01:04:29 PMnot to mention his reputation of 'doing a Barrowman' at every opportunity for the LOLs

I don't think even Barrowman himself tended to pop his cock in people's pints during down time

Bingo Fury

Quote from: studpuppet on May 20, 2022, 02:00:31 PMThere's a bit at the beginning of Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?, where Tom is introduced to a woman at a party who says they've met before. When he asks her where, she replies, "We were married to each other."

I don't have the book any more, but the way I remember it is that Baker was in a pub in New Zealand when a young man approached him, and Baker assumed he wanted an autograph and asked who he wanted it made out to, only for the stranger to say, "I'm your son, Piers."

I think the Sherlock frostiness came from Cumberbatch finding out that Freeman was cheating on his fellow cast-member Amanda Abbington and blanking him after that.

Beagle 2

It was a bit of an eye opener when I worked on a BBC TV show as a runner in terms of how much hard work and dicking about it all was. To the extent that I encountered Nick Knowles with his head in his hands on a staircase whinging to his PA about how tired and overworked he was and I actually felt sorry for him.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposite_Worlds


This video is brilliant, and contains geniunely one of the greatest uses of Chekov's Gun I've ever seen.

Quote from: Bingo Fury on May 20, 2022, 03:47:23 PMI don't have the book any more, but the way I remember it is that Baker was in a pub in New Zealand when a young man approached him, and Baker assumed he wanted an autograph and asked who he wanted it made out to, only for the stranger to say, "I'm your son, Piers."

Haha, yes, that happened as well.

Here's the lalla bit - https://youtu.be/B3JgKxQV9OM?t=9455

Last year I had to be at the British Film Academy in Piccadilly for some little function or other and in the crush at the bar I heard a woman's voice say:

'Well, hello there, dear, dear, Tom.' This was said with that challenging inflection which means: 'Well, isn't this a surprise, and you'll never guess who I am.' I turned to face the inflection who was forty-something and very pleasant to look at apart from the way she held her head on one side as though one side of her head was heavier than the other. 'Oh, hello there,' I said, wondering who on earth it could be. 'How are you?' She looked at me steadily and said with a tiny but superior edge, 'You don't remember me, do you?' Trying to bluff it out, I said with terrific confidence: 'Of course I do, it was the National Theatre, wasn't it?' She shook her head triumphantly: 'I knew you'd forgotten. Oh, how could you, Tom?' Her confidence unnerved me a bit and I found myself guessing wildly. 'Play for Today?' She shook her head and smiled on. 'The Royal Shakespeare Company?' Surely that was it, everybody's worked at the RSC. She went on with the enigma and suddenly I knew the impulse to strangle someone. 'Doctor Who! Yes, it was Doctor Who, wasn't it?' Again she shook her head unhelpfully. I was now caught up in this little mystery and was curious to find out where I had known this head-onthe-one-side tease. Smiling in as friendly a way as I could I said: 'It was a play though, wasn't it?' She looked at me rather sadly, still shaking her head and said: 'No, we used to be married.' I spun round towards the bar to find my pale ale and when I turned back she was talking calmly to someone else.

pigamus

Sorry, what is all that bollocks? Apart from the fact that it's bollocks anyway, why would she say no when he asks if it's Doctor Who? He's a weird fucker.

Attila

Quote from: pigamus on May 20, 2022, 08:00:15 PMSorry, what is all that bollocks? Apart from the fact that it's bollocks anyway, why would she say no when he asks if it's Doctor Who? He's a weird fucker.

I think he's talking about his first wife, not Lalla Ward.

Fr.Bigley

Changing rooms, knowing it's your arsehole neighbours with a deep seated vendetta making good to make your gaffe as unlivable as possible all the while dealing with LL Bowen probably being a diva between takes.

Replies From View

Even though Lalla Ward doesn't have an immensely imbalanced head I was quite happy to believe that she does for the sake of the anecdote.

Replies From View

I reckon Doctor Who would have been absolute hell to work on in the late 70s due to the extra provision required to support Lalla Ward's notoriously imbalanced head.

grainger

Quote from: Famous Mortimer on May 18, 2022, 09:20:10 PMHis big idea was that the conflict shouldn't be between crew members, but the whole crew against X, whatever it might be that week. I thought it was rather a good idea, honestly, and led to less of the soap opera-y bollocks that gradually poisons pretty much every show.

I agree. But the writers didn't like writing for that setup, and have said so at every opportunity, and as such it's become a matra about the show in that doc and online. Hence they set up DS9 to have conflict built in and in Voyager's crew setup (which they dropped immediately).

Chaos on the Bridge is interesting, but I do think Shatner has an agenda with it, and doesn't he uses as amain source that producer who - it's emerged - left under a cloud due to doing sexual harassment? (I might be mixing people up there, though: there have been so many dody senior people working on Trek).

On the subject of Voyager, DS9 producer Ron Moore moved over to that show when DS9 finished. He said Voy had a horrible atmosphere behind the scenes - everyone was miserable. He wrote a lengthy piece about it after he left, talking about these problems and also (rightly IMO) criticising many elements of the show.

Replies From View

QuoteI agree. But the writers didn't like writing for that setup

Tough shit you comprehensive bellends!

"We didn't particularly appreciate the setup of the main characters being miniaturised every week."

DON'T WRITE FOR THE HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS TELEVISION SERIES THEN IT'S MINIMALLY STRAIGHTFORWARD

JESUS FUCK IN A HOEGAARDEN

willbo

Quote from: Kankurette on May 18, 2022, 07:53:20 PMBuffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel. Charisma Carpenter being sacked for getting pregnant springs to mind, not to mention that Whedon basically killed her character off out of spite, and one of the characters in Angel got killed off because his actor had drug problems (and is now dead).

there was a post on Something Awful in the 00s by someone who had been an extra/bit part on Buffy. They said that they had a closet full of cigarette boxes and the cast smoked constantly. And apparently they all complained about the writers/directors and were off set smoking as much as they could be.

grainger

Quote from: Replies From View on May 21, 2022, 09:47:31 AMTough shit you comprehensive bellends!

"We didn't particularly appreciate the setup of the main characters being miniaturised every week."

DON'T WRITE FOR THE HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS TELEVISION SERIES THEN IT'S MINIMALLY STRAIGHTFORWARD

JESUS FUCK IN A HOEGAARDEN

Oh, don't think that I'm defending the writers. I really find the idea that "there's no conflict in TNG" -now the accepted wisdom when people discuss the show - very tedious (as well as innacurate).

grainger

Quote from: JamesTC on May 18, 2022, 11:54:07 PMGene bought his own hype about the idealised future Star Trek supposedly portrayed but he broadly had good intentions with TNG when he wasn't taking way too much interest in the costume fittings.

But TNG is a good shout. Rick Berman was apparently not a nice person, and you've got to wonder why two young women chose to leave the core cast and one only decided to return after many of the people had left behind the scenes. I think there must be more to the story there. Certainly far more than Chaos on the Bridge portrays.

Berman wasn't a leading influence during season 1 - but some very creepy later behaviour has been claimed about him. And he seems like a general dick, vetoing gay characters because he was homophobic, for example (allegedly).

Roddenberry is complicated. I think he did have some genuine liberal/utopian ideals that he put into Trek, but he always had a creepy side. He also pulled that stunt of writing (unrecorded) lyrics for the original Trek series's theme, just to take half of the composer's money.

Bobby Treetops

Quote from: badaids on May 18, 2022, 10:52:32 PMI bet TFI Friday was absolutely horrible to work on; horrible people beaking it up and acting the cunt during peal ladism.

I used to work at a video tape duplication company during this period, so had some dealings with the production company that made this. I can confirm they were arrogant, rude cunts who used to talk to you like shit.

Horrible individuals.

Kankurette

Quote from: willbo on May 21, 2022, 09:59:36 AMthere was a post on Something Awful in the 00s by someone who had been an extra/bit part on Buffy. They said that they had a closet full of cigarette boxes and the cast smoked constantly. And apparently they all complained about the writers/directors and were off set smoking as much as they could be.
Jesus, the set must have stank. And I'm not even surprised they were complaining, I know Alison Hannigan didn't like Willow's storyline in series 6 where she goes evil.

Allegedly, people on the set also weren't happy about Michelle Trachtenberg, who was underage at the time, being left alone with Whedon. And then fucking James Marsters got a little bit too into his character and wrote a creepy song about her. Trachtenberg was one of the actors who came forward to defend Carpenter, along with SMG, and I think Glory's actor as well. I can't remember if Eliza Dushku said anything.

ETA: from the BBC:
QuoteA string of Buffy the Vampire Slayer stars have accused the hit TV show's creator Joss Whedon of "toxic", "cruel" and "very not appropriate" behaviour.
Charisma Carpenter claimed Whedon had "abused his power" and "created hostile and toxic work environments".
Co-stars Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg then backed her up, while Sarah Michelle Gellar said she was "proud of them for speaking out".
Whedon, who wrote and co-directed the supernatural series, has not responded.
The show, which followed Gellar's teenage vampire hunter Buffy Summers, was a major success when it ran between 1997 and 2003.
On Wednesday, Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase, posted messages saying Whedon had "abused his power on numerous occasions" while working on Buffy and spin-off Angel.
She claimed he had "a history of being casually cruel", such as with "ongoing" threats to fire her and calling her fat when she was pregnant, before "unceremoniously" firing her after she had given birth.
They were among a number of "disturbing incidents" that she said had "triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer".
Benson, who played Tara Maclay, retweeted her co-star's statement, adding: "Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top."
Carpenter "is speaking truth and I support her 100%", she added. "There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty-plus years later."
Trachtenberg added her voice on Instagram, accusing Whedon of "not appropriate behaviour....very. Not. Appropriate."
Trachtenberg was reposting a statement from Gellar, who distanced herself from Whedon and supported her former castmates, without adding allegations of her own.
"While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon," she wrote.
"I am more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic currently, so I will not be making any further statements at this time. But I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out."
The BBC has contacted Whedon for a response.
He first created Buffy as a film starring Kristy Swanson in the title role in 1992. After making the TV series starring Gellar, the writer and director went on to work on TV shows like Firefly and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and films including The Avengers and Justice League.
Carpenter said she made her comments after Justice League actor Ray Fisher, who has accused Whedon of "abusive, unprofessional and unacceptable" behaviour on that film, had his character Cyborg written out of the forthcoming Flash movie.
WarnerMedia announced that decision last month after Fisher accused executive Walter Hamada of undermining the studio's investigation into his allegations.

Quote from: JamesTC on May 18, 2022, 11:54:07 PMAgree completely. Whilst they didn't stick to it dogmatically, the general ethos stuck around for most of Star Trek even as late as Enterprise and it served to split them apart from other TV.

Gene bought his own hype about the idealised future Star Trek supposedly portrayed but he broadly had good intentions with TNG when he wasn't taking way too much interest in the costume fittings.

But TNG is a good shout. Rick Berman was apparently not a nice person, and you've got to wonder why two young women chose to leave the core cast and one only decided to return after many of the people had left behind the scenes. I think there must be more to the story there. Certainly far more than Chaos on the Bridge portrays.

Producer/writer Maurice Hurley was the biggest creep early on, and was the main reason for Gates McFadden quitting after Season 1 due to alleged sexual harassment from him, and she only came back for the third season once he was out of the door.

Chaos On The Bridge is fun but it obviously skirts around a lot of stuff and needed to be much, much longer. There are certainly some anecdotes about Roddenberry that would've bumped up the guidance rating out of family friendly territory - the most infamous one being this from "The Fifty Year Mission" book about a phone call he had with one of the writers:



Brundle-Fly

Quote from: ImmaculateClump on May 20, 2022, 07:52:45 PMHaha, yes, that happened as well.

Here's the lalla bit - https://youtu.be/B3JgKxQV9OM?t=9455

Last year I had to be at the British Film Academy in Piccadilly for some little function or other and in the crush at the bar I heard a woman's voice say:

'Well, hello there, dear, dear, Tom.' This was said with that challenging inflection which means: 'Well, isn't this a surprise, and you'll never guess who I am.' I turned to face the inflection who was forty-something and very pleasant to look at apart from the way she held her head on one side as though one side of her head was heavier than the other. 'Oh, hello there,' I said, wondering who on earth it could be. 'How are you?' She looked at me steadily and said with a tiny but superior edge, 'You don't remember me, do you?' Trying to bluff it out, I said with terrific confidence: 'Of course I do, it was the National Theatre, wasn't it?' She shook her head triumphantly: 'I knew you'd forgotten. Oh, how could you, Tom?' Her confidence unnerved me a bit and I found myself guessing wildly. 'Play for Today?' She shook her head and smiled on. 'The Royal Shakespeare Company?' Surely that was it, everybody's worked at the RSC. She went on with the enigma and suddenly I knew the impulse to strangle someone. 'Doctor Who! Yes, it was Doctor Who, wasn't it?' Again she shook her head unhelpfully. I was now caught up in this little mystery and was curious to find out where I had known this head-onthe-one-side tease. Smiling in as friendly a way as I could I said: 'It was a play though, wasn't it?' She looked at me rather sadly, still shaking her head and said: 'No, we used to be married.' I spun round towards the bar to find my pale ale and when I turned back she was talking calmly to someone else.

I've experienced that when an old girlfriend I dated for eighteen months in the late eighties came up to me at a gig in 2009 and I didn't recognise her.

Quote from: Attila on May 20, 2022, 11:32:52 PMI think he's talking about his first wife, not Lalla Ward.

Yes, that would make more sense. Sorry for the mistake.