TV shows

We don't have HBO so I will not get to watch that show.

I have decided I do not like "Fear Itself". So violent and bloody and CRAPPY endings!! I hated tonight's episode. I hated everything about it and the end just pissed me off.

I think I will watch "Swingtown" next week instead. It has to be better.

Ahh Fear Itself Is STUPID!!
My son said it is not well done. You know most people can't do horror worth a crap.

Okay people a screener of JJ Abrams new show FRINGE was " leaked" online. I watched it. Mark my words this is going to to be the BEST new show of the Fall, It is beyond excellent. JJ has done it again. It has some elements of the X files with plenty of paranoia. I LOVED it. The cast is fab.

Oh that sounds great!! I wish I could see it! I know it will be awesome! JJ is the best. I also think it appears to have just an excellent cast. Cannot wait for this one!

I really liked "Fear Itself" tonight! Very suspenseful, not gory at all and a real surprise ending!! I watched it because it was directed by John Landis. He didn't disappoint!

I haven't seen tonight's episode yet, but last week's was AWESOME and very creepy and unsettling. The acting was very very good. I was impressed. I heard the first two were crappy, but I didn't see them.

Glad to hear tonight's is going to be great!

It is odd which celebrities any of us cannot forgive for things they did in their lives.

Jon Landis is high on my list for his arrogance and desire to bend rules about working with kids, thereby chopping of the real-life heads of three people.

I can't watch anything he does or ever did at this point.

Whereas, Alec Baldwins's assholery to his daughter is something I can occasionally forget, if he is being really, really, funny. Schweaty balls, for instance.

What Landis did, as described, accurately, on wikipedia:

Quote :

During the filming of Twilight Zone, actor Vic Morrow and child extras Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen were killed in an accident involving an out of control helicopter. Landis and several crew members were subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. The prosecutors attempted to show that Landis was reckless and had violated laws relating to child actors by not telling parents and others of the children's proximity to explosives and helicopters and of limitations on their working hours. Numerous members of the film crew testified that the director was warned, but ignored these dangers. After an extended jury trial, Landis, represented by famed Nashville attorney James F. Neal, and the other crew members on trial were acquitted of the charges. [4]

Landis was later reprimanded for circumventing the State of California's child labor laws in hiring the two children killed in the accident. This tragedy resulted in stricter safety measures and enforcement of child labor laws, in the State of California.[5]

The parents of the children sued, and would later settle out of court for $2 million per family. Vic Morrow's daughters, Carrie Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, similarly pursued a lawsuit that settled for an undisclosed amount purportedly in the $800,000 range.

True, that was a horrible incident and he certainly made some terrible decisions. I followed the trail. I could see how horribly upset he was by what happened. I just felt he was a young and too ambitious of a director trying to get the perfect scene. I know it was a terrible decision, but I also know he didn't purposely hurt anybody. Yes, that doesn't exclude the fact that it was a very bad and wrong decision, but I feel he probably gets enough punishment every day having to live with that decision. I know I would. I just never saw him as one who would intentionally hurt anyone. I just couldn't bring myself to hate him. I actually felt terribly sorry for him. I cannot begin to imagine living with that quilt. Those images. Yes of course I feel incredibly sorry for the victims and their families also. It was all just such a sad and tragic accident and I wish directors and stunt people didn't feel they have to go to such extremes to make things look real. Safety should always come first. Hopefully that incident taught a lot of directors to be more careful. It did bring about stricter laws that probably saved some lives.

I totally get how you feel Frazz. I am sure many, many feel the same way.

GE, as I said in an earlier post - I thought last week's "Fear Itself" was just horrible!!! I almost didn't watch it last night because of it That ending was just terrible! I have actually read some reviews of that episode where the critics totally felt like I did. Lots of extremely gruesome violence and a very upsetting and horrible ending. I just hated everything about that episode. The two male leads were wonderful actors, but not enough to save that episode for me I could barely sit through it only do have that ending kick me in the gut. Just not entertaining for me at all. Last night's was perfect!

See, this is where you find out what a sick puppy I am. I agree that the ending was EXTREMELY unsettling and the whole show made me uncomfortable and...that's what I love about it. I want to be kicked in the gut at the end. As a matter of fact, when I went to see "The Happening" those were the exact words I used. That I expected to get a nice kick to the gut at the end and instead the movie ended in a wimper and severely disappointed. I"d much rather be disturbed and think about a show for days afterward than walk away totally disappointed.

There are certain behaviors I'll excuse and certain ones I won't. I think Alec Baldwin can be a prick of epic proportions sometimes. I also think, like Frazz, that he's very talented and funny and can let the other part go for stuff like "Schweaty Balls" which is one of the best skits ever. That he's so downplayed is what makes it so great.

I never felt Landis really was contrite over the whole thing and he actually kept the scene in the movie! He got off really cheap if that's all he paid.

Ambition is one thing. Endangering the lives of children is another. I don't know. We don't convict celebrities out here, and he probably had the best lawyer money could buy, so that's why he was acquitted. Anywhere else and he'd have gone to prison for a long time.

Well, it sure is true that celebs get off easy out there! Simpson? Blake? Spector? and so on....

I haven't seen The Happening. So it isn't good? I think I read it is not getting good reviews.

Schweaty Balls???

Schweaty Balls

Back when SNL was still good.

I love L.A. but our juries are for shit.

Wasn't that scene where Vic Morrow and the two children were killed filmed very late at night? I know that violated the child labor laws for child actors.

FC, I knew you'd love that! It's a total classic.

Yes, Badger, VERY late at night.

Yes, very late. Their parents were with them and knew it was late. There had been problems with shooting causing delays. The kids rested in trailers with their folks until they were called for the shot.

From the "The Twilight Zone Disaster"

Quote :

At Renee Chen’s funeral, a gray-faced John Landis, being held up by his wife and a friend, showed up to pay his respects. The child’s relatives fixed cold, accusing stares at the director except for Renee’s mother, who was sobbing.

Landis also went to My-ca Le’s funeral. The boys’ choir, to which My-ca had belonged, sang his favorite hymn, “Jesus Loves All The Children of the World.”

There is no question that the accident traumatized the director. For several weeks after it, he was heavily medicated. At one point, he called a confidant and wondered if he would ever be able to ask anyone to take even the simplest direction.

Again, not excusing any of the horrible decisions made by Landis, but the parents did go along with hiring the kids illegally and took the pay under the table. There was a log of bad decisions made - all for the sake of a very realistic looking movie.

Landis was arrogant about the scene/movie, but I really think he believed he had things all under control and all would work out. Just like when kids party and drive, have sex without condoms, etc. They think nothing bad will happen "to them" and I am guessing Landis had the same foolish outlook.

Yes GE - I LOVED that! Thanks for the good laugh!

Landis blames everybody else and never took an iota of responsibility. no remorse for what he had done. Ever.

Bemoaning his own depression and traumatization is not the same as taking ownership and feeling remorse for how badly you fucked up and hurt people.

To me he and OJ are kin. OJ's blaming and featuring his own depression about how badly everybody who was accusing him was treating him is very like what Landis displayed.


No, I do not think Landis set OUT to kill anybody, unlike OJ, but Landis whined and blamed and took NO RESPONSIBILITY for decapitating 3 people when he, and he alone, could have prevented it in the first place if he had not been so arrogant, as though because he was the director, there would be no consequences for unprecedentedly dangerous decisions he made about how to shoot the scene -- a helicopter and bombs with live actors 24 feet under them???? IN FUCKING SANE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've always laughed at people who sit and do a bunch of self-flagelation and really get into how depressed they are and how much pain THEY are in and how everyone needs to understand just how much they hurt inside.

That's why I always tell people rather than sitting at home punishing themselves, to make amends and put it behind them so that everyone can heal.

I do believe he never came out and apologized publicly. I trust you frazz to know more about this than I do.

I want him to say he was responsible for killing Vic Morrow and two kids. That is what manslaughter is. Nothing premeditated, just ignoring the laws of nature and the rules most decent citizens follow and resulting in someone else's death...that is what manslaughter is.

I cannot believe he was not convicted.



Maybe he will rehabilitate himself if he does that. Nothing short of that will count.

Quote :

Involuntary manslaughter, sometimes called criminally negligent homicide in the United States, gross negligence manslaughter in England and Wales or culpable homicide in Scotland occurs where there is no intention to kill or cause serious injury but death is due to recklessness or criminal negligence.

Oh NOZ!! Not again! I so hope they can work this out without a strike!

Quote :

Hollywood is facing yet another catastrophic production shutdown – barely five months after the last one – over an actors’ pay dispute that has turned A-list stars such as Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson against each other and forced George Clooney to step in as peacemaker.

If the strike goes ahead, film production will be cancelled, TV networks could find themselves with no new shows to broadcast in the autumn and thousands of set-builders, prop suppliers, caterers, make-up artists and other Hollywood workers could face financial ruin. Millions more Americans are likely to turn to iPhones and Wii games for entertainment, hastening what some regard as Hollywood’s inevitable obsolescence.

The last Hollywood strike, which began in November and ended in February, was over writers’ wages – in particular internet royalties. It concluded with the Writers Guild of America securing a more favourable deal with the Hollywood studios, which are represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The deal was expected to serve as a guideline for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), whose old contract with the AMPTP expires today. That was not to be: the actors are demanding even better terms.

Unlike the writers, who formed a united front against the studios, the actors have managed to divide themselves into separate bickering camps before a strike has even been called, meaning that the dispute has been played out in the media like a real life version of MTV’s Celebrity Death-match as opposed to a serious discussion over who gets what in the digital economy.

On one side of the actors’ divide is SAG, which is taking a hard line against the studios. Its supporters include Jack Nicholson and Ben Stiller. On the other side is the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which is more willing to compromise. Tom Hanks, twice an Oscar winner, has put his considerable weight behind AFTRA’s proposed deal, as have Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey and Morgan Fairchild. To make things more complicated SAG’s 120,000 members include 44,000 who also belong to AFTRA.

This is wholly and completely not unexpected.

This is going to be a bloodbath. It's going to make the writers look much better.

Too bad the actors can't even take a united front. I like and respect people on both sides, so I don't know what to believe.

Perhaps Frazz can shed some light on this.

I just know "Pushing Daisies" is becoming a distant memory and I want to see "Fringe" dammit!

Yeah, it does look like it could get ugly I do hope for everyone's sake they can work it out so a lot of people don't end up out of work again

I view it as an extension of the writers' strike. The Studios did not want to pay anybody fairly for online stuff or DVDs. The writers settled finally because it had just gone on too long, not because they actually got a fair deal. Everybody needed a breather from the strike.

The collective desire to get the studios to compensate fairly for online and DVD is still there.

AFTRA is much less involved in those concerns than SAG, so it makes sense that AFTRA does not want to push for it.

I do not know whether there will actually be another strike, but I do know that all of Hollywood has been holding back production in anticipation of one.

Thanks frazz. I figured you'd know more about this.

The powerful suits are really good at making the strikers horrible people, no? They're disgruntled, so they look bad and the suits are all calm, cool and collected and they look good.

I finally watched "Fear Itself".

I thought it was a pretty good episode. The people on TwoP hated it. Apparently they figured out the ending 5 minutes in and were bored.

Here's the thing for me (spoiiler alert if you havent seen it)

If she knew she was the serial killer and not him, what the hell was she so frightened of?

Well, I didn't see the end coming BECAUSE she acted so scared through the whole thing! I guess that was their plan But I agree, after it was over and I said to myself "Oh, that one was good! I didn't see that ending coming!" But then, what was she afraid of the whole show I guess I liked it because it keep me in suspense wondering what would happen and for once there wasn't the endless blood and gore. I actually thought her brother was the serial killer killing off her boyfriends because he was in love with her.

That's what I thought too. I also didn't understand why he wrote the note to the fiance.

Also, the guy was a total asshole to her friends and he did turn into a giant ass after the ceremony. So, while at first I found it very scary and good, then I started thinking that they did some stuff just to throw you off. Like him yelling at her friends could not be taken two ways. He was a complete dick.