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Did casting directors think TV audiences were stupid in the 80s, or did they simply think that at a time when most households didn't even have a VCR, much less TiVos or DVD-sets, that no-one would remember actors from one season to the next? So far I've noticed three actors who've played prominent different, yet so similar, characters, on Remington Steele in the first two seasons. And I know this still happens all the time, but this is three times with prominent characters in just the first two seasons, but you at least get the sense that they try to avoid making it completely obvious these days. Space it out with a few seasons between, or at least make them look a bit different or play significantly different characters.
Lynne Randall:
1x10 - Randi Russell, a feisty middle-aged singer with a grudge over being replaced by younger women without brains resorts to killing people in an Agatha Christie And The There Were None manner.
2x22 - Rocky Sullivan, a fesity middle-aged singer unwittingly becomes a target in a new scheme to expose a black-mail scheme she unwittingly was part of a few years ago.
3x15 - Rocky Sullivan appears again.
Turns out that Lynne Randall is the wife of series creator Michael Gleason. And it's not that I mind so much, she's a good actress, great sense of comedy, and quite pretty. But it took quite a while before I realized I wasn't going crazy, because I could have sworn that she was the murderer back in season 1, and how come she's out living the good life and Steele and Laura are helping her despite her trying to kill them just a year ago?? And especially when the names are so similar as well.
Cassandra Harris:
1x05 - Felicia (now going by Katherine) appears as an art thief from Steele's past, who wants him to steal a painting for her, and she's also interested in rekindling their romantic relationship, but he chooses Laura over her.
2x20 - Anna (now going by Lydia) appears as a mysterious woman from Steele's past, they were to run away together, but she doesn't show up, and then Steele finds her obituary in the paper the next day, leaving him upset and bereft. Turns out she faked her death as part of an insurance scam, and is now back in Steele's life, trying to win his romantic affections back, and also get him to kill a man who's blackmailing her. She plays them both, and in the end Steele chooses Laura over her. (In other news, this is also a weird-ass episode. It's like the director got lost, and they hurriedly borrowed one from some soap-set next door who thought this was a serious dramatic relationship drama... lots of pushing in close-ups and melodramatic lines delivered with full sincerity.)
4x01 & 4x02 - *Felicia* is back, this time in London, as an art-thief form Steele's past, this time she wants him to murder some earl for her so they can scam their way to the inheritance, and she's also interested in rekindling their romantic relationship, but he chooses Laura over her.
So OK, Cassandra was Pierce Brosnan's wife at the time, and she was a lovely woman and I'm glad to see her on the show. But did she have to play two different characters (and all the different names really aren't helping either)?? Couldn't they just have settled on her being *one* mysterious woman from Steele's past?? Because when Anna walks into the restaurant and Steele goes all crazy, we all thought we were crazy, because we could have sworn he met her just last season, and now he hasn't seen her since that night in Monte Carlo when they were to run away together???
J.D. Cannon:
1x18 - Elliot Walsh, Laura's college hero, an investigative reporter turned gossip reporter because that's the only work he can get, goes on a murdering spree at the local TV station as a protest against running un-news-worthy news.
2x21 - Kevin Masters, owner of a missing dog and retired jewel-thief turns up and begins dating Mildred.
Now, this guy is apparently a friend of Michael Gleason, creator of the show, and he a great actor, but really, it took quite a bit of time before they explained about the jewel-thief thing, and for a while he was just a guy with a dog who was dating Mildred, and I was all 'dude, shouldn't this guy still be in jail??'
Other things I dislike about the 80/90s:
Now, this is going to sound terribly naïve, but it's not like I'm not aware of times having been different 20 years ago, it's just not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. Every once in a while it takes me by surprise that times being different as late as 20 years ago is not just something portrayed on TV for our entertainment, it was the real life experience of women living then (and I lived then as well, but I was a quite young child and didn't so much pay attention to gender roles in society).
Take a show like Remington Steele; a woman invents a male boss to be taken seriously, and then does all the work herself but presents it in his name. Like the producers have said in the commentaries, you couldn't do a show like that today. As a women, I would be horribly offended if someone made a show like that today. But this is set in the 80s, with an air of glamorous 50s, and times were different then, and while the show itself never treats Laura as any less capable than Steele (its saving grace, definitely), she runs into a lot of characters along the way who do. But in some part of my mind I've sort of chalked that up to television, and preferred not to think about the fact that life only 20 years ago was a lot like that for a lot of women.
A point I've had driven home to me lately. I've spent quite a bit of time this past week watching old interviews and talk show appearances with Stephanie Zimbalist, from the 80s and early 90s, and while the things they talk about haven't changed much, the way they talk about them and their relevance to women in particular is sort of creeping me out.
One that stands out is a panel-interview on Marilu, Stephanie and two other actresses, and they very seriously discuss how to balance being a wife and an actress, because don't the husbands get jealous when they cavort around on screen with hunky Hollywood men? Which is a question that might still be asked today, but the way it is asked in 1992 (or whenever this takes place) is as a question that it is something that makes it double difficult for *women* in the acting profession. Stephanie, not being married, opts out of the discussion and talks about her puppy, but the other two women very seriously talk about how important it is to be married to a man who is strong enough in himself not to have his ego be threatened. And this is very pointedly treated like an issue that is only relevant for *actresses*, not actors in general. So not only does the stereotypical man in society feel that he is more important than his significant lady, the stereotypical woman in society perpetuates this image quite well on her own (female talk show host, 3 female guests, and 98% women in the audience who found this topic really interesting).
And women are still treated as less important in society, but I'd like to think it's getting better. The 'how does your spouse feel about this' question is still being asked, but from what talk show interviews I've seen it is treated as an 'actor' question, asked of both male and female actors. And a lot of other things. I think I'm gonna go read some feminist rants by Sarah Warn to wash my brain out.
Lynne Randall:
1x10 - Randi Russell, a feisty middle-aged singer with a grudge over being replaced by younger women without brains resorts to killing people in an Agatha Christie And The There Were None manner.
2x22 - Rocky Sullivan, a fesity middle-aged singer unwittingly becomes a target in a new scheme to expose a black-mail scheme she unwittingly was part of a few years ago.
3x15 - Rocky Sullivan appears again.
Turns out that Lynne Randall is the wife of series creator Michael Gleason. And it's not that I mind so much, she's a good actress, great sense of comedy, and quite pretty. But it took quite a while before I realized I wasn't going crazy, because I could have sworn that she was the murderer back in season 1, and how come she's out living the good life and Steele and Laura are helping her despite her trying to kill them just a year ago?? And especially when the names are so similar as well.
Cassandra Harris:
1x05 - Felicia (now going by Katherine) appears as an art thief from Steele's past, who wants him to steal a painting for her, and she's also interested in rekindling their romantic relationship, but he chooses Laura over her.
2x20 - Anna (now going by Lydia) appears as a mysterious woman from Steele's past, they were to run away together, but she doesn't show up, and then Steele finds her obituary in the paper the next day, leaving him upset and bereft. Turns out she faked her death as part of an insurance scam, and is now back in Steele's life, trying to win his romantic affections back, and also get him to kill a man who's blackmailing her. She plays them both, and in the end Steele chooses Laura over her. (In other news, this is also a weird-ass episode. It's like the director got lost, and they hurriedly borrowed one from some soap-set next door who thought this was a serious dramatic relationship drama... lots of pushing in close-ups and melodramatic lines delivered with full sincerity.)
4x01 & 4x02 - *Felicia* is back, this time in London, as an art-thief form Steele's past, this time she wants him to murder some earl for her so they can scam their way to the inheritance, and she's also interested in rekindling their romantic relationship, but he chooses Laura over her.
So OK, Cassandra was Pierce Brosnan's wife at the time, and she was a lovely woman and I'm glad to see her on the show. But did she have to play two different characters (and all the different names really aren't helping either)?? Couldn't they just have settled on her being *one* mysterious woman from Steele's past?? Because when Anna walks into the restaurant and Steele goes all crazy, we all thought we were crazy, because we could have sworn he met her just last season, and now he hasn't seen her since that night in Monte Carlo when they were to run away together???
J.D. Cannon:
1x18 - Elliot Walsh, Laura's college hero, an investigative reporter turned gossip reporter because that's the only work he can get, goes on a murdering spree at the local TV station as a protest against running un-news-worthy news.
2x21 - Kevin Masters, owner of a missing dog and retired jewel-thief turns up and begins dating Mildred.
Now, this guy is apparently a friend of Michael Gleason, creator of the show, and he a great actor, but really, it took quite a bit of time before they explained about the jewel-thief thing, and for a while he was just a guy with a dog who was dating Mildred, and I was all 'dude, shouldn't this guy still be in jail??'
Other things I dislike about the 80/90s:
Now, this is going to sound terribly naïve, but it's not like I'm not aware of times having been different 20 years ago, it's just not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. Every once in a while it takes me by surprise that times being different as late as 20 years ago is not just something portrayed on TV for our entertainment, it was the real life experience of women living then (and I lived then as well, but I was a quite young child and didn't so much pay attention to gender roles in society).
Take a show like Remington Steele; a woman invents a male boss to be taken seriously, and then does all the work herself but presents it in his name. Like the producers have said in the commentaries, you couldn't do a show like that today. As a women, I would be horribly offended if someone made a show like that today. But this is set in the 80s, with an air of glamorous 50s, and times were different then, and while the show itself never treats Laura as any less capable than Steele (its saving grace, definitely), she runs into a lot of characters along the way who do. But in some part of my mind I've sort of chalked that up to television, and preferred not to think about the fact that life only 20 years ago was a lot like that for a lot of women.
A point I've had driven home to me lately. I've spent quite a bit of time this past week watching old interviews and talk show appearances with Stephanie Zimbalist, from the 80s and early 90s, and while the things they talk about haven't changed much, the way they talk about them and their relevance to women in particular is sort of creeping me out.
One that stands out is a panel-interview on Marilu, Stephanie and two other actresses, and they very seriously discuss how to balance being a wife and an actress, because don't the husbands get jealous when they cavort around on screen with hunky Hollywood men? Which is a question that might still be asked today, but the way it is asked in 1992 (or whenever this takes place) is as a question that it is something that makes it double difficult for *women* in the acting profession. Stephanie, not being married, opts out of the discussion and talks about her puppy, but the other two women very seriously talk about how important it is to be married to a man who is strong enough in himself not to have his ego be threatened. And this is very pointedly treated like an issue that is only relevant for *actresses*, not actors in general. So not only does the stereotypical man in society feel that he is more important than his significant lady, the stereotypical woman in society perpetuates this image quite well on her own (female talk show host, 3 female guests, and 98% women in the audience who found this topic really interesting).
And women are still treated as less important in society, but I'd like to think it's getting better. The 'how does your spouse feel about this' question is still being asked, but from what talk show interviews I've seen it is treated as an 'actor' question, asked of both male and female actors. And a lot of other things. I think I'm gonna go read some feminist rants by Sarah Warn to wash my brain out.
discontent
nothing to see here
I think there are definite improvements with regard to what you see on TV. I mean, I watched a lot of TV in the 70s and 80s and man, there's just so much I'm grateful for with regard to TV now. I mean, when I was a teenager there were NO gay people on TV. NONE. I cannot for the life of me recall a gay person in a book, movie or on television from when I was a teenage and what I knew about gay people was that it was just a really awful thing to be. Naturally, all my gay tendencies scared the hell out of me. With QaF and Degrassi and well, the internet for starters, I just think things are so much better in that regard now.
But also in terms of women, well, I was watching Leverage not so long ago and one of the characters said, "I love it when a plan comes together" which, you may or may not know, is a reference to the 80s TV show, The A Team. See, Leverage is basically the The A Team with more women.
But here's the thing: The A Team had trouble keeping a woman in the cast because they just didn't know what to do with her. Eventually they gave up and just stuck with the 4 guys. George Peppard, the lead actor, said he was glad because women "slowed the action down." I stopped watching after that.
In these post-Xena and Buffy days it's hard to imagine that the show could be so clueless. But in some ways we still see shows that don't know what to do with the women (beyond making them love interests or wives). Take Supernatural, for example.
(And here's my Cagney and Lacey icon because you have to remember that two of TV's best female leads came about in the early 80s.)
So some days I'm all, thank god those days are over. And other days I'm like, man, it's fucking baby steps, I tell you!
nothing to see here
I am so grateful for the improvements of what we see on TV. And really, that's one of the things that make Remington Steele stand out for me, because the show never patronized Laura because she was a woman. Characters on the show did it all the time, including her family, and Steele, certainly, but never the show itself. If anything, the message came across quite firmly that the characters were wrong, and showed a lot of her frustration for having to deal with it.
Somehow, I think TV shows (at least the ones I watch) handle female characters better than movies these days. A lot of movies I just turn off after 15 minutes because I can't bear the characterization of the women (straight romantic comedies in particular, but really all kinds of movies). There's something about them that I've never been able to articulate, but I know it when I see it, and it's there in all the tiny little details, and it just makes me wanna scream.
Yeah, fucking baby steps, alright. But SO SCARY when I had it driven home that it wasn't just that the media was behind in the 80s, the 80s were *like* that. A mere 20 years ago. So while there are so many things wrong still, there are a lot of things that have changed in 20 years...
(Remington Steele claim they were trailblazers in the concept of having comedy in hour-long shows, as well as having strong female characters, and if it's true I will forever be grateful to them for that... god, how boring TV would be if there were only hour-dramas, and half-hour-sitcoms... gah!)