Hollywood on Netflix discussion. Thread Deux

Previous thread

I noticed they went out of their way to make sure the lead character never had to do anything gay.

Yes I was surprised they made sure to keep the "straight-cred" of David Corenswet's character intact. I guess trying to make sure it isn't too gay and appeals to a wider audience.

Yet I can't see their being a wide audience for watching Patti LuPone get eaten out

Some posters have argued that some others are nitpicking and not remembering that this is a "what if?" fantasy. Even keeping this in mind the inconsistencies within the fantasy universe were a sign of lazy, unintelligent writing.

For instance, the script acknowledges that people of color were discriminated against and that racism existed, but then chooses to ignore the numerous, horrible ways in which they were demeaned, humiliated and treated as second class citizens on a regular basis. It pretends that a black ingenue would have been allowed to eat in the same commissary as her white counterparts and that a gay black man could have had a drink with a white man in a bar without any problems or eyebrows being raised.

So it essentially reduces the virulent racism of the time to a more benign and covert 21st century version where black people may not have been cast as leads in a big production but were otherwise free. The same with the treatment of gay people.

I don't think the comparison with the Tarantino film quite works because even the "what if?" ending of OUATIH fits consistently within the universe that film created.

Hollywood, on the other hand, played like a version of "The Help", which is more concerned with making straight, white audiences feel comfortable and not experience any guilt over how they have benefitted all along from a fundamentally unequal society. It chooses to gloss over the fact that a majority of America was racist and homophobic and pretends instead that it was just a few rotten apples, allowing their straight white viewers to identify with the liberal voices and reassure themselves that all America needed was a few decent white people to do the right thing.

I guess Murphy doesn't see the irony in creating an ending where gay people are excepted and actually get a film made about them but yet straight wash the whole Scotty Bowers/Gas station story as a place primarily for straight women.

[quote]I noticed they went out of their way to make sure the lead character never had to do anything gay.

Yes, because it was so believable that the Scotty Bowers male prostitute ring's customers were mainly straight women.

you guys complaining about bad acting, well, they are young immature actors, I think they are doing a great job!

[quote] chooses to ignore the numerous, horrible ways in which they were demeaned, humiliated and treated as second class citizens on a regular basis.

the director telling camille to camp it up despite opposition is an example where black actors are demeaned

I loved Jeremy Pope, he was the standout for me.

& as for Hollywood - it would have been nice if things were different then. It would be nice if their stars weren't still forced to stay in the closet now.

Sorry but, "young immature actors" are okay for regional theatre butnot in a multi million dollar TV Show,

indeed

R10: At least we have a few out actors like Matt Bomer and Ian McKellen. Things have improved but it won't 100% right anytime soon. Any kind of change in Hollywood is incremental.

The trailer seemed to be all about sex. So the absence of butts in this was really surprising.

That's true, R13 . The hypocrisy of Hollywood just rubs me the wrong way but there definitely are some success stories and let's hope it continues!

[quote]Sorry but, "young immature actors" are okay for regional theatre

golly, you're dumb. the actors are PORTRAYING young immature actors, especially the rock hudson one. naturally he's stiff and uncomfortable, because that is how the character is written.

I'm three episodes in and on the fence.

The cinematography, costumes, and art direction are gorgeous. The story is a mess. It's SMASH but in the 40's and with racism and homophobia.

I don't care who gets the leads because the actors playing them - all four - lack charisma. There's no there, there. And that's just the beginning of all the miscasting.

Lupone, an Italian woman, is supposed to be playing a Jewish woman because...she has a prominent nose? Are we not supposed to find that offensive? Were there no Jewish actresses available?

Holland Taylor is pushing 80. Nobody her age or event someone in their 70's or even 60's would have that job in the 1940'S. Getting cast in Ryan Murphy projects must be a perk of being Sarah Paulson's girlfriend, I guess.

Jim Parson's character is unlikeable to the point I fast forward through his dialogue. In the hands of another actor, the character might have come off more charming and cunning, but Parson's odd looks only make the character that much more predatory and gross.

Jeremy Pope is fantastic.

What's with the obsession with Darren Criss being half-Asian? Like, he just came off ACS: Versace where his Philipino heritage was made a big deal. Why are we doing this again other than Murphy likes to prove how woke he is. I think Criss is doing adequate here, but the material is weak. Versace was meatier and there were more layers to the character.

The only real high light for me so far is Dylan McDermott. This is the first thing I've liked him in since The Practice.

All in all, this is just Ryan Murphy doing what he does: taking good material and ruining it by insisting upon writing characters for and casting his friends.

[quote]you guys complaining about bad acting, well, they are young immature actors, I think they are doing a great job!

I've seen many actual child actors who can act rings around some of these young adults.

[quote]What's with the obsession with Darren Criss being half-Asian? Like, he just came off ACS: Versace where his Philipino heritage was made a big deal. Why are we doing this again other than Murphy likes to prove how woke he is.

I think his half-Filipino heritage actually works with this story. It's one of the reasons why he feels the connection to Anna May Wong's story. He is a man who gets to be accepted because he is not a visible minority and it pulls at him at how his girlfriend and Wong and even Archie do not get the same opportunities he gets because he's "passing". That's my take on it.

he's as convincingly half-asian as much as donald trump is

[quote]I've seen many actual child actors who can act rings around some of these young adults.

not the point, cunny, the point is that they are SUPPOSED to be green, holy fuck, the idiocy on the DL confusing the role with the actual person is beyond belief

Yeah one of the main things Ryan Murphy wanted to do was give a happy ending to Anna May Wong. Of course it makes sense to write in the fact that Darren Criss is half asian and that is why his character seeks her out.

[Quote]he's as convincingly half-asian as much as donald trump is

Uh, lots of hapas look like Darren Criss. I mean once you know he is half Filipino you can see it.

I know the three kids of a filipino and white, the oldest is 21, the youngest 14, NONE of them have that coloring. all are handsome, but none look like that.

[quote] the actors are PORTRAYING young immature actors, especially the rock hudson one. naturally he's stiff and uncomfortable, because that is how the character is written.

The character of Rock Hudson should not have been written as retarded, too; yet that is how the actor portrays him.

[quote] I know the three kids of a filipino and white, the oldest is 21, the youngest 14, NONE of them have that coloring. all are handsome, but none look like that.

I have seven cousins on my mom's side who are half-Filipino, half of European extraction. (My uncle married a Filipina immigrant to California--and they are Catholic and had a lot of children.)

Three are very dark haired and dark skinned, and could pass as full Filipino. Two are very fair and half blond hair, and you would never know from looking at them they have a Filipina mother. Two are like Darrin Criss: they have dark hair but olive skin, but do not look very Asian at all, and could pass as Italian or Greek or Spaniard.

r24, rock hudson was notoriously charming but daft, the shoe seems to fit in this case

[quote]not the point, cunny, the point is that they are SUPPOSED to be green, holy fuck, the idiocy on the DL confusing the role with the actual person is beyond belief

You are too stupid to live.

People are complaining about their bad acting (when their characters aren't acting), not how "green" they are.

[quote]Yeah one of the main things Ryan Murphy wanted to do was give a happy ending to Anna May Wong. Of course it makes sense to write in the fact that Darren Criss is half asian and that is why his character seeks her out.

More likely sequence: Criss wanted a role for himself (allegedly he gave the initial idea), and then Murphy thought of Anna May Wong and fit in a white passing Criss character.

Some of the cast will be on tonight's STARS IN THE HOUSE with Rudetsky and James Wesley.

Joining Stars In The House tonight will be David Corenswet (who plays Jack Costello), Darren Criss (Raymond Ainsley), Laura Harrier (Camille Washington), Joe Mantello (Dick Samuels), Dylan McDermott (Ernie West), Jeremy Pope (Archie Coleman), Mira Sorvino (Jeanne Crandall), Holland Taylor (Ellen Kincaid) and Samara Weaving (Claire Wood). The cast is expected to share behind-the-scenes stories and answer viewer questions in real time.

You know this show was written by a tranny, right?

[quote]Lupone, an Italian woman, is supposed to be playing a Jewish woman because...she has a prominent nose? Are we not supposed to find that offensive? Were there no Jewish actresses available?

That statement is an affront to all actresses and actors everywhere, as well as to any creative person. You have no right and no business telling artists what they can and cannot create. Your statement is an outrage.

R30 Before or afternoon bottom surgery?

Have they already started shooting the next season of Pose?

[quote]Lupone, an Italian woman, is supposed to be playing a Jewish woman because.

Why the hell not? Jewish actresses have played Italians.

From what episode is OP's still from?

I agree r26.

People seem offended that they portrayed Rock as not that smart, but I'd say that is probably pretty accurate.

And if you have seen interviews with Jake Picking....I think every character he portrays will come off a little dumb.

[quote]From what episode is OP's still from?

Episode 3. The one with the party at George Cuckor's.

Absolutely hated the revisionist history. By righting all the racist, sexist, and homophobic wrongs (and in conveniently quick and easy ways) it insults the real struggles of those marginalized groups. All those problems solved! In 1948! So I guess none of those issues were a problem in the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, the 2000's, etc. Hollywood is said to be Season 1. What are they going to do with the other seasons, when everything is a breeze! By the time they get to Season 7, Harvey Weinstein will be depicted as a slim, attractive, woke feminist, and will be played, of course, by Darren Criss.

Thanks #37.

R34 Newsflash, LuPone wasn’t Argentinian either.

[quote] Before or afternoon bottom surgery?

I take my trannies in the afternoon before tea!

Jake Picking belongs on Sean Cody.

Who can decipher this?

[Quote]EDGE: What are your feelings on straight actors playing gay roles or should gay roles be reserved for gay actors?

[Quote]Jake Picking: I think that is 100% fair. I admire when anyone wants to broaden their horizon as an artist, but I think overall the battle for equal representation and opportunities for people of color, women and members of the LGBTQ community is still being waged today. I think there are so many qualities that make up a human being and to judge them for who they are is wrong.

[quote] ¡Lupone, an Italian woman, is supposed to be playing a Jewish woman because.

I know LuPone's Catholic, but Italian and Jewish aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. There are Italian Jews and surely you know that.

He purposely avoids talking about his own sexuality in r43.

[quote] Who can decipher this?

EDGE: What are your feelings on straight actors playing gay roles or should gay roles be reserved for gay actors?

Jake Picking: I want to be thought of as a nice person, but I have nothing substantive to say because I am not very intelligent. I have a very good body, however. Wouldn't you agree?

Murphy cast his fave boys lil Darren Criss (Versace) and big David Corenswet (The Politician). Who's the top?

R42 Cock Hudson

Rock Hudson's room mate/ BF was Bob Preble. Bob was not as tan as portrayed in the series.

Jake Picking as Rock Hudson. Reminds one why the real Hudson was a movie star.

^ Yowza!

Pretty much in the tradition of Inglorious Bastards school of pseudo history. Murphy's 1948 Hollywood can only exist in 2020. If you accept that it is meant to be a fairy tale, it's entertaining in a The Lot meets Glee sorta way. Great production values and set design. Lots of male eye candy. Even if George Cukor's soirees were not proto White Parties. Lots of boy eye candy and the occasional dick flash. Me likey.

Interesting to see how the cast compares to the originals. The actor playing Rock Hudson should have been taller.

Criss is miscast as the hetero director. The little queen does not have the stature to pull off the period's clothes. He always looks like a twelve year old in daddy's overcoat. In his "passionate" bedroom scenes with Laura Harrier he looks more interested in her lingerie then her.

Jake is in the Top Gun sequel, "Maverick". He got a Cruise cake. I wonder if Cruise got a shot at Picking's cakes.

“I just want to work with great people,” Picking admitted, citing Cruise as an example. The acclaimed actor is known for sending a white chocolate coconut cake to his co-stars across Hollywood, and Picking was lucky enough to be one of them this past December. “I call it a Cruise cake,” he laughed. “He's so old school. He has that mentality where work ethic is above everything. He really is a consummate professional.”

Didn't David Corenswet ( what a moniker) play gay in Murphy's Politician? Are they fucking?

"He really is a consummated professional.” fixed it.

Anachronistic by design. Gleesque sans the bad musical numbers. Patti LuPone is fab as is Holland Taylor as expected are . Emmy bait. The weak link of course is lil Darren ( not gay adjacent but full on gay) Criss. How anyone could think this teeny tiny queen could carry a lead is beyond me. Jim Parson kills as the viperous Henry Willson. The male ingenue David Cornswet is dreamy. Have found it quite the quarantine breaker.

R38 Reminder before all the eldergays clutch their pearls and shouting Blasphemy! This not a documentary it is a Ryan Murphy FAIRY TALE. Appreciate it for the world he creates. Oz was not Kansas. Phoneywood has always been a fantasy.

His character was bisexual on the Politician r56. Ben Platt got to kiss him.

Bring back the faux USC football players. We need to make two or three of them breakout stars!

Anna Mae Long Wong

In just one shot that had an actress playing Rosalind Russell at the Academy Awards, and she looked just like her.

I’m four episodes in and I keep comparing it to a Jackie Collins novel. It would have been campy fun if the writers stopped trying to turn it into a “very special episode”. They just keep hammering you over the head with the message in all those monologues. The young actors seem to be in 2020 while the older actors are in the 40s. I wish it had decided what it wanted to be and then committed 100%.

Anyone else think some of Patti’s line deliveries were....strange. The line comes out in a shotgun cadence - dun dun dun dun dun rather than having any emotion behind it. Overall though shes enjoyable. When she’s getting smashed from behind on the stairs I was thinking about her two new hips and how they’re holding up!

Every scene is I GOTTA BE ME.. you're just waiting for Hatie MacDaniel to burst into cheesy Glee number.

My mouth fell to the floor with Anna Mae Long Wong!

That should have been more of a story line. Imagine Rob Reiner's reaction as Ace!

Id watch it but I know better than to expect good filmmaking. I like Ryan Murphy for his subject choices and his sensibility. I'm a fan. Id fuck him.

Murphy is not a director, he's a set decorator. That's why everything he makes is so sterile and only artificially human (like an aspies attempting to act human). That's why he completely missed the landing on movies that needed a more humanistic touch, like Running with Scissors, Eat, Pray, Love and The Normal Heart.

So what are they trying to say by showing that every actor in the Meg cast is sleeping with someone in production...?

Why do I have the feeling Ryan Murphy forced them to do another take of this video but only in their underwear? It’s in his personal safe somewhere.

Patti playing Jewish. I don’t see the problem. Interesting to see if R17 has something to say about this.

I love the whole flipping the script nature of the show. The no-nonsense studio CEO with a bleeding heart of gold. The pimp with a heart of gold. The Rock Hudson himbo with a heart of gold. The ambitious daughter and wife of the studio owner ... with their hearts of gold. The aging divas with their heart of gold. The romantic lead WITH A HEART OF GOLD! It's like Oprah handed out golden hearts to everybody before filming.

I think in this daunting times of the coronavirus this feel-good show is the right medicine.

Ryan Murphy has acted just as bad as Rock Hudson's agent at different time. Just Ask.

Well it's trending #3 in the US currently, so Murphy must be doing something right.

To me it was a C+/B- show. The dialogue is cringe, but once you remind yourself it's wish fulfillment it makes it easier to enjoy it for what it is.

I couldn't of been the only one hoping for a de-aged Jessica Lange or Susan Sarandon cameo.

I wouldnt consider that impressive r74. It is the new show, it should be at #1.

David looks hot in quarantine

stubble and dimples

R75 Also because of its “wokeness” it has gotten the most media attention and most social-media “buzz” and yet still it is behind the Dangerous Lies movie and Outerbanks series. I expect it to drop like a rock since people find it mediocre and are giving up halfway.

R68 Nailed it. Murphy is not a director, he's a set decorator

You queens have no taste, it was terrible. Sometimes Ryan Murphy does well, Feud: Bette & Joan and Versace were both excellent. But this was a mess. The tone was all over the map. Lots of sloppy scenes. Consistently absurd, and not in a fun, campy way. No depth just faux depth. Everything glossed over. Why use famous players names when they are so incorrectly presented? Not clever like Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Just a train wreck. I wanted to like it, but was disappointed every time. They even fucked up the Scotty Bowers angle. That could have been fascinating all by itself. Instead they just used it as a vague reference, making it cutesy and mainly hetero. So much wasted.

R73 Suck my cock now you stupid Canadian hick!

^^^ Did Ryan do his dance of the seven veils for Cory?

R80 Feud was mediocre but when the actors are good it can make something Mediocre ,watchable. These actors all suck ass!

[Quote]You queens have no taste, it was terrible.

Are you illiterate? Most posters here have been dissing it.

R73 Ryan does not get sucked he does the sucking!! He is a total cock whore!

Watching it now. 3 or 4 episodes in. It’s trash, and kind of sad. Will watch it all.

^ It gets goofier as it goes along.

I bet this is doing great numbers. I've seen so many people watching and talking about it. Miss Murphy might have a hit on her hands.

Cast on live. What's with the Clark Kent glasses?

bad dialogue and actors not good enough to shine that shit

David Corenswet played gay in Murphy's Politician. He's so dreamy!

He's Henry Cavill before the booze, steroids and closet.

His character was more bisexual than gay R91

Loved it. Perfect feel-good entertainment. I want to live in that parallel universe where these things happened.

Loved it. Perfect feel-good entertainment. I want to live in that parallel universe where these things happened.

Corenswet is one tall drink of water.

Corenswet really should just do porn. He has the acting skills.

And they lived happily ever after.

Chorus Boys

[quote]I bet this is doing great numbers. I've seen so many people watching and talking about it. Miss Murphy might have a hit on her hands.

Everything does "well" the first week on Netflix because the series is new and new shows get promoted more.

But it's No. 3 and not No. 1 behind a thriller "Dangerous Lies" and tv series "Outer banks" made by people who aren't near Murphy's supposed caliber and both of which have been out longer than "Hollywood."

It should not be at No. 3 already.

Need to see the other pix from the photo shoot at r92

Pope just has no sex appeal whatsoever.

[quote] I guess Murphy doesn't see the irony in creating an ending where gay people are excepted and actually get a film made about them but yet straight wash the whole Scotty Bowers/Gas station story as a place primarily for straight women.

I think he does and as I've said before in the other thread, it goes together with the fact Murphy knows most of his actors are gay or bisexual and in the closet and yet he has the nerve to write a preachy story about people being themselves. It's typical delusional Hollywood hypocritical double standard. Do as I say not as I do type of thing.

That said I did enjoy it for the stupid fantasy that it was. I'm no old queen obsessed with old Hollywood as many here are, so I might be easily satisfied. I do take issue with their choosing of a straight man's point of view to tell this story, even more annoying when he's excusing himself all the time from having male sex when in reality even for todays standards, the straightest bro would have sex with men to advance his career.

R102 He can play Gary Coleman in his biopic.

a delightful romp. I really loved it. I loved the casting and found the story breezy and light.

very enjoyable

If you really have stories about Ryan Murphy and the Glee set to share then what are you waiting on r73?

We need entertainment!

He was miscast R102 - I agree 100%. He has some rabid stan or two here on DL, so expect to get bitched out LOL!

Pope had the corniest performance, Harrier was like watching a sleepy valley girl and the Rock Hudson casting/portrayal was an insult. And don’t get me started on Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel. What a waste of time.

Vivien Leigh, one of the most beautiful actresses of Hollywood's golden age, was portrayed as a brainless and classless ditz.

Rock Hudson was basically mentally retarded in all seven episodes.

Is this thread about Hollywood or self loathing?

Murphy has a very generic youthful taste in men/leading men. He gets pretty young things that look like boys compared to their Golden Age counterparts whether they were successful or not. They're like caricatures of those actors.

Rock might have been a bit dim, but he wasn't the mouth breathing bumpkin that Picking portrayed. I think Rock also had more natural acting ability. Maybe he wasn't that experienced when he started out, but this portrayal made him seem like he went to the Jack McFarland or Joey Tribiani school of acting, which wasn't the case.

Pitty the bedroom menage between Tallullah Bankhead, Hatie McDaniel and a hunky gas station attendant was cut. Now that would be entertainment.

The guy playing Hudson looked like he was hit between the eyes with a Rock. The slimy manager played by the Big Bang guy was great.

Presumably if the show continued we would see Rock morph into the movie star he becomes, but this is supposed to be a take on where he was in 1947/1948 r113.

Rock was put under contract in the 40s and only trusted with minor roles for years, it wasn't til 1952 that he started impressing people to get cast in major roles. And he needed a lot of takes in those early movies.

He wasn't some overnight success, he had to work at it.

I don't doubt he had to work at it, R116, but I think he had a bit more natural charm and spark that probably carried him.

Rock had great onscreen charisma

The real Rock is about 1000 times better than the actor playing him in Hollywood. Sheesh.

R119 it’s an insult to cast such an untalented fug to play Rock.

It's hard to cast unknowns as famous beauties, but surely they could have got a better Noel Coward impersonator? He was no beauty and so incredibly mannered it would be no challenge to play him convincingly. He and Vivien Leigh were terrible.

Tallulah was pretty awful too. It was practically drag.

^^^ I invented drag dahling!

Murphy manages to deliver what a great deal of the mainstream likes. And he does that by employing gays / members of the LGBTQ Community and having gay and LGBTQ content in his projects. Of course, the haters and trolls hate that.

"It's shit, I / WE deserve better"? It's easy to post that. Coming up with better options and alternatives, sharing and promoting them, is a lot harder.

R124 Hate bad acting. Hate amateurish direction. Hate inane plots.

Just because we're a gay site doesn't mean we have to like a mediocre gay product.

[quote] But it's No. 3 and not No. 1 behind a thriller "Dangerous Lies" and tv series "Outer banks" made by people who aren't near Murphy's supposed caliber and both of which have been out longer than "Hollywood."

And how much gay content is in Dangerous Lies and Outer Banks? Would you be happier if Hollywood had cut all the "nasty" gay stuff and had so much mainstream appeal that it got to no.1? Or just throw in some vague "better production value" whatever that means?

[quote] Murphy manages to deliver what a great deal of the mainstream likes. And he does that by employing gays / members of the LGBTQ Community and having gay and LGBTQ content in his projects. Of course, the haters and trolls hate that.

Which begs the question. Why hasn't Murphy written a show where gays are the protagonists? All his shows have straights as protagonists. How hard could it be to make Hudson the protagonist or even the black writer? Why must we have some boring straight actor instead?

I know he reads here so Ryan write a fucking show where a gay man is the protagonist, don't be a coward.

R124 Hating terrible Murphy shows does not make one a “hater or troll” you stupid fucking cunt!

[quote] Which begs the question. Why hasn't Murphy written a show where gays are the protagonists? All his shows have straights as protagonists.

I wouldn't call the protagonist in POSE straight. The protagonist in AHS: Asylum was lesbian (Sarah Paulson as Lana Winters). But I imagine with gay you meant a gay male lead character which I think should happen in the not too distant future.

In AHS: Cult Sarah Paulson's protagonist character is lesbian, too.

The protagonists in Pose are the trans straight women. The gays are secondary characters.

I find the portrayals of Rock Hudson and Vivien Leigh downright offensive. The writing is absolutely cringeworthy. The only saving grace in this mess of a show are the performances from pros like Joe Mantello and Patti Lupone who somehow manage to rise above the extremely poor material. David Corenswet is very pretty but not much of an actor. The revisionist history is kind of infuriating because it isn't well done.

I managed two episodes before giving up. Someone post a link to the dicks that were shown, that is all I want from this fucking mess.

[quote]Hating terrible Murphy shows does not make one a “hater or troll” you stupid fucking cunt!

Perhaps not, but calling someone a "stupid fucking cunt" does.

Someone do as r134 asks and let him get back to his PhD thesis.

[quote] Would you be happier if Hollywood had cut all the "nasty" gay stuff and had so much mainstream appeal that it got to no.1?

I see projection doesn't just happen in picture show anymore R127.

The reason why the show is getting torn apart is that is just wasn't good. Critics were indifferent or disliked it. The people here are all over the place.

The reason why Ryan Murphy can put up shitty shows is because of people like you who will take ANYTHING he gives you.

It's not even a favorite series out of all the shows of his own he has produced.

[quote]Or just throw in some vague "better production value" whatever that means?

"Whatever that means?" Don't be so obtuse you BORE me.

[quote]The people here are all over the place.

As opposed to most of the time when the Datalounge is in complete agreement on any particular subject?

Why not, R137? You just bored all of us.

Did I follow this correctly ? So Jack is so disgusted that he would have to have sex with a man that he rents a police uniform goes into a secret gay theatre to find a gay guy to do that stuff for him ? The whole station was taken to the party so the other guys were already doing men so this makes no sense. Was nice seeing porn star Scott Riley there.

Yes, the speculative history in a Hollywood does not hold up well, especially coming right on the heels of The Plot Against America and the finish of Man in the High Tower, which both did a great job of establishing the world we knew from history and conditions which made it different.

R124 - I assume with Picking, we're talking about a straight actor. And seriously, just because it's made by a gay guy with gay content and starring gay people, we're supposed to just sit back, shut up and enjoy our pablum? GTFO.

[quote] The reason why Ryan Murphy can put up shitty shows is because of people like you who will take ANYTHING he gives you.

And he gets under haters' skins like yourself who simply have to watch and comment on his shows which they hate so much.

[quote] ...Hollywood does not hold up well, especially coming right on the heels of The Plot Against America and the finish of Man in the High Tower....

Comparing HOLLYWOOD to those two films is like comparing "The Diary of Anne Frank" with "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks," just because they both have children in them.

I always wonder if the trolls and haters really think that they convince anyone to no longer watch a show, or discuss it on a board like DL? Like, do they really think they have that kind of power?

No, r145, it’s just that bad work pisses us off. And bad PC-minded work is particularly disappointing and borderline offensive.

[quote] It pretends that a black ingenue would have been allowed to eat in the same commissary as her white counterparts and that a gay black man could have had a drink with a white man in a bar without any problems or eyebrows being raised.

R5 nails it. Bad sloppy inconsistent writing sinks this. when they have a battle about whether the black actress can enter the Oscars auditorium - but when she gets there, the black writer is already seated in the front row. Was no one paying attention? They’re more than minor inconsistencies; they’re lazy-ass weaknesses that make the whole premise fall apart.

so how much sex and bodies are shown that's what i want to know BEFORE i start watching... any particular episode that has the most?

Versace had Criss ass

[quote] I always wonder if the trolls and haters really think that they convince anyone to no longer watch a show, or discuss it on a board like DL? Like, do they really think they have that kind of power?

Most of them were elected Secretary of their high school's chapter of the International Thespian Society and so, yes, they have long been drunk with power.

R144 Dumb ass! The genre that Hollywood falls into is speculative fiction, unfortunately unlike Plot or High Tower those two TV SERIES had great source material of novels by prominent writers in their fields, Hollywood did not. It had Ryan Murphy who is a great idea man, but is sorely lacking in follow through. This L.A. times articles acknowledges both of those works, just as I did, and also points out Coen brothers’ Hollywood fable films that had like minded ideas, but through satire and farce rather than a melodrama and sentiment. So yeah, world of difference between using a children‘s fantasy and a diary as differences.

[quote]Which begs the question. Why hasn't Murphy written a show where gays are the protagonists? All his shows have straights as protagonists.

He did r128. The New Normal was a show about a gay couple. It got canceled.

And in ACS: Versace pretty much all the lead characters were gay men.

Janet Mock directed most of the episodes, why isn't she on the hot seat? Are people afraid to criticize a tranz?

So this is all about the making of that giant shark movie "MEG"

Ian Brennan was the co-creator and a writer on every episode and his name hasn't been mentioned once r152.

Murphy productions always end up being about Murphy, even though there are other people in the room.

[quote] The New Normal was a show about a gay couple.

Loved that show, but wasn't the surrogate, played by Georgia King, the protagonist of the show? It started with her quest for a new life that David and Bryan could provide for her while carrying their baby to its full term.

R128 R130 Ben Platt in The Politician is a gay male protagonist.

The character is not gay r156, he is presented as bi/pan.

Watched some of it, totally stupid, pass and forget. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for Murphy and we can get some new blood in the game, so tired of these old guys clinging to relevance to the end and way too far past their creative summit. Does nobody tell them when they start to suck?

I loved it, very fruity and silly, a delight

R155 I really liked the New Normal. I loved the affection that the couple showed in just everyday situations, a far cry from what we usually get from gay couples on TV

So how are Vivien Leigh and Tallulah Bankhead shown in this?

They are incidental characters. Window dressing, really. The help set the location and the period. That's all.

Vivien is shown as unstable and eccentric.

bankhead as lusty and vulgar

R161 Vivien is manic 98% of the time and quoting GWTW at a dinner table and Tallulah is hosting parties and is implied to be having threesomes with Hattie McDaniel. Speaking of, Queen Latifah was so one note in this. Terrible casting.

R146 AND allowed to be front row after what happened on the red carpet going in. Just bad all around.

Murphy can be good when he’s focused on a show but my God I can’t take anymore Darren Criss and David Corenswet.

they are cute, what has david corenswet been in?

After watching the show over the weekend, I think Criss should return his Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG awards.

Hattie said she never even met Tallulah

He was in Murphy's The Politician before this r166. Thay was his break out role, then Murphy gave him the lead here.

At least it was better than The Outer Banks. I turned that shit off halfway through the first episode.

R168, and you trust the source of that?

[quote] I think Criss should return his Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG awards.

i think he's cute, what's the big deal?

R148 him getting naked in that is why I was very surprised he didnt in this. I know it's a different project but this one was on Netflix and had other more adult scenes. I wonder if he asked for his stuff to be pg13 or if someone else(Murphy?) insisted.

Is Queen Latifa officially a carpet muncher? Why would Ryan Murphy cast someone so deep in the closet to play a bisexual Mammy? Makes no sense.

Criss comes across as a thirsty attention whore in R89. He hardly let anyone else talk.

An actor who is a thirsty attention whore?

You don't say!

For all the bitching about how bad it is, there seems to be a lot of people watching here on DataLounge. Me thinks you all protest to much, bunch of bitches.

R171 And you trust that she was bi and dating/fucking Tallulah cause it's written somewhere on the internet?

R174 She already played bisexual Bessie Smith

R148 " Versace had Criss ass". So have I . Many times.

[quote]Me thinks you all protest to much, bunch of bitches.

indeed, world pandemic, people stuck inside, pots calling kettles black.

it's a fantasia on hollywood themes. I loved it

I watched Ep 1. I was drawn in by the main character. The actor is gorgeous, but also boy next door, and he gives a good performance as pretty boy who is smart enough to know his assets and weaknesses. Been there, done that!

Jake Picking looks adorable in that video. He seems pretty shy.

If some of you liked it, I'm glad! I wish I had enjoyed it as much. Bad writing sinks the ship for me, though. It's like building a beautiful mansion on top of a shitty foundation. The whole thing is gonna crumble.

Anybody see David Corenswet in The Politician? Gather he played gay .

Struggling actors could do a lot worse than Ryan Murphy if they had to use the casting couch. A far cry from Harvey Weinstein in the looks department.

R184 I expect every production of Ryan Murphy to crumble but I take out my fleeting pleasures. Freud was a disaster but ALSO ejaculated little squirts of pleasure all through the series.

R184 definitely. Writing is number one for me. You can make a nice looking show with decent to great actors but if the words and plot are no more than mediocre most of the time it's hard to really like the show. The dialogue and interesting plots are usually the best things about my favorite shows.

Feud . hahaha Freud

Freud made me cum BUCKETS

[quote]Freud was a disaster but ALSO ejaculated little squirts of pleasure

Pics please.

Was it prolapsed and hairy R180?

Finished watching it. I wrote above that it’s trash but i liked it- mostly the older actors/ storylines. The older actors have the talent to slog through the jackie collins level dialogue. The last episode had me laughing! Oscars! Surprise death! Latifah as Hattie! Was won over by Dylan Mcdermott’s performance.

Joe Mantello's character Dick surprised me with his self loathing struggle in ep.3. Same with Picking in that shirtless scene with Mantello in the gazebo where Rock was supposed to put out for Dick.

I can imagine for a true cynic the show is pretty hard to digest since a great deal of the guys who are perceived as sleazy, backstabbing and ruthless in real life show compassion, vulnerability, and courage.

Love that intro and wonder what a glamorous film noir crime / murder mystery by Ryan Murphy would look like. The shot of Darren Criss and David Corenswet on top of the Hollywood sign is pretty great visually.

I love it

You don't need to be a cynic to think the way this show solves its conflicts is insultingly simple r194.

You just need to expect more sophisticated writing in entertainment for adults than you would find in a Saturday morning cartoon for kids.

R165, I’m just glad that David Corenswet took Finn Wittrock’s spot on Murphy’s casting couch. So sick of Finn. Darren just pisses me off. I don’t know if it jealous or something else, but i can’t stand the fact that he made it after Glee.

r184 and r188 count me in - especially since the period and the style are just begging for great witty dialogue

[quote] Love that intro and wonder what a glamorous film noir crime / murder mystery by Ryan Murphy would look like.

It would be extremely hard for him to do sinc ehe is so awful at building suspense. He would want to reveal the killer in the first fifteen minutes--he always does.

Darren Criss has only "made it" in the sense Ryan Murphy has kept employing him r197. No one else has been interested.

He’s won a crap ton of awards and got a fucking Executive Producer credit on Hollywood.

I like it.

The fake earlobes on ‘Rock’ seem weirdly unnecessary, though.

Criss was set to star on Broadway in April with Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne in American Buffalo. COVID got it pushed back. He also co-starred in Midway last month directed by Roland Emerich. It's fine that you don't like him, but the narrative that Criss can only get work with Murphy is a false one. He's better than the shit writing he's given in this show.

What was the series's most heavy-handed moment?

a) the credit sequence, with the most obvious metaphor ever

b) David Corenswet staring upwards at Ace Amberg's many Oscars as he fucks Patti Lupone up the ass

c) Anna May Wong at the Oscars, isolated from everyone else in the theater while up in a balcony, crying quietly as Luise Rainier accepts her Oscar for "The Good Earth"

d) The little African-American girl in the hovel thrilled to hear Camille win the Oscar over the radio (exactly as Darren Criss predicted)

FREUD on netflix is a ryan murphy production?..i was interested in seeing that and knowing more about freud, but if it's a murphy production i'm not going to get 100% documentation am i?..

It's not really about Freud. It's a fantasy thriller imagining Freud fighting the suopernatural.

[quote]He’s won a crap ton of awards and got a fucking Executive Producer credit on Hollywood.

I won't take away Criss' accomplishments, but David Corenswet and Jim Parsons are also EPs on Hollywood.

I agree with r203. But he’s not my cup of tea. I think I’m jealous that he’s living his dream, because he’s boyfriend material that I wouldn’t kick out of my bed. My aversion has to be due to jealousy. This show is still lame. Happy it was made cause it killed time and look gorgeous, but I prefer darker more cynical television.

Just watched the Stars in the House broadcast and anything mean I said about David I take back. He was stunningly beautiful, charismatic, funny, self deprecating and definitely has star quality in abundance. There was a twinkle of it in the Politician, but this project didn’t serve him well. I hope he finds the right vehicle, perhaps he would be best on stage where he can directly radiant that charm and he is a musical theater geek. He might have good leading man in musical qualities perfect for things like Oklahoma and other classics.

Are you serious r207? Jim Parsons makes sense given the massive success of TBBT. David Corenswet’s sexy ass just hit the scene in Hollywood. Is he a Matt Boomer with a powerful boyfriend pulling string or is he amazing in bed? I’m not familiar with people just handing out producing credits to up and coming stars that aren’t trust fund kids with daddy as a silent investor. I would think that Ryan Murphy could get what David Corenswet is offering from a ton of his other stars. I’m truly shocked he was thrown that credit.

R206, thanks alot for the info... i'll pass on this then..

I find all the praise for Jeremy Pope pretty disingenuous. There was nothing about his performance that said old Hollywood. It had a very anachronistic sensibility. And no, no one would pay 200 dollars in the 40’s for the privilege of sleeping with him.

He would’ve done better on Pose.

[quote] He would’ve done better on Pose.

I think you meant PROSE.

People really used to be able to hold their liquor better than they can now.

R180: All I have to do is keep giving him roles and I keep fucking him.

Now wouldn't that be something if Parson parodied Murphy himself in Hollywood and Murphy lacking the self awareness to notice?

^ Fucking hilarious!

I didn’t realize that Jeremy Pope was the guy who got double nominated for Tonys and was basically doing back to back shows on Broadway. So he must have something, but again I do not think this project served him well. He is going to be on the final season of Pose, they had to stop filming due to the shut down.

I never realized before that Darren Criss had a harelip.

That explains a lot.

Was Rock Hudson really this stupid?

[quote]He's better than the shit writing he's given in this show.

Correction: He's better only when the writing's good / the role is just right.

Nobody was wowed by his episodic turn in AHS Hotel. The verdict was "community theatre" if I remember right.

Why are people thinking Patti was getting fucked up the ass? From behind doesn’t equate to in the behind.

[quote]I won't take away Criss' accomplishments, but David Corenswet and Jim Parsons are also EPs on Hollywood.

Jeremy Pope, not Parsons.

Most actors can be great when the writing is good, but few can elevate bad to mediocre writing. Criss got a "golden ticket" role with Versace which was essentially a 7 episode character study with small appearance by the Versace family. Otherwise hes been given really basic characters with not much to them.

[quote]FREUD on netflix is a ryan murphy production?

No. It's a German / Austrian show.

[quote]An actor who is a thirsty attention whore? You don't say

I guess he out-thirsted the other actor-attention whores in that stream. He did the same on the Glee 'Stars in the House', it's in his MO.

[quote]Jeremy Pope, not Parsons.

No. Parsons.

R227 - yeah, I could see Parsons being an executive producer. He actually DOES have the money, clout and connections to be one.

Executive Producers don't actually produce, R228.

It's just a way to entice talent to a project.

[quote]Criss got a "golden ticket" role with Versace which was essentially a 7 episode character study with small appearance by the Versace family.

Criss was good playing a mincing prostitute, but he lost me when he had to show deep emotions.

There was a scene where he had a meltdown in a car in a parking garage -- and I had NO IDEA what he was going for. Was he angry? Was he sad? There was no way to tell from his "acting."

Where was Leah Michelle???? She should have played Patti Lupone's daughter. The blonde shiksa cast in the role looks NOTHING like a Rob Reiner and Patti Lupone offspring. That is fantasy writing alright.

Jeremy Pope is decent looking, but I did not understand at all why Ernie (Dylan McDermott) went into a swooning fit when he saw him in the uniform. He's attractive, but he's not all that.

Do any of Ryan Murphy's young stable of actors ever get much work for other prestigious projects? I'm surprised Cody Fern hasn't since so far he's been the best actor among them, but he seems to only work for Murphy. Maybe it's because he's so weird in his personal life. The other one who I thought was terrific is Evan Peters, but he cannot seem to get arrested aside from his work for Murphy.

It was weird writing r232, honestly unfair to Jereemy Pope. He is a perfectly fine looking guy, but he doesn't have the type of looks that would justify a scene like that. And it was a completely unnecessary moment.

The blonde shiksa is Samara Weaving. Her uncle is Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, V is for Vendetta). The Weavings are a showbiz family from Australia. Samara's father, Simon Weaving, is a film producer. She has the connections and the talent. She's great in the campy slasher Netflix movie The Babysitter.

[quote] Her uncle is Hugo Weaving

Well, that explains why she's so strange looking.

Reminder before r59 keeps pretending NOTHING has to make sense in HOLLYWOOD:

Nobody has to like your fantasy. Fantasies don’t get immunity from review.

Appreciate fantasy and Murphy for what they are: subject to public review.

And plenty of directors like Tarantino do fantasy better than Murphy or HOLLYWOOD.

Corenswet and Picking should both be on Sean Cody.

In a scene together.

I just finished Episode 4 (I think it was 4?) where they screen the auditions and then Eleanor Roosevelt intervenes, etc etc. When we saw Lupone's daughter audition she was spectacular, yet the screen test they showed Lupone was shitty. What was up with that?

No, r124.

We do NOT have to accept whatever Ryan Murphy glitter-farts at us.

Why do you think you have the power to overturn the consensus of Dataloungers and pro critics alike, r145?

She wasn’t responsible for the scripts, R152.

The producer calls all the shots, R154!

Murphy decides the concept, tone and design of the show. He approved all the scripts.

If he let Brennan or Mock come up with all these shitty ideas and run amok, then he’s still to blame!

Vivian Vance

R145, and you think you have the power to make people watch Hollywood because you personally christened it as great?

R194 would like some of Todd Haynes’ films. He’s gay and involves gay characters, but with much more sophistication.

Producers have to provide parity, r210.

If Murphy is giving producer credit to Criss and Parsons, when they’re not even the main character like Corenswet, it would be bad. Unless Parsons and Criss were contributing money or something to the show.

Guys, the Versace CRIME STORY was a true story written by a great talent who is not Ryan Murphy.

There’s a reason Murphy is always ransacking true stories and historical figures for his shows: they accomplished something original and interesting, whereas Ryan Murphy cannot.

Wasn’t Peters an X-Man, R233?

[quote] Lupone, an Italian woman, is supposed to be playing a Jewish woman because...she has a prominent nose? Are we not supposed to find that offensive?

What’s offensive? LuPone has an ethnic look, & she’s perfectly fine as a Jew. She’s terrific in the part, too.

R248 Facts! Murphy does seimi decent work when everything is already written for him. When Muprhy has to come up with something original it is a complete fucking mess. He comes up with semi interesting ideas but does not know how to properly execute them. He is fucking over-rated and overpaid . Hopefully after a string of flops he will go away for good because a gay man with actual talent needs to take his place!

R212 Pope can definitely play a drag queen/ crossdresser he has the face of one.

R251, I hope you don't get run over by a semi.

People who watch reality tv get really upset about actors acting and fail to understand the concept.

The ending was corny, but I think we can all use a happy ending right now.

[quote]Unless Parsons and Criss were contributing money or something to the show

Criss allegedly talked with Ryan Murphy about old Hollywood at one of their dinners. I guess that makes him an 'idea originator' of sorts, at least that's what they both made sure to tell interviewers. Corenswet and Parsons haven't regaled the media yet.

Typically actors get EP or P credit when they're the lead on a long running show, and give input into the character or storylines, and get pay bump. For example, Claire Danes was producer, then co-EP, and finally EP on Homeland.

With other actors, it's more a vanity title, coming with money money and cachet.

I finished and for me it all fell apart in the last 2 episodes. It became a collaboration between Jackie Collins and a Tumblr SJW fanfic writer. 2/5 for me. Fun and ‘right up my alley’ in terms of subject manner and having some of my favorite actors playing the older characters but the writing was poor and some of the young actors very bad especially the young lady playing Patti’s daughter and the lead who didn’t ever display the charisma and charm he should have.

Society's problems solved! In 1948! All gays, blacks and women win awards! Yeah for us! And everyone has a heart of gold! I'm cumming!

Samara Weaving torpedoed Frankie Shaw’s career and got her show shitcanned. Weaving agreed to nudity and then backed out on the shooting day and accused Shaw of underhandedly coercing her to do what she’d already agreed to do. Australian Monsters.

The lead is written as a loser for many episodes so....

R257, I liked it. We live in an ongoing nightmare. Things are only getting much much worse, fuck you that I like a bit of escapism.

[quote]and fail to understand the concept.

Oh boy

This show is a hit. it's #3 on Netflix. Sorry guys. People love this show.

it's silly and ridiculous, but a delightful spree

Poor cunt at R262 does not seem to know how the netflix top ten rankings work. It’s the newest release in the past week lol not making the top 3 would make it the biggest bomb ever.

Netflis paying Ryan Murphy 300 million and right now this show is getting beat by freakin "Outerbanks" which has already been out a couple weeks.

Winning!

R258 I knew I recognized her from somewhere! SMILF was great.

It's perfect, it's beautiful, it looks like Linda Evangelista, it's a model! Everything about it is perfect!

So if this show is all about “What if Classic Hollywood was woke?” then why didn’t the Anna Mae Wong character get cast in The Good Earth? I’m not watching that shit to find out but I’m curious.

That's what puzzled me before I saw it, r268.

The idea of the show is that Hollywood ONLY becomes woke finally in 1947 through the good intentions of a group of hard-working, good-looking kids who want to put on a show, and also because at the same time Eleanor Roosevelt (the deus ex machina) says some inspiring things to Patti Lupone's, Holland Taylor's, and Joe Mantello's characters. People are just waiting to be tolerant and pro-minority in 1947, and that's all it took.

Except... that in this parallel universe, even before the big wokeness change occurs, African-Americans are called "blacks" in 1947 (not "coloreds" or "Negroes" or worse), Asians are called "Asians" (not "Orientals" or worse), and black men are instantly welcome to join otherwise all-white male bordellos: none of which would have been true in the actual Hollywood of 1947.

It's more about Classic Hollywood *becoming* woke, R268.

And VERY quickly and easily.

R269 So did Scotty only have an all white stable of man meat to service his clients? It sounds like he was businessman enough to cater to all kinds of kink and desires?

The photos of some of the actual guys are all white. But it was the 40's for Pete's sake. A very segregated time.

Everyone deserves a seat at the table of Hollywood, so to speak. But there’s a really creepy thing happening in too many shows to count where “white” dudes and women are depicted as awful human beings. To me, this is as reductionist and racist as what used to be done to certain minorities. This isn’t progress. It’s a new kind of racism that will hurt people anew. And lead to more problems.

[quote] When we saw Lupone's daughter audition she was spectacular, yet the screen test they showed Lupone was shitty. What was up with that?

She deliberately threw the audition (not doing the emotional crying part that was required in the end), because she wanted Camille to get the role. A few moments before she gave Camille the stuff that could make her cry on cue. She felt sorry for Camille all of a sudden and wanted to do something nice for her.

[quote] When we saw Lupone's daughter audition she was spectacular, yet the screen test they showed Lupone was shitty. What was up with that?

She deliberately threw the audition (not doing the emotional crying part that was required in the end), because she wanted Camille to get the role. A few moments before she gave Camille the stuff that could make her cry on cue. She felt sorry for Camille all of a sudden and wanted to do something nice for her.

I forgot which poster but someone said Cody Fern could act. He is the absolute worst of the Murphy stable, like watching paint dry.

[quote] We do NOT have to accept whatever Ryan Murphy glitter-farts at us.

[quote] Why do you think you have the power to overturn the consensus of Dataloungers and pro critics alike,

That's quite interesting. When it's YOUR opinion it's WE as in many others that can back you up. When it's about my opposing opinion it's a single one nobody apparently shares and therefore has no apparent power to do anything at all.

Are you really that insecure on an anonymous message board? That's just sad. Even Parsons' Henry Wilson would go "Yikes! Even I am not that pathetic!".

r274. It's about showing that upholding the so-called white privilege status quo prevents great and nice things from happening.

Depending on how one frames a topic, condition, discussion, news report, etc you see on which side he is.

Change can be either good or it can be bad. For example gay marriage can be good or it can lead to people marrying their pets (oh, no!) . Gays in the military can be good or it can make straight people in the military uncomfortable (think about the poor straight guys having to fight and make sure the gays don't check out their asses during combat!). Sure, racism is bad, but when we give racial minorities some power they get uppity and think we are equal! We can't have that, can we?

I thought it was quite interesting that the incredibly sexy hetero lead was left by his wife because he couldn't provide and satisfy her, and she got pregnant by a schmuck with a family business attached to him.

FREUD by Ryan Murphy.

Sigmund Freud, played by hot stud du jour, shirtless (duh!) sitting in couch chair talking to a patient: Now, tell me. What's your relationship with your dad (no, not father, DAD!)? Did he teach you how to shave? How ... (leaning forward) ... to wash your genitals?

Sorry, r262. People find HOLLYWOOD problematic.

As more critics weigh in, it’s dropped to 58% on Rottentomatoes and it’s holding an abysmal 55% on Metacritic.

No Emmys for this one! That’s got to devastate Murphy and Co., because awards and glamour are what they live for.

I do not recall any blacks in the pictures of Scotty and his gas station co-workers in the FULL SERVICE documentary, R272.

I doubt Scotty was racist. But most of his clients probably were. And Scotty recruited a lot of the hustlers from his buddies in the Navy — which was segregated in WWII.

That’s not what my words mean at all, r278.

You can accept as much glitter as Murphy farts into your mouth as you like, without changing “our” consensus, which was hypothetical and not even HOLLYWOOD-dependent.

Logic is not your strong suit, is it? Or is that okay because you’re just fantasy?

Obvious Troll @ r279 is obvious.

F&F

[quote] That’s not what my words mean at all,

[quote]Or is that okay because you’re just fantasy?

Yes r284, R278 is just a fantasy created by the collective zeitgeist of the Datalounge to vex you.

I get what the series tries to do, but there was too much of a gap between the idealized Hollywood and the realities of the time. I come away thinking that Hollywood is the great liberator of Blacks and gays, which isn't even fully the case today. Maybe therein lies the fantasy, but even fantasy should at least feel somewhat authentic or grounded in reality. This didn't. And I think it was hampered by acting that was mediocre at best or that lacked energy. I wouldn't say it's a total bomb because it does have its entertaining moments, and thankfully it was only 7 episodes, but I wouldn't give it more than a 6 out of 10.

Several characters call that nice negro boy "colored" to his face in the first episodes.

The plot with the wife leaving him was the most believable thing really. Back then (and still in some very conservative circles) women had no way to support themselves and a family, no way to better themselves and no way to control their fertility so a stable man with a money was #1 regardless of his looks, personally, beliefs. Small towns are full of men who were the hot, sexy, athletes in their schools days but ended up marrying down because the pretty girls went for the stable guy. If they wanted to create a fantasy, unrealistic ending for them it would have been them staying together and maybe even she getting a career where she’s accepted despite being pregnant. Her character was the only one grounded in realism.

[quote] I do not recall any blacks in the pictures of Scotty and his gas station co-workers in the FULL SERVICE documentary, [R272].

[quote] I doubt Scotty was racist. But most of his clients probably were. And Scotty recruited a lot of the hustlers from his buddies in the Navy — which was segregated in WWII.

I could see it being possible to have at least one guy in your stable who can satisfy clients who are into something more "exotic" and maybe into some racist "master vs. slave" role-playing. I mean, bigots have controversial sexual cravings, too. To this day the biggest demographic of hustlers and escorts are closeted conservatives who are very vocal about their conservative (including homophobic) views in public.

Sorry, I meant ... To this day the biggest CLIENT demographic of hustlers and escorts are closeted conservatives who are very vocal about their conservative (including homophobic) views in public.

[quote]Except... that in this parallel universe, even before the big wokeness change occurs, African-Americans are called "blacks" in 1947 (not "coloreds" or "Negroes" or worse), Asians are called "Asians" (not "Orientals" or worse)

actually, all of those terms were used. much ado about nothing

This just goes to show how bad "Halston" will be next year. They've already shown they can't even get the clothes right.

I remember once thinking who o earth is watching all this black cuckold porn that you see on the homepage of the tube sites. Then I saw a survey that said it was watched predominantly in the Deep South, it was one of the top 5 search terms there and not even on the list in northern states. So it wouldn’t surprise me if racists would want to have sex with the people they fear/hate.

I was sad to see that Archie & Rock couldn’t afford electricity. They had to use candles in the apartment they got together.

Bless you, R296.

I found that sweet

I'm so happy to see that you negative, nitpicking bitches were so wrong about the reception of this program. Kind of like how you were about the Clark Sisters. Some of you are truly jealous, crab in the barrel queens. Fine, there may be some historical inconsistencies but the entire series is a "What If" so, what if there were bars that accepted both blacks and whites at the time, just like there were gay bars way back in the 1800s (and even beyond). I mean, if a fucking Prince of England was able to meet marginalised black american stars and fuck them (George, Duke of Kent), then surely there was a racially inclusive place to meet at the time? It's not as far-fetched as you would like to believe, toots!

Sorry, I keep reading it as "FREUD: Bette and Joan."

The Ryan Murphy alternative history synopsis: It's 1963, and Dr. Freud has been revived from cryogenic sleep to continue his practice; with a second chance at life, he begins questioning his own sexuality. His first patients are Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who have agreed to work out their differences by participating in deep analysis.

Starring Darren Criss as Dr. Freud

On a lighter note, it's kinda funny imagining  Loretta Young and Celeste Holm both going home empty handed in this alternate universe lol.

And what of DL icon Joan Crawford? Would losing to a black actress caused her to beat her bitch daughter with extra vigor that night??

I see Hollywood moved up to number 2 today. But it is still behind Outerbanks.

Will it finally be able to beat a show that has been out for weeks and hit number one? It won't look good if this never hits number one.

Thanks to this thread, I'm going to watch Outer Banks, which I expect to be filled with eye candy!

I am happy for the success of both Outer Banks and Hollywood. I had great fun binge-watching both shows.

By some of the logic here, any movie that doesn't reach #1 at the box office is a commercial failure.

Considering the subject matter coupled with predominant gay characters, #2 overall is pretty impressive.

[quote] By some of the logic here, any movie that doesn't reach #1 at the box office is a commercial failure.

Any excuse is a good excuse for haters. If, or as soon, the show goes to #1 the haters would claim that the mainstream has no taste anyway (so, who cares about ratings and chart positions anyway?) and the show is an utter failure because it didn't cure cancer or solve the world hunger problem.

"Team ROCKIE"

[quote]On a lighter note, it's kinda funny imagining Loretta Young and Celeste Holm both going home empty handed in this alternate universe lol.

i know, what the fuck

Did you all notice that Murphy employed porn stars in small roles? I did not recognize Johnny B, who was an extra in the George Cukor party scene (as either a balding gas station employee or a balding USC football player), but I did recognize the guy Jeremy Pope was called away from in the porn theater as Scott Riley. He got a fair amount of screen time.

[quote] On a lighter note, it's kinda funny imagining Loretta Young and Celeste Holm both going home empty handed in this alternate universe lol.

Not so much Loretta Young. Her win is often considered the biggest upset among the major categories in Oscar history--she had been handicapped by the newspapers at the time to be dead last among the Best Actress candidates (Rosalind Russell was widely favored to win for "Mourning Becomes Electra").

If you need nude background actors it makes sense to use porn stars r309. They enjoy getting naked and are used to being on sets.

r309, hey, they can rely on their life experiences, very stella adler

Stormy Daniels had that gig in at least one Seth Rogan movie, but as a stripper.

If Murphy is going to continue writing poorly, then I wish at least he'd do one with lots of nudity and sex.

"jealous, crab in the barrel queens"

How dare you, r299!!

[quote] they can rely on their life experiences, very stella adler

OMG. Stella would rip your heart out and stomp on it. You just described Lee Strasburg's technique which Stella hated, along with pretty well hating Lee Strasburg, too.

Stella would tell an actor to work from his imagination.

[quote]Did you all notice that Murphy employed porn stars in small roles?

Game of Thrones used to do that all the time R309. They hire them for their bodies and/or to do scenes exactly like the ones you saw on this show.

[quote]But there’s a really creepy thing happening in too many shows to count where “white” dudes and women are depicted as awful human beings. To me, this is as reductionist and racist as what used to be done to certain minorities. This isn’t progress. It’s a new kind of racism that will hurt people anew. And lead to more problems.

R274, there are periods of history where some white dudes and women were pretty horrible human beings. Holland Taylor's character, if this show were historically accurate, would have slapped Jeremy Pope in the face and then have him dragged off of the lot if he was even able to get in at all. Instead she is excited he is writing the movie and even gives him a kiss.

(R317) You are correct. A voice of reason, for once.

Rosalind Russell even stood up when they announced "And the winner is..." for Best Actress that year because she was so sure she was going to get it.

I'm sorry she never won one. She gave so much pleasure during her career.

[quote] Holland Taylor's character, if this show were historically accurate, would have slapped Jeremy Pope in the face

No. That's no more historically accurate then what Murphy showed.

[quote] Kind of like how you were about the Clark Sisters.

Like we were about [italic]who???[/italic] We're not all just one person.

The ratings have been fine, but the reviews have been worse than for "The Politician," which is really saying something.

R271 That was my main problem with it. No one really struggled. And they all won Oscars - minus Jack - in what also happened to be one of the corniest episodes. Not to mention Archie on stage going “Yeah, yeah, say whatever you want” when he was booed. It was hilariously bad.

Still it's at least slightly better than some of the blind spots, or where they historically accurate, in Plot Against America. They'd go on and on about how sad it is for Jews to be treated like second class citizens in America. They had one line regarding the struggle for black people, then it was back to their self-pity. The family could give two shits about the issues in America before their fictional timeline starts. Plot was like the opposite of Hollywood.

Murphy's all boats rising ending was at least happy. Plot Against America was like a 50/50 shot that things go back to normal so that Jews can be comfortable again. Still, both shows are worth watching and tell interestingly flawed stories.

Were Cukor's pool parties really proto White Parties?

^

Topeka Kansas 1939

[quote] Were Cukor's pool parties really proto White Parties?

More like proto Bryan Singer/ Roland Emmerich parties,

Singer would never host a college football team.

R324, the Phillip Roth Book ends very uneventfully

I like the feel-good vibe of it. Of course, Hollywood is a toxic place in real life. But then Hollywood is all about creating fantasies.

Those porn stars are going to be major divas when they get back to shooting porn. "You got me Walgreens enemas!? I was on a Ryan fucking Murphy show! Get me Fleet enemas! Now!"

The sex scene with Darren Criss was suprisingly hot not gonna lie

Derek Chadwick had a small part in episode 3

I don't find anything sexy about Darren Criss. Just seems like a big ole swishy short guy. Gay gay gay.

Why is Darren Criss's wife not pregnant yet? They should be fucking like rabbits

Corenswet is sexy. I wonder how he looks in a jockstrap?

You don’t know what zeitgeist means R287 and you don’t have the critical consensus you meant to use from my prior phrasing

The poster(s) with unconditional praise for HOLLYWOOD on DL are few and far between.

It’s time to shove your irrational intolerance for any critique of the show up your cunt.

R337

Well, he looks bad there.

R334, Of all the decent-looking guys out there, they make him a featured background player?

Not hot at all-

I finished the series tonight and found it infuriating. So much pandering, so much whitewashing, and so MANY anachronisms. God, such lazy writing. I could have written a better script than that, and it's not what I do for a living.

Black men are hot to be sure, R291. And there have always been white homos paying for that BBC.

I don’t know if Bowers associated with any, but I doubt he’d turn one away. He was a cool guy.

The FULL SERVICE documentary shows blacks, including black drag queens, at his 100th birthday party or whatever.

Repeating your troll lies is never going to make them true, R299.

CERTIFIED “ROTTEN!”

Judging by the description in R335, he'll fit right in with us!

I do find him somewhat appealing for some odd reason. The height-or lack of according to most of you-doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when someone is tall, but fucking visually unappealing. You do know there are a lot of tall, ugly guys, right?

PET PEEVE: People who call the first episode of a TV series that was ordered as a full series "the pilot." "Hollywood" does not have a pilot. It was ordered as one full series. People seem to think that the first episode of every TV series is "the pilot." It's not. A pilot is when you make one episode of a TV show in order to drum up interest in making a series. The major networks used to each make 50 pilots every season and then pick 8 or 9 to go to series. They don't do it that way as much anymore and it certainly wasn't done for "Hollywood."

Pope acts circles around the caucasoids

criss is a midget

whatshisface needs to do porn. Not an actor, just a pretty face.

If Glenn Close or Bernadette Peters had filmed raunchy sex scenes in some show, I bet Lupone would have bitched about how they are both too old to be doing such scenes and how cheap and vulgar it all is

Freud would be transported to the Merry Old Land of Oz, R300.

But the Wicked Witch of the South destroys her ruby, red slippers for when Freud tries to repair her lesbianism through therapy.

Now the only way Freud can get back home is to win an Oscar for an assorted cast of downtrodden minorities, including a mechanical girl with Down’s Syndrome and Snagglepuss the Sissy Leopard.

But the only movie studio is controlled by the Great and .Terrible Oz, whom Freud persuades through extensive therapy sessions and casual, gay-for-pay escorting.

Yes, I’d watch that.

But Freud has to use new, ruby, red slippers to travel home in the end.

Are you ready to desegregate the Lollipop Guild?

Can’t wait until Oz fires his police chief for excessive force.

#FlyingMonkeyLivesMatter

No, r325, they were private affairs with only a few people at a time, no different than what rich or pretty gays organize today.

James Whale’s character in GODS AND MONSTERS claimed that porn stars from the Athletic Model Guild, etc. would attend. I have no idea if that’s true.

Only with regards to Singer and Emmerich parties you rarely hear about, r328.

Singer and Emmerich are famous for their Gay Pride parties, which are open to anyone. Over a thousand people may show up. It’s promoted and publicized.

But George Cukor parties were highly exclusive affairs only for a couple of dozen people, max.

Remember, at that time, being gay was illegal and very much taboo. There were vice cops and tabloids hunting gays. And rich elites cherry pick only the best looking to attend.

So not like White Party or Singer/Emmerich Pride, which is more democratic.

im only watchin it for the hot str8 stud who wont do men, and for miss lupone...

[quote]then why didn’t the Anna Mae Wong character get cast in The Good Earth?

Because that was MGM. Different studio. It was up to Darren Criss' character to come up with a part and insist she be cast, and her prize was the Oscar she had been denied by not getting The Good Earth years before. When Criss meets Anna May Wong, it's years later, twelve, I think. Her heartbreak over losing that role was long in the past.

I like Samara Weaving a lot. But I was very disappointed in Laura Harrier, who didn't seem to have the force of personality that that character would need to be able to do the things she does. She was very ... meh. Just as Corenswet was.

[quote] I bet Lupone would have bitched about how they are both too old to be doing such scenes and how cheap and vulgar it all is

And you would be placing a great bet. "Cheap and vulgar" have long been chief holdings in Miss Lupone's exclusive domain. She would fight like a devil to keep it all for herself.

It has a 55 average rating at MetaCritic...but hey, the reviewer from Sioux City says it’s “sizzling!”

There was some Freud miniseries recently in which Freud was relatively hot (and shirtless) and I think the main story was a murder mystery (of course).

And on Metacritic, scores from 40 to 60 are "mixed or average reviews."

The naysayers here on Data Lounge are ever so dramatically not in agreement with that assessment from professional reviewers around the country. If Metacritic is to be the standard, then those denouncing the film are not in the mainstream of opinion. Their opinions on the film are outliers. They are in the minority of opinion.

R360 Not sure what you’re talking about. I read a lot of the first thread on this show, and based on what DL viewers said, that was enough to convince me that Hollywood is standard poorly written Murphy dreck starring his stock players and not worth my time. Based on those reviews, I would say that the consensus was 40-50% approval, with most people here only saying they watched for the nudity.

Ryan Murphy is basically a gay equivalent to Tyler Perry. He plays to his audience and produces an abundance of least-common-denominator entertainment, with quantity of series and attention to visuals over quality of writing or acting.

ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THE parties rock hudson used to host..supposedly very hush hush and exclusive and. i'm pretty sure all the "guests" were MEN, incredible gorgeous and BUILT men, no twinks or swishy gays allowed?..

Sexy times

Take always, dermott mcmullen or what ever his name is, and holland Taylor, are both undervalued

ANYONE HERE EVER ACTUALLY worked in la la land, i.e. hollywood? "lowly" p.a. or gopher or part of a crew or at a production company? stories to tell of evil people?.

dermott mcmullen is clearly held in high esteem by R364.

R464 Yes, Dermott is so undervalued you can’t be bothered to learn his full name.

True r342. We know you could have done so much better. Our loss is simply crushing.

R342 you are looking at a series where getting the Beverly Hills Hotel wallpaper correct was more important than any racial or sexual politics of the day.

R342 misses the point. WRITING a script for the movies is nothing. There are literally tons of scripts sitting in offices all over L.A. Unread. Unloved. Unproduced. The supply of new scripts is never ending.

This one got produced. And that, dear R342, is something you almost certainly could not do.

Any links to caps of the nudes?

R370 I have no knowledge of how Hollywood works but I would think people who can give a project green light are few.

The show even had a brief scene of Darren Criss' character having to go through over a dozen of scripts to find just one that was worth filming and that was the one by Archie played by Jeremy Pope.

[quote]r correct was more important than any racial or sexual politics of the day.

style over substance indeed. but it wasn't a fucking documentary

JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, been thinking about writing a book on my time working in hollyweird and the nuttiness and b.s. and simply not good people i worked with, serious and comical it will be, the only question i have is can i or should i use the REAL NAMES and companies or not? or do i have to use "similar sounding names for the real people and companies?" all i say would be true, but don't want to get sued either!..

How much do you want to litigate?

Over and above any defamation claims that might come, California has very generous 'right to publicity' laws. Use the real names of people and you invite a lot of litigation. Use the real names of companies and you invite copyright claims. They may or may not prove successful, but how much do you want to spend defending yourself from these claims?

R376, thanks for your input.. so i guess what if i make mention of let's say a producer that worked at a named company? or do i need to make the producer unnamed as well as the name of the company too? should i leave it vague saying i worked for a producer and company that did feature films or could i write did such and such movies and name the movies? or should i use a similar sounding name and company leave no actual name of the films?...just be vague and give exact details though on what happened?

Roman à clef.

Look it up.

no comment on the lead's super sexy way of forties-style smoking a cigarette? very humphrey bogart

r361 I hadn't thought of the Tyler Perry parallel. I'd thought it was as if gays now have our own Hallmark Channel.

I still fucking loved it.

I finally made it to the last episode and had some questions:

Why was Anna Mae Wong seated in box upstairs? Was that the "Orientals Only" section? Because she was a nominee. When they called her name, I wondered, 'How fucking long is it going to take for her to get to the stage?"

Why was the lead actress told blacks couldn't sit in the audience, only to find the black writer on the front row?

How did all the people on that movie score their own private bar off the lobby to react to all the wins? And why were they all rude enough to leave their seats for everyone else's wins?

Why would Patti LuPone agree to work with Henry Willson? She despised him -- and with good reason -- and he'd set out to destroy her last movie.

And while I thought was good for Rock to tell Willson he could never forgive him -- he forgave him the second Willson offered him a part. Back to being a whore, Rock?

And why was it so wrong for Blacks to be stereotyped as servants, but OK to make a "woke" movie about a homosexual being a prostitute?

And why did all this woke Black writer, and all his friends who were all about casting people of color, write a movie about his own life, only to cast a white guy to play himself?

Yeah the ending had an absurd level fantasy with the next movie they are making involving gay prostitution. In the 40s? Sure, why not. I suppose that was the point. Let's end it on something completely ridiculous.

As soon as I see the word "woke" in the post I know there's an 70% chance the person is going to be an ass.

[quote]And why was it so wrong for Blacks to be stereotyped as servants, but OK to make a "woke" movie about a homosexual being a prostitute?

You just implied that it was okay to stereotype black people as bumbling servants?

And the movie isn't about a homosexual being a prostitute it's about two men in love which you would have never seen at the time.

They expressly stated that.

[quote]And why did all this woke Black writer, and all his friends who were all about casting people of color, write a movie about his own life, only to cast a white guy to play himself?

The writer was not [bold]all about[/bold] casting people of color. They made it clear, especially since he didn't have the final say, they were casting [bold]the right person for the job.[/bold]

Anna May should have gotten the part in her previous film but they didn't give it to her. Everyone agreed she was the best actress they had seen. Instead they hired a white woman and painted her to be Asian.

The same thing goes comparing Rock to Jack and Camille to Claire (who threw the audition.)

The point is that even if an actor was good enough they wouldn't get roles because of their skin color which is an actual thing that happened.

To say that it isn't is to imply that there were no good performances by any black actress good enough to win an Oscar from 1929 to 2002!

[quote]You just implied that it was okay to stereotype black people as bumbling servants?

You are, clearly, too stupid to discuss this.

Corenswet is a better actor than Darren, I swear.

Corenswet seemed to get better during the series.

Criss was always using his usual bag of tricks.

that corenswet stud has huge potential, make a good hot villain in next tom cruise mission impossible flik. ..

IFHH

R381 "And while I thought was good for Rock to tell Willson he could never forgive him -- he forgave him the second Willson offered him a part.

It's called Phoneywood for reason.

[quote]that Corenswet stud has huge potential, make a good hot villain in next Tom Cruise Mission Impossible flik.

Poor thing would never get out of his trailer.

[quote]WRITING a script for the movies is nothing. There are literally tons of scripts sitting in offices all over L.A. Unread. Unloved. Unproduced. The supply of new scripts is never ending. This one got produced.

It's not a movie, it's a TV show.

This show got produced because, wait for it, the writer didn't pound the pavement script in hand trying to get a deal or get a producer behind it. He WAS the producer. With a multimillion $ contract to churn out content for a streaming service. And churn he did.

R391 I believe the remark was about the script for the movie IN the TV show, not the script FOR the TV show.

he wouldn't git outta his trailer cause tommy would be riding him???? or whut

I am shocked that Lens Dunham was not cast as a sexy leading lady whose beauty catapults her to stardom by the lecherous casting agents who just want to exploit her incredible sensuality. If only she was black, gay and a man, she would have been cast. Fucking Hollywood elites.

[quote] If only she was black

If only she WERE black.

They should have cast Rachel Dolezal.

R392, the remark was about R342 who meant the writing for the show:

[quote]I finished the series tonight and found it infuriating. So much pandering, so much whitewashing, and so MANY anachronisms. God, such lazy writing. I could have written a better script than that, and it's not what I do for a living.

A hideous show saved only by the acting of the Old Guard. None of the young actors were good, including Jeremy Pope who was giving a 2020 performance in a 1948 story. I hate it when actors don't even bother to be period appropriate. And why do none of the younger actors understand how to use their voices? Listen to Rock Hudson at the beginning of his career. He doesn't sound like a goddam teenager as these actors do. He sounds like a mature, virile man.

The older actors were given better material though. Maybe they just made it seem better but I think their dialogue allowed the viewer to understand the characters better. The younger actors characters were very basic, even Corenswet who got a lot of screentime as the lead.

I think Joe Mantello and, to a lesser degree, Holland Taylor showed up the other actors. Everyone else was either too hammy (LuPone) or bland (the younger actors).

Mantello was like he was in an actual drama, not a parody.

The Eleanor Roosevelt character was pure sapphire joy.

Yup r400. The two of them were noticeably better than the rest of the cast.

Mantello was the only one playing someone who was at least recognizably human. The rest were all caricatures or Murphy's masturbatory fantasies. Lupone looked and behaved like a drag queen.

They should've cast the black guy from AHS: 1984. Way better looking and more believable as heavily sought after chocolate bar.

Break me off a piece of that.

Is Jeremy Pope a snow queen in real life also?

I'm going to drop this free film for the children who want to learn what George Cukor's pool parties were like.

These were some of the same people. And I'd bet dollars to donuts that Cukor got his paws on both Jack Lalanne and Steeve Reeves.

These were secret, exclusive and private parties. Not like the White Party at all.

I agree completely R404. I said as much in the first thread. Pope was very miscast. Black, white, purple....who cares - that isn't the point. He physically did not fit the role and his acting while OK did not shine here at all. DeRon would have been so much sexier.

R408 Nah he is a butterface. if acting does not matter where is this generations Boris Kodjoe, Shemar Moore or Taye Diggs if those other two are too light.

[quote]The younger actors characters were very basic, even Corenswet

yet younger characters always are

Don’t know why I was expecting more, but my goodness what a pile of shit that was.

Corenswet makes me WET

All the younger guys were boys, not men. None of them know how to act and none of them know how to speak. It's pathetic.

Pope is almost 28 , Picking 29 and Corenswet 27. They aint boys they just do NOT have it!

R408, it would have been interesting to see him in that role.

I wonder how well other Murphy 'regulars' would have done: Evan Peter, Cheyenne Jackson, Matthew Morrison, Leslie Grossman, Adina Porter, Finn Wittrock, Cody Fern, etc.

OK entertainment, got my money's worth. Just a few nitpicks, why did they portray Rock Hudson as a nitwit? No where have I ever seen him portrayed in life as dim like this. He stayed friends with Doris Day until his death and she doesn't seem to be someone who would waster her time with a lunkhead. They kept referring the work as "movies". In those day they were called "pictures". Did they thank soldiers for their service back then?

[quote]Mantello was the only one playing someone who was at least recognizably human. The rest were all caricatures or Murphy's masturbatory fantasies.

Why Murphy's? Why not one of the other two writers?

[quote] I finally made it to the last episode and had some questions:

[quote]Why was Anna Mae Wong seated in box upstairs? Was that the "Orientals Only" section? Because she was a nominee. When they called her name, I wondered, 'How fucking long is it going to take for her to get to the stage?"

She was segregated as Camille was supposed to be, and it wasn't on TV just radio with an announcer narrating, she could have taken two hours to the stage if she needed.

[quote]How did all the people on that movie score their own private bar off the lobby to react to all the wins? And why were they all rude enough to leave their seats for everyone else's wins?

It wasn't a private bar, it was the lounge of the theater that was open to anyone. They chose to come and go throughout the show.

[quote] Why would Patti LuPone agree to work with Henry Willson? She despised him -- and with good reason -- and he'd set out to destroy her last movie.

It's called shop BUSINESS and he helped her out of a huge scandal.

Why was the lead actress told blacks couldn't sit in the audience, only to find the black writer on the front row?

MAJOR gaffe.

Does Jake Picking have a naturally smooth chest? Rock didn't.

The show needed to flip the switch regarding grounding the story in reality.

A former military guy (with potential PTSD) wouldn't just deliver a heart-felt monologe after Henry Wilson demanded to suck his dick. He would've either just punched Wilson and walked away or completely blacked-out and kill the guy for making a pass at him.

Has that been your life experience r419?

Puncher or punchee?

I thought it was mediocre, but y’all are so tedious and nit picky

quote]y’all are so tedious and nit picky

Why thank you r421. Thank you so much.

Actually, to be totally tedious and nit picky, that should read:

[quote]y’all are so tedious and nit picky

Why thank you [R421]. Thank you so much.

All you bitches bitching about the lack of historical accuracy in this film are tiresome. From the very first moment when we saw that absurdly big ACE on added to the Bronson gate, and that caricatured casting director with the heightened walk, and hair, and costume and with her face screwed up like a lemon, clip board in hand, the film makers clearly placed the viewer some place far removed from reality.

I bet you bitchers all hated Ken Russell's "The Music Lovers." And when you were 8 years old, PETER PAN was ruined for you because Peter was a woman and you could see the wire. Were the Munchkins too short for you? Too tall?

Sorry r424, but the Munchkins were just too damn ugly.

Sorry, if that goes off topic, but this warms my little gay heart.

R426 Netflix should worry about putting out much higher quality programs that feature gay characters and actors.

they need to feel the real people

Can anyone satisfy you? You seem toxicly needy.

[quote]Netflix should worry about putting out much higher quality programs that feature gay characters and actors.

Wish you would crawl under a really, really heavy rock.

I mean, even heavier than the one you normally lurk under.

is it this cornball and bad acting on purpose??? like super camp? for sumpin dis bad I want cornsweth cock n hole lots. criss aint hot no mo

Patti lupone and Holland taylor make em all look like amateurs..

[quote] I bet you bitchers all hated Ken Russell's "The Music Lovers."

I'll take $500 in "Impossibly Obscure Film References Eldergays Would Make,' Alex.

Oh, Mary! There is NOTHING obscure about Ken Russell or his films. Not to any educated person.

I loved the Music Lovers

I just wish the "writer" could equate acting with something other than making his bottom lip swell farther and farther out.

And Parsons can't act. He was terrible.

Other than that and the fact that the underlying concept and theme (which was fine in itself) were ruined by the soppy, stupid teleplay and directorial misfires (although much of it looked great), it was fine. Just pitched too low at a dumb audience, unless Miss Murphy Thing actually can't do any better than that. He certainly hasn't managed it yet.

[quote] Just pitched too low at a dumb audience,

Spot on.

Parsons nailed every line. Every one.

Yes he most certainly did.

yup parsons was awesome and fun.....

why they wanna make rock Hudson look so dumb? I knew him, and dumb was not rock ….hell no

ken Russell is god, he was the all-time great of film and chat.

[quote]Parsons nailed every line. Every one.

To the back of the scenery -- and then chewed it to pieces.

[quote]unless Miss Murphy Thing actually can't do any better than that

His nickname is Baroness. No kidding.

she's full of herself

I'm watching "Dead To Me" right now, which came out yesterday and I notice immediately shot to number 1 on Netflix.

Just saying, this show was not a hit.

It's not nit-picky to cite inconsistencies that - consciously or sub - completely undercut the viewers's engagement, both intellectually and emotionally. how can the Black woman getting in to the auditorium feel like a triumph if we immediately see another Black person already sitting there?

and r361 nails it

[quote] Ryan Murphy is basically a gay equivalent to Tyler Perry.

How much gay content has Dead Like Me's second season?

How much gay content has Dead Like Me's second season?

LOL. Sorry. I was asking about Dead To Me at the double post glitch at r447 and r448.

R447, 448, 449 The gay choirmaster at the church is back and has a few scenes and there the development of a lesbian storyline and reveal of another know character.

[quote] I'm watching "Dead To Me" right now, which came out yesterday and I notice immediately shot to number 1 on Netflix. Just saying, this show was not a hit.

It's the second season of "Dead To Me", people have been waiting a year for it. There are still people that don't even know "Hollywood" exists yet. Are you saying that every show that doesn't premiere on Netflix at #1 is a flop?

[Quote] ken Russell is god, he was the all-time great of film and chat.

I can always count on the film being terrible if Russell directed it

I think Mira Sorvino steals the show and her cafeteria scene is heartbreaking.

mighty aphrodite

Somebody from Murphy's productions is ALL OVER this thread, r365, demanding our blind allegiance and pretending nothing has to make sense in HOLLYWOOD.

Just like she's ALL OVER the AMERICAN HORROR STORY THREADS doing the same.

These threads have been interesting to me because I honestly had no idea after seeing this that anyone would appreciate what Murphy was trying to do (it seems deeply insulting to me to the memories of people who really suffered from racism and homophobia and sexism during this time), but some of you clearly dug it. Seeing your appreciation of it has not made me like the series any better, but it's made me understand more what Murphy is trying to tap into.

[quote]It's the second season of "Dead To Me", people have been waiting a year for it. There are still people that don't even know "Hollywood" exists yet. Are you saying that every show that doesn't premiere on Netflix at #1 is a flop?

R451 I'm not R445 but R445 is right.

It's a flop!

As a matter of fact "Dead to Me" doesn't have the star power "Hollywood" had, it didn't have a prolific creator behind it "Ryan Murphy," and it likely doesn't have the budget "Hollywood" had. Murphy has been talking that shit up for over a year.

Also again "Hollywood" is riding third behind another NEW show (so your second season argument goes out the window) "Outer Banks" which also premiered weeks before Hollywood did but has stayed steady.

That's the kind of show you renew.

The problem with Murphy's work is that it is profoundly superficial. There is no depth to any of the stories or the characters except what the actors themselves manage to bring to it. An uphill battle when he's directing, because clearly they don't get any help from him. Even worse when he's writing and directing, as in HOLLYWOOD.

The problem with Murphy's work is that it is profoundly superficial. There is no depth to any of the stories or the characters except what the actors themselves manage to bring to it. An uphill battle when he's directing, because clearly they don't get any help from him. Even worse when he's writing and directing, as in HOLLYWOOD.

Sure, let's pretend that Murphy's gay camp extravaganza has to top all the straight mainstream stuff in order to be somewhat of a success. Why stop there? Why not compare it to the Marvel and DC comics movies and how well they did in movie theaters? And why not be utterly disappointed that the show didn't cure AIDS, cancer, and remove Trump from the White House? Shame on Murphy for being such a failure and shaming us all back into the closet for being so unpopular that a gay show can't be no1 on Netflix.

Everything can be called a failure from an angle of your choosing to prove your point.

This isn't a "gay show", the lead character is straight and has lots of sex with women and doesn't touch a man. This isn't "Looking" we are talking about.

Which is more tiring – the bad writing on the show or the it’s a flop troll?

It's a lot gayer than the shows it's being compared to.

It’s not a gay show, dude

It couldn’t be gayer if Ryan Idol was playing LB Mayer. Even the straight stories are told entirely from a gay perspective. Including all the 70 year olds women with 28 year old men

[quote] Somebody from Murphy's productions is ALL OVER this thread, [R365], demanding our blind allegiance and pretending nothing has to make sense in HOLLYWOOD. Just like she's ALL OVER the AMERICAN HORROR STORY THREADS doing the same

You mean just like the anti Murphy trolls that rip apart each and every frame of each and every episode as unwatchable YET has managed to watch each and every frame of each and every episode? Normal people would see that the show isn't working for them and change the channel. Oh not those dedicted Murphy trolls.

I wouldn't call Corensweat the lead. His story is just presented first. There are 4 leads, well actually 6 with Patti Lupone and Joe Pantello thrown in there. Darren Criss is the biggest name out of the 4 young stars involved in the Meg production; he would probably be considered the lead. But they all have pretty much equal screen time and their points of views are shared evenly.

Corensweat is the lead

[quote]I wouldn't call Corensweat the lead. His story is just presented first. There are 4 leads, well actually 6 with Patti Lupone and Joe Pantello thrown in there.

They're not all leads, dear. You just stop that. You're stretching more than Mister Fantastic at an orgy. This isn't the cast of Friends.

All 4 of the men are leads but it's pretty clear come award nomination time the two EPs (David Corenswet and Darren Criss) are the co-leads with the other two being secondary. The whole story starts because of them. All the other men are supporting.

The same goes for Patti vs. the other women on the show. I wouldn't be shocked in Holland got a nod for supporting. The other women were only there to support the men which is kind of sad.

I'd have rather have had the story take place from watered down Dorothy Dandridge .... I mean Camille's perspective rather than Jack's if they had a stronger actress and story for her.

Every time they say "woman of color" or "person of color" I want to vomit a little.

That term is so anachronistic.

This isn't tumblr safe space, R466.

Clam it R 471

For me Corenswet is the only actual lead. All the other men are supporting.

I think Darren Criss is absolutely AWFUL in this. He's such a lightweight.

There really was only two weak performances, Jake Picking because for some reason they had his Rock Hudson as a lunkhead which he couldn't pull off and Laura Harrier as Camille.

I thought the weak leaks were Laura Harrier and Corenswet. It doesn't matter because this script is all over the place and this whole thing turns to a mess at about episode 4, when it transforms into a cringey nighttime soap.

[quote]There really was only two weak performances, Jake Picking because for some reason they had his Rock Hudson as a lunkhead which he couldn't pull off and Laura Harrier as Camille.

The sad part is you have to wonder how much of that was the actor's fault, the story or the direction they were given.

Would we say Jake Picking was horrible as Rock Hudson if they had of never made his character an actual person that we can easily research, watch, etc.? And I think from interviews they wanted Picking to play Rock as he did.

And it seemed when they gave Laura something to do as Camille she was doing a bad impression of an old movie star. Was that what they wanted or was that her decision?

Then you have someone like Michelle Krusiec as Anna Wong who didn't have a whole lot to do but the sheer gravitas of her performance when she did have something to do was amazing.

I just think back to Ryan Murphy telling Gaga to camp it up on AHS: Hotel which ended up with her being the weakest member of the cast which revolved around her vs. the performance we saw from her working with Bradley Cooper in "A Star is Born" who knew how to get something out of her that was actually good.

Corenswet had at least one great scene where laid his head in Apatow's lap and assured her, with fear in his eyes, everything's going to be fine from now on.

But yeah, the best scenes came from the veteran actors. Like the one where Ellen hits on Dick and Dick lets her down gently. On paper it looks ridiculous and cheesy, but the actors elevated it to something heartwarming.

Corenswet had at least one great scene where laid his head in Apatow's lap and assured her, with fear in his eyes, everything's going to be fine from now on.

But yeah, the best scenes came from the veteran actors. Like the one where Ellen hits on Dick and Dick lets her down gently. On paper it looks ridiculous and cheesy, but the actors elevated it to something heartwarming.

I am keen to eat Corenswet’s ass all night long.

Ewww

The Ryan Murphy hate crew n these threads is too much — repeating the same criticisms over and over as if they HAVE to convince everyone the miniseries was terrible. Give it a rest already.

Don’t like it? Fine. That’s your opinion. As others have said, though, it’s hard to understand watching all 7 episodes if you found it all so horrible.

I don’t think it’s incredible television and it isn’t art, but I did enjoy it, binging it over 3 nights. Holes in the writing? Yeah, but I liked it anyway, and I loved the happy ending. So sue me.

To me, David Corenswet improved a lot as the series went on, and I think he left his mark in the role. When I think of that role, I see him and no one else. And no, I won’t apologize for thinking he’s hot. The criticism of Darren Criss is WAY over the top. I thought he was ok in this. Nothing special, but ok — and certainly not bad enough to get all this bashing. I don’t get it. You hate the guy because Murphy casts him over and over? Get a life.

I thought Jeremy Pope was good. I didn’t like seeing Rock Hudson played as dense, but something about Jake Picking’s performance pulled me in — there was an innate sadness in him throughout, and it did make me feel for him. The older actors did stellar work, especially Holland Taylor and Joe Mantello. I enjoyed Lupone and I thought Mira Sorvino was really good.

The poster who keeps calling this a bomb because it hasn’t hit #1 on Netflix is a fucking idiot who knows nothing. He sounds dumber every time he says it. So does the guy who says that this isn’t a gay show. Hollywood SCREAMS gay. I don’t know WTF you’re watching. Its entire sensibility is gay.

Finally, while the critics are giving this series a score in the 50s, it scores much higher with the public, getting a 78 on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7 on Metacritic. Those are positive, favorable scores — and where I’d rate the series.

I’m glad I watched it.

It’s aiight meh

R482 The public voting is full of idiots like you!

Good Lord - we can’t escape Modern politics In a thread about 1940s Hollywood? That’s it. I’m heading to the service station.

Core sweet in 26. LuPone is 71. I wonder how he felt pretending to bone her.

Not core sweet. Autocorrect doesn’t like Corensweat.

[quote]Core sweet

[quote]Corensweat

try again, dear...we're here all day

I know!!! 🤦🏻‍♂️

Corenswet's character is the protagonist who introduces and leads us through the story. He's the first main character who shows up on screen, and he's the last one in the finale driving off with Rock Hudson in the fake movie shot.

I love his sweet demeanor

Me too

LuPone's only 71? She looked closer to 81. She and Holland Taylor both appeared to be the same age.

PLuP hasn't aged well, but at least she hasn't opted for grotesque cosmetic surgery to make herself look like an 80-year-old trying to pass for 45.

From the interviews to promote the show, Patti took one look at the dailies and called a plastic surgeon.

R493, of course Patti LuPone looks old in this series. It's her character. Middle- or old-aged women in the 1940s and 1950s looked old.

Here's a photo of Bess Truman taken somewhere between 1945 and 1952, roughly the period of the series. She was only in her 60s, but to me she looks about 20 years older.

good example. my great-grandmother who was the matriarch of the family and well-loved by the whole community looks like aunt bea in photos

Anyone else recoil when Holland Taylor kissed the black writer on the lips?

I know it was supposed to show how "open minded" she was, but it seemed a wildly inappropriate thing to do to a subordinate at work.

And it also, unintentionally, smacked of racism, as I doubt she would taken that liberty with any of the white 20-somethings at the studio.

^ Yes it was absurd.

Ryan Murphy is friends with Aaron Schock, that says it all to me.

R497 she also kisses Criss' character on the lips after they won Oscars. Maybe she wanted it to be her characters thing?

Lots of creepiness in that show. A number of the sex scenes were awkward and disturbing too. I'm all for a little skin, but at least 50% had an Eeew factor.

Prostitution and adultery are inherently awkward and creepy. It should make viewers feel icky

Chill, R497. That kiss makes sense in a group of show biz types who make every effort to be dramatic. The old woman was showing everyone there how forward thinking and liberal she thought her artistic self to be.

In fact, there easily could have been a lot more "kiss kiss" going on.

I guess the L.A. gay parties won’t be broadcast, but they will be TikToked.

That's what they look like in the daytime. Once the sun goes down it becomes an orgy. Take my word for it.

is that recent? blech

[quote]Ryan Murphy is friends with Aaron Schock, that says it all to me.

Link please.

R507 Friends friend, or paying customer friends?

Insta Live

Jeremy has beautiful eyes

Nothing absurd about the kiss, the entertainment industry has always been the liberal front of society, even more so back in its golden age, it was where deviants and the socially miscast found jobs at. That's a very flyoverland frau reaction to something very common even back then. Metoo happened for a reason, and it has to do with the way people handle interpersonal relations in the industry.

r511. Wrong. MeToo had tod with rape and sexual assault. Who have you fondled? You font sexually aggressive. I will track down your victims, and ruin your career. If no victims occur, I will be one.

Thank you, Rose. Go take your meds, now.

It felt like a YA novel, where the villains are racism and sexism rather than anything that stems from the characters.

R482 Rotten Tomato and Metacritic scores can no longer be trusted in the age of internet review farms and bots. It's easy for a studio to improve the odds on its investment by making sure they get lots and lots of 5 star reviews, especially on Rotten Tomatoes. Those scores are worthless. I place a lot more value on reviews I read on DL. I personally found Hollywood to be awful. I tried to hate watch it, but I just had to give up on it altogether.

Who the fuck cares about Rotten Tomato and Metacritic? I don't give a shit about some strangers opinion on something they were paid to watch.

Jeremy Pope is scrumptious!

Because Murphy commissioned those scripts and bears final responsibility for approving them, R416.

We’ve been over this before but you continue denials because you’re a full-of-shit troll.

R417 doesn’t know for sure.

The truth is, actors on today’s Oscar telecast are constantly changing seats during the ceremony.

The production moves nominees for the upcoming categories to the front rows in assigned, changing spaces so they don’t have to walk far and the cameras can get their reactions.

So that might have been happening in 1947.

For the radio, R519?

Maybe just for the ceremony. The Academy doesn’t want to wait forever, either.

But yes, a rafio broadcast doesn’t want to qait for the speakers, either.

What ever happened to Marc Cherry? He must be seething at Ryan Murphy’s latest deal.

R516, no one gives a shit about your opinion either.

False analogy, r424.

Wendy wasn’t paying to drive by a gas station and get fucked by random strangers. The Wizard of Oz wasn’t letting Eleanor Roosevelt convince him that government sucks and chasing Oscars is where the real power is.

Lady GaGa was not good in a ASIB. I like some of her songs, but she is too insincere to be good at acting. This is also Madonnas problem. There is nothing deep about them. You need to have a little depth to be a good actor. And you need to be shallow to be a good pop star. Never the twain shall meet.

I think Marc Cherry is on at least one powerful player's shit-list for refusing to leave his office for a couple of weeks so Saving Mr. Banks could film a couple of scenes in it. His office was the original office of Walt Disney and it had to be built as a studio set (costing the production more money).

Marc Cherry still has a big, important office? Why? He hasn't done anything in years has he?

Oh, Mary! Surely everyone knows that Ken Russell’s interior decorator also designed the wallpaper for Catherine the Great’s bull-fucking parlor!

What a weird show and waste of time really. The show has no moral. No purpose. Nothing. It’s like a dream sequence.

We could of had a fun show about old Hollywood but instead we get the sequel to Politician, which was just as pointless and random.

I never have liked any of the RM shows I’ve ever seen except the first couple of episodes of glee which were entertaining.

But man does Netflix release some serious crap or what? It just keeps getting worse and worse. Amazon isn’t much better. Netflix and Amazon should just be buying shows made by other people. They are not content makers. They are the platforms. Leave it to the experts.

Ok does this suck as much as previews suggested it would?

It’s fine to watch if you like to look at pretty things. But it’s one of those shows that you don’t bother to pause when you go to the bathroom.

[quote] But it’s one of those shows that you don’t bother to pause when you go to the bathroom.

r532, and potentially miss at least one scene where one of the hot guys is shirtless? Are you mad?

^ Meh, they'll screen cap it and post it here.

(R533) Double Meh, most young actors already post plenty of cutesy or questionably tasteless insta-selfies. Everyone with an online profile a whore bag these days.

Every educated person knows that Ryan Murphy is beyond reproach. You should be honored to smell his glitter farts. Anything less would be ungrateful.

He’s the only one doing gay content, so he’s entitled to your approval. You’ll take HOLLYWOOD and you’ll like it!

Let them eat cake, but not David Corenswet’s cakes.

If the gays’ most satisfying man can’t satisfy you, YOU must be the problem.

Haven't watched this yet but I can't remember the last time I actually made it through an entire streaming series. I get all hyped to watch but by the fourth episode, I just lose interest. Not because it's not good or anything, it's just kinda...enough.

[quote]Why would Patti LuPone agree to work with Henry Willson?

[quote]It's called shop BUSINESS and he helped her out of a huge scandal.

Wait a fucking minute - Patti Lupone is now working retail?

[quote] Mantello was the only one playing someone who was at least recognizably human. The rest were all caricatures or Murphy's masturbatory fantasies.

[quote Why Murphy's? Why not one of the other two writers?

[quote] Because Murphy commissioned those scripts and bears final responsibility for approving them, [R416]. We’ve been over this before but you continue denials because you’re a full-of-shit troll.

What are you babbling about, you nitwit? There were three writers , Murphy might have approved the scripts but not every word out of those characters mouths or actions were provided by him. Get it?

R539, Murphy really goes over the scripts the others write, and orders edits or he rewrites them. So yes, the buck stops with him.

Goodness they had a gorgeous blond in that video. I would take the risk and attend. You only live once and I’m young enough to recover from COVID-19 and don’t hangout with parents or old people.

I love the night life

You got to boogie?

R528, you and other Marc Cherry haters should know that he has a series on CBS Access — Why Women Kill. It was renewed for a 2nd season.

R23 that means that ALL people of that mix look like what you’ve seen with THREE people?

Darren Criss is half Asian in real life. Fucking moron.

Newsflash, Lupone is Italian. Aka NOT A WASP.

She’d be a Jew before a WASP

Blind Item about Hollywood:

[quote]There were a whole lot of extra scenes shot for that limited streaming series by the television horror director. Scenes that were way too raunchy, but somehow ended up in his personal collection to share with friends.

She played a distant Greek relative in Frasier.

R547 the actors did an interview where they said they never filmed the raunchy stuff. That when filming stuff changed. Wonder if they were lying if that blind item is true.

The blind item is probably just going based off the rumor that has been around for weeks.

The actors say they never filmed anything raunchy.

they want the sexy stuff

Some will find what is on the show raunchy. The nudity in episode 3 is full on but quick. None of the main actors do anything I havent seen done much more explicitly in some HBO shows or other Netflix shows. The staircase scene is so campy with him looking up at the Oscars and only showing side ass that it's not that raunchy.

Btw the people that think this show raunchy havent seen enough non porn adult programming on premium cable/streaming. Murphy really toned down this for a show where prostitution is a main plot point.

it's sexy silly

Originally the show was meant to be more raunchy and adult, but Murphy decided against it all in the end for numerous reasons,

1- Netflix didn’t want explicit scenes so the show gets more viewers. Most Netflix shows are not explicit.

2- Murphy wanted to promote the show to younger audiences.

3- Murphy wanted the show to have a more lighthearted feel vs the original concepts more dark vibe.

4- Murphy showed as much nudity from the Leads as they were comfortable with. They were asked beforehand. That’s why even during a sex scene Laura Harrier kept her bra on. He wasn’t gonna make his leads go nude. He didn’t hold open auditions, he built most of this cast based off who he wanted and saw right for the role and cast them automatically.

R553 some people don’t like that kind of content. Many don’t. My mom is someone who changes the TV if it gets explicit or too much cursing. And I know others like her.

R555 it's weird because most of the male leads have at least shown their asses in previous shows. It's a different project but I dont get why they wouldnt be comfortable with showing more skin since they already have. Though I do understand you reach more people with less explicit content.

Projects change direction all the time. The scene where Dick suggested a happy ending instead of a dark one for Meg is a good example why it happens. Of course, in real life most of the time it's mainstream appeal that causes changes in the script or pivotal players (director, lead actor) leave the project. Plus we do get the brief scene where Jack and Camille are asked to pose nude for the photographer for private purposes so sometimes not everything is intended to be used for the final cut. LOL

Murphy has calmed down on the nudity ever since the backlash for Hotel

Hotel gave us sexy Charles Melton (Riverdale) as straight porn performer.

R559 was there backlash for nudity? I thought it was cause many didnt like Gaga in it.

If you have the time (as in, 40 minutes), there is a recent interview with the following cast members:

-Darren Criss

-David Corenswet

-Jake Picking (came across as the shy one)

-Jeremy Pope (beautiful eyes)

-Laura Harrier

They all looked good too, except not sure about David's facial hair.

Hotel turned a lot of people off, and the show never recovered. People started tuning out that season and never came back.

I remember every week on FB, Twitter and IMDB boards people were going off about how “pornographic” that season was. The ones who loved it most were the gays. But many were bothered by how much nudity and sex it had and how much gore they got away with that season.

Murphy was accused of “exploiting” the young males he casts, and I am sure as a gay man that is not a good look. After that he began cutting back on the nudity.

R563 he still had Criss be nude in Versace and there was occasionally nudity in more recent AHS seasons though it is seldom. Hotel was the most overtly sexual/nude season.

R561 yes. That is the season Murphy pushed the envelope hardcore with nudity and violence, to see what he could get away with. Some liked it, others hated it.

It’s one of the shows most controversial seasons, as well as polarizing. I liked Hotel, both my sisters hate it and stopped watching the show with that season.

I love AHS: Hotel. My personal favorite, because I like the visual style.

And yeah, Murphy listening to One Million Moms fanatics makes no sense, especially with ACS; Versace in mind.

I love AHS: Hotel. My personal favorite, because I like the visual style.

And yeah, Murphy listening to One Million Moms fanatics makes no sense, especially with ACS; Versace in mind.

[quote]Murphy was accused of “exploiting” the young males he casts, and I am sure as a gay man that is not a good look. After that he began cutting back on the nudity.

This reminds me of the EW reporter who was invited to the set of AHS Hotel while Gaga, Matt Bomer and the two other actors in that opening bed killing murder sex scene were shooting it. (The whole scene took 4 days to shoot apparently.) He remarked Gaga was screaming "Yes Queen!" in her pasties off set at Matt Bomer, ass naked (but wearing a sock) and covered in blood, slashed at his character's victim. He also said John Travolta wandered onto the set while this was all happening to find Ryan Murphy and talk to him about People vs. OJ.

That sounds like the least professional situation ever. Gaga returned briefly the next season. Matt Bomer hasn't been on the show since.

He cast a bunch of actors that looked alike then had them all get naked one by one. He's still getting shit for that today with that cast photo still trending from time to time. While I don't think he "exploited" them I can see why people may have believed he did. He hasn't made that mistake since.

Also Hotel was the lowest ranked season on Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes but it wasn't the lowest rated series by far.

[quote]the actors did an interview where they said they never filmed the raunchy stuff. That when filming stuff changed. Wonder if they were lying if that blind item is true.

The blind item at R547 is a Crazy Days and Nights blind item ..

[quote]There were a whole lot of extra scenes shot for that limited streaming series by the television horror director. Scenes that were way too raunchy, but somehow ended up in his personal collection to share with friends.

So it's likely garbage. Really, they took a sprinkling of what the actors said and added something to it to make it interesting. I believe them when they said they never filmed the scenes.

#MeToo changed the industry in many ways. Someone at his level isn't going to violate someone's trust at this point. People will actually listen and the person would get a lot of attention or a pay day. It only takes one claim real or imagined to hurt a person these days.

I didn’t watch Hotel, but is Sounds like twisted trash and shock crap.

R568 yup, I’ve pointed out how Hotel is the worst reviewed season by both critics and fans, but the guys on here attack me for that. It did get more viewers but the viewers dropped with each episode that aired, and then after that season the show lost many viewers for good. Many seemed to be turned off by that season, and saw many women call it SOFTCORE goth porn online.

Bomer has said he loves Murphy and his crew etc. but he has hinted he didn’t enjoy filming Hotel.

Murphy was letting people just walk on and off set while actors were nude etc.

Plus Murphy, a gay man, was called out for only casting attractive males then making them get naked all the time. People felt he was using his status and power to take advantage of these actors

Season 2: West Hollywood

Gaga did "A Star Is Born" and Bomer went to New York to do "Boys In The Band" and weren't available. And they both did nudity in those projects so "Hotel" might not have been a big deal for them.

[quote] Plus Murphy, a gay man, was called out for only casting attractive males then making them get naked all the time. People felt he was using his status and power to take advantage of these actors

People felt ...? Like Trump's "some people say ..."? Are you for real?

And then using the homophobic reasoning of Hollywood players being called out for playing favorites with those who put out for them, because gays = sexual predators? Wow. Just. Wow.

I like a good hotel

R572, Your timelines are off and there's a big difference between trash like Hotel and working on a movie which everyone knew (Gaga) would get hugely recognized for and (for Matt Bomer) working with multiple time Tony award nominee and winner Joe Mantello on a production which wasn't recorded.

loved its gayness....how many big budget filled with hotties movie series do we get??

lupone and Holland stole the show, well and david c.....

The only good thing for me was the mention of "The Good Earth". I got the book and am half way through. After I finish I will watch the movie and see how Louise Rainer pulled off the role of a Chinese farmer's wife and won an Oscar. Very Meryl Streep of her.

r576, I agree. this was clearly never intended as high art. light fluff with some good performances.

Boom

ZOOM

R577 One of my favorite books from high school, heartbreaking. I always wanted to go to her house in Bucks County PA.

R581 I am just at the part where Lotus is arriving at his house to live with Wang Lung and family. I feel bad for the wife.

R582 That literally makes me feel weepy and that was in 1982 that I read it, but then again I cry at every little thing these days.

You guys really think David is hotter than Jake? No way the fact that he is gay makes him even sexier. Any good looking out gay guy is always sexier me than an equally good looking straight guy. I'm only talking about the characters here, not sure if Jake is gay in real life. I love me some big dumb jock.

I'm crying every day now

I’m confused by Jake and how he looks knowing he had a whole host of prosthetics on his face during filming. What are some key pictures of him not in character?

R585 Yeah, it’s weird things like music, videos, tv shows, thinking about books or nostalgic thoughts, not directly about the situation. And animal related things make me weepy very much too. I better not see that Alanis ASPCA commercial or ill be a wreck for days...

Luise Rainer is a fabulous actress, but Garbo should have won the 1936 Best Actress Oscar for Camille.

Some of the acting was bad. Patti was great

I was surprised Jim Parsons took that part and I thought his acting was weak

Not my type programming

I want to snuggle with Jake Pickering

[quote]I was surprised Jim Parsons took that part and I thought his acting was weak

Not weak, just predictable. No depth or attempt at it.

Patti, always supporting gays

[bold]Mmmmmm

So will we move on to thread three, or are we done here?

I think we have sufficient.

I was confused about the audition for MEG. The black girl seemed weird and mannered while the white girl was, if just adequate, much better.

The girl who played Patti Lupone's daughter looked like she hit the genetic lottery with Patti and Rob Reiner as her father. No way she would be a blonde Shiktza. That's Hollywood.

THE END