Bess Armstrong Appreciation Thread

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 11:56am

I feel like the attention on Claire Danes (who I like as well) kind of overshadowed just how good Armstrong was on My So-Called Life.
Bess & Patti D'Arbanville (another fabulous actress!)

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 12:14pm

I agree. She was very good.

And I the guy who played her dad was so hot!!!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 12:23pm

She was the star of one of my favorite failed sitcoms: ALL IS FORGIVEN with Carol Kane, David Alan Grier, Shawnee Smith, and another totally hot guy who played her husband whose name I can't remember. It ran something like 8 or 9 episodes and didn't catch on. A shame, really, it was great writing in the CHEERS/FRASIER mode.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 12:40pm

Another excellent scene:
'So how did you know all of that stuff, like, what to do?'

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 12:49pm

I was so pleasantly surprised to see her leading Roger Sterling on his LSD trip on a recent episode of Mad Men.

I first fell in love with her from taped stage production of Barefoot in the Park, which also starred Richard Thomas. But it was Barbara Barrie as the mother who stole the entire thing. Genius.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 1:07pm

I LOVED "All is Forgiven"!

I believe I did a little squeal when she turned up on "Mad Men."

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 1:14pm

All is Forgiven was a great sitcom!

Her hubby was played by a pre-St. Elsewhere Terence Knox...the fox.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 1:17pm

Actually, I think this was after his St. Elsewhere days.

Maybe that was one problem the show had. Audiences couldnt forget the character of Peter White, the rapist, on SE...

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 3:27pm

I loved the entire MSCL cast, but yes she was fantastic. I remember when it aired, most of my friends my age HATED her character, but I always felt sympathetic towards her. I think she did a great job of showing a sometimes unlikeable but ultimately really sympathetic role. But I admit, I haven't really seen her in much else (wasn't she in Jaws 3?)--so I was thrilled to see her dolling out LSD on Mad Men.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 3:29pm

Funny: I just finished rewatching the entire MY SO-CALLED LIFE series on Netflix last night. (It's an instant play, for anyone who's interested) God, that show really shaped a huge period of my teenage years. Armstrong is just pitch-perfect in capturing every facet of that character.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 3:40pm

I need to re-watch the DVDs. It really was the first tv show that I connected so strongly with (and the first time I experienced the, no exageration, extreme heartbreak of an early cancelation). Herskovitz/Zwick need to get back into the TV game even if their last attempt 1/4 Life never really worked--as does Winnie Holzman. (And while we're at it, could they finally release the final season of Once and Again on DVD?)

Tom Irwin often seems to pop up on various tv shows playing creepy villains, which is always hard for me to adjust to.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 3:43pm

Eric--I feel your pain re: the final, looooong-unreleased ONCE AND AGAIN season. I need it!

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 4:05pm

I didn't initially recognize her in Mad Men but she looked fantastic. I mean the voice was familiar but Patty Chase had a certain 90s look to her that it took a while. I was hoping she would re-appear again because Roger seems to like what LSD did for him but alas, she is his ex-wife's therapist.

On MSCL (I watched the entire season via DVR when the series played on marathon on The Sundance Channel), I definitely thought there were times when Patty was likable and sympathetic but could immediately switch to the opposite portrayal in a realistic way. I thought the show did a good job showing that her and Angela are the same person, but of course, now I find Angela to be very insufferable but, nonetheless, believable teenager who is unaware of her mistakes and precociousness.

My favorite MSCL trivia is that Mr. Katimski's whole name is derived from Jason Katims, a writer on the series, who gave us Friday Night Lights and Parenthood.

Updated On: 7/30/12 at 04:05 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 4:07pm

Angela Chase's dad was a total DILF.

[Mrs Mangel]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 5:29am

A whole thread dedicated to her, and no one has mentioned "Lace" yet...
"LACE"

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 2:44pm

The Collected Wisdom of Angela Chase

[Rypm25]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 9:15pm

I was a huge Bess Armstrong fan when I was younger. Yes, even in Jaws 3-D...but what I really remember her from was when HBO used to air plays. And I remember Bess Armstrong and Richard Thomas starring together in "Barefoot in the Park." I remember finding it on the tube of you about a year ago...however upon looking for it tonight..i can't seem to find it anymore.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 8:59pm

Barefoot in the Park

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 11:24pm

The mom I wish I had.