Sally Field Replaces Betty Buckley in new ABC series...

Wow. I didn't even know such a show was happening. Very exciting either way, really. I love them both.

That replacement saddens me. I've been watching the promos and clips of the already filmed episodes of the show. Betty is quite wonderful and nuanced. She is a powerful actress in quiet ways that Sally Field is not. As a huge Betty fan this is an immense disappointment.

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is betty really a bitch to work with.

I adore Sally Field!

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Does anyone actually know why she was replaced?

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Sybil was a tv movie or miniseries, I don't remember which.

Hey, this used to be the thread called "Complete Cast of Broadway's 2006 Les Miz Announced."

The only reason I know was, I was gone all day and just clicked on a page I still had open.

Straaaaange...

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Um... we all might know who Betty Buckley is, but America might not remember her from her "8 is Enough" days. Regardless of her working relationships or talent, if a network has the choice to bring on SALLY FIELD into a role to help save a show that likely won't last a year, then they are going to do it. I see this as Star casting, and nothing more.

She's peerless as a singing actor, and dedication to her craft, but perhaps one of the most difficult people to work ... with and around ... in part due to her painstaking attention to detail, and the snail's pace of her process. Yes, apparently she almost physically harmed Linzie Hately in CARRIE, in the now infamous punishment sequences. But Hately defended Buckley's work, actually, while admitting it literally hurt to do the show with her.

But from many sources, including a couple who've worked with her, I've heard it's her meticulous preparation that makes her "difficult" more than her diva antics. Buckley is notoriously slow, too, not wanting to lock in her performance until quite late. That may have worked for the Moscow Art Theater, but it's hell for a modern, efficiency-dictated production schedule. TV, notoriously fast, requires actors to arrive on set with performance-level work accessible. Perhaps Buckley's intense rehearsal demands, etc., are more the culprit than any show of 'ego.'

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I do like Sally, I just love to see theatre actors on TV. Also, the show would be very viable without Field, as it boasts a slew of great actors. Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths are on the show.

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We like her. We really like her.

honestly, i think they wanted someone "warmer". i think betty was a bit intense for their vision of "matriarch". and calista is teensy and betty is 5'9' and sizable. also, the buzz on the show was not so good -- so they had to do something.

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