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

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 4:53pm

Hello all. I just read this Playbill article in which Sally Field has replaced Betty Buckley as the family matriarch in an upcoming ABC series. from Roman in Austin, Texas
Sally Field

[PersonofInterest]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 4:55pm

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

[mateo]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 4:58pm

I. LOVE. SALLY!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 5:15pm

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.

[wiggum2]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 8:56pm

I am a huge Betty fan as well but she is a BITCH to work with. It doesn't surprise me she was replaced

[west end artist1]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 9:01pm

is betty really a bitch to work with.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 9:15pm

I'm glad to see two time Oscar winner Sally Field is acting in more than drug commercials. Welcome, Sally!

[SeptemberKel]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 9:19pm

I adore Sally Field!

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 9:33pm

Being a bitch to work with, is the reason, I believe, she wasn't in the film version of 1776.

[mallardo]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 9:46pm

Does anyone actually know why she was replaced?

[missyrose87]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 11:40pm

The article says she was nominated for an Emmy for Sybil, but wasnt that a movie? Shouldnt she has been nominated for an Oscar?

[Eileen2]

Posted: 7/11/06 at 11:45pm

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

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 12:09am

SYBIL was considered a made for TV movie. Today, it would probably be called a mini-series, but back in 1976, a mini-series was something that ran for at least a week, like RICH MAN POOR MAN or ROOTS. A 30th Anniversary DVD is released on Tuesday, July 18th.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 2:52am

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...

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 5:51am

There's no doubt in my mind that the reason Buckley is gone is because of her difficulty to work with. She has a vile reputation in that department. Some people claim to have had breakdowns because of her excessive demands backstage. I don't know how true that is, though.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:18am

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.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:22am

Buckley has a confirmed reputation as being demanding, unpredictable and, well .... extremely odd. No one denies her talent.

It is always the case that if the talent involved is worth all the other crap, the crap is dealth with or overlooked. The demands of a TV series are such that there just isn't time. Sally Field is known to be a very kind, generous and giving performer. She also is a twot-time Oscar winner, which brings some attention to this project that Buckley's resume will not.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:38am

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.'

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:41am

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.'

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 8:51am

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.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 9:39am

...and Sally won that Emmy for Sybil. It turned her career around. Before that she was Sister Betrille and Gidget.

She deserved those Oscars. Places in the Heart is one of those films that I can not just pass while flipping channels.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 11:02am

We like her. We really like her.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 11:08am

"A turban? You put me in a turban? What do I look like, 'Gloria-F*#@in'-Swanson?!!!!! What's next, a walker? Why not just put me in a walker?" Sally Field in the divinely campy funfest SOAPDISH.

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 11:16am

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.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/12/06 at 11:23am

I like her. I really like her.