Mediola: Candance Bergen: Phooey

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Candance Bergen: Phooey

When I was in college, I thought Candace Bergen was one of the hottest things on two feet. She wasn't an actress yet. She was doing some acting in college at the time, but what she was was incredibly beautiful, brainy and sexy. Candacebergen

She emerged into the whirl of knockout, class act babes, but she couldn't find the right guy. She tried journalism, but failed. In the 1970's, she used to appear on a local TV talk show on Channel 7 in New York talking about getting old and not meeting anybody.

Then, of course, she got married, and whom did she marry but the French intellectual filmmaker Louis Malle. Being in the same room with a French intellectual is enough to nauseate anybody, but I'm sure his "philosophe" was just the thing for Candace. I think they were very happy, probably trashing American culture and sending out for cuisses de grenouilles.

Then Candace evolved into Murphy Brown. Boy, I hated that show. She could never make it as a film actress, but quips turned out to be up her alley. I think Vice President Potatoe Quayle was right to condemn the single mother storyline, and by that time I couldn't even imagine Candace having sex with anybody. She was drifting toward fossilized WASPdom. Then we all said bye-bye after 10 years. That's a great run, so somebody must have liked her. Or maybe, just maybe, Murphy Brown was about the late Bobby Pastorelli, and he was the star.

Until they let David Kelley out of his straight jacket again, and he cast her on Boston Legal as a partner with Bill Shatner and Rene Auborjonois. Hello ABC, she's wrecking the show. Large. Her outfits, with collars up to her ears as though she were Kate Hepburn drive me crazy. Bio_bergen

ATTENTION ABC: GET RID OF HER FAST.

You want a woman of a certain age? Who can fit into the sexed-up environs of the world of Denny Crane? There are plenty. Jacqueline Bisset? Helen Mirren? So long, Candace, you're history.

Saturday, February 12, 2005 in Television | Permalink

Comments

So what's with the criticism about Candace Bergen? She was one of the great beauties of her generation, an award winning photographer, she's won Emmys for her television work and she has a highly developed social conscience. What exactly is the problem? Trashing her late husband because he was French is a very predictable thing for an ignorant American to do. True, Bergen was asked to leave Penn because of low grades, but with looks and talent like that, would you hide away in the library?
Comments like "drifting toward fossilized WASPdom" isn't a criticism, it's just a baseless personal attack. You attack the way she dresses on TV. Hey, genius, she doesn't choose her TV clothes. Someone else is paid to do that for her. Murphy Brown lasted for a decade and she had a good marriage. Again, what's the problem? If you're going to bother attacking her, why don't you think of something valid instead of the adolescent griping you offered in your post.

Posted by: Rational Thought | Thursday, March 03, 2005 at 09:00 PM

Thank you for your disagreement!

I make several observations: I am of her generation, and she was most certainly not one of the great beauties of her generation. As far as attending college and managing to graduate, Jodie Foster did it when she was already a full-blown star. My swipe at Malle wasn't because he was French, it was mockery of French intellectualism.

Neither you nor I know why those odd high collars were chosen, but they look absurd. I absolutely believe that casting Candace on Boston Legal was a mistake.

I will happily resume my adolescent griping, and apologize if my criticism seems personal. When I refer to fossilized WASPdom, I am referring to character type, not the actor's actual personality.

I wish for Candace the best, but I don't have to like her work, and I thank you for standing up for her. I ask you in return, was she the best choice for the role?

Posted by: Dan Cooper | Thursday, March 03, 2005 at 10:57 PM

Still, irrational mockeries à la mode isn't the best way to make a point. You may just end up being futile.

Posted by: PTC | Tuesday, March 08, 2005 at 02:16 PM

Thanks. Unfortunately, you are confusing writing flair with rationality and chiding with being malicious. Candace Bergen is a very wrong choice for this role, she upsets the balance of the series, and her costuming has been absurd. Is my opinion futile? I'll say this, it's mine, without fear or favor. If ABC cares to read my blog and use it as input, I welcome that. If no one reads it, that's fine too.

Posted by: Dan Cooper | Tuesday, March 08, 2005 at 04:43 PM

Maybe you have to be nearing octogenarian status to think Bergen's playing of her role opposite fat old William Shatner is perfect. I love it. She's an older, wiser and gentler Murphy Brown.

Posted by: Clif Martin | Monday, January 30, 2006 at 07:12 AM

Louis Malle isn't a "French intellectual". He's a great 20th-century filmmaker. Which isn't something you achieve just by talking.

Posted by: mero mesomorph | Sunday, March 05, 2006 at 01:33 PM

Totally nonsense and frustration and quite bitter! Now I know why she married Louis, he wasn't worry with high colars, costuming or fashion. Btw, blame ABC for the clothing, actresses don't choose their costumes.

About the _TV show_, may I remind it's quite different from what we lawyers face during our work? As you said: *HELLO!?* Dave Kelley is great to mix reality with fiction/comedy/drama. Bergen was a good choice, WISE, ELEGANT and INTELLIGENT. You need to get out more...

Posted by: Artemis | Sunday, October 01, 2006 at 02:06 PM

It is not a casting error at all.I surmise that Candace must have intimidating pull on the show by contract. All lead actors have imput on preferences re: wardrobe, hair and makeup. Makeup is great.Hairdo is great.Hair color is hugely wrong: all it would take is "reverse frosting" in mingled shades of browns and blondes. Whoever is coloring her hair should be fired unless it is Candace's insistence. She should be made to lose that weight and get that body in shape or else the writers need to omit the "older sex goddess" interest. That doesn't work unless she fits that character and as it stands she could but it would take work on her part with a diet and exercise program. Aging is greatly shown on the neck area of women. The high collars are a sad attempt to hide that. Certain neck exercises help. Adhesives that pinch sagging skin to the back of the neck hid by the hair can help. A lite weight airy scarf worn like Audrey Hepburn in her aging years and a wardrobe similiar to Audrey's would help greatly. Camera lighting and shooting from above in every shot should also be done. So it is not casting error but loads of other areas that can be worked to make the role fit. Unless it is dealt with as it stands all these things are sabotaging the writers excellent character of Shirley. CANDACE'S MANAGER SHOULD SEE TO ALL THESE THINGS!

Posted by: Faye Parker | Sunday, December 03, 2006 at 12:00 PM