TMC
04-17-2017, 03:28 PM
http://www.avclub.com/article/jane-seymour-how-dr-quinn-was-not-supposed-last-an-253538
The actor: Since making her film debut in 1969, Jane Seymour has experienced a number of career renaissances and repeatedly managed to reinvent herself as an actor, something that happens all too infrequently in Hollywood. While you can attribute part of her success to her ability to bounce between high drama and lowbrow comedy seemingly without blinking an eye, it’s just as likely because she doesn’t like to lose. With a filmography that includes spies (Live And Let Die), Cylons (Battlestar Galactica), century-spanning romance (Somewhere In Time), frat-boy comedy (Wedding Crashers), and life in a frontier town (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), Seymour keeps audiences guessing as to where she’s going to turn up next. Currently, however, Seymour can be seen trying to make Adam Sandler swoon in his latest film, Sandy Wexler, which is now on Netflix.
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998)— “Dr. Quinn”
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie (1999)/Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within (2001)—“Dr. Quinn”
JS: Well, that’s a great story as well, because I’d been married to my business manager, who was the top business manager in the whole of Hollywood, and unbeknownst to me, he’d had addiction issues and squandered all our money and left me $9 million in the red, with lawsuits from every major bank. So my world crashed. And I found out that he’d been unbelievably unfaithful. He admitted to, I think, 14 or 15 other women, and I decided not to go any further. So I was pretty devastated, homeless, penniless, and with two small children, and I called my agent and said, “I need to work yesterday.” And he said, “What do you want to do?” And I said, “I’ll do anything.”
So he called all the networks, and at that time I’d been pretty much the queen of the miniseries. I’d starred in every miniseries there was, been nominated for most of them, and won lots of stuff. And they said, “Well, if she’ll do anything, we have this movie of the week, but she’d have to sign to do it as a series. But we can pretty much guarantee it won’t be a series, because it’s a woman in the lead. That never works. It’s got family values. That definitely doesn’t work. It’s a medical show. We know that doesn’t work. It’s historical and, even worse, a Western. That doesn’t work.” And that was it. And that was Dr. Quinn.
That night at midnight, I read it. The next morning, I went to Paramount to discuss them developing a comedy series for me, and I told them that I had to say yes or no by 10 o’clock that morning, which was when I was going to be walking into the office for this thing called Dr. Quinn, which if I did it, I’d have to sign a five-year contract. They said, “Oh, don’t worry, it’ll never make it as a series. But it’s a nice piece, so you should do it and make some money, and then we’ll be ready for our series.”
So I signed on the dotted line. An hour later I was in hair and makeup. The following morning, I was filming, and they very quickly stuck me on a horse without even asking me if I rode one. [Laughs.] And that was it. We lasted seven years. And it’s still playing in 98 countries. So Dr. Quinn saved my life, literally, and saved my sanity. And it changed television! Saturday-night television was dead, and we brought it back. We brought back medical shows, and then George Clooney came in after that [with E.R.]. We brought back inspirational shows: 7th Heaven and Touched By An Angel came in after us. And how many female-driven shows are there now? It’s crazy, isn’t it?
AVC: It was groundbreaking. And no one had any idea.
JS: No one. They didn’t believe in it. In fact, the man who tested it told CBS that if they put it on the air after his testing, then he wouldn’t work for them anymore, because they wouldn’t believe the test results! And I had the audacity to go to the up-fronts to go and speak to all the advertisers, and I got up and said, “Hey, I’ve seen the other shows, and I think ours is the winner!” And Jeff Segansky, who was the head of CBS at the time, said, “Why did you say that?” I said, “Because I think it is!” He said, “Well, you didn’t need to say that!” I said, “Okay, well, maybe it is.” And then to everybody’s shock and horror…
AVC: It was.
JS: Yes! It was not supposed to ever work. I think they were doing some housekeeping and trying to get rid of some deals, and they thought, “Oh, we’ll make this, and nobody will ever watch it.” And they were very wrong.
The actor: Since making her film debut in 1969, Jane Seymour has experienced a number of career renaissances and repeatedly managed to reinvent herself as an actor, something that happens all too infrequently in Hollywood. While you can attribute part of her success to her ability to bounce between high drama and lowbrow comedy seemingly without blinking an eye, it’s just as likely because she doesn’t like to lose. With a filmography that includes spies (Live And Let Die), Cylons (Battlestar Galactica), century-spanning romance (Somewhere In Time), frat-boy comedy (Wedding Crashers), and life in a frontier town (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), Seymour keeps audiences guessing as to where she’s going to turn up next. Currently, however, Seymour can be seen trying to make Adam Sandler swoon in his latest film, Sandy Wexler, which is now on Netflix.
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998)— “Dr. Quinn”
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie (1999)/Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within (2001)—“Dr. Quinn”
JS: Well, that’s a great story as well, because I’d been married to my business manager, who was the top business manager in the whole of Hollywood, and unbeknownst to me, he’d had addiction issues and squandered all our money and left me $9 million in the red, with lawsuits from every major bank. So my world crashed. And I found out that he’d been unbelievably unfaithful. He admitted to, I think, 14 or 15 other women, and I decided not to go any further. So I was pretty devastated, homeless, penniless, and with two small children, and I called my agent and said, “I need to work yesterday.” And he said, “What do you want to do?” And I said, “I’ll do anything.”
So he called all the networks, and at that time I’d been pretty much the queen of the miniseries. I’d starred in every miniseries there was, been nominated for most of them, and won lots of stuff. And they said, “Well, if she’ll do anything, we have this movie of the week, but she’d have to sign to do it as a series. But we can pretty much guarantee it won’t be a series, because it’s a woman in the lead. That never works. It’s got family values. That definitely doesn’t work. It’s a medical show. We know that doesn’t work. It’s historical and, even worse, a Western. That doesn’t work.” And that was it. And that was Dr. Quinn.
That night at midnight, I read it. The next morning, I went to Paramount to discuss them developing a comedy series for me, and I told them that I had to say yes or no by 10 o’clock that morning, which was when I was going to be walking into the office for this thing called Dr. Quinn, which if I did it, I’d have to sign a five-year contract. They said, “Oh, don’t worry, it’ll never make it as a series. But it’s a nice piece, so you should do it and make some money, and then we’ll be ready for our series.”
So I signed on the dotted line. An hour later I was in hair and makeup. The following morning, I was filming, and they very quickly stuck me on a horse without even asking me if I rode one. [Laughs.] And that was it. We lasted seven years. And it’s still playing in 98 countries. So Dr. Quinn saved my life, literally, and saved my sanity. And it changed television! Saturday-night television was dead, and we brought it back. We brought back medical shows, and then George Clooney came in after that [with E.R.]. We brought back inspirational shows: 7th Heaven and Touched By An Angel came in after us. And how many female-driven shows are there now? It’s crazy, isn’t it?
AVC: It was groundbreaking. And no one had any idea.
JS: No one. They didn’t believe in it. In fact, the man who tested it told CBS that if they put it on the air after his testing, then he wouldn’t work for them anymore, because they wouldn’t believe the test results! And I had the audacity to go to the up-fronts to go and speak to all the advertisers, and I got up and said, “Hey, I’ve seen the other shows, and I think ours is the winner!” And Jeff Segansky, who was the head of CBS at the time, said, “Why did you say that?” I said, “Because I think it is!” He said, “Well, you didn’t need to say that!” I said, “Okay, well, maybe it is.” And then to everybody’s shock and horror…
AVC: It was.
JS: Yes! It was not supposed to ever work. I think they were doing some housekeeping and trying to get rid of some deals, and they thought, “Oh, we’ll make this, and nobody will ever watch it.” And they were very wrong.