|
Member
Forum Idol
Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
Posts: 124,493
|
https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/
- Other Thoughts:
Brett Butler going into rehab, as shows from that point onward simply became unfunny!
Drug addiction can hollow one out. The show was very good. Above average. Not the best but it held its own. I don't recall an actual event that signaled doom. Butler was the star for the vehicle though. When she lost it, so did the show. That was all off-camera though, does that count?
butler is so talented that her show's fall from errrr grace was so noticeable. the cast changes in the final year really did them in. The hairdresser was the funniest asian on tv since the heyday of johnny yune. The show also worked better when jimmy was portrayed as a redneck brute thanas a hootervillish bumpkin. Julie walters also helped the show work, somebody with grace's sensibilities to bounce off of. The recasting of quentin for once helped sinc ehe was now taller than Libby. See tina yothers.
When it became a drama show.
This show is flat-out horrible. Grace is crass and abusive, but it's not funny. Andrew Dice Clay is funny when he does this, but Grace is not. I always want to see Strange Brew or hear the 12 Days of Christmas by the MacKenzie Brothers after seeing Dave Thomas on this show. I wish Grace would die.
When they brought Jimmy in as a full time character. It was too much to think he could come back into Grace's life after all the abuse and just be the "Good Ole" boy that he was. Also, his mother moving in with Grace was the first sign of the shark bait.
Okay, Grace added a kid but in the weirdest way ever seen! Bringing in Matthew, the son she gave up was just bizarre... Also, I have to comment on the episode where Grace "proves she isn't a racist" to her new black neighbors... whom we never see again!!!
I don't remember when the last episode was done. I love Grace's sense of humor and her persistance to continue raising her family under the circumstances of what she had gone through. The show showed the strength of women in bad situations and showed them that they could go on and survive. I would really like to see this show brought back. The shows on now that are suppose to be funny are really stupid. I find nothing humorous about them.
When "Lady Madonna" flew out the window, the whole thing got to be too much like a 12 Step program.
In my opinion, when Grace and Rick quit seeing each other, the show lost it's appeal.
Was I the only one who used to get really annoyed when they would bring the show to a screeching halt so Grace could do a two-minute stand-up routine? And maybe it's not her fault, but she looked so bitter and weary so much of the time. Everyone else seemed to be having a good time but her.
Their intentions were good when they recast Quentin an awkward, self conscious teen who had a growth spurt, but they could have gotten a better actor. He was just a little too self conscious. I felt kind of embarrassed for him.
Ok, I admit, I have never actually had the *privilege* to sit and actually watch this show. Just the fact that it is Brett Butler's show.... that means DAY ONE! Anyone ever play the game balderdash? Well in the new version, is a section for movies and you have to make up a plot for the title they give you. I remember it as if it were yesterday: The title was "Mama! There's a Man in your Bed!" And my friend Juan's made-up plotline was: "A comedy about Brett Butler's kids finding a hilarious mix up in there mother's bed. A man in Brett Butler's bed?! Only the movies would think of something that outlandish!"
Long lost son joins. long lost husband joins.
Day one!! I never liked her or the theme. Any time she abused her power to preach about this or that made me sick since she's such a weak loser in real life, constantly going into rehab and such. I'm soooo glad she's gone!!!!!
The season when Grace really turned her life around was when the show jumped the shark. Grace wants to get edu-ma-cated and such, good for her, bad for comedy. The oil refinery was the best blue-collar vehicle since Laverne and Shirley's beer-bottling plant. Once Grace decided she was too good for the boys at the plant, things got unfocused. What was going on in the last season, anyway? One minute she's living in a duplex with Nadine and the next she's in St. Louis.
All of a sudden, Quentin went from being about 11 to being 15. What the hell was that! Like we wouldn't notice. How stupid do they think we are?
Great show until Brett Butler lost control. Toward the end, the producers hastily hired Julia Duffy (the maid in Newhart) to do most of the acting, while Butler stood propped up against the sink with her arms folded and pretty much did nothing except watch the show along with the rest of us. She looked and sounded so horrible toward the end that it was actually scary.
This is a tough one because I think this show was very funny in it's early stages, but it kind of became annoying towards the end. When it first came out I felt the writing was great, the plot was a good idea and the acting was very good also. When I watch the later stages of the show though I became annoyed with the same types of jokes Grace would tell over and over, what once was funny wasn't funny anymore. The characters seemed to change and didn't bring the same approach to the show anymore, and the rehab issue also ruined the show as most people agree. To me this show could have lasted allot longer and been the same type of hit like Home Improvement or Roseanne was, but the writers and producers ruined the last few seasons and that did this show in. So instead of this being a great comedy of TV past I think it's just one of the many shows that was great at one time but not enough to really remember it and talk about it to my own kids one day.
I used to really like this show...always made sure to tape it. It's sad how Butler's drug addiction caught up with here. I thought the first few seasons were genuinely funny.
"Grace Under Fire" was my favorite sitcom ever until Quentin grew from being an 11 year old brat to a 15 year old hulk. Unbelievable. Usually cast changes of secondary characters don't bother me, but this is ridiculous. I suppose they wanted to hire someone who was old enough to be used to seeing women's breasts in case Brett-who had a great thing going with this show until she succumbed to the stupidity of drug addiction--wanted to flash hers again. The year before a lot of things began growing wrong with this show, probably a result of the star's pill popping.
I didn't find the character of Grace to be too believable. Her left-wing, utopian political views just didn't match her station in life, or her upbringing. What was supposed to be a very real portrayal of a working-class single mother ended up looking more like a poor white trash version of Murphy Brown.
Those who made GRACE UNDER FIRE great: 1. The boss at the job(hysterical) 2.Faith (very much like Jaki was to Roseanne) 3. Jean (a mother in law without the obvious hangups) 4. Saved the best for last, Russell (the mold was broken when this character was created, i love him). When did the show get bad?? Ryan scared the hell out of me.
The first four episodes were well-done, especially the pilot where she dates Russell (Dave Thomas) and they compare their former spouses. The show then got really bad. I read an interview with Brett Butler once where she said the first four episodes were bad because "the network told (her) what to do" and after that she did the show "(her) way." I liked the network's way better.
The show jumped for me when ignorant, red-neck Brett Butler did an episode about her “crazy neighbor” who was being treated for clinical depression. This prompted me to write a letter to ABC. Brett Butler, being the strung-out, alcoholic, drug-addict, loser, 12-step queen that she is, had the audacity to center an entire episode of making FUN of a PHYSICAL illness like depression?!!! I believe Ms. White-Trash Butler had absolutely NO RIGHT and NO CLUE and needed to go back to Georgia or Alabama or whatever “Deliverance” community she came from.
Moving the family to another location? Dumping half the cast? (like the guys at the plant) Changing the opening title-sequence? If something works, don't mess with it. I guess they never heard of that saying. The best actor they ever had on the show was the guy who played Grace's ex-husband. It reminded me of a cross between my own alcoholic father and and my uncle Delano. Just redneck to the bone. Of course, we moved on too. I guess at some point you have to leave a sinking ship.
I guess Nadine leaving would be as good a jumping point as any. The show sucked when Grace lost her best female friend, she was stuck hanging with Russell and Wade. much creative control and even acted like more of a crazy b***h than her! Brett Butler pulled a Roseanne and got way too I definitely want to catch those final episodes, I never saw them since I lost interest in the show, but I'd get a weird thrill from seeing Brett all coked up trying to act when she's hit rock bottom.
Grace Under Fire was a decent enough comedy until Brett Butler started having an emotional meltdown because of some incidents that happened earlier in her life. Much like Roseanne before her and Ellen DeGeneres after her, Butler put her show in a nosedive right into the shark's jaws.
This show definitely jumped for me in the episode where Grace and Nadine reminisce about a road trip they took to an Earth, Wind and Fire concert when they were younger. The two decide to do it again and drive a long way to see the show, but get pulled over for speeding in Floyd the pharmacist’s van with drugs in it (legal ones of course), and in the end give their tickets away to a couple of teenagers. They go to the karaoke bar at their hotel to soothe their disappointment at missing the concert, where lo and behold! EWF shows up much to the surprise of Grace and Nadine! Not only does to band show up, they bring their instruments and launch into a karaoke rendition of their own hit (and my favorite EWF song)"Let's Groove Tonight". This episode has shark-bait written all over it. I've been a big EWF fan since I was knee-high, but this particular show was cringe-inducing and left me with some questions like: If Grace and Nadine were such big EWF fans, WHY DID THEY GIVE AWAY THEIR TICKETS??? Why would a legendary band who just made people pay to see them perform, suddenly show up in a bar and do it for free? What band, after a gig, shows up in a karaoke bar with their instruments in hand anyway? Maurice White, the leader of Earth, Wind and Fire, who sang lead on "Let's Groove Tonight" was noticeably missing from band lineup in this episode, leaving the other members of the band to do the vocals. And really who could blame him? This episode was so far fetched, oozed a river of cheese (I talking a flood of Velveeta) and ruined one of my favorite songs of all time. Not only did "Grace Under Fire" jump the shark, Earth, Wind and Fire jumped for me as well.
When Brett Butler self-destructed. Great supporting cast couldn't rescue her.
This show jumped many, many, many times. The most notable was when Quentin mysteriously changed! Seriously, I was scared that the first Quentin died in real life or something!!! Why else would they replace him? He was a much better actor. The second Q had a very unpleasant smirk on his face all the time and was more of a caricature of a disgruntled teen boy than a sad little boy who acts out because he is a product of divorce and abuse. I liked this show for the first few years and would stick up for it a lot because I knew about the troubles Brett Butler was having, but when the troubles off-screen take over the show, it is time to quit! AND I have a bone to pick with several of you other posters who pick on the show because of Butler's private struggles. Just because someone is a drug abuser and has to go to rehab does NOT make them weak, in fact, to try do deal with an addiction is a sign of strength!!! I suppose you must be an addict in denial to make such asinine comments... Another point mentioned was she was not being true to her upbringing or something like that...WHATEVER! I was raised a poor white, but not white trash, girl in the Ozarks by religious parents and I am very much a far left-leaning liberal! It does happen. Being born a poor southerner doesn't make you an idiot! I feel bad for Brett and all of the cast that this once fairly decent show (nowhere near the best, but fair) was dragged along way too long to the point where it was an embarrassment for all involved. Summing it up: Jumped when Quentin changed and should have ended when Brett's addictions forced too much manipulation to the show.
Brett Butler crashed and burned and the entire show plunged into the shark tank with her. The only reason I ever watched it the first season was to see Dave Thomas, alumnus of SCTV. "Grace Under Fire" had a pretty good supporting cast but the lead's ego got way too big. The scripts faltered with the plethora of "I'm a victim because...." episodes and that's when every comedy jumps the shark: the moment a light comedy show decides to tackle heavy social issues. Brett had obvious and serious drug and emotional problems and what viewers were left during that last season cringed for her out of embarrassment, I call it the "Being in Liza Minelli's Audience Syndrome"; it just isn't fun nor is it entertaining to watch someone self-destruct like that.
When the show stopped being about comedy and more about Grace's reconciliation with her husband and the "relationship" they attempted to rebuild. Also, this started as soon as Brett Butler was granted creative control of the content.
Jumped at the beginning of the final season with the introduction of the over-the-top wacky new characters, and perhaps more importantly with Grace giving up her advertising job in St. Louis, which ruined the dynamic of her patiently striving towards her ambitions. Before that this was one of the funniest sitcoms ever for my money, and unusually intelligent too, and all involved were brilliant.
This show was hilarious, I always loved it. That said, the final season-and-a-half featured some tragic changes, most notably in the cast. Sam Horrigan was a bad replacement for Quentin as he was too advanced in age. Nadine was gone - a very big loss - and Faith wasn't around much anymore. Grace going back to school was a noble idea but I wish they hadn't excised her job at the refinery. Brett's personal troubles also started to overtake her ability to perform, and she appeared disinterested and nervous most of the time. The last episodes, taped after the show had been cancelled and brought back at the last minute to replace some other canned show, are very hard to watch. The addition of DC and the construction company had potential but the show didn't last long enough to explore an interracial romance. Overall, a great show that was done in by behind the scenes turmoil and the cast changes caused by it.
Despite the fact that Grace ripped her idea off entirely and blatantly from Roseanne, Grace Under Fire was pretty good (mostly because Roseanne was so good!) The show jumped when the new Quentin came in. He was a hell of a lot older and a terrible actor. It also jumped again when Brett was going through her chaos in real life. In fact, didnt the new Quentin have to come in because Brett had been inappropriate with the original actor and he left??? I believe that's a true story!
When Grace started sleeping around. I'm not particularly conservative, but it really got to be appalling that in practically every episode Grace would meet a guy and instantly be in bed with him and the guy would be gone by the next episode. Grace never built a relationship, she would just jump into bed. It was particularly disturbing that she would have this parade of men sleeping over in her house with her young children present. All of the gratuitous and meaningless sex made the character of Grace very unappealing.
When they brought in another actor to replace the original Quentin. Things just went downhill. This show was great in the beginning and a welcome respite from the whiny-20somethings-in-NYC shows that dominated the 90s, as it actually attempted to show blue collar workers somewhat realistically. A lesser show would have made the character into some sassy, trash talking, gimmick. (Does anyone remember "Kiss my grits?") The main character, Grace, was someone who had made some mistakes but was trying to better herself...who was quite literate and quite intelligent. Also liked the romance between Grace and William Fichter (a great and underrated actor). It was a sweet, short-lived mature romance. I always thought Brett Butler was talented, as a comedian and a writer. Her stand-up show is hilarious. Her book was pretty good, especially for a celeb book. Only hope she has bounced back from whatever personal problems were going on in her life. We miss you, Brett. her. As for the negatives, I, too, was offended with the episode about the depressive neighbor. This show should have been above making fun of mental illness. But I was especially offended by the mother-in-law. Peggy Rea is no doubt very talented, but why did they have to make the loan religious character such an ignorant and intolerant person? They had some great supporting characters who were largely underutilized. And, why, oh why, was/is Dave Thomas so underutilized? Criminal. Maybe they were worried he would upstage the star! And lastly, some of the pop culture and political humor was really grown inducing. There was a "joke" where the young daughter tells someone that the word "Republican" is a bad word. Lest you think I am some big conservative, I would be bothered if someone said the same thing about Democrats. It's a sitcom.
When I was younger, about 10 or so, l used to watch the show a lot. I stopped since I thought it was cancelled till I seen the next season where Quentin Kelly was replaced. I stopped again (this time permanently,) after realizing the son has been changed. I mean, how the heck did the class clown, vindictive kid became the nice, handsome old kid? It doesn't make sense since not only did they changed the actor, but his personality.
Quentin was not replaced, exactly. The mother of the young actor who played the part pulled him from the show because she thought that the show was to "adult" for her young son to appear on. She didn't like that the character was allowed to say things that she did allow him to say in real life. This made the paper, one of those small blurbs on the bottom of the tv page, and the decision to recast with an older actor was logical from that standpoint. A better solution would have been to clean up what the characters were saying, rather than recasting with a much older actor. Or at least replacing Quentin 1 with Quentin 2 who was older, but looked younger. Michael J Fox is a good example, he played Alex as a high school sophomore despite being 19-20 years old. Lisa Cardilini (Freaks and Geeks) was 26 years old playing a high school junior. Another jump would be adding Jimmy the ex husband to the show. That character was best as often spoken of, but never seen. This always leads to imagining a person who could not be played, like Roy's mother on Wings or Al's mother on Home improvement, rather than confining that character to a physical appearance.
When Grace entered the final season Nadine was gone, and she was a great balance to Grace's harsh jokes. The way they explained her absence was really weak too. Nadine made the show cool cause she was more naive than Grace and would look at things positively where Grace always looked for doom.
GUF seemed promising at first with Dave Thomas of SCTV fame in the cast. But what we ended up with was a grasping at the popularity of "Roseanne" and trying to bottle that lightning twice (didn't happen) and Brett, tell us what you really think! Nasty, angry and depressing with a laugh track, that was "Grace Under Fire".
Alan's departure was more his decision than the show's, but they certainly had a hand in it, allowing the working atmosphere to become so poor. He left for many of the same reasons the rest of the cast did. They had a wonderful thing going with the relationship between Grace and Rick and they should have done whatever it took to keep Autry on board. He was more than just a romantic interest. He was an amazing character all to himself. Much like Grace, he was far more than he appeared to be. Losing other cast members was a shame, but the show could have been salvaged if Autry had remained, leaving Rick and Grace's relationship intact as an anchor.
|
09-30-2013, 06:56 PM
Grace Under Fire Boned the Fish When...
