Summer Nose-talgia #21 Miss Barbara Stanwyck, TV's Grande Dame, July 16, 1907 - Jan. 20, 1990

She was born 107 years ago today, and from her first screen appearance in movies in 1927 to her last breath, actress Barbara Stanwyck was revered not only for her talent but for her unfailing professionalism.  Her powerful performances appeared regularly throughout her long career beginning on stage as a dancer, then in her transition into movies where she was a versatile performer in all genres, and finally to becoming one of the great ladies of the small screen -- though it was never small when she was on it.

We are here to particularly remember her TV work, and there was a lot of it considering how big of a movie star she was.  First it was just a sprinkling of guest roles as television established its foothold on American audiences, then a plunge into her own weekly series in a one-season run with The Barbara Stanwyck Show, a dramatic anthology program in which she played a different role almost every week.  She won her first Emmy for her work here.

Then came The Big Valley.  The series was Barbara Stanwyck's showcase as she played the widowed matriarch of a huge Western ranch, as at home right off the saddle clad in leather chaps as in her character Victoria Barkley's fancy ballgowns.  Victoria Barkley was essentially the distaff version of Lorne Greene's Ben Cartwright on Bonanza.  The Big Valley ran four seasons from 1965 - 1969, and of course we remember fondly the actors who portrayed her sons -- Peter Breck, Richard Long and Lee Majors -- and the lovely young actress Linda Evans who played her daughter Audra.  Stanwyck won another Emmy for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series and was nominated two more times for her work in The Big Valley.














Barbara Stanwyck did several well-regarded TV Movies, including the spooky The House That Would Not Die in 1970 which you can watch in its entirely by clicking here.  In 1980 she guest-starred on the episode of the hugely popular series Charlie's Angels entitled "Toni's Boys"; it was envisioned as a pilot for a spin-off series in which Stanwyck would play a female version of Charlie with three fetching young fellows out doing detective work at her behest.  It didn't make it to the schedule, but a fan has made a version of what the opening credits for a Toni's Boys series might have looked like:




Though she had been nominated for the Academy Award four times during her motion picture career, Barbara Stanwyck was finally given an honorary Oscar in 1982:



Here is a longer clip which includes her appearance with William Holden and the film clip retrospective:




In 1983 Barbara Stanwyck co-starred in NBC's epic and critically acclaimed miniseries The Thorn Birds, playing the aging matriarch Mary Carson who still had carnal appetites and wasn't hesitant about making them apparent.  Her most powerful scenes were opposite Richard Chamberlain.










Stanwyck won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for her work in The Thorn Birds, Part 1.




A series of guest roles as dowager Constance Colby on ABC's nighttime soap opera super-success Dynasty in 1985 led to Barbara heading the cast on the one-season spin-off The Colbys.

\

\




In 1987 Barbara Stanwyck received the AFI Life Achievement Award in a televised ceremony.  Here is a clip of Linda Evans speaking about Miss Stanwyck:



And here is Barbara's Stanwyck's acceptance speech:




Barbara Stanwyck passed away on January 20, 1990 at the age of 82.  Her performances in motion pictures and on television remain unique and completely relevant.

"Missy" is missed.

Worst Emmy Awards Show Ever?

Wow. If it was as painful for the attendees as it was for those of us watching at home, our condolences. Other than a few bright spots, this was a dull-as-dishwater Emmy telecast, a curiously bland affair which gave lipservice to the idea of the 60th anniversary of the awards but did nothing to evoke any emotional response to the notion.

I'm sure those who advocated for the new Reality Host category were tickled pink, but to repeatedly hand over precious minutes of the telecast to the wincingly unfunny blathering from the five-headed do and know-nothings was a crucial mistake and sunk the awards. What was up with the timing of the show, anyway? Some people were hurried on, some winners hurried off, as if preserving those awkward host bits were job one. More of those hosts rather than something from Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris? I don't think so.

There were a few bright spots -- Ricky Gervais, who unfortunately didn't take home any awards from his superb nominated Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, was droll and unexpected, a bit confrontational and fascinatingly so.

And every time Tina Fey was on, she was a delight. Boy, if she isn't a terrific role model for smart girls everywhere! I also liked the interaction between Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus during her Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy acceptance speech, when Fey joked that her husband had told her to act like J L-D, and that it was working out for her really well. To which Julia did a hilarious thumbs-up.

As our correspondent Scott noted, the Josh Groban TV theme song medley was pretty good, not exactly a sentimental walk down memory lane, but an interesting pastiche of eras.

In terms of the awards themselves, biggest disappointment for us was Stephen Dillane not getting the Emmy for his Thomas Jefferson in John Adams, and that Tom Wilkinson got it for his Benjamin Franklin. It was that beaver hat, I tell ya. They went for the flashier performance, not that Wilkinson wasn't excellent, but hmmm...still think Dillane should have gotten it. And we also desperately wanted Ashley Jensen to get hers for her supporting role in the Extras finale.

Nice showing for John Adams overall, excellent wins for Mad Men, both well-deserved. And when that Mad Men cast went up on stage -- what a stunning ensemble. It's a really different looking group, not blandly glamorous, but so very interesting to look at. Let's get more people hooked on this tremendous show!

What were your Emmy impressions? Loved the Awards, hated the show? We did.

An Emmy Dud

Just a quick post from me... and in the spirit of the most boring awards show in decades, no artwork or links or videos from me!

I won't comment on whether the right shows won (except to say that plenty of my -and TFN's - faves won). My cohorts at TFN gave a live, real-time account and went into greater detail in the several posts below this one. So I'll keep this brief.

This was one of the worst produced Emmy telecasts I've ever seen. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the category orders. They wasted time with garbage and rushed the winners more than ever. So many categories are now included that there no time for clips. Except for Josh Grobin's amusing (and surprising-in a good way) medley of TV theme songs, the show was completely devoid of entertainment. The opening skit with the five hosts "having nothing" prepared fell flat. Most of the presenters and hosts stumbled along.

Brightest moment: Don Rickles and Kathy Griffin. They actually provided 6 or 7 great minutes. Don Rickles FTW!!

And I'm not grumpy because the show ran late and I'm tired. It actually ended on time - 2 minutes before the 11pm news. Unheard of. I just really disliked the broadcast! As a television program it fell short.

Hell Hath No Fury Like the Women of Mad Men

We are well into Season Two for Mad Men and this series has maintained its extraordinary quality through every episode. If anything, it has gotten even stronger, as demonstrated by the fabulously layered episode #8, "A Night To Remember". It pits male against female characters at home, at work, and at church. There are also some wonderful scenes showing the inner machinations of the Ad Biz, as Media Buyer Harry Crane struggles to grow his fledgling Television department at Sterling Cooper.

The entire episode is carefully constructed around the anguish of Betty Draper, the blond suburban ice queen who has discovered (yet again) her husband Don's infidelities. In one memorable scene her rage spills over and she methodically beats a living room chair to smithereens, while her astonished kids watch from the den. Betty's betrayal is mirrored by Joan, the voluptuous office manager who has been temporarily assigned as Harry's assistant in the new TV department, when he becomes overwhelmed by his new responsibilities. Joan helps Harry by reading the episode scripts and alerting him about scenes where their client's spots should (or should not) be positioned. Joan thrives with this new task, she happens to be a natural with an intuitive feel for programming, characters and ad placement. It doesn't hurt that all the clients love to be in meetings with her where they can admire her bosom and skin tight outfits. Just when we think Joan is going to be a better ladder climber than Peggy, she is called in and dismissed suddenly, when Harry gets permission to hire a salaried staff member. Of course he replaces Joan with a man. What's worse, he nonchalantly asks Joan to train the incompetent new jerk, in a job that she's created and perfected. Her reaction was so frosty it could have reversed global warming.

The final battle of the sexes, 60's style, was between Peggy, the young copywriter and family priest, Father Gill. She volunteers to use her considerable advertising skills to help the church ladies promote a CYO dance. The old biddies tear her ideas to shreds and pronounce the whole theme of "A Night to Remember" as too provocative. "It will send the wrong idea to our youth". Father Gill, a weak willy who plays folk guitar in his free time, fails to stick up for Peggy. Instead, he pressures her to "confess", all her secrets and sins.

Don's lies, Harry's betrayal, Father Gill's spineless lack of support. These men aren't mad, they are clueless, and it fuels the women's rage like kerosene on a campfire. It's 1963. The dawn of the feminist revolution is right around the corner. It's amazing that men who are so great at understanding how to communicate to the female consumer, are oblivious when it comes to the real women in their midst.

This program is superb on every level. Mad Men will not air this Sunday due to the Emmy Awards. I predict that MM will win truckloads of the gold statue with wings.