How about some big time big screen stars for the small screen?
That's what we have with the latest FX anthology series from Ryan Murphy, Feud: Bette and Joan. The series debuts at 9 p.m. today and comes trailing a long A-list of stars.
Murphy's first Feud installment tells the tale of the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their 1962 collaboration on the Oscar-nominated film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Evidently, they didn't play well together. Ever.
The animosity continued long after the film was finished as, FX tells us, the actresses "endured ageism, sexism and misogyny while struggling to hang on to success and fame in the twilight of their careers."
Davis was 54 and Crawford 58 when they worked together. Both were considered over the hill and hoped the film would revive their careers. It was a huge success.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? received five Academy Award nominations and became a cult classic. Davis was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar (Anne Bancroft won for The Miracle Worker), much to Crawford's disgust.
The prolific 51-year-old Murphy is the creator of Glee, Popular, Nip/Tuck, The New Normal and Scream Queens. Lately, he has made a name for himself in the anthology format with American Horror Story and American Crime Story. Feud, which is set for eight episodes in the first season, is a continuation of that.
In addition to Academy Award winners Lange and Sarandon, the cast includes Alfred Molina as the film's director, Robert Aldrich; Stanley Tucci as scheming Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner; and Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.
Guest stars include Dominic Burgess as Baby Jane co-star Victor Buono; Catherine Zeta-Jones as actress and Davis friend Olivia de Havilland; and Sarah Paulson has a cameo as actress Geraldine Page.
Kathy Bates plays actress Joan Blondell and Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men's Sally Draper) portrays B.D., Bette Davis' daughter.
This is Sarandon's first TV project as a series regular.
Trivia: De Havilland, who won two Oscars (The Heiress, To Each His Own), played Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind. She is 100 years old these days and living in Paris.
Feud: Bette and Joan is rated TV-MA (VSL) for graphic violence, explicit sexual activity and crude/indecent language.
• Shades of Blue. Season 2 of the Jennifer Lopez detective drama debuts at 9 p.m. today on NBC. Ray Liotta co-stars.
• Making History, 7:30 p.m. today on Fox. This new sitcom arrives already having its original 13-episode order reduced to nine. Make of that what you will.
The comedy follows three friends for two centuries (stay with me) as they "try to balance the thrill of time travel with the mundane concerns of their present-day lives."
The Fox publicity mill hyperbolically labels it "a rollicking historical adventure and a contemporary comedy." I haven't had the chance to check it out, so we'll find out together just how rollicking it is, or if it's a nine-episode filler series that will vanish into the misty graveyard of forgotten tryouts.
The series stars Adam Pally (The Mindy Project), Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Yassir Lester (Girls).
• Six returning. The History Channel has re-enlisted its SEAL Team Six combat drama for a 10-episode second season. The first season has eight episodes and the finale airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
I've not missed a thrill-packed episode. Of course, I'd watch enthralled if series star Walton Goggins simply sat on a stool and read an instruction manual from Ikea.
• Baking again. In case you missed the memo, The Great British Baking Show will be returning to PBS in June. The series follows amateur bakers who take on culinary trials of increasing difficulty as the competition continues.
Each episode features a Signature Bake, to test creative flair; a Technical Bake, using basic recipes and minimal instruction; and the crowd favorite Showstopper Bake, designed to display skill and talent.
• Designated Survivor. I keep getting concerned emails, so here it is once more. The ABC drama starring Kiefer Sutherland has been on cliffhanger hiatus, but will return at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 03/05/2017