Rachel Confirms s7 Casting Spoilers

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

 


I'd like to take this opportunity to say that whether or not you loved/hated Ashley Seaver, Rachel Nichols as an actress is a human being who did not deserve to be sidelined liked this. She obviously loved her job and her co-workers, and is justifiably upset about this. 

CBS pulled the same stunt with Rachel that they did with AJ and Paget last year. Please keep that in mind. CBS might have fixed one of the symptoms by bringing AJ and Paget back, but they have in no way solved the problem of treating their actresses as disposable.

If you can, please send Rachel some love on twitter. 

Comments

[dearxjessy.livejournal.com]

I feel so bad for Rachel. It's great that Paget is coming back, but I didn't think CBS would do such a heartless move.

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

I wasn't expecting Rachel not to come back. Ten days ago, she tweeted saying that she was back for season seven. And then they waited for her to leave the country for vacation and then sprung this out. And she's obviously just finding out about this over twitter, just like AJ and Paget did with CM, just like Kirsten did with SB, and it's just so incredibly infuriating.

[dysfunkshunell1.livejournal.com]

I have no issues with Rachel but find it completely unfair to compare AJ's and Paget's situations with Rachel being fired. Rachel Nichols was brought on with the original intent of just a few episodes and an obvious replacement for bad decisions on CBS' part. Additionally, the part of Seaver was never written intelligently.

While I don't wish the actress any misfortune, I'm relieved the powers that be woke up and had the character exit as well as canceling the poorly created spinoff

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

It's unfair to compare one actress being fired without warning and letting her find out via fans on twitter to the same thing happening to another actress? Less than two weeks ago, Rachel was certain that she was slated in for season seven. They told her she would be back and then fired her with no warning.

[dearxjessy.livejournal.com]

I heard about that tweet on Tumblr. Which is why when I saw that she was fired, I was confused/shocked. They could have told her directly, at least. Total lack of professionalism on their part.

[philstar22.livejournal.com]

But the situation for the actress is the same: finding out she was fired on twitter, being fired in a bad and ill-thought-out way. And that is the point. No matter how you feel about the character (and I'd disagree that she was poorly written), how they are treating the actresses on the show is just not cool. None of the actors are being treated this way.

[tryxkittie.livejournal.com]

women in fridges indeed. cbs needs a bitchslap. pun intended

[cupcakery.livejournal.com]

CBS: Leading the unprofessional sweepstakes by a mile.

[philstar22.livejournal.com]

And also, they didn't "wake up" and fire her because she was badly written/unpopular (whether she was either or not is up for debate). She was fired because CBS sees actresses as interchangeable and didn't want more than three female characters. Having 4 would balance things out, but they don't seem to care about that. They focus more on the male characters and treat the actors better than they have treated any of the actresses.

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes to both of your comments. You said it much better than I would have.

[patch-tank.livejournal.com]

This, times a million. I loved Rachel and Seaver, and I hate CBS so hard right now for the way they treat their cast. Rachel was put into such a shitty situation and she did the best she could - I really hope they'll bring her back at least as a guest star or something. I'm so stoked about Paget returning, but the way CBS treated Rachel (and Kirsten - firing over twitter? Gross) is bullshit.

[antoinettemason.livejournal.com]

fucking THIS. at this point, i'm wondering which cbs actress is going to find out she was fired via twitter next summer.

[antoinettemason.livejournal.com]

i wondered when i saw the news over on the cmfans blog whether rachel was given a heads up about what was about to happen, given that all her tweets at that point had indicated that she would still be back next season. looks like my initial suspicion that she was blindsided like a.j. and paget were last year was correct.

oh, cbs, u stay classy.

[dysfunkshunell1.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's unfair to compare actors who had been on the show and loved for years to someone just added on.

Again, nothing against Rachel but the show would be too cast heavy to keep her on and bring the original characters, who are the reasons the show had done so well, back. The idea of them keeping her as long as they have already made little sense. The BAU is an elite team that requires experience (or in the case of Reid, genius) for a cadet to suddenly join...no sense.

But then this is about the actress being fired. I agree the manner in which it was done is not pleasant but is there a really a good way to fire someone? And my issue is with comparing her situation to that of Paget and AJ.

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is a good way to fire someone. By contacting them personally and telling them before they get to find out about it from their fans.

[soundscape.livejournal.com]

I get all the CBS hate, I do, but... CM is NOT produced by CBS alone. In fact, it's produced by the Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios. CBS is only partially to blame. Just saying.

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

Okay? The whole situation is still bullshit no matter who is to blame?

[dysfunkshunell1.livejournal.com]

You know this from an inside source? Otherwise, it's your opinion.

Would you have Rachel stay on and TG not signed?

The show began with 3 female characters. Going to 4 would make it reverse top heavy. It would not fit with the ratio of law enforcement or what has worked all this time.

I agree that CBS has its issues but I will not accept the character of Seaver. The actress seems like a lovely person but the role has consistently been criticized where the actress herself has had to promise the development, noting there hasn't been much reason to watch the character.

This wasn't an attack on Seaver but an argument that what happened to Rachel does not in any way equate with what happened to AJ or Paget.

[soundscape.livejournal.com]

I'm not disagreeing. I just felt the need to defend CBS a little as a former employee. I don't think it's fair to pin a bad decision on an entire network when it was ultimately determined by multiple producers.

It's shitty what happened to Ms. Nichols. Unfortunately television is not a pretty business.

[blue-sunflowers.livejournal.com]

I don't feel all that sorry for Rachel. She's an actress, this comes with the job. If she wants stability, then she's in the wrong profession. Her character wasn't accepted, and with Paget back the cast is full. This isn't in anyway near a comparison to AJ/Paget. Those two ladies were blindsided. Rachel OTOH was not. Even if she wasn't aware of fan reaction (which she was), she's aware of the business. As soon as AJ was hired back, she must have realized her days were likely numbered. Rachel basically had to hope that *Paget* would lose her job in order for her to stay. Financially, she should have seen the writing on the wall. Everyone else did. She's the low man on the totem pole. That's how it works in the real world, so the acting profession is no different.

Lastly, Rachel was never told she was returning. She was told she was "slated to return, cross my fingers nothing changes". Obviously she knew it wasn't a done deal. Most likely it was the showrunners telling all the actors the same thing Erica Messner told the fans in the chat they gave a week or so ago: that until told otherwise, they assume they have all the characters to deal with when going back to work (writers start on May 31st). So even Thomas Gibson is "slated to return" even though he currently has no contract.

[soundscape.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you just said. :) It may sound mean, but television is a not an easy or kind industry.

[dysfunkshunell1.livejournal.com]

If that is how she found out, CBS should be labeled snitches and thrown into general population in a Federal pen.

However, I did not get that they had fired her this way from her Tweets or what you posted.

Rachel deserves much better than that. It is low and unprofessional. No matter what I may have felt (or not felt) for her character, CBS brought her I and should have the decency to exit her properly.

[the-gubette.livejournal.com]

This. So much.

They focus more on the male characters and treat the actors better than they have treated any of the actresses.

NONE of the male actors have been in jeopardy whatsoever. Thomas hasn't signed a contract yet, but CM wants him back. They would never attempt to write off one of the male characters, and that's what disgusts me.

[blue-sunflowers.livejournal.com]

BS. They fired her because she was the low man on the totem pole, and no one would really care if her character was gone anyways. This had nothing to do with Rachel being a female.

While CBS' decision to cut actors last summer was sucky, I'm NOT going to fault them for chosing AJ and Paget over any of the men. For one, none of the men had their contracts up first. For two, the men have actual fandoms and/or clout. JJ by far and away was the weakest link on the show, in terms of cutting out. Prentiss second. CBS' mistake was not in reading Paget and AJ's TVQ scores. AJ and Paget weren't saved by AJ and Paget fans. They were saved by the CM fans as a whole. Contrast that to say if they'd decided not to pick up MGG. Reid fans would go ballistic. And Reid fans? Not only sizeable, but active as well.

If anyone is to blame, it's the fans for liking the men more. We *are* a sexist society. Far and away male-dominated shows are the successful ones, not the female-dominated shows.

[blue-sunflowers.livejournal.com]

I think that's the way things go nowadays though. Social media moves at the speed of light. It seems to me these aren't cases of someone calling Deadline before Rachel and/or Kristen. What's going on is paperwork filled out, reporters picking it up, and news spreading before the official phone call can be made. When an earthquake happens, you follow twitter. You don't tune into CNN if you want the most up-to-date news.

I also disagree CBS is showing lack of respect to the *female* actresses. I think that they happen to be female is simply a by-product. IIRC, the *male* lead of Without a Trace found out their show was canceled from a reporter.