Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?

wildcat fan — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 15:33:24 GMT

Saved by the Bell & Brittany Murphy were on Lifetime. IMO, Lifetime needs to give up on new bios if this is the best writing and acting they can come up with! I thought the Brittany Murphy documentary which followed the movie was much better than the movie itself. For an "unauthorized" biography, the Saved by the Bell movie really didn't reveal much at all.

I guess my fave of the three was the Houdini movie on History Channel. I found Part One to be much more interesting than Part Two. I liked all the actors except the one who played his wife, Bess. Maybe not much is known about her, but I would've liked to seen more efforts to develop her character.

Re: Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?

keri — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 17:32:05 GMT

Bio-pics are tricky propositions at best. If the subject was iconic (e.g. - Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith) or died within the audience's recent memory, then criticism generally focuses on factual discrepancies and inevitable comparisons centering on how little the actors physically resembled the subject. That's why producers often attach a disclaimer at the start stating that events and characters that have been composited for dramatic purposes. It's their prerogative of employing dramatic license in these biographical movies versus documentaries.

I watched The Brittany Murphy Story (The Brittany Murphy Story (2014) - IMDb) last night on Lifetime and while it wasn't the worst bio-pic shown on that network or others, it certainly wasn't the best. The dialogue was laughable and the production values were cheesy; woefully deficient.

Rather than focusing on the cause of Murphy's sudden death at age 32 in 2009 and her husband Simon Monjack's only five months later, the made-for-cable production preferred to infuse it with feeble recreations of some of her most famous works, including a poor rendition of Clueless, replete with a totally unrecognizable portrayal of star Alicia Silverstone.

Speculation surrounding Murphy's possible COD (drug overdose? murder? poison? environmental toxins?/toxic mold?) was crammed into the last five minutes.

Notable for all the wrong reasons was Eric Peterson, (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3866761/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ), the odd looking actor best known for playing the long-lost son on the abysmal, recently canceled after only one season sitcom, Kirstie. Sporting a goatee and one of Hollywood's phoniest British accents, Peterson's bulging blue eyes made him look more like a pervert as Murphy's controlling, overly protective, pompous photographer-publicist-promoter-producer-con artist husband.

Most horrifying of all was the once-stunningly beautiful Sherilyn Fenn of Twin Peaks fame (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000145/?ref_=nv_sr_1), who was virtually unrecognizable here as Murphy's mother. One can only hope that the terrible makeup and costuming was part of some heretofore unknown Actress Protection Program, designed to disguise her identity by hiding her in plain sight.

As usual, I didn't read any reviews until after watching the movie. I should have and I'd have saved two hours of my life that I'll never recoup. While those critiques ranged from unfavorable to harsh, all I can say is that those assessments were extremely charitable.

Everything about Lifetime's Brittany Murphy movie is already

Surprise! Lifetime's 'Brittany Murphy Story' is a 'colossal ...

An hour-long Beyond The Headlines documentary, culled from Red Carpet interviews,

news footage and talk show appearances, followed the movie. You're so right, wildcat fan.

While it wasn't an award-winner, compared to the movie, it was half as long and twice as good.

Re: Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?

Annabellethecat66 — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 18:13:05 GMT

They've been on so much it's difficult not to not see it!! I've see tiny parts of Brittny, what I saw they make her out to be a victim. I don't know if she was. I don't know much about her, except she died too young.

Joan and Melissa, I've been enjoying it. I saw the first few episodes when she was on in the beginning, but lost track of it.

I know a lot of it is put on, but she was so darn funny, I love it. It makes me sit here and laugh out out.

topic Re: Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy? in TV and Movies

Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?

Re: Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?

Re: Anybody watch recent TV bios. . .Saved by the Bell, Hudini, or Brittany Murphy?