Page 2 | To think it must have been so humiliating and depressing for Shelley Long

LindaLooky · 19/09/2021 13:19

It must have sucked. You have to be so thick skinned in that profession, no wonder so many actors end up with addictions and mental health issues.

powershowerforanhour · 19/09/2021 13:26

Oh well. Perhaps she's glad she gave it a go anyway. Maybe she cares about people sniggering "HA jumped up little madam got taken down a peg or two", maybe she doesn't.

Chikapu · 19/09/2021 13:27

Like I can't imagine her anguish and humiliation

Anguish and humiliation? I should think it's just the nature of the beast.

Quirrelsotherface · 19/09/2021 13:37

I'd never heard of her (not a Cheers fan) but just did a bit of reading. She apparently told Graham Norton she had no regrets leaving when she did and that she had a toddler DD at the time and wanted to spend more time with her. She also turned down 3 major film roles, so I don't think she was begging for work or anything.

It must be tricky to make decisions as an actor when you achieve some success. Look at all the soap actors who choose to leave..the problem is they think if they've got a part in Coronation Street they must be special. Not really, most of them are just lucky and in the right place at the right time. Very, very few have the star quality of the likes of Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire.

Jackofallsorts · 19/09/2021 13:37

@Suetully

I caught Cheers reruns flicking through tv last night. Having not seen or thought of it in well over 25 years, I forgot how good Shelley Long was in it as Diane and her brilliant chemistry with Ted Danson.

I did some research after and she'd after 5 years left for a movie career but her career tanked and within 3 years of leaving, she was another jobbing tv actress whilst the show went strong for another 6 years and that was the show she'd deserted as the main star.

Like I can't imagine her anguish and humiliation that Danson went on to become the biggest tv star of that time, the show went to number 1 and her co-stars who were support to her reign like Kelsey Grammar and Woody Harrison became much bigger stars than she did.
She even returned to be a guest star on Frasier and he became the highest tv star in the world whilst at a time he was only brought into Cheers as her love interest.

That and her replacement Kirstie Alley became even bigger than Long was both in her carer and in general fame. It seems her name now is synonymous with a bad career move if you google her. AIBU to think that would be a pretty hard pill to swallow?

Kirsty Alley had a successful career before Cheers. She was an extremely good stage and dramatic actress

SchadenfreudePersonified · 19/09/2021 13:44

Anyone remember Ken Morley (Reg Holdsworth) from Coronation Street?

No. Me neither.

He thought he was bigger than the programme.

He wasn't.

Monkeytennis97 · 19/09/2021 13:44

@Suetully

Isn't that why all the Eastenders actors from the 90s/00s are all back

there is a big difference between EastEnders and cheers which was a worldwide massive hit.

True I'm just saying people vanish and some come back and some never do. Same for well known actors.

Original poster

Suetully · 19/09/2021 13:45

Kirsty Alley had a successful career before Cheers. She was an extremely good stage and dramatic actress

she wasn't a household name though, it was cheers that made her a big star.

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Original poster

Suetully · 19/09/2021 13:47

She also turned down 3 major film roles, so I don't think she was begging for work or anything

what were they? This was never confirmed, just internet rumors.

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Original poster

Suetully · 19/09/2021 13:50

Very, very few have the star quality of the likes of Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire

Lancashire's dad and husband were both high up on ITV and in TV in general, she had advantages and connections the rest didn't. Suranne Jones I will give you but she is 1 of the strongest tv actresses in the UK.

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godmum56 · 19/09/2021 13:53

i thought she was brilliant in Modern Family but never liked her in Cheers.

stayathomer · 19/09/2021 13:55

It's funny the films like hello again are films I love, so I wouldn't have seen her as being anything but successful! Same with modern family, she was brilliant! So it's how you read things, maybe she's happy with her lot

foxgoosefinch · 19/09/2021 13:56

Reminds me of when David Duchovny, who was very vocal about how much he despised being on a “sci-fi” television show, left the X-Files because he assume he’d have a big movie career - which he completely failed to do.

Twenty five years later and he’s the one who was keen to do more of the execrable XF revival episodes while Gillian Anderson refused!

(Only, being a man of course, Duchovny managed to get back into the TV game with Californication…playing an older Hollywood writer who was inexplicably sexual catnip to young teenage girls… Shelley Long didn’t get that opportunity, obviously!)

Thesearmsofmine · 19/09/2021 13:59

She took a risk by leaving and for her it didn’t pay off. You win some, you lose some.

Quirrelsotherface · 19/09/2021 14:03

Lancashire's dad and husband were both high up on ITV and in TV in general, she had advantages and connections the rest didn't. Suranne Jones I will give you but she is 1 of the strongest tv actresses in the UK

I agree with that to an extent and SL isn't one of my personal faves but if she didn't have something special there's no way she would have the body of work that she has, connections or not.

She doesn't have the quality of SJ in my opinion who I agree is probably the best TV actress in the UK.

DrManhattan · 19/09/2021 14:03

I didn't think she was that good in Cheers

Artonthefridge · 19/09/2021 14:04

Shelley Long has comedy instincts for days. She was incredible as Diane. She was incredible as Carol Brady in the Brady Bunch movies. She's incredible in Modern Family.

And, as an 80s kid, I was obsessed with her in Troop Beverly Hills...that cape!

yellowglass · 19/09/2021 14:04

Troop Beverley hills was my childhood favourite film, still love it now . Brings back some really lovely memories of long summers staying with my cousins .

So if it's any consolation to, I still thinks she is/was ace !

yellowglass · 19/09/2021 14:07

@Artonthefridge

🎶We're the girls from Beverley hills,
Shopping is our greatest skill 🎶

Original poster

Suetully · 19/09/2021 14:08

*Troop Beverley hills was my childhood favourite film, still love it now . Brings back some really lovely memories of long summers staying with my cousins .

So if it's any consolation to, I still thinks she is/was ace *

This thread wasn't meant to be a seek support thread, more pointing out how she never replicated the fame and success she had by leaving a hit show.

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KaptainKaveman · 19/09/2021 14:09

@Suetully

Very, very few have the star quality of the likes of Suranne Jones and Sarah Lancashire

Lancashire's dad and husband were both high up on ITV and in TV in general, she had advantages and connections the rest didn't. Suranne Jones I will give you but she is 1 of the strongest tv actresses in the UK.

They are called 'actors' these days, OP. For someone who knows the minutiae of soap operas and other TV shows you seem a bit unaware.

JacquelineCarlyle · 19/09/2021 14:11

@stayathomer

It's funny the films like hello again are films I love, so I wouldn't have seen her as being anything but successful! Same with modern family, she was brilliant! So it's how you read things, maybe she's happy with her lot

I agree with this.

KaptainKaveman · 19/09/2021 14:14

@Suetully

*Same for a lot of actors - they make it big but can’t sustain the success.

It’s just how it is - her story isn’t unique*

it's more that she left a popular series though, the lead star and that it did fine without her and her supporting colleagues trumped her. That's more my point in how it stung.

It's different when a career fizzles out, it's more how she fizzled out by her bad decision and was left with egg on her face.

In what ways was she left with "egg on her face"?

You seem vastly over-invested, OP. You also seem to be rather enjoying the 'failure' of this actor. Why are you using terms like 'anguish and humiliation'? do you know her personally? did she tell you she felt 'humiliated' and as if she had 'egg on her face'?

Original poster

Suetully · 19/09/2021 14:15

In what ways was she left with "egg on her face"

in that many websites and forums, I googled mention how she never progressed after cheers.

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Artonthefridge · 19/09/2021 14:15

Cheers had a heavily male writers room. The rumour goes that Shelley Long was not well liked. Sometimes a work environment is horrible and we look for a different job. I'm really glad people don't wonder why I left my retail position years after the fact. I left because it was a nightmare.

Thinking her time on the show was up (her storylines were getting repetitive) and wanting a bigger career in the movies...sorry, but what's wrong with that? What's wrong with ambition?

Has anyone seen The Comeback? It's great for highlighting the older female comic actors experience on a toxic show, and it's funny.