Writer’s Revenge

[Carrie Fairchild]

I saw Linda Thorson guest starring on an episode of Schitt’s Creek that I recently watched, and it reminded me of her stint on UK soap Emmerdale. She was allegedly axed from the show after giving the writers some feedback on a storyline that she was involved in. After speaking out about her axing, her character was subsequently killed offscreen and instead of being buried, her coffin was dug up and mangled through a bin collection truck.

On another UK soap (Corrie), long serving character Martin Platt had been involved in a controversial plot where he was in a relationship with a 16 year old girl while he was in his 30’s. After that storyline concluded, writers allegedly wanted Martin to become involved with an even younger girl, leading to him being jailed. Sean Wilson, the actor that portrayed Martin, refused to participate in the plot and his contract wasn’t renewed. To add insult to injury, writers concocted a storyline for his final months, where Martin got a new job as the mascot for the local football team, resulting in him spending most of his time dressed in a chicken costume.

Have you any other examples of times where writers took it out on an actor for falling out with the show / not towing the company line? I know there’s cases where people have been just axed but I suppose I’m thinking of instances where characters have been given bad exits as a result of the writers falling out with them.

 

[Daniel Avery]

One that immediately comes to mind is the unfortunate Elizabeth Talbot Stewart on 1970's As the World Turns. Jane House was playing the character while also appearing in a Broadway play. When Irna Phillips (ATWT's creator and Head Writer) found out House had a topless scene in that Broadway play, Phillips was horrified. She wrote a scene where Elizabeth tripped on the hem of her nightgown as she ascended the stairs, rupturing her spleen and dying. Yes, she (famously) fell up the stairs.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The odd way the writers/producers of South Park wrote out the character of "Chef" (voiced by Isaac Hayes) seemed very "targeted" at the time, and as the years progressed we learned just how nuts the whole thing was. Hayes was a member of Scientology and was upset at how the show portrayed it in an episode, though he appeared to let it slide since he got on well with the writers. He later had a stroke and while he recovered, some members of Scientology claiming to represent him "resigned" him from the show. The producers wrote Chef out of the series with a death that was for lack of a better term "overkill" which depicted Scientology in an even worse light since the writers had an idea that Hayes had not left of his own accord.