edonline wrote in
news:192t93tpn6e0kh8nksp3um4bbrvdj69o1e@4ax.com:
> http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1835818020070718
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>
> CBS disputes actor Patinkin on quitting hit show
> Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:11PM EDT
> By Steve Gorman
>
> BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - The president of CBS
> Entertainment on Thursday disputed actor Mandy Patinkin's explanation
> for quitting the hit show "Criminal Minds," insisting "personal
> issues" not "creative differences" led to his exit.
>
> Nina Tassler, the network's chief programmer, declined to elaborate on
> the veteran performer's reasons for asking to be released from his
> contract, saying she preferred to let Patinkin speak for himself.
>
> But she did indicate CBS executives felt they had little choice when
> approached by the actor, who also abruptly left his Emmy-winning role
> as a surgeon on the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope" in 1995 after one
> season.
>
> "When he approached us and said, 'I want to be released,' and we
> talked about it internally, we realized that this was the moment in
> time where we knew we had to address it, and we did and were able to
> accommodate him," she told a gathering of TV critics in Beverly Hills.
>
> The television community was stunned by word on Monday that Patinkin,
> 54, an accomplished stage actor and singer who won a Tony Award for
> his Broadway performance in the musical "Evita," had decided to leave
> "Criminal Minds" after two seasons.
>
> In a statement issued on his behalf by the show's producers, Patinkin
> said his departure was "due to creative differences." The producers
> added that salary and contract issues were not at issue.
>
> Pressed for further details during the network's semiannual
> presentation to TV critics, Tassler insisted unspecified "personal
> issues" were behind Patinkin's move. Asked to reconcile her
> explanation with his, she said, "I think creative differences is a
> euphemism for personal issues."
>
> The one-hour drama, which airs on CBS, has starred Patinkin as the
> leader of a team of federal agents who use psychology, technology and
> other tools to investigate strange crimes.
>
> Patinkin's character, Special Agent Jason Gideon, will return for at
> least one episode in the new season, beginning this fall, in which his
> departure will be explained.
>
> Patinkin said in a Los Angeles Times interview years ago he left
> "Chicago Hope" because he found he had no time to spend with his
> family.
>
> "Criminal Minds" producer Ed Bernero wrote in an Internet blog this
> week that Patinkin's request came out of the blue after the actor
> failed to show up for work.
>
> "He gave us no advance notice that anything was wrong, no opportunity
> to make the loss of the character work, no indication that we should
> be looking for someone else, no warning that we might have to rewrite
> the first seven scripts," Bernero wrote.
The networks need to learn to use the standard business euphemism for
anybody who gets fired or quits - "not a team player." |
