FOX Develops "Unique" Blend
Hollywood - Adding to the already besieged studio's woes, was
the announcement today by
authorities, of new charges of wrongdoing being brought against the FOX corpora-
tion in addition to the recent allegations charging the studio was involved in the
practice of using deceased actors, in an attempt to trim the budget of their hit comedy
show "Ally McBeal". (See: "Monday Night Of The
Living Dead?") This time, the controversy surrounded actress Courtney
Thorne-Smith. According to insiders, Smith had auditioned for the role of
"Georgia" early on, and was considered by writer/producer, David E. Kelly, to be
a natural for the part. However, it soon became apparent to some connected with the show,
that as the weeks wore on, Kelley had become increasingly frustrated with the actresses
inability to portray the role as he had intended: The snappish, paranoid, and often
irritable spouse of the character "Billy", played by Smith's co-star, Gil
Bellows. According to investigators, interviews with members of the crew, revealed
Kelley's disappointment had prompted him to direct certain employees on the set, to add
small amounts of automotive brake fluid to Smith's coffee, in an attempt to reproduce the
cranky disposition he was seeking in the young actress. Jerry Stanton, set director, who
overheard conversations between Kelly and his co-conspirators, and had this to say,
"I heard him telling them to add just enough to "crank her up", but not
enough to "kill" her" Obvious to fellow cast members, Smith's
increasingly hostile behavior was perceived to be but a talented performance, and were
shocked to hear of the stunning revelations. "We all just thought she was a good
actress", said Lucy Liu, who portrays "Ling" on the show, "I
suppose now we know better". Kelley's attorneys were not available for comment
at the time of this writing.