'Bionic Woman': Producer defends Washington casting
Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 6:10 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
TV
I've already posted about Isaiah Washington joining the cast of "Bionic Woman" for five episodes, and that post brought out the Washington fans and the Washington detractors in full force. Many of you say you won't watch the show after Washington's anti-gay slur, but others say he's a talented actor who should be given a second chance.
Washington's addition to the cast was, naturally a hot topic during Tuesday's "Bionic Woman" panel. (Note for title sticklers: The original 1970s show was indeed "The Bionic Woman," but the remake has dropped the "The." It's only one of many differences between the two series, which I'll get to in a second.)
First, let's talk about Washington. My former co-worker, Neal Justin of the Star Tribune, asked the producers why take the risk of casting the controversial actor. Exec producer Jason Smilovic said that he thought Washington was right for the role, and went on to say "Also, we believe in second chances. We are not here to make judgments. ... when somebody does something wrong and you have a systematic problem, the best way to change that problem is not by casting them outside the system. It's by allowing them to make amends, allowing them to make reparations and do the right thing. So rather than excommunicate someone, we felt it was better to give him a second chance."
Smilovic was later asked a question many of you had been voicing in the Weblog comments: If Washington had been a white actor who used the N-word, would he have been forgiven? Smilovic said he couldn't answer that without being in that situation.
Later, when asked if Washington's casting was disrespectful to the gay community, Smilovic said "absolutely not." He went on to say "We are in no way making any judgments or statements or assignations about what was said or what was done. This is about making a television series."
IN NON-ISAIAH WASHINGTON NEWS...
CASTING
Washington's not the only change on "Bionic Woman." On the pilot I saw, Mae Whitman played Jaime's teenage sister, who was deaf. I liked how the two sisters related and how the character's deafness was merely taken in stride in the plot. However, Whitman is not deaf, and some objected to her casting, saying a deaf actress should have played the role. Whitman has now been replaced by Lucy Hale, her character rewritten (to be a computer hacker), and she now can hear. That's one way around a controversy, I guess. (In fairness, Smilovic says the rewrite was for plot reasons...that Jaime had originally worked in a lab, talking to chimps in sign language, and her having a deaf sister explained how she knew the language. Now her job has changed, he says, and they no longer felt the need to have that plot.)
Katee Sackoff, Starbuck on "Battlestar Galactica," plays an evil bionic woman who goes up against Jaime. Sackoff was scheduled to appear Tuesday, but didn't attend. A critic asked if this was because she didn't have a contract with the show, but Smilovic would only say (three times), that "Katee is on the show, and (she) had a scheduling conflict (today)." Hmm. OK.
NOSTALGIA-METER
Why do "Bionic Woman" when, in the 1970s, "Six Million Dollar Man" came first? Producer David Eick mentioned that Universal has plans to make Col. Steve Austin's exploits into a movie, but went on to say that Jaime's story interested them more.
Don't look for the original show's classic slo-mo running and "duh-duh-duh" sound effects. "I suppose if the tone of the show was campy or retro or somehow satirical, it would make sense to do that," said Eick. (Does this mean no Bionic Dog?)
Oscar Goldman, Jaime and Steve Austin's OSI boss, won't be around, either. Eick said the show didn't have rights to the name, but Smilovic said "The show in the '70s was the right show for that time period. The show that we are making we are hoping is going to be the right show for the 21st century."
