‘Good Wife’ Alicia, Kalinda Finale Scene: Julianna Margulies, Archie Panjabi | TVLine 

fans, I watched last week’s season finale in dizzying anticipation.

As TVLine had enthusiastically teased in the days leading up to the closer, the episode promised to feature a scene between former besties Alicia and Kalinda.That scene notably would be the first time in nearly three seasons that Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi would share the screen together — a separation that both perplexed me as a person and frustrated me as a fan of the series and, more specifically, these two characters.

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Still, I was willing to forgive and forget the years of awkward, almost laughable storytelling somersaults — a byproduct of an apparent mandate to keep the two actresses apart at any cost — if it meant we’d get one final scene with Alicia and Kalinda before Panjabi exited the show for good. And I didn’t even care what triggered the real-life chasm between Margulies and Panjabi. All that mattered was they both were willing to bury the proverbial hatchet for a few hours to do right by the show and the audience.

So, when the scene started and Kalinda slid over to Alicia’s side at the bar — a familiar meeting spot for the former drinking buddies — I literally got up off the couch and moved closer to the TV. It was happening. The two characters — and more importantly, the two actresses — were in the same scene together. And they were saying everything I needed to hear. It was magical. I was elated. They did it.

I immediately started tweeting things like “OMG” and “Worth the wait.” The possibility that we were being conned didn’t dawn on me for a second until I started reading comments from TVLine readers, many of whom expressed suspicion about the scene’s inconsistent lighting. And the fact that neither actress ever touched. And that their faces couldn’t be made out in the over-the-shoulder shots.

And that Margulies appeared never to look directly at Panjabi.

I initially laughed it off as conspiracy-theory hoo-ha. They filmed the scene together — or at the very least agreed to shoot the two-shot portion of the scene together — and that was that.

Margulies and Panjabi did not shoot that scene together, I have come to learn. Body doubles were employed for the single shots, and the two-shot was spliced together in post-production.

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I felt like an idiot. I felt duped. More importantly, I was disappointed, as a fan of the show and of these two actresses for whom I have huge admiration, whose work I have championed. I have no idea what beef exists between the two — nor do I care. But if ever there were a time for everyone to put aside their differences and make a decision in the best interests of the show — and for the sake of the fans who keep the show on the air — it was then.

scene. We all work with people we don’t like. (Think about the poor souls who had to act opposite a certain

.) But you grin, bear it and get the job done. That’s what needed to happen here.

 eventually airs its series finale, perhaps it will feature an authentic scene, set in a bar, between two old friends.

(A CBS spokesperson declined to comment for this story, while reps for Margulies and Panjabi could not be reached.)

UGHHH. That makes me want to dump the show now more than ever.

Why? How does behind the scenes stuff that was made to bend over backward to please the fans when the actresses didn’t want to do it make you want to quit the show more?

Perhaps LT doesn’t want to support an enterprise that lacks professionalism anymore? Perhaps LT doesn’t want to help line the pockets of someone(s) who can’t get past the pettiness and smallness of private affairs to help the team deliver the best possible solution for the fans? Maybe the want a bit more legitimacy in the performances (it was very obvious they weren’t together)? Perhaps LT has just realized that a once great show sort of sucks now. Sorry to say it, because I really liked the show for years but I watched this year more out of habit and not because it was compelling. You still have some good episodes. You still have some great performances (Baranski specifically) but it’s a pale imitation of what it once was. Sad really. Hope CBS gives it 13 episodes and puts it out of it’s misery….

“Perhaps LT doesn’t want to support an enterprise that lacks professionalism anymore? Perhaps LT doesn’t want to help line the pockets of someone(s) who can’t get past the pettiness and smallness…”

Oh, dear. Wherever shall I shop for groceries and clothes, now? LOL!

If professionalism was the standard, there wouldn’t be much to watch. Sets are insane.

Says someone who hasn’t worked on many sets. For the most part they are not insane. Not everyone gets a along like besties, but they are at least cordial to each other and professional. Every once in a while you get two actors who hate each other, but it is extremely rare that one would refuse to be in the same scene as the other yet remain on the show. The only way that happens is if the problem person is the lead and there is no show without them. I think we know who that is on The Good Wife: the same person who thought the Alicia/Kalinda friendship was “played out” at the end of season 2 and that eventually forgiving Kalinda and the two rebuilding their friendship would be going backwards. How close-minded. If done right would have been character growth. When she said that, the Kings said they disagreed but were not going to “fight Julianna” about it in public. I think that said it all.

There are tonnes of actors that hate each other, but they put it aside like professionals and do their job. Hell Bruce Willas and Cybill hater each other, but they did their jobs and they were duel leading actors.

Wow, *that* is a terrible analogy. There’s a reason why Willis & Sheppard didn’t share many scenes across the better part of three of its five seasons — post-boink season 3, all of season 4 and the first half of season 5 — and it wasn’t because they were being professional about their hatred of each other. (rolls eyes) Quite the contrary.

However, all of their enmity would have been moot if showrunner Glenn Gordon Caron had ever been able to get his act together and produce scripts on time. The show was constantly behind schedule and waaaay over-budget not because of the stars’ bickering, but because Caron didn’t know how to showrun, which, among other things, left the actors with too much time on their hands to do nothing *but* bicker. Caron has more or less admitted to this in interviews and, IIRC, in commentaries for the DVDs even offered some remorse for his own contribution to making the set a more difficult place to work than that of virtually every other TV series, ever.

Compared to Willis and Sheppard, Marguiles and Panjabi are BFFs even now.

Yes, and yes! People who like to use Moonlighting analogies never get it right, and it’s not like the real story isn’t out there.

I don’t know, maybe you want to watch a show you love and enjoy knowing everyone gets along and is very supporting of each other. When you hear there’s tension amongst cast members it sort of takes center stage. You know the old saying, “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” in this case we know, so it kind of hurts. :(

Because it’s moronic. Unless one of them murdered the others family member or set their house on fire, ran over the others dog on purpose or something like that, there is no reason why two grown *** adults can’t shoot a scene together and suck it up.

I don’t watch the Good Wife. But I can sort of understand where the OP is coming from. Especially when its not even attempted to be hidden and blatantly obvious. It overshadows what’s going on onscreen

Exactly. I personally love it when the casts of my favorite shows get along well (and fortunately, with the shows I watch, the casts clearly do like each other, so yay :)), but I can understand that some people may not click very well offset for whatever reason.

And it doesn’t even have to be a dramatic reason, either! Sometimes people just wind up being friendly acquaintances or want to keep their work and personal lives separate and that’s okay, too. Nor do I expect that every show’s cast MUST be all buddy-buddy and go out for drinks after every shoot or whatever. Fantastic if they are, but not a requirement.

But if there IS tension between cast members to the point where it is actively spilling over into the show and notably negatively affecting the overall mood on set or the storylines or whatever, then yeah, that

is a problem, and I can easily see why fans wouldn’t really be interested in subjecting themselves to watching that play out every week. If the people putting on the show don’t look like they’re enjoying themselves or letting their personal issues get in the way of the actual work, how exactly can the fans possibly be expected to enjoy watching the show?

It really doesn’t matter to me. While watching it looked like their elbows overlapped at one time like a bad splice and I noticed it right away. The two obviously had a problem working together and the producers tried to make the fans happy at the ending. The two of them being physically next to each other in the bar made no difference to the story. I never felt duped by the producers. The whole situation was very touchy all the way around. I have to say that over the last few years JM has made several of-putting comments in real life that annoyed me and I often wondered if people on set ever got annoyed too. But all of this doesn’t diminish the excellent job done by everyone on this show. Can’t wait for next season to begin.

Pettiness and behind the scenes crap does effect how a lot of people look at a show. I loved that relationship. I enjoyed every scene they were in together. Panjabi was one of the reasons I watched that show. The sad fact of the matter is that it looks like she was forced out because of a hostile work environment. We all work with people we don’t like. If we are good at our job (like they obviously are on the show) then you work through it and get the job done. You don’t bitch out and just say “I can’t work with her, I never want to be in the same room as her again.” Like Marguiles obviously did here. If it was a 2 sided thing, then fine, but as an EP she should have stepped up and been professional and not acted like a little twit.

I left the show because of the lack of relationship between these two characters. Now I finally understand why the show went down hill fast. Because TBTP are more interested in petty bullcrap than being professional.

It’s called being a professional and doing your job! I agree 100% with the author and LT!

Which CSI:Miami star was difficult to work with??

I didn’t watch the show often but when someone asked Archie why she wasn’t at Paley a while ago and she replied that ‘she wasn’t asked’ then I had a feeling there was something going on.

Wait…Julianna and Archie don’t like each other?!?! Is that why her character was basically eliminated over the past couple seasons?!?

I don’t know if they don’t like each other, but Julianna definitely does not like Archie. Whether she dislikes her personally or simply felt like her star was being outshone I don’t know. I know Archie won the first Emmy for the show and had lots of critical praise; Julianna won the following year.

It seemed clear to me they were not onset together. In some still photos their eye levels appeared off. It appeared awkward.

Hollywood is high school with money and all the ugly insecurities that go with it.

What in the world could have possibly transpired between those two for this to happen? What a cheap move! It’s apparently important enough for them to have a scene “together” BUT not important enough to actually shoot together? Hollywood is weird. Only in this industry is this appropriate.

Ummm…it’s NEVER appropriate. I worked in this industry for nearly 40 years and I personally have never seen such bad and childish behavior between two professional actors. People work together quite frequently who don’t like each other. There’s no excuse for this!

Yeah, I’ve heard stories about people who have to play

romantic leads in movies despite not liking each other. And yet, they sucked it up and did their romantic scenes.

And it’s just good business behavior in general, be it in acting or an office job or as a doctor or whatever. Leave your personal issues with co-workers at the door. And if you can’t, there are much better, mature ways to handle those issues if they’re really affecting the people involved or the workplace as a whole.

No, it’s not considered appropriate – at all. This is the kind of crap producers dread.

They need to grow up. We all work with people we hate and want to run over in the parking lot multiple times, over and over again. If I can get through a day without needing to raise money for my legal defense, these two certainly can.

Cements why I’d already decided that I’ve watched my last TGW episode. sad, grim, pathetic. And I do NOT blame Archie. AT ALL.

Some of the better entertainment gossip sites have alluded to this. The consensus seems to be that Marguiles envisioned TGW as a starring vehicle. Archie’s popularity amongst the fans was surprising and unwelcome, in the extreme. Apparently JM tried to get Archie fired early on, but the producers wouldn’t kill the golden goose. Archie is in a position to walk away, and she did.

If this is a case of jealousy, it’d be irritating no matter what, but can I just say that that makes me sad for my gender especially? There’s enough images already out there of women being portrayed as catty and jealous and competitive. So if this is true, then to see more women only adding to that image, instead of, you know, supporting each other (especially in an industry that’s often quite tough on women as it is), is pretty pathetic and depressing.

Wait, JM tried to get Archie fired? How did I miss that story? Do you know the source for this?

Margulies didn’t “envision” this as a starring vehicle. It is. She is the titular character. This show is very much about her character. She is the lead, however everything else you said is dead on – The jealousy over not only the fan love of Archie, but the reviews for the show the first year talked about what a revelation Archie was. And she was – but that’s not what the star wanted to hear. What they should have done was have Les Moonves sit her down for a “come to Jesus” chat, instead of indulging the star’s every whim. She was under contract for 5 years. They had the power and just gave it all away.

Yep. Many shows are centered around lead characters, but the best ones still allow the rest of the cast to shine and balances that attention out with the lead character nicely(“Frasier”, “The Bob Newhart Show”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “Dick Van Dyke”, “Andy Griffith”, etc.).

You know, I thought maybe my love for Will clouded my love for the show this season. But no, it didn’t. My once favourite show is not what it once was and I wish it could find that flavor once more. This is just icing on the cake.

Just shows you what a horrible person Julianna must be—selfish and coldhearted.

For all you know Archie made a pass at her (Julianna’s) husband at a wrap-party or something unforgivable. This (not being in the same scene) doesn’t “show” you anything, let alone that Julianna is the one at fault. We know literally nothing more than they don’t work together and Archie is leaving the show.

You’re so right, she’s the One famous, she’s the producer. Archie wars just a newbie when the show starter. Shame on you julianna, you deserve horribile ratings!

I know she’s acted for quite a long time, but was she well-known in the US before The Good Wife? I’m genuinely asking.

Someone at least an insider HAS to leak what happened between Julianna and Archie because the fact that they used BODY DOUBLES and scene splicing means it must’ve been BIG.

Julianna is the exec producer and SHE herself demanded not to be in he same scenes with Archie. It all began when they were both up for an award and Archie got it and that left a sour note with the EP. I also knew that they would NEVER be in the same scene together. According to the fan mail that comes in, Archie is liked by more fans and that just didn’t set well with the EP.

I can’t imagine they’d be up for the same award. Margulies would be up for best actress and Archie for best supporting actress. Plus you write as if what you are saying is fact. If so, then you have to give your credentials for that.

You’re both correct. 2010 was the Good Wife’s first year at the Emmy’s. Margulies was nominated for lead actress, with both Baranski and Panjabi nominated for supporting. Panjabi won, the other two did not. It may be anecdotal, but I do remember an onslaught of critical praise for AP’s portrayal of Kalinda.

Nothing in your message tracks. Julianna is a lead actress and Archie is a supporting actress…so they wouldn’t be up for the same one. And if you mean awards in general then why doesn’t Julianna hate Chris Noth or Alan Cumming or Christine Baranski or Josh Charles? Are you personally reading the fan mail? Is there still fan mail in this day and age? And if you are talking about Archie winning the Emmy and Julianna not in the same year, they shared scenes for another TWO SEASONS after that, so apparently it must have built for two years.

Maybe in season 7 Kalinda returns! But she’s had facial-reconstruction (plastic) surgery so that Big-Bad-Bishop doesn’t put a bullet in her head… She now looks exactly like Alicia! And *someone* (she who must not be named) can now be nominated for both Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress, woohoo! :) :) :) :(

On a related CGI note, Tatiana Maslany gets to either hug herself or punch herself every week on “Orphan Black!” Kings take note, you may not need Czuchry, Baranski, Cummings & Noth after all! :)

Must have. Because I know on ER she and the cast got along great and she and George Clooney are still great friends. Watching the ER bloopers I can see she was more relaxed and didn’t take herself too seriously. What happened? I know she loves her son and her husband but what has changed her ‘tude? I get she wants to get her scenes done and go home to her family but I don’t get why she thinks she is better then anyone else!

I think I am going to not watch anymore, its not interesting anyway without Kalinda and Will. Matthew Goode was wasted, I am so happy we got that awesome season before it all went to hell. If they don’t respect me enough as a viewer than why should I keep giving them my loyalty.

I just want Matthew Goode free for Downton Abbey. I can’t get invested in TGW as it stands.

I’d love to know what happened between these two to cause so much animosity that they couldn’t even film a short good-bye scene together. I’m disappointed with the both of them.

I do t know… It was a perfect season… But this… This not acting together makes mr feel like they’re bad employees and dont care about us(talk the viewers)… O dont care if marguiles or archie do t like eachother…. I didnt like her hisband storyline, but kept coming back… I think they should have sucked up and give us the scene… If they not comminted with us, why should we be with them? It was the most shameless thing i saw this season(and i watch tvd and tbbt)… I dont know whats worse… Try to fool us with some terrible edit or not caring enough to make the god damn scene….

Very disappointed with the show I considered the best show on tv for 2 years(with got season 4)…. Tsc tsc shame on you people responsible for this!

This only show me that they really dont care about fans or commitment… Just ratings… Shame ob you tgw… Shame on you

First, thank you, Michael for bringing us this disturbing news. I’m curious how you got a firm answer. Regardless, I’m a huge fan and champion of this show and of these two actors, but this is ridiculous. If the rumors are true that it all has to do with that Emmy from season 1 going to Panjabi and one not going to Margulies, girlfriend needs to take several seats.

Wow, how unprofessional of them. I don’t care how much I dislike someone I can spend one day at work with them if it’s essential. Hell, I’ve worked with people for months that I hated, and I’m sure others have worked for years with people like this. Disappointed to hear that these two fine actresses are such juvenile divas.

Pretty sure it’s David Caruso. I think anyway.

Can you imagine doing that at your job? Any job? Refusing to run a cash register next to someone or perform surgery or dig a ditch because you don’t like them?

Well, the surgeons might get away with it. Hospitals coddle their egos all the time. :-P

Either (at least) one of them is a diva on an epic level or some some serious behind the scenes Sh*t has went on here for the fact they can’t get them to work in one scene together. I am sure there has been many many cases where actors have loathed one another but these two managing to go almost three season without interacting and the body doubles being hired for one lousy scene suggests their hate for one another burns brighter than a thousand suns and/or at least one of them is a mega diva unwilling to compromise.

I hate when actors ruin the show (another example is Castle ) .

How’d an actor ruin Castle? (I haven’t kept up.)

Lots of assumptions and speculation about both Fillion and Katic hating the other, but nothing concrete has been reported by anybody reputable.

I’ve heard that too for the last couple of season but I’ve yet to see any evidence of it. People just like to make up stuff.

I don’t even watch that show but based on what I’ve seen of the two actors, I would bet that she is the problem. Nathan has always seemed like a down-to-earth, friendly guy while she always looks like such an ice queen in photos taken at events.

Actually, NF pitched a fit on set once and refused to film. He apologized afterwards, though. The actress who played his daughter has talked about it in the media, apparently he urged her to use it as a learning experience of what not to do as an actor.

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about to say something like that about SK.

Beth, a source for that? I never heard of that, it sounds like fanfiction. The only think true is there were reports 2 seasons ago he striked for one day because of contract negotiations about shorter hours. But there was no fits, no apologies and certainly no interviews from Molly Quinn (who plays his daughter) about any “learning experiences” of this sort.

She’s friendly, sweet and charming on the red carpet/in interviews etc. You clearly have zero idea what you’re talking about.

WHAT on earth happened that they couldn’t even film ONE SCENE together? It’s so unprofessional. And it’s embarrassing, really.

Julianna’s envy of the accolades Archie was getting knows no bounds.

Archie won an Emmy. Julianna won two Emmys and two Golden Globes, two SAG awards and it completely revitalized her career. Doesn’t quite track.

@SUSO Archie won her Emmy first, though…which, I think, is the root of the issue between Marguilles and Panjabi. JM was seeking to revitalize her career with this vehicle–she was, after all, *the* Good Wife–and AP comes in and steals the show.

I remember Archie winning (I was surprised and excited for her), and Julianna looked so happy for her. She’s a great actress but not without a script. Besides, I remember they appeared together at an event in my neighborhood the year after Archie won the Emmy. I don’t think that’s it.

This doesn’t work for me as a theory. For one thing, Julianna has received more awards and so many accolades for her role on the show, and this idea that Kalinda was taking away attention from Alicia or usurping her as the focus makes no sense. I never felt that Alicia wasn’t the main lead or that Julianna was not receiving tons of praise. Also, the bad blood didn’t seem to start until later in the show’s run, when Julianna had won Emmys and GGs and all sorts of other awards.

When I watched it live I thought exactly what you were thinking….that it wasn’t shot with them together. You know, I have lost faith in this show over the past season and this just put a fork in this show for me. I think I’m done watching. Now with the possibility of her and Canning becoming partners I know I’m done!

People…no matter who is to blame, the bottom line is Marguiles is a PRODUCER on the show and she needs to be the leader and be the bigger person, clearly that hasn’t/isn’t happening.

Ugh, give me a break. They promised a scene between Alicia and Kalinda, not that Julianna and Archie would shoot it together. And they did just that. The scene was well written and well acted. It doesn’t matter how it was shoot. I’m so tired of this useless internet whining.

Maybe that was the promise but it doesn’t change the fact that two actors loathing one another badly enough they make their show hire body doubles for the one single scene they need to film together is an interesting talking point on the internet. If you’re not interested as you feel they fulfilled their promise as actors there is no need to join in the gossip.

I still think they did it to screw with the gossipy fans.

Somewhat apropos: Will we get an answer to the diva blind item a while back?

I believe that one clue was that it is not an actress on CBS. Not that it helps much. So many divas in Hollywood.

How do you know this was something personal? Panjabi was a presenter at the BAFTA Trlevision awards this past week. How do you know it didn’t have something to do with that? How, in fact, without meaning to be rude, do you actually know anything about what goes on in the making of the show?

The lead time for filming a television episode is more than a week.

She was a contract actress until the end of this season. She was not going to be given time off when they needed her for a scene to present an award.

Bravo for writing this; what could have kept these two performers apart???

I don’t know which thing troubles me more – the fact that two grown human beings cannot be in the same room together for their frakkin’ job or that TPTB thought we’d never find out about it. I would be very interested to learn what their costars think. “Gee Christine Baranski, I do not like you at all so I expect the show to CGI all my scenes with you!” What could they say if an actor made that request after they did this?

I KNEW the second I couldn’t see their faces during those over the shoulder shots that they weren’t filming that scene together. It was a dead give away to me. I love and hate knowing I was right at the same time.

I feel like you do, Michael. I don’t know what happened between the two and don’t really care. Frankly, it’s none of my business as I’m not involved with the show. I can imagine what the feud might be, but it’s not mine to speculate.The only thing I ever noticed was when JM became a producer, you never saw the two together anymore. It normally only takes a couple of hours to shoot a scene like that and the fact that one or both of them wasn’t willing to let bygones be bygones on AP’s last episode is what makes me sad.

No, please don’t cancel. It’s still one of my favorites. Season six was not stellar compared to season five, but that was one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever watched. All things considered, TGW is still great television.

Juliana Margulies is coming off worse & worse as the days go by – hope she’s smart enough to start doing some damage control & not assume she can just take the appearance of the high road. Cat’s waaaaay outta the bag on this one.

Well you might not care, but I do. Margulies who is the queen bee of the show owes the fans an explanation as to why. I have admired her since her ER days, but she is the one who would have to issue a mandate such as you speculate. And the Kings owe the fans an explanation as well. I haven’t read your piece with them on the finale yet, but I doubt they will address this issue. This puts Margulies and the show in a new light for me and I just might not have it on my viewing list next season. After all, while it is a very good show, it is not the “sine qua non”…

If a CBS spokesperson declined to comment for this story, while reps for Margulies and Panjabi could not be reached, then how DID you come to learn this?

As disappointed you are about Marguilies and Panjabi not able to bury the hatchet, I’m just as disappointed that TVLine writes these types of stories without citing sources. It must be quite frustrating running a business entirely based on buttering up to TV brass and actors, while unable to use top journalism practices to simply tell where some of your stories come from.

Well i dont think they would put a falae article… It kills the journalist credibility… On the other hand… Maybe his guy asked not to be mentioned…. We(journalists) habe to protect ours insiders…

Off-the-record sources are incredibly common. I work in politics (it’s nothing like Scandal), and you wouldn’t believe how frequently “leaks” are actually approved by higher-ups who want to test what a reaction to an announcement will be. Obviously no one at CBS or working for either actress wants to be quoted for this story, but that doesn’t mean that no one talked.

Some of these comments are ridiculous. The scene happened and I loved it. Knowing that they didn’t shoot it together is disappointing but it doesn’t ruin the scene for me at all. The Good Wife is a great show–can’t we just enjoy it? All of this speculation and high-and-mighty scolding kind of bums me out.

Ues we can… But can the pbt try not to fools us…. We’re not dumb… If they. Want my respect, respect me too…. They promised us a scene between them, give us one… Not a montage…. Or dont!

I watch the show since season 1… And i wont quit now…. But they do lost some of my respect… And since its gonna be the last season(any doubts?), especially after this not-so-bomb bomb…. Congratulations for the culprit…. You,ve won the fandom disrespect

it’s very sad that something must have happened between the 2 women to push them so far apart. Now that Ms. Panjabi is leaving, I wish her the best of luck. She signed a deal with FOX and hopefully they will create a good show for her to star in. I think She would have been great for the new Criminal Minds, but She already had a deal with FOX. She would a GREAT replacement for Patricia Arquette in CYBER, which I think is an absolute disaster.

It just makes me lose respect for Julianna. She’s a hugely talented actress but things like this just taint that for me, I don’t know why

Professionalism on this show is extremely poor and I’d even go as far as to say bullying against Archie.

I love the show. I am sorry that these two women seem to have some sort of problem between them. It bothers me that so many people are making assumptions and jumping to conclusions but they really have absolutely no way of knowing the truth of the situation. I don’t think it is fair to either actress.

That being said, all I really care about is whether or not I enjoy watching the show. I do. Until that changes or it goes off the air, I will continue to watch. What happens behind the scenes doesn’t affect that at all, as far as I am concerned.

To be fair the Kings basically told every media outlet that would listen that they had a final scene together. The scene was amateur hour and I was surprised at how badly it was light and shot. Such a shame.

Very disappointed by this. Whatever the reason for the animosity, Juliana as a producer is the one with the power to prevent scenes with Archie from happening. Archie wouldn’t have had that kind of authority. I can’t imagine what could have happened, and it really doesn’t matter, but this just makes Juliana look petty and childish. She’s a talented actor. She could certainly ACT in a scene with anyone. Nobody’s asking them to even speak to each other off set, but get over it and do your job. Unless somebody from the show comes out with a legitimate explanation of something egregious Archie did, it makes Juliana look like an unreasonable, vindictive diva. I’m afraid it will color my opinion of her going forward. It’s a shame. The show suffered a huge drop in quality this season and I’m afraid this once great show will limp through one final season.

She might be a producer but at the end of the day she has to bow to the writers or other show behind the scene personnel. If the writers made certain they didn’t film the scenes. The difficulties between the two woman MUST have been bad. The fact the rumors blew up the most this season tells me that something indeed was very personnel between the two. But then it’s hard to know who is at fault. At the end of the day, the writers write the stories. The actor’s put up with it. And not all actors who are producers have a lot power. So I doubt the show would have allowed it without a good reason.

It’s not really the writers who have the power; it’s the show runners, the Kings. They write some, but not all episodes, but I’m sure they are the ones who decide on the story. But Juliana has power that Archie does (or did) not. Obviously the Kings had to go along with the demand, wherever it came from. I’m just saying that logically it looks like Juliana is the one who would have the position as the lead actor and a producer to make such a demand. That doesn’t mean that Archie wasn’t happy about it, too. My point is that it seems childish and unprofessional, no matter who is at fault. Everyone has to deal with people they don’t like on a regular basis.

Although once Archie won the Emmy or any awards, she had power. She wasn’t some little actress. She was a big character. I don’t know what happened. Something bad must have happened if they were willing to resort to camera trickery. Yes Julianne was powerful. But she is not the be all end all on the show. So if she didn’t like something sure she could have her input. But if Archie also didn’t like Julianne or something went down on BOTH sides, it would be very hard to push it. I do think something happened behind the scenes. Kalinda has dwindled over the last few years. Maybe Archie was the nightmare behind the scenes. If the show wanted Kalinda to be a big part of the show, they had the power to do it. Julianne might have been a producer, but sometimes it’s just a credit and they really don’t have a lot of power to make decisions…

Archie may have won an emmy, but a single emmy win does not confer the type of power one needs to have in order dictate this type of backstage on on-screen estrangement. Before this show she was a relative known and had zero clout to make these sorts of demands.

The true power of any show is with the network. JM’s producer status isn’t just a meaningless credit. She has an entire production deal for all sorts of content (series, tv movies etc.) with CBS. She has long standing and close relationships with Les Moonves (CEO of CBS) and Nina Tassler (Entertainment Chairman of CBS) dating back to when both of them worked with her on ER. She has called Moonves her ‘mentor’.

You do the math. It seems obvious that the power dynamic between those two women is incredibly lop-sided.

To Evababy: Once she had the Emmy win. It can give you way more power and more ammunition to ask for things. So the whatever went on must have been mutual. Everyone allowed it to continue. Archie wasn’t a little flower being picked on by the big monster. She might have been on day one. But once you win the Emmy it does give you power. Whether Julianne had a production company or deal with the network doesn’t mean anything. They didn’t have to grant it. There have been rumors of people having hatred for their working partners forever and they muster it up and work together. So it must have been BIG and on both sides for the show to go to great lengths to keep them apart.

Michael, Michael, Michael..are you that naïve? Been going on for years. And now. Look at GA. Derek is talking to a pillow when we think he is talking to Mer a few episodes back. It’s so obvious. He was looking into a camera NOT AT a person. I don’t even watch TGW but when I saw the headline for this I immediately saw something weird and not right. I am really not liking network tv right now.

I think Archie decided to leave after Josh decision which I believe for the same reason: Julianna. She must be a piece of work and got jealous of all the praise Panjabi got from the critics in the first year. Anyway, women working together there’s always some jealousy on.

That is an incredibly sexist thing to say. Not ALL women working together have jealousy issues.

Its not sexist at all, it happens. I myself saw in every job I had.

It is sexist. I’ve never seen it in the hundreds of jobs I’ve had (I work in TV and film, so have been on literally hundreds of shows/films/etc). It is incredibly sexist. Check yourself – anecdotal evidence =/= truth. Every bald guy I know has been a jerk. Does that mean every bald guy is a jerk? Correlation doesn’t equal causation, sexist.

Maybe US does not happen but in Latino countries especially Brazil does happen. Maybe it’s a culture thing. And Im not sexist.

But Julianna was the one who talked Josh into 15 episodes more when he didn’t want to come back. it sounds like they are actually quite friendly IRL.

This should make the Castle PTB quite pleased. They’ve been using this method for years with their leads when they can get away with it, even in “love scenes”, and viewers haven’t gotten any the wiser. I don’t exactly understand the uproar this time around. What makes this different from what Castle does so many times?

please illuminate us with an example where the “Castle” faked its stars being in a scene together. all ears.

What love scene? I don’t recall ever seeing one from the show. With both of them or with them trying to deceive us with doubles.

For me, it wasn’t the lighting or the eye contact but it was for the entire time they “talked” there was no cross traffic behind them. At. All. When Alicia was talking with Finn people were walking behind them constantly.

I wanna know what happens between the two because it seemed like they were friends

wow. can’t believe they can’t keep it professional (or at least one of them couldn’t). On a general note, I think it just sucks when a lead star of the show becomes Executive producer. It just gives unnecessary power to mess other characters just because he/she has a beef with the actor/actress. Anyway, props to them for being able to hide what the real deal between these two women is after all these years. Some real gag order must be existing on the set.

that’s just sad. Rise above. Do the work. Nobody said you guys had to be best buds… Geez – act like adults already…

Shame professionals can’t be professional. It isn’t all about them, it’s about the fans. I will never think kindly of JM again

The Kings really need to be raked over the coals for this. They’ve lied for years. Shame on them.

So I just don’t appreciate being insulted, as a viewer of this show over the past 6 years. I’m most insulted by the fact that Robert and Michelle King played it off like they were trying to “toy with viewers’ expectations” and this and that. I’m glad that Archie is leaving the show to pursue her own endeavors, but I’m rightfully annoyed about all of this. Hopefully we’ll get an E! true hollywood story one day as to why this all went down the way it did.

No show is going to admit that it’s so bad between the actresses that they both refuse to work against each other. And most shows also don’t like to admit they play games and edit scenes. So they weren’t going to admit it. Although it must have been pretty big if they didn’t want to muster up one scene together when they both knew Archie was leaving. So if they buck it up for one scene.

I agree, Joe. It’s also ironic that the water cooler talk revolves around this one scene that could have been handled professionally, but was instead treated like a middle school fracas. Ridiculous. I love every scene with Christine Baranski, but for me TGW peaked with Josh’s death, and with Archie gone, I’m kind of done – and sad about it.

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