getithere | rps w/hal

Hal has said things about Gale to fans many times -- always
"off the record" but, of course, the words were immediately
reported and in one case video of his comments was posted
online.

He's accused Gale of being a doper, of being unprofessional
on the set, and also of "hiding" his "true" sexuality --
but that was all innuendo of the "you haven't heard it from
me" variety. Gale, for his part, has never commented on Hal,
either on or off the record, nor has he given an interview
bashing the show, even when all the fans knew he was unhappy
with many aspects of it (unlike Randy, who was NOT kidding
with the comments he made about the show and Justin's
relationship with Brian to "The Advocate" and others).

That said, Gale is very tight with ALL the other cast members,
which Hal very distinctly is not. Gale is especially good
friends with Scott and Thea, but he's also part of Sharon's
poker group (Scott, Bobby, and Michelle are/were regulars).
Note that a cast member sighting at any Sparky event is
extremely rare, but they always show up for Gale -- and Gale
was front and center when Sharon got her award last fall
(along with Thea, Scott, and Bobby). Scott was also there
to help Gale after his injury and is probably his closest
friend in the cast. The suggestion that Gale was a problem
on the set has been debunked over and over by the other
actors, except Hal.

The roots of Hal's displeasure seem to be in the Season 2
negotiations over salary. Hal and Sharon, as the supposed
stars of the show and the first to be signed, got separate
deals from the rest of the cast. Hal was told, apparently,
that he would be the star of QAF and signed for an independent
deal, while all the other cast (Gale, Randy, Thea, Michelle,
Scott, and Peter) all signed for lesser salaries as so-called
supporting players. But as the season progressed it became
obvious that Brian was the star of the show and Gale, over
all five years, has the most screen time as well as the focus
of the majority of eps ("What Love Means" actually did a breadown
of screen time during Seasons 3 & 4 that backs up that general
impression). During Season 2 Gale was in the lead for lobbying
for more money for the other cast members -- and they got it.
Although Gale might have asked for more money, as Actor #1
(see the cast sheets -- Hal was #2, Randy #3), he insisted
that they all be paid the same. This is something that the
rest of the cast adores him for -- he felt they were all equal
and should share the money equally. Hal continued to have a
separate deal, but was made aware that he was not "The Star"
of QAF and he blamed Gale. This isn't conjecture, but reality.
Hence, Sparky's holding Gale to blame even now, when everyone
else has moved on with their careers.

Edited 2010-03-23 04:50 (UTC)

(unlike Randy, who was NOT kidding
with the comments he made about the show and Justin's
relationship with Brian to "The Advocate" and others)

Matter of opinion. It's my understanding that he was asked to fill out some Q&A thing, and he was really snarky with his answers, and they were taken literally. Since I don't know him personally, I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was not serious. Unless he's said otherwise on record, I'm going with that.

It wasn't just one snarky interview though. Once Randy got together with Simon he changed. It's as clear as day when the change in Randy happened. Simon wasn't down with Randy's fans, he wasn't really supportive of the show. Simon himself was just a very stuck up, snobby guy that took his job at Colours very very seriously. Simon has said some very unpleasant thing in the past about fans of QAF and fans of Randy. I am too lazy to find link right now but I will find them if you need them.

The sex scenes on the show became more scripted and less improvised after Randy was with Simon and that distance is apparent on the screen.

In season 1 and 2 Randy and Gale were off script a lot with their sex scenes. A few of us that have scripts can verify this. It's one of the reasons those scenes were amazing and very different from those in season 3-5. I think Simon's attitude was one of the reason Cowlip and Randy had issues on top of that Advocate article. I mean having Justin saying things like some critic named Simon was a cunt isn't exactly subtle.

The last 2 seasons of the show were just so filled with obvious resentments and anger behind the scenes that it bled through in a very unprofessional manner. I honestly think that is why I don't even count season 4 and 5 as canon anymore in fic. The soap opera queening of Brian and the schizophrenia of Justin was just a bit too much after seeing 3 seasons of good writing and good story telling.

Edited 2010-03-23 14:15 (UTC)

I never said it was one snarky interview, I cited one snarky interview. And yes, I know all about Simon and his disdain for the show and fans. However, Simon is not Randy, even though his words and thoughts appeared to come out of Randy's mouth.

And I don't have a script, but I'm not a new fan, either. I clearly can and did see the difference in the scenes over the course of the show. I know that Randy has upset about the Posse arc, and particularly about the gun masturbation. So was I, it was probably one of the single most disgusting things I've seen on tv. And yes, I'm well aware of the cunt reference, who isn't by now? I think that was the second most disgusting thing I've ever seen, because it was personal. No producer worth his salt would ever let their personal animosity dominate their script or show, and I thought it was incredibly unprofessional. You notice CowLip doesn't have anything on tv right now. Shit like this comes back to bite. And no, they don't have to have projects on tv at all times, but when I think of tv producers, like Stephen J Cannell, Dick Wolf, JJ Abrams, I see producers that always have a series ready to go, sometimes while another of theirs is running. Maybe C/L is having a hard time selling a series right now? Who knows.

But as far as Randy goes, I'm going to go with the things he said at the Paris convention. There, he was gracious towards the fans and the show. The things he said directly contradict the things he said back then. Time heals wounds, and he was man enough to say so. I cannot and will not see him as the villain here. So many people do. I see him as just one more actor that let their partner influence their thoughts to their detriment.

You make some very good points and I am going to try to find what Randy said in Paris because I am actually intrigued by this 180 that he has made.

I am really fascinated by all this. I only discovered the show in the last year (which is pretty amazing considering I *lived* about 10 miles from where they filmed it at the time *sob*). I purposely avoided reading anything about the show or the actors before I finished watching the series, and the only one I'd ever heard of was Sharon. While I wanted to beat the snot out of him occasionally, I loved the Michael character and I was sorely disappointed to read about Hal's attitude towards G/R after I started looking things up post-series. Very unprofessional and petty of him, especially since neither Gale or Randy ever responded in kind. I am glad I didn't know about it at the time as I'm sure it would have coloured my opinions of the character.

Sadly, I'd say the same about Randy (and I LOVE Justin) and his general disdain about the show. I can honestly say though, that I didn't notice any of it on-screen. What prompted me to post now is that reading about Simon and the 'cunty critic' comments makes me laugh. out. loud. because when I heard that line on the show? My first thought was that they were referring to Simon Cowell. Bwah! (Caswell/Cowell - it could've happened!!)

I meant to add also that I, too, have mellowed towards Randy. Like vlredreign said, he's grown up enough to have perhaps reconsidered some of the things he said/did. He was a fairly young man going into all this and he wouldn't be the first one (man or woman) to be influenced by a lover into doing/saying/believing things that they later regret.

Plus, he's cute as a bug. *g*

I think this is one of the most interesting BTS aspect of QAF, because none of it makes total sense & you can debate stuff on both sides.

It couldnt be that big of a deal that Randy openly hates some arcs... Peter Paige beyond HATED the Fetch Dixson stuff & they even let him bitch about it in the QAF Companion book.

I've heard the personality clashes excuse & I can see that. I also think we need to think a little more base...the powers that be were very geeky, not so pretty gay men. Randy was the golden child... I think a little gay on gay bitchiness may have stemmed from that. Like if Randy did anything.... it was painted negative.

Didnt writer Del Shores recently say in public that "Randy Harrison was an ingrateful little shit?"

I hated when Randy would diss the show, during the run. Some of the snark... like he'd fuck Justin, but thats it...or get him into yoga... I laughed at, but the really stuff made it uncomfy to me as a fan.

The obvious example the writers nailed him back on...Simon the cunty critic, Jen's 'systematical abuse speech....and in 5x1, when the Brett guy is talking about the Connor guy dissing hollywood, but still cashing the checks & doing an off, off,off, way off Broadway play.

I still think the queer guys unibrow, welcome to civilization bit was aimed at Gale....either way, I loved it!

I want to know if Cowlip still has issues with Gale & or Randy. Was Hal right to say that, or is it ancient history? In our youth, we all bitched about work & precieved injustices more than we should of... but Randy & Gale have been damn near nostalgic & gracious of late, so yay boys.

....where as Hal seems to have chronic diarrhea of the mouth.

I have to agree with you. I have watched interviews where he is smiling and laughing and saying something snarky and not only are they taken seriously, but also twisted into something way worse.

I am an idiot. For years I thought the big get on the show was Sharon. I mean she is an amazing actress and very good at what she did. However I never put two and two together when it came to Carlo Rota oh that crazy awesome actor. He was in my second favorite movie of all time "Boondock Saints" and I didn't realize it until this weekend doing a re-watch of the movie and the sequel. I am an idiot :) I literally yelled OMG Yakavetta is Gardner!

Honey, the big get WAS Sharon. I know you've watched the S1 extra stuff, and C/L say repeatedly that they wanted Sharon. They were lucky in that she wanted to be Debbie as much as they wanted her to be.

I've seen Carlo Rota in a few things, I swear he was on Burn Notice! lol Or one of those type shows. I was all "VANCE!!!" I really liked him, and thought he was sexy as hell.

Hal was a known face on tv, and they wanted a familiar face. I believe the whole 'building the show around Michael and Debbie' was a continuation of the UK series, where Vince was more up front. Also, Vince and Stuart got together, more or less. The producers saw the unmistakable chemistry between Gale and Randy and ran with it. Since the first 4 episodes mirrored the UK series, I think that by the time they'd filmed the first three they were like, "Okay, RE-WRITE!!!" lol The one thing that C/L did right was see that chemistry and build on it, as opposed to go in a different direction. That would have tanked the series before the first season was done. Brian/Justin were the draw. Period. Everything else revolved around them.

As far as Michael, I saw that you or Gaedhal said that the screen time got less for him. Thing is though, he clearly had a much more coherent and consistent plotline than anyone else. B/J were all over the place at times. Mel/Linds were never given enough time to build that, and Emmett...I really wanted to know more about him other than the tidbits he gave us about growing up. What a storyline that would have been if we'd gotten to see a family member of his show up! But Hal really had no room to complain. He got caught up in the 'Rob Lowe West Wing Syndrome.' I remember Rob being hailed as the star of the show when it was in pre-production, and as soon as Martin Sheen hit the screen, you knew who the star was going to be. Same thing with Gale/Randy.

Yeah, I'm responding to both of your last comments. lol

I know that there was serious outrage with some of the things that Randy said then, and I get it. I do tend to think that, as intelligent as he seems to be, he allowed himself to almost become Simon's sockpuppet. That is a career killer. Simon was basically a stage mother in the vein of Kit Culkin (McCauley's dad), Brooke Shields' mom, Lindsay Lohan's mom and dad...it's bad when that happens.

I know that con is on Youtube somewhere, I think if you do a Randy Harrison in Paris search you'll find it.

I'm glad we got to discuss this. You also made very good points. *g* We love our big queer show, and the actors that brought it to life, don't we?

I know that Sharon was a big get but I totally was taken aback by the two roles that Rota had that I liked but didn't connect him to. "Boondock Saints" is one of my favorite movies and I felt so stupid when I realized who Yakavetta was. I even blushed and my husband thought I was being silly for my embarrassment :)

I think Michael was easy to write for because he wasn't as complex as the rest of the characters on the show. It's easy to write for the boring guy. Michael's life on that show wasn't exciting, it wasn't dramatic, he was a character that was lead into life situation by other people.

Making him into the cookie cutter stable guy was easy especially once you got the whole Brian lust off the table. Hell I think that might be the most interesting thing about Michael how he was unable to score with Brian after 14 year :( God that just depressed the hell out of me.

Michael became whoever he was with at the time. He behaved like a dick with Dave, He became more responsible, political and thoughtful because of Ben. The one time he did take action was with Hunter, and lets be honest Michael didn't want Hunter. Hunter was Ben's idea. Also I think that having that one gay man on the show that wanted the whole ball of yarn was good for the show. Michael got what he always wanted a superhero for a partner,some kids, a house and a stable life. Good for him. It wasn't the reason people were watching the show for so it sucks to be Hal Sparks.

Aaron Sorkin said that no one was prepared for how people would respond to Josh and Donna. There was a last minute rewrite in the pilot that had Donna telling Josh he looked hot in a shirt or that the other women in the office thought he looked hot in a shirt and that was enough of a spark to make people want more of them. It was also the end for Rob Lowe in away. Whenever I am depressed about the gov't I have a WW marathon. It does my liberal heart good :)

I found a bunch of Randy stuff in Paris. I am trying to just read the French subtitles because I need to practice my french :)

My love for Brian Kinney know no boundary :)

I didn't think that Michael was boring, but I know what you mean. He was easy, because they fit him into the hetero-normative mold. And ITA about David and Ben.

Aaron Sorkin is my hero! And Josh and Donna...yes, I am a big fan of WW. We marathon it often. Even the boring episodes are often better than what usually passes for tv these days. What blew me away about WW was in the later seasons, and how they were a mirror to the Obama campaign. It was scary as hell, at times as to how close it was. I read later that Matt Santos was based on then Senator Obama. But that was 2 years before the election, so...dude.

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