Shortland Street actress change
Shortland Street viewers may have noticed that in a first for the show they have had an actress, Laurie Fell, leave the show yet kept her character of Dr Justine Jones going with new actress Lucy Wigmore. The change got explained away with a new hair colour!
The NZ Herald reports that it seems Fell did not leave, so much as was pushed out, with the information coming from a blog posting on Street Talk. Executive Producer Simon Bennett (whom some of us remember from Usenet days) has even been contributing to the thread.
This is also covered on Throng, and is a good example again of the positive role blogs can play in bringing out information that deviates from the “official line”.
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Tags: Blogosphere
January 18th, 2007 at 11:09 am
That’s weird. How can you convince the audience it is the same person?
I liked Laurie Fell. It’s a shame she is gone.
January 18th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Much like the replacement of the Matthew character in the BBC series ‘Game On’. At the end of the first episode with the new actor, the three flat mates are watching TV and complaining about a series that has changed the actor playing a lead character and pretending it is the same person!
January 18th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I loved how her first line of the new year was along the lines of its’s a new me.
I prefer Laurie Fell, because she brought to the Justine character the stigma of being evil Angie Russell when she was on home and away.
Shortland Street is supposed to be packed with suprises this year, I will be keeping my eye on the marriage between Mark and Tania, yet him having a baby with her sister Maia!
Also rumours say watch Craig and Alice, Craig has always like the younger girls…
January 18th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I think my IQ just fell by a significant percentage after reading that Street Talk thread. But is it just me or is this entire post and story based on an anonymous, unverified forum post? Facts as they seem presented:
1) Unverified source makes a claim of insider information
2) Executive producer of Shortland Street says that he thinks it is unlikely that person is speaking for the person they claim to be.
3) Forum admins contact agent of said person.
4) Agent comes back saying that the person wasn’t speaking for her.
Now, none of that really addresses any of the facts of the matter… but it all seems rather unconfirmed, no? I mean, if I wrote a post here under another name claiming to speak for Don Brash and dishing the dirt on the In-Bed-With-The-Business-Roundtable affair would you be as willing to treat it as gospel, particularly if all parties involved were disowning it?
I mean…
“good example again of the positive role blogs can play in bringing out information”
Surely you mean a good example of the fact that people can post what the fuck they like and you have no idea if it’s pure fiction or not?
January 18th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
No-one has denited it is true to some degree. They have just said it was not authorised.
Welly Girl – yes Craig could well do Alice. Well who wouldn’t – she’s great fun! And I think Maia and Mark may make a baby the old fashioned way!
January 18th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ahh Shortland St, I remember that -
* Nauseating political correctness
* Plot contrivances
* A total lack of any endearing characters
Has it improved in the last five or six years ?
January 18th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Thanks David for mentioning this story.
err, we do know who the author of the message is.
January 18th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
The biggest disgrace of an example of this is when Bouncer was replaced on Neighbours by an uglier less talented actor.
Tragic. Ruined the show for me.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Kent Parker wrote:
That’s weird. How can you convince the audience it is the same person?
Let’s put it this way: Ten Doctors, six James Bonds, two Dumbledores, and (as far as I can tell) more re-casts on your average American daytime soap than you could shake the proverbial stick at.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
“Has it improved in the last five or six years ?”
No
January 18th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
“Ten Doctors, six James Bonds, two Dumbledores, and (as far as I can tell) more re-casts on your average American daytime soap than you could shake the proverbial stick at.”
Movies are easier than TV for the actor swap.
I also think you should remove the Doctor as the show has a internally consistent plot line to explain the changes.
Also add 5? Batman and 4? Supermen
January 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
My favourite was on Fresh Prince of Bel Air when they changed the actress who played the mother – Vivain Banks – and Will Smith’s mate Jazzy said something like “you know, ever since you came back from vacation you seem like a different person Mrs Banks” and the whole cast looks at the camera as if they’ve been caught with their pants down. Once the laughter stopped they carried on as if nothing had happened.
Bay Watch used to handle it by killing off one character and bringing in a new one who looked fairly similar and had all the same personality traits.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Also add 5? Batman and 4? Supermen
Do I smell I geek-gasm coming on? Technically there have been seven movie Batmen: There’s Bale, Clooney, Kilmer and Keaton. Adam West (one feature out of the campy TV series, of which least said soonest mended); then Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery, who took the cape in two serials released in the 40’s.
And I’ve almost repressed all memory of Superman Returns, thank you kindly, but to rattle off the list: Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh (cursed be his perfectly lycra’d lunchbox). And perhaps I’m showing signs of CJD, but I didn’t mind Dean Cain in ‘Lois and Clark’ which only became ridiculous as opposed to amusingly silly in the last season and a half.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I wonder if they’re going to do to replace the yellow Wiggle.
January 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
And Darren in Bewitched changed too…
It seems strange for the Actress and Agent to come out and say, we were not aware of this message, and did not authorise it….. but to not actually confirm or deny the contents.
January 18th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
“I wonder if they’re going to do to replace the yellow Wiggle.”
The replacement was announced at the same time as the retirement.
I foget the name, but he will continue to wear yellow… (I thought a new colour might be in order, but that would obsolete all the merchandise)
(No, I’m not a keen wiggles follower…. but the 2 and 5 year olds are
January 18th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
“I wonder if they’re going to do to replace the yellow Wiggle.”
I understand that Stphen Fleming has been approached.
January 18th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
“I wonder if they’re going to do to replace the yellow Wiggle.”
I understand that Stephen Fleming has been approached.
January 18th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Why couldn’t the Justine Jones character have not been removed quickly through the sudden appearance of a husband’s mistress (who also happens to be a doctor) or her hooking up with someone from Vegas on a dating site. I’m sure if I could be bothered trying I could come up with a much more imaginative transition than what they are doing.
January 18th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
” first for the show they have had an actress,”
An ACTRESS. next you will call a black woman a ‘negress’, or a jewish woman a ‘jewess’, or my favourite the ‘manageress’
Does it begin to sound like something from the 1940s.
So please leave ‘actress’ where it belongs, in the past.
They are all ACTORS
January 19th, 2007 at 8:10 am
“…black woman a ‘negress’…”
Nigga Please! It’s WOMYN not WOMAN, where are you from? The 1990’s or something????
January 19th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Very sad about the old Justine’s departure. She brought sex appeal to the show…I thought she would be in for the long haul.
Let’s give the new woman a chance. A bit wooden, nowhere near as attractive but in six months we will never know the difference.
Miss Ellie was replaced on DAllas by Donna Reed. A year later the original actor, Barbara Bel Geddes came back and played the part for the rest of the show! THis is nothing.
January 19th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
“I also think you should remove the Doctor as the show has a internally consistent plot line to explain the changes.”
It didn’t explain why the First Doctor was played by a different actor in “The Five Doctors”.
January 19th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Indeed what is a “!?!?!?!?”. Is it a nonsequiter?.
WOMYN is very 90’s . It only was ever used by state sector lesbians.
Man of course came from mannaz which meant person.
OE had wer and wyf to mean man and woman ( this is why werewolf means ‘manwolf’)
In ME man replaced werman but ‘wyfman’ remained which became ‘woman’
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May 16th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
You guys are being so mean to Lucy she is so great as Justine and now making both Lucy/Justine my favortive actress so if you got anything you want to say about Lucy Wigmore in nice manners then post here but if you going to be horrible then don’t post here!! cause isn’t hard at all!! You go girl Lucy you are just the best actress to ever watch on TV!
May 16th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
You guys are being so mean to Lucy she is so great as Justine and now making both Lucy/Justine my favortive actress so if you got anything you want to say about Lucy Wigmore in nice manners then post here but if you going to be horrible then don’t post here!! cause isn’t hard at all!! You go girl Lucy you are just the best actress to ever watch on TV!
May 16th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
You guys are being so mean to Lucy she is so great as Justine and now making both Lucy/Justine my favortive actress so if you got anything you want to say about Lucy Wigmore in nice manners then post here but if you going to be horrible then don’t post here!! cause isn’t hard at all!! You go girl Lucy you are just the best actress to ever watch on TV!
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