456 replies to this topic

[marxfan]

There are plenty of great actors on TV, but let's discuss those great moments of TV acting that just have a way of staying with you. My picks:

Colin Firth in Pride & Prejudice: In the end wedding scene, he's still in uptight, slow-to-smile Mr. Darcy mode. You can see a smile creeping on his lips, but he's sort of holding it back. When he follows Elizabeth in the carriage, he turns his back to the camera, then turns to face the crowd, and it's as if he's decided "what the hell?" and shows this wonderful, ear to ear grin. Perfect, so true to the character of Mr. Darcy.

In the episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air (don't laugh at me yet) where Will's absent father comes back, and then leaves him again, Will lets out this tirade to Uncle Phil on how he doesn't need his father anyway. At the end, there's this devastating silence, and I really think Will Smith is crying real tears. It breaks my heart every time I see it, and he should have won an Emmy for his acting.

There was an episode of Scrubs (crap! I suck at remembering episode titles!) where a newly confident Elliot decides to defy Kelso and order a procedure on a supposedly doomed patient. Now, Scrubs fans like me know one Elliot's character traits is blowing her bangs out of her face. Sometimes she does it frustration, sometimes cause they really are just in the way. Well, there's a scene where Elliot is bragging to JD about how she stood up to Kelso and followed her gut. When Elliot's done with her speech, she blows her hair out of her face, but not in the usual, frazzled puff of breath, but in a cool, deliberate, sort of way that actually seems confident. It's so subtle, so offbeat, but it's such an Elliot thing to do to express her new self assurance.

Edited by marxfan, Nov 19, 2007 @ 6:51 PM.

[wwhk]

Some from my favorite show, The West Wing

Martin Sheen delivering his Anti-G-d monologue, most of which is in Latin in the episode Two Cathederals. The pacing in the cathederal, the wonderful Latin pronunciation- but it's all capped off with him putting out his cigarette in the National Cathedral as he says, "You get Hoynes." It manages have the usual President Bartlet gravitas, but be unreasonably petulant and angry.

Allison Janney sobbing about her dead secret agent love interest in Posse Comitatus. Janney expresses grief beautifully. Her crying is pitch perfect, her expression when she hears the news is a perfect blend of nasuea and pain- but the thing that always gets me is that her tears start when she bumps into someone on New York's crowded streets while the transcendent Halleluljah plays

The late and great John Spencer hearing that Zoey was kidnapped at the end of Commencement. His face changes from relief to be leaving the Situation Room after a long, tense day of worrying about a terorist attach to utter horror when he hears that Zoey, his best friend and Commander's daughter, was kidnapped and there's a dead agent at the scene. Then his walk escalating to sprinting to the Residence to tell the President is in an acting class of its own.

Edited by wwhk, Nov 19, 2007 @ 8:08 PM.

[rubaco]

Then his walk escalating to sprinting to the Residence to tell the President is in an acting class of its own.

Boy, you got that right! And I miss John Spencer so much.

William Daniels had some amazing moments in St. Elsewhere, but there's one in particular that stands out in my mind: the insufferable patient Mrs. Hufnagle has died, and Dr. Craig (Daniels) is sure the fault lies with one of the younger doctors. But when he reviews his records, he realizes he's actually the one responsible. He has this riveting scene at the mortality conference where he stands in front of the other doctors and admits Mrs. Hufnagle died as the result of a surgical error he made. I've never forgotten the look on his face as he says, "We lose patients for a lot of reasons we can't control, but when we lose a patient because of our own ineptitude, it's unforgivable." Astonishing.

[soulcornflake]

Okay, you'll laugh at this one, but it's stayed with me ever since:

On one of the first seasons of Dallas there's a moment where SueEllen tells Bobby that the baby she's carrying may belong to Cliff Barnes instead of J.R. She's drunk and tries to come on to Bobby and she's just out there because J.R.'s been so mean to her and everything. I swear, it looked like Patrick Duffy went pale on camera when he heard his brother-in-law might have gotten her pregnant. Then he proceeded to drive over to Cliff's house and beat the crap out of him. What got me was at the time when I first saw this episode I was watching a b&w TV. If you can go pale when you're already pale, that's something.

[Jilly Copper]

I'm sure many well-known fantastic moments will be mentioned by others, so rather than try to mention them all myself, I'd just like to mention one soap opera scene that I'd been thinking about lately:

On General Hospital, Emily Quartermaine (when she was played by Amber Tamblyn) went to a party and (I think) she was drugged. She wakes up the next morning in a strange bed, naked, holding a syringe and next to the naked corpse of a strange man. She backs away from the body (sheets wrapped around her), gasping in horror. But the moment that sold it for me was when she sunk to the floor and started screaming/sobbing, "I wanna go home!" Amber Tamblyn captured Emily's terror and vulnerability perfectly.

[TudorQueen]

For me, Stanley Tucci gave an absolute master class in acting during his last, long scene in the last episode of the first season of "Murder One". His character, Richard Cross, has been a murder suspect and probable puppet master throughout the entire series and now, dying of AIDS, challenged by his young second wife [and sister of the murdered girl] to do the right thing, he takes the stand to authenticate the videotape that condemns the real murderer. For a full quarter of the episode, Tucci mesmerized, giving testimony, standing up to rebuttal, then getting down and slowly leaving the courtroom in a wheelchair, asking his old friend, the defense attorney, for forgiveness before exiting to what we later find out was his death a few days later.

I own "Murder One" on DVD and periodically toss on various scenes of Jason Gedrick being sexy, but usually finish with Stanley Tucci in what should have been an Emmy-winning performance.

[soulcornflake]

Stanley Tucci's performance in Murder One was compared at the time to another performance in the TV show Wiseguy, not because of any similarities, but because it was proof that TV actors could give performances that rivalled what we saw in the movies at the time.

Unfortunately, I don't remember this actor's name, but he played the mobster Ken Wahl's character was after, a guy named Sonny Steelgrave. I just remember this dude simply burned up the screen every time he was on, it was amazing to watch. The actor who played Steelgrave, though, died of AIDS a few years later. He was one of the first 'noted' actors at the time to die of the disease. If anyone can remember his name, please post it. Thanks.

[The Mad Maple]

In the episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air (don't laugh at me yet) where Will's absent father comes back, and then leaves him again, Will lets out this tirade to Uncle Phil on how he doesn't need his father anyway. At the end, there's this devastating silence, and I really think Will Smith is crying real tears. It breaks my heart every time I see it, and he should have won an Emmy for his acting.

I hear you. I've seen that episode over a dozen times and it still gets me every damn time.

From Heroes last season, Jack Coleman stole the show during the "Company Man" episode, especially in the final scene on the bridge, when he got his former partner, the Haitian, to shoot him and erase his memory in order to help Claire escape from the company he worked for. I'm still bitter that he didn't get an Emmy nom.

[doguncle]

soulcornflake

The actor you're looking for was the late Ray Sharkey.

[emjay1116]

In the episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air (don't laugh at me yet) where Will's absent father comes back, and then leaves him again, Will lets out this tirade to Uncle Phil on how he doesn't need his father anyway. At the end, there's this devastating silence, and I really think Will Smith is crying real tears. It breaks my heart every time I see it, and he should have won an Emmy for his acting.

Oh man. Definitely.





Most of My So Called Life. (Basically, Claire Danes nearly crying equals me nearly crying or actually crying)
In The Pilot when she crys and pretty much throws herself into her mom's arms for a good cry.
The entire plot with Rickie getting kicked out and going to live with Mr. Katimsky.
The scene where they're rehearsing for Our Town. Oh man, something about that scene is so ... I dunno mesmerizing. AJ Langer is so good in it.
to name a few

[cacophony]

I was pretty impressed by both Masi Oka and George Takei on last night's Heroes. With the tears and everything (sniff).

The entire cast of Buffy delivered pretty damn good performances in The Body. And Allison Janney in about 50 different moments during The West Wing.

I also think well played comedy doesn't get nearly enough love. Cause, remember when That 70's Show started to really suck? Then Topher Grace left and it became unwatchable? I was reminded how damn good he was when he came back for the last scene of the series finale. Suddenly the rhythm was back.

Also, the cast of The Office (UK or US, take your pick) doesn't get nearly enough credit for delivering the best deadpan on television.

[danablue]

Judith Light, as Karen Wolleck, on One Life to Live about thirty years ago. Karen is on the stand, reluctantly, as an alibi witness for her friend, Viki, who is accused of murder. The prosecutor knows a big, dark secret about Karen: that while her doctor husband is away, Karen is a hooker. The prosecutor plays with her like a cat with a mouse, and finally, Karen breaks down and admits in front of a whole courtroom of her friends - and her husband - that she was a hooker.

This stands out as one of the most amazing pieces of acting on TV I have ever seen. It's one long, tracking scene, with hardly any cuts, and you can just watch over the course of about 10 minutes the slow and inexorable disintegration of a person.

[soulcornflake]

doguncle--thanks, I didn't want to dishonor Ray Sharkey's performance by mentioning a wrong name, because I simply couldn't remember it.

danablue--I remember that performance! I was in college about twenty years ago and the student center had a OLTL retrospective on the TV and I remember scores of people sitting and watching her just lose it. There were even students who didn't normally watch the soaps that time of day and simply cutting through to other places who stopped to watch the train wreck Judith Light was describing.

Edited by soulcornflake, Nov 20, 2007 @ 3:12 PM.

[beckyg]

Emma Caulfield, as Anya, on the Buffy episode The Body. To this day I cannot bear to watch her fall apart as she tries to understand death, and grief, and how to deal with her human emotions. Her confusion and fear and pain is so utterly heartbreaking, it tears me in two just to watch her.

[Ptzop]

I also think well played comedy doesn't get nearly enough love. .

I agree! Making people cry is hard, making people genuinely laugh is harder. I nominate Rainn Wilson aka Dwight Schrute in the physical comedy category. He's brilliant. The moment that comes to mind: everyone is tossing around a football from desk to desk, goofing off. Out of nowhere, Dwight tackles Ryan - papers fly everyone - Dwight gets up, runs over to knock down Creed, then slams into Stanley. In character, non-slapstick, perfect physical comedy, all in the space of about 5 seconds.

[AimingforYoko]

One of my favorite examples of wordless acting was by Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz on the NYPD Blue episode Safe Home. With in the previous year, Andy had lost his partner and his son and in the previous ep, his wife. He's barely functional, concentrating on getting his son Theo to and from school. His present partner, Danny(Ricky Schroeder) asks him to come in and help with a case. He comes into the room with Danny and the suspect and just looks at him. Danny is doing all the talking but Franz just dominates the room and the suspect keeps looking away from Danny to Franz. He's not even changing his expression, but it's all going on in the eyes, the rage and the grief and you can tell he's just hanging on by his fingernails. Dennis Franz had a lot of big acting moments and showy speeches on Blue, but that's the performance I'll always remember.

[eyechart]

Although "Will + Grace" wasn't known for subtlety, one Sean Hayes moment sticks out for me. The Thanksgiving episode flashback where Will comes out featured a moment with Jack and Will in a record store. Jack makes a comment about becoming boyfriends, and Will, not realizing Jack is sincere, laughs off the idea. Jack turns away while Will is looking elsewhere, and to see his face for those few seconds - hurt, confused, humiliated - gave him a depth that was rarely plumbed afterwards.

I always wished Jack and Will had ended up together, and that Sean had been given more chances to act instead of "ACT".

[Teagan1]

I also think well played comedy doesn't get nearly enough love. .

I agree. And the first one that comes to my mind is the beginning of an episode of Frasier where Niles (David Hyde Peirce) has one mishap after another while attempting to iron a shirt. Purely physical and pure genius, imo.

In the drama category, I'm sure I'll think of more later, but right now, I can think of two scenes that I'll never forget. In ER, after Lucy was stabbed and died on the table, hard-ass Dr. Romano's reaction really got to me. From anger, to disbelief, to sorrow and acceptance as he chose to clean up her body instead of having a nurse do it. Some of it was dialogue, but most of it was on his face and in his body language.

Also, in one season of 24 (I forget which one--the one with Chase), the last scene of the season finale, Jack Bauer, after leaving Chase in the hospital, gets into his car, then breaks down sobbing. I can say I never saw it coming and I was really impressed by it.

[marxfan]

I agree. And the first one that comes to my mind is the beginning of an episode of Frasier where Niles (David Hyde Peirce) has one mishap after another while attempting to iron a shirt. Purely physical and pure genius, imo.

Oh my god, I forgot about that! I mean, that kind of physical comedy routine was on the same level as Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd!

[MethodActor05]

I finally got around to seeing Judith Light's turn on OLTL. That courtroom scene is gold.

Same goes for Susan Haskell as Marty breaking down on the witness stand.

[Eliot]

Judith Light, as Karen Wolleck, on One Life to Live about thirty years ago. Karen is on the stand, reluctantly, as an alibi witness for her friend, Viki, who is accused of murder. The prosecutor knows a big, dark secret about Karen: that while her doctor husband is away, Karen is a hooker. The prosecutor plays with her like a cat with a mouse, and finally, Karen breaks down and admits in front of a whole courtroom of her friends - and her husband - that she was a hooker.

I can't remember the courtroom scene, but I do remember the scene where Karen confesses her secret to Viki. It was absolutely stunning.

My pick for great TV acting? JK Simmons' fabulous turn as Vern Schillinger on Oz. In a show filled with great performances, he stood out as an evil white supremacist who raped, murdered, schemed, burned swastikas on other prisoners' asses, and yet never lost his sense of humor. His best moment, though, was in the episode where a bunch of inmates' families are killed in a bus crash. The warden has the prisoners assembled in the cafeteria and one by one reads the names of those who died. One of the dead is Schillinger's daughter in law, who was traveling with his little granddaughter to visit him. When he finds out the baby survived, he just sinks down into a bench and covers his head with his hands, alternately shattered and and relieved. It's only a flash, but it's incredibly powerful.

[Rinaldo]

Sally Field has a great moment almost every week on Brothers and Sisters, but the one I recall is when her (recovering-addict) son agrees to take pain medication for his wounds. In a relatively short reaction moment we can read relief, concern, the motherly pain at seeing one of your children hurting in any way, near-certainty that this will somehow lead to a drug relapse for him, and steeling herself that nevertheless this is the way things have to go.

Patricia Wettig had lots of wonderful moments on thirtysomething, and some of them were quite dramatic with her whole experience with cancer. But I loved best two quieter ones: one in the first season when she and Elliot were in couples therapy, blaming each other for everything, and she finally stopped herself and said that at some point they have to quit digging into the past for grievances and scoring points as to whose fault a problem is. That seemed (because of her acting) really wrenched of experience and weariness that it might go on forever. And in a later season as she was contemplating taking Elliot back and Hope was expressing friendly skepticism; Wettig quietly, smilingly, said that someone you love will still do something at some point that seems to shatter everything, and it just hadn't happened to Hope yet.

I enjoyed watching Michael Warren on Hill Street Blues for reasons that had little to do with acting ability; in fact I would get kind of pre-emptively protective in conversation, saying things like "Oh well, he's not a great actor or anything...." But he had his moments when he showed what he had in him, and the one I remember is after he won the lottery, had turned into a jerk, and promptly squandered/gambled most of the money away. And then he had a great quiet scene with Renko about his adversarial relationship with his father, how he feared turning into him, and therefore somehow did almost exactly that when he got the chance. Really nice (it's in the next season to come out on DVD, if it ever does).

[peaceb2u]

This is refreshing and encouraging, a thread to commemorate the good, not to snarkify the less than mediocre (although that is fun, too).

I miss John Spencer terribly, too. He used to work on the West Wing and then play on Broadway at night. Talk about living to the maximum.

Franz likewise was always credible and capable of evoking feeling with almost micro muscle movements designed to inhibit expression of feeling (he was a cop, after all).

[LizDarko]

I agree. And the first one that comes to my mind is the beginning of an episode of Frasier where Niles (David Hyde Peirce) has one mishap after another while attempting to iron a shirt. Purely physical and pure genius, imo.

Oh my god, I forgot about that! I mean, that kind of physical comedy routine was on the same level as Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd!

It was his pants. This all started when he sat down and crossed his legs only to discover an odd wrinkle in his slacks as a result. My god, it's ridiculous how much I LOVE that scene. I've only seen it once and it's just the epitome of all things awesome about a) physical comedy, b) David Hyde Pierce, and c) Frasier back in the day.

[danablue]

Eliot: thanks for the OLTL recommendation; I'll look it up. Here's Karen on the witness stand.

[bartleby301]

Another fantastic OLTL moment is also at least a decade old: Viki, who has splintered into "Niki" again, is confronted by Dorian. As the argument escalates, it turns to Victor Lord, and Viki's realization that Victor Lord had sexually abused her for years, and that Dorian knew about it. Dorian counters that she thought Viki wanted it. At the end of the argument, Viki pushes Dorian down the stairs and splinters into several personalities, from the cold, calculating Jean to a boy named Tommy. I remember watching and thinking, "This is two soap divas at their very best!" And it was obvious why Susan Lucci's Erica Kane had never won a Daytime Emmy.

[bluroses]

Eden Riegel had a number of great moments as Bianca on All My Children, but one of the standout for me is when she finally admits to her best friend that she was raped. It's a pretty long monologue (uninterrupted, I think) where she recalls the night she was attacked. But you can see in her eyes that she's reliving the whole thing in her head. As the scene goes on, she slowly looses her composure until she's practically hyperventilating at the end. At one point she says, "And he wouldn't stop. He was ripping me apart and he wouldn't stop," and that's where I loose it. That line, and the emotion Eden gives it, really conveyed how terrible and painful the experience was for her.

How she didn't win the Emmy that year is beyond me.

Edited by bluroses, Nov 21, 2007 @ 2:34 PM.

[Teagan1]

It was his pants. This all started when he sat down and crossed his legs only to discover an odd wrinkle in his slacks as a result. My god, it's ridiculous how much I LOVE that scene. I've only seen it once and it's just the epitome of all things awesome about a) physical comedy, b) David Hyde Pierce, and c) Frasier back in the day.

Thanks for the correction, LizDarko. I've only seen the scene once (the first time it aired), so the details are a bit hazy, but I do remember how much I laughed.

[ImNotLeesa]

I agree. And the first one that comes to my mind is the beginning of an episode of Frasier where Niles (David Hyde Peirce) has one mishap after another while attempting to iron a shirt. Purely physical and pure genius, imo.

I loved that scene. The first time I saw it, I hadn't sat down planning to watch the episode. I had just turned on the tv for a few minutes waiting for some friends to stop by so we could go out. I clicked around a bit, stopped at Frasier, and caught this scene. I was home all alone, laughing so hard I was shrieking and had tears coming out of my eyes. When my friends showed up, after the scene had ended, of course, they asked me to explain why I was 'crying'. I tried to explain...but how could you describe that scene? "Niles tried to iron his pants, and it was funny."? Words just can't do justice to that scene. (and while it was a great moment of TV acting, the writer who came up with this bit was a genius too, even if there were no words in it)

ETA: If you search around for "A Valentine for Niles", you'll be able to see for yourself!

Edited by ImNotLeesa, Nov 21, 2007 @ 8:28 PM.

[Brakchi]

When I was a very little kid, I was allowed to stay up late for only 1 show which was Hill Street Blues. There was an episode where J.D. Larue, who is losing control due to his drinking, erupts after the Captain tells him he needs to stay away from work until he cleans up his act (the memory is hazy). What I recall is J.D. losing it in the precint in a mixture of anger and grief. While I saw it only once and have no idea if it lives up to being as strong as I remember it being as a child (don't even know if it holds up at all), that bit of acting by Kiel Martin made a big impact on me. I remember being very upset that the person was in so much pain and I know I cried.

There are so many great moments of acting this decade but two stand out for me.

One is in the final episode of Deadwood's season 1. It's about 5 minutes long and involves the death of the Reverend. The one part involves Doc down on his knees at first praying for the Reverend to die and then berating God about why the Reverend is made to suffer. The other is Swearingen suffocating the Reverend to death. Brad Douriff walks the high wire as Doc - it is that kind of moment which is so forthright with it's pain that one wants to shy away. The way Douriff enunciates Mommy with all the bitterness of a man who has seen the worst of man is profoundly moving. And then there is Ian McShane whose anti-villain goes from detached to loving while he kills someone. The firm softness of his voice as he says "Go now, brother" is devastating.

Second is in the episode The Gay-Straight Alliance on Once and Again. Grace confronts Jesse in the bathroom on how she should call back a girl named Katie. What occurs next is among the best acted scenes in TV or film history. What starts calmly with a talkative Grace turns heated when she says Jessie is in love only to find Jessie is just as aware of Grace's secret love. The back and forth ends with the hate you's being exchanged. The acting is extroardinary. Julia Whelan, as Grace, starts off passionate proclaiming, goes back into defensiveness, and then unleashes her deepest, most stinging verbal blow, only to be stunned by the brutality of what occurred. However it is Evan Rachel Wood, whose performance on this show is still unparalleled, who gives a master class. She starts by not giving any eye contact and then spins into action once the dreaded love word hits the nerve. Her eyes go red and watery, her face jutted out, her rage being presented in an increasingly aggresive voice that hisses because of fears of being overheard by other people in the house. Her rate of speech quickens as she becomes madder and madder until Grace lands her knockout blow. Wood recoils as if shrinking and is left speechless before stating her hatred of Grace who replies in kind. Both actresses convey the startled awareness in their characters that the other one knows them better than they know themselves. This makes the tension that much more vicious. This is also the finest, most realistic scene of an introverted person going balistic I've ever seen.

Martin, Douriff and Wood all go to that emotionally naked, vulnerable place that makes for the best acting.

Edited by Brakchi, Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:52 PM.