97 replies to this topic

[Gypsy]

I've been really enjoying reading the 'Great Moments' acting thread, but it's also reminded me of conversations I've had with my siblings about the moments we've realised we were watching some truly terrible TV acting.

The first time is usually in kid shows - I think the first time I knew someone was a bad, bad actor was in Sweet Valley High, when Liz has the motorcycle accident and Ryan Bittle, playing Todd, has to call her name in upset and horror. I was about 13 at the time, but even then knew that the pitiful way he cried "Liz, Liz!" would have got him laughed out of the school drama club.

A bad acting moment that spoilt an otherwise great show, was Kyle Secor in the 'Leave it to Beaver' episode Veronica Mars. "You killed my daughter! You killed my daughter!" Oh dear. Mr Secor should have been very embarrassed that day.

[trice77]

I'm sure there were many moments on "Saved by the Bell" that are appropriate for this thread, but none more than Elizabeth Berkley yelling/crying/singing, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!!!"

[CtLady]

Wow, two scenes come to mind and both involve Dylan McKay on 90210:

1) Dylan falling to his knees, throwing his head back and screaming, "ahhhhhhhh" after watching his father's car get blown up with him inside.

2) Dylan cradling his bride of less than a day, Toni, after her father's henchmen shot her instead of Dylan by mistake, screaming, "Oh my God, Brandon, look what they've done!" Cringe-a-mundo!

[henrysmom]

Disclaimer: I've only seen this clip during VH1's countdown of the top one hundred one-hit wonders so maybe it works better in context.

Jamie Walters is the abusive boyfriend of Donna (?). They have a confrontation on the stairs during which he takes her arm, seems to shake her a bit. The actress says "Stop You're Hurting Me" with all the passion of somebody appearing on a public access tv show. Then she rolls gently down the stairs, curled up carefully so viewers can't see its actually a stuntwoman. And Jamie Walters just sort of stands there with no expression on his face whatsoever. Nothing. Anger, shame. Not a thing.

Maybe in context it played better, but on the countdown show it is just all levels of awful, on both actors' parts. For some odd reason, I feel compelled to watch that countdown show every time it is on, and when Jamie Walters contends that this abusive boyfriend part cost him his career, I can't help but to think there may have been other factors, such as lack of talent, involved.

edited to add that the show in question is Beverly Hills 90210

Edited by henrysmom, Nov 28, 2007 @ 9:48 AM.

[dippychik]

Elizabeth Berkley yelling/crying/singing, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!!!"

Hee! But it was such a classic ;)

I gotta add Marissa Cooper's pool furntire throwing fit, though I'm not sure it can count since there was almost no acting at all going on there.

Edited by dippychik, Nov 28, 2007 @ 12:57 PM.

[Bruinsfan]

For some odd reason, I feel compelled to watch that countdown show every time it is on, and when Jamie Walters contends that this abusive boyfriend part cost him his career, I can't help but to think there may have been other factors, such as lack of talent, involved.

Funny how actors like, say, Billy Campbell and Patrick Bergin have managed to avoid disappearing into obscurity after taking such roles. Though I suppose Jamie Walters will be earworming the masses for decades to come with that theme song from The Heights.

[Nikki528]

Izzie's "What About Me?!?!?!?" speech on Grey's Anatomy. Horribly over-acted and it garnered no sympathy from me. Honestly, it made me laugh. Horrible.

[Eliot]

I'll never forget the episode of "Dynasty" when Alexis induced a heart attack in Cecil Something-or-Other while they were in bed together. Joan Collins kept rolling around the bed, flailing her hands, and tossing her head around, trying to appear all wild and passionate, but she actually looked like she was having a seizure. No wonder the poor guy croaked.

[misere]

Izzie's "What About Me?!?!?!?" speech on Grey's Anatomy. Horribly over-acted and it garnered no sympathy from me. Honestly, it made me laugh. Horrible.

I'd put that on par with Meredith's petulant "Pick ME. Choose ME. Love ME" speech. Good grief. Honestly, I don't know whether it's the acting or the writing on that show that's worse.

[cacophony]

I gotta add Marissa Cooper's pool furntire throwing fit, though I'm not sure it can count since there was almost no acting at all going on there.

This thread should be dedicated to Mischa Barton. I wish I could remember the episode or even the circumstances of this example. Marissa is being all sympathetic to someone who doesn't want to share his angst (big surprise). And she says, "Hey. Talk to me." It was the most wooden line delivery ever and it sums up exactly how terrible she was.

Oh, and can we really discuss bad acting on these boards without referencing Dawson's sobfest as Joey bolts away from him to be with Pacey? The image of Dawson-angst is burned into my memory.

[Eliot]

Oh, and then there's Elisabeth Rohm. It's kinda hard to pick her most Godawful Acting Moment, because I'm not sure she was ever actually...acting. But if I'd have to pick one, I'd need to go with, "Is this because I'm a lesbian?" for the sheer flatness of the delivery.

Then again, she did utter it with a straight face. So maybe it's a "Great Moment in TV Acting" after all.

**off to ponder the thespian skills of the erstwhile Ms. Rohm***

[GeoBQn]

I am going to have to do peruse the 7th Heaven archives to come up with a short list from that show--limit it to only 1,000 moments.

In the meantime, I will go with Tori Spelling as Stacy Lockwood in Death of a Cheerleader. When she gets stabbed by Kellie Martin, Tori walks up to her neighbor's door, shouting "I've been stabbed! I've been stabbed!" I think that someone losing that much blood would not only be unable to walk so upright, but they wouldn't be able to shout that loudly either.

[LolaRuns]

I feel Smallville should be represented in this thread....

[SunniLee]

**off to ponder the thespian skills of the erstwhile Ms. Rohm***

Is it because she's a thespian?

[Ulkis]

When Chandler proposes to Monica on Friends in the sixth-season finale, he starts to cry and it's pretty cringe-inducing.

On BtVS, after Cordelia fell on the rebar and she's in the hospital, she starts to "cry". She makes a good sad face, but there were no tears whatsoever.

[SassandtheCity]

I have to nominate Adam Brody's screaming of "Does anybody have a moist towelette" as one of the worst pieces of acting I've ever seen on that show. Mischa's acting often times was campy bad while when Adam hit a bad note, it was horrendous because you knew he was capable of better.

[VersesBatman]

I feel Smallville should be represented in this thread....

Where to start?

In one episode, Clark and Lana find this meteor mutant baby that grows super fast. When the baby begins to grow, Kristin Kreuk makes the appropriate astonished face, but Tom Welling just stands there with a stoic expression. It looked like he was thinking about what his wife picked up for dinner.

In the finale of season 4, Clark finially gets the last stone and as he watches the stones fuse together into some key, Tom again just stands there with a "been there, done that" expression.

[marxfan]

In the episode "Seeing Red" on BtVS there's a scene where Buffy tries to talk to Xander after he's found out she's been sleeping with Spike. Xander's pretty much ripping her a new one, and Buffy tries using sarcasm for a defense. Only trouble? SMG is smiling a genuine smile while doing this. It's not a grimace, a smirk, or a simper, but an honest to God smile, and it's so frickin' off-putting, considering that this scene deals with the fact her friendship with Xander is on the rocks. Not to mention maddeningly ironic, considering it's the only time in S6 Buffy has smiled, and she finally smiles at the most inappropriate time ever!!

[cdgeiger]

This thread should be dedicated to Mischa Barton.

I concur. Give her a crown or something because Jesus Christ she was awful. I don't know which moment was the worst, though I'm thinking the previously mentioned furniture throwing might win. Although, it did make me laugh for five minutes so there was some worth to it.

[AndieMatt]

Ah, "Dynasty"...so many moments.

My personal badly acted favorite starred Catherine Oxenburg as Amanda (Alexis Carrington's daughter). Amanda did what soap opera daughters do and decided to take up doing the horizontal mambo with Alexis's (much younger) husband Dex Dexter.

During one of their illicit trysts, Alexis lets herself into the house where Amanda and Dex are, uh, mambo-ing and throws the bedroom door open.

Amanda's response? She pulls the sheet over her bosom about an inch and simply says, "Mummy." No attempt to get out of bed, no hiding in the closet, no emotion.

Classic.

[redrobin27]

Clark and Lana find this meteor mutant baby that grows super fast.

First, any time a scene begins with a meteor mutant baby, that's not a good sign. Second, Tom Welling is infamous for his blank expressions. He and Marissa Cooper could headline the thread together, perhaps? As you say, VersesBatman, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

Edited by redrobin27, Nov 28, 2007 @ 9:25 PM.

[Spooneroonie]

I'd like to nominate every moment Charlene Tilton opened her mouth as Lucy Ewing on Dallas.

[VersesBatman]

First, any time a scene begins with a meteor mutant baby, that's not a good sign. Second, Tom Welling is infamous for his blank expressions.

True. But would it kill him to emote a little?

[Ptzop]

In the beautiful ladies department: Bai Ling on Lost seemed weirdly spaced-out for her whole entire guest episode. And her speaking was so strange. I know she was playing someone speaking heavily accented English, but she sounded like..... I don't know, like she learned her lines phonetically. Like she didn't know or care what she was actually saying. It was an interestingly dreadful performance. Too bad it was on a good show, supposedly as an important part of the backstory for one of the main characters.

[Freckles101]

In the beautiful ladies department: Bai Ling on Lost seemed weirdly spaced-out for her whole entire guest episode. And her speaking was so strange. I know she was playing someone speaking heavily accented English, but she sounded like..... I don't know, like she learned her lines phonetically. Like she didn't know or care what she was actually saying. It was an interestingly dreadful performance. Too bad it was on a good show, supposedly as an important part of the backstory for one of the main characters.

Oh, I completely agree. Vehemently. Bai Ling definitely helped to make Stranger in a Strange Land the worst episode of Lost perhaps ever.

Oh, and anytime Matthew Fox cries, I just laugh, because it is just so ridiculous.

[soulcornflake]

If you really want bad acting the best place to look is on soap operas. The real high-level ones like Y&R and DOOL not so much (though you find them there), but look at the second and third-tier soaps like Passions. THAT is seriously bad acting.

[MetropolisGal]

Oh, and anytime Matthew Fox cries, I just laugh, because it is just so ridiculous.

Ditto for David Duchovny on "The X Files".

"One Breath" is one of the best episodes EVER except for the fact that asked DD to cry. I'm sure that "Oh, suck it up!" is NOT the reaction they wanted from me.

[emjay1116]

"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...scared!!!"

Hehehe. I remember that one. I was going to say something, but I can't seem to stop laughing long enough to say it. Oh well.
Although to be fair to Elizabeth Berkley, the writing was pretty awful too. (I mean, you can become addicted and then realize you need to get sober in one episode? Please)

[VersesBatman]

I mean, you can become addicted and then realize you need to get sober in one episode? Please

To No-Doze no less.

[Mack the Spoon]

Ditto for David Duchovny on "The X Files".

"One Breath" is one of the best episodes EVER except for the fact that asked DD to cry. I'm sure that "Oh, suck it up!" is NOT the reaction they wanted from me.

Heh. That actually worked for me, but his 'crying' beside Scully's hospital bed in "Redux" most certainly did not. Every time I watch that scene, I'm with them, getting the angst, and feeling a little teary myself - but then there's the arm-biting and I just can't deal with it, and want to laugh instead. Ah, DD, sometimes you are brilliant, but other times? Not so much. Heh.

Edited by Mack the Spoon, Nov 29, 2007 @ 12:01 AM.