[Avengers] Why did Diana Rigg leave the show?

[Ubiquitous]

Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?

--
Katie Couric falsified a moment in her anti-gun documentary and is now
the first recipient of the new Brian Williams Creative Editing Award.

[A Friend]

In article <etadnf62HYDs1szK...@giganews.com>, Ubiquitous

<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
> a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?

There's a decent summary here:

http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-prod.htm

Basically, the work was too hard and they weren't paying her much --
only £150 per episode (which was less than the cameraman got), bumped
to £450 when she agreed to do a second series.

BTW Rigg hated the leather catsuit. She may be the only person who has
ever said that.

[Adam H. Kerman]

A Friend <A Friend> wrote:
>Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>>Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
>>a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?

>There's a decent summary here:

>http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-prod.htm

>Basically, the work was too hard and they weren't paying her much --

>only lb 150 per episode (which was less than the cameraman got), bumped
>to lb 450 when she agreed to do a second series.

>BTW Rigg hated the leather catsuit. She may be the only person who has
>ever said that.

Hehehe

In the lesser colour season, she wore those colourful jumpsuits. I
always imagined lowering the front zipper slowly.

I didn't know that production was shut down before production of the
colour season was completed, and had to be resumed later. That
explains a few things.

She'd also been hired to do a James Bond movie and The Assasination
Bureau, an ok movie but the humour wasn't subtle in any way, so her
career was only getting bigger. Then she'd do a cheesy but fun
Vincent Price movie. (He had the temerity to rewrite Shakespeare?)

Then she'd return to television in a self-titled sitcom for NBC
in 1973 I've never seen, but it always sounded like a weak combination
of That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, produced by Leonard Stern's company.

The Avengers changed completely. They reverted to the former show runner,
who took advantage of an opportunity to hire his no-talent girlfriend.
I don't think the change of producer had anything to do with Diana Rigg
going on to other projects, but it sounded like she was right to leave.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <nirvm9$98v$1...@news.albasani.net>,

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

> A Friend <A Friend> wrote:
> >Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> >>Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
> >>a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?
>
> >There's a decent summary here:
>
> >http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-prod.htm
>
> >Basically, the work was too hard and they weren't paying her much --
> >only lb 150 per episode (which was less than the cameraman got), bumped
> >to lb 450 when she agreed to do a second series.
>
> >BTW Rigg hated the leather catsuit. She may be the only person who has
> >ever said that.
>
> Hehehe
>
> In the lesser colour season, she wore those colourful jumpsuits. I

The "Emma Peeler" - no, really, that's what they were called.

> always imagined lowering the front zipper slowly.
>
> I didn't know that production was shut down before production of the
> colour season was completed, and had to be resumed later. That
> explains a few things.

Such as?

>
> She'd also been hired to do a James Bond movie and The Assasination
> Bureau, an ok movie but the humour wasn't subtle in any way, so her
> career was only getting bigger. Then she'd do a cheesy but fun
> Vincent Price movie. (He had the temerity to rewrite Shakespeare?)
>
> Then she'd return to television in a self-titled sitcom for NBC
> in 1973 I've never seen, but it always sounded like a weak combination
> of That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, produced by Leonard Stern's company.

That's a good description of it. It was really lousy.

>
> The Avengers changed completely. They reverted to the former show runner,
> who took advantage of an opportunity to hire his no-talent girlfriend.

The only good Tara King episodes are the ones without Linda Thorson.

> I don't think the change of producer had anything to do with Diana Rigg
> going on to other projects, but it sounded like she was right to leave.

--
Join your old RAT friends at
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[Adam H. Kerman]

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>>A Friend wrote:
>>>Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>>>>Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
>>>>a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?

>>>There's a decent summary here:

>>>http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-prod.htm

>>>Basically, the work was too hard and they weren't paying her much --
>>>only lb 150 per episode (which was less than the cameraman got), bumped
>>>to lb 450 when she agreed to do a second series.

>>>BTW Rigg hated the leather catsuit. She may be the only person who has
>>>ever said that.

>>Hehehe

>>In the lesser colour season, she wore those colourful jumpsuits. I

>>always imagined lowering the front zipper slowly.

>The "Emma Peeler" - no, really, that's what they were called.

Clearly, I'm not the only one who thought long and hard about the zipper.

>>I didn't know that production was shut down before production of the
>>colour season was completed, and had to be resumed later. That
>>explains a few things.

>Such as?

The production was bleeding cash, shutting down after 16
episodes. They were still obliged to deliver 24 episodes for series 5.
That must have crystalized in Diana Rigg's mind that she wasn't going
to build her career by staying with this production.

It was just more chaos in addition to the change in show runners, then
firing the brand-new show runner in the midst of production on his
third episode and never completing the episode intended to be used
to introduce Tara King.

I absolutely cannot fault her, and I can't imagine that if she'd stayed
with the production that the scripts would have been better. They
changed the show.

I'm not disagreeing with eliminating the goofball science fiction elements
after series 5, however, just that I can't see that if she'd stayed, she'd
have gotten the better scripts on par with series 4.

>>She'd also been hired to do a James Bond movie and The Assasination
>>Bureau, an ok movie but the humour wasn't subtle in any way, so her
>>career was only getting bigger. Then she'd do a cheesy but fun
>>Vincent Price movie. (He had the temerity to rewrite Shakespeare?)

>>Then she'd return to television in a self-titled sitcom for NBC
>>in 1973 I've never seen, but it always sounded like a weak combination
>>of That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, produced by Leonard Stern's company.

>That's a good description of it. It was really lousy.

I wonder what movies she'd turned down in 1972 or 1973 to make this.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <nis48v$98v$5...@news.albasani.net>,

The Tara King eps without Linda Thorson aren't unwatchable.

>
> >>She'd also been hired to do a James Bond movie and The Assasination
> >>Bureau, an ok movie but the humour wasn't subtle in any way, so her
> >>career was only getting bigger. Then she'd do a cheesy but fun
> >>Vincent Price movie. (He had the temerity to rewrite Shakespeare?)
>
> >>Then she'd return to television in a self-titled sitcom for NBC
> >>in 1973 I've never seen, but it always sounded like a weak combination
> >>of That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, produced by Leonard Stern's company.
>
> >That's a good description of it. It was really lousy.
>
> I wonder what movies she'd turned down in 1972 or 1973 to make this.

I don't know that she did - I think it was "come to America and play in
the big leagues"

>
> >>The Avengers changed completely. They reverted to the former show runner,
> >>who took advantage of an opportunity to hire his no-talent girlfriend.
>
> >The only good Tara King episodes are the ones without Linda Thorson.
>
> >>I don't think the change of producer had anything to do with Diana Rigg
> >>going on to other projects, but it sounded like she was right to leave.

[Patrick McNamara]

"anim8rfsk" wrote in message
news:anim8rfsk-E8C1B...@news.easynews.com...

In article <nis48v$98v$5...@news.albasani.net>,
"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>> I wonder what movies she'd turned down in 1972 or 1973 to make this.

>I don't know that she did - I think it was "come to America and play in the
>big leagues"

She did a lot of stage work during that time. It's often where actors go
when they disappear from movies and TV.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Patrick McNamara <writer...@netzero.net> wrote:

>anim8rfsk wrote:
>>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>>>I wonder what movies she'd turned down in 1972 or 1973 to make this.

>>I don't know that she did - I think it was "come to America and play in the
>>big leagues"

>She did a lot of stage work during that time. It's often where actors go
>when they disappear from movies and TV.

Then what stage work did she turn down to make that awful tv show?
I only mentioned the tv series because it didn't appear to be one of
her better career choices.

She's appeared on the stage throughout her long career. You're right.

[A Friend]

In article <nis48v$98v$5...@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman

<a...@chinet.com> wrote:

> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> >"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> >>A Friend wrote:
> >>>Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> >>>>Does anyone know why Diana Rigg left the show when she was so much of
> >>>>a hit? Does anyone know why from any interviews that she gave?
>
> >>>There's a decent summary here:
>
> >>>http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel2-prod.htm
>
> >>>Basically, the work was too hard and they weren't paying her much --
> >>>only lb 150 per episode (which was less than the cameraman got), bumped
> >>>to lb 450 when she agreed to do a second series.
>
> >>>BTW Rigg hated the leather catsuit. She may be the only person who has
> >>>ever said that.
>
> >>Hehehe
>
> >>In the lesser colour season, she wore those colourful jumpsuits. I
> >>always imagined lowering the front zipper slowly.
>
> >The "Emma Peeler" - no, really, that's what they were called.
>
> Clearly, I'm not the only one who thought long and hard about the zipper.

Isaac Asimov mentioned in his autobiography that, in 1971, he went to
see Diana Rigg on Broadway in "Abelard and Heloise," in which she
appeared nude on stage in a love scene, as she had in London. This
appears to have been the only thing Asimov remembered about the play,
the old dog.

BTW Rigg once condemned the leather catsuit as a "b***er," which I
translate as "bugger," which for some reason is unprintable in the UK.
From 2014:

"It was a b***er. That was an absolute b***er. It took me 45 minutes to
go to the lavatory. You had to unzip yourself and leather gets hot and
sticky and you just could not take it off. I did not have a cat flap.

"They wrote the role for a man and then cast a woman. They did not
write it for a woman as they were not as advanced as that, they were
absolutely stupid. They then cast a woman and then they had this iconic
figure and then they thought 'Oh goody, aren't we clever?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2541492/The-review-left-Dia
na-Rigg-feeling-flat-Avengers-star-recalls-critic-described-breasts-1971-
nude-scene-insufficient-flying-buttresses.html

http://goo.gl/wzQTwb

[RichA]

Bob Crane did something as bad and something like it around the same time. Her show was like charity for a lot of 2nd-tier Jewish actors. She just did not fit into that group.