History Trivia / Feud

** Creator/OliviaDeHaviland, one of the few individuals depicted in the first season's story to still be alive during its initial airing, flatly refused to watch it. She was opposed to making portrayals of real people who are no longer alive to give their own viewpoint. Later on she sued FX over being portrayed as selling her co-workers out in an interview that never actually happened, as well as calling her sister Creator/JoanFontaine a "bitch" (though they famously had their own lifelong rivalry, De Haviland insists that she's always prided herself on her decorum and would never use that word).

** B-movie director William Castle is played by cult film director Creator/JohnWaters, who has cited the former as one of his biggest influences. He wasn't made to resemble William Castle, so that audiences would instantly get the gag.

* CaliforniaDoubling / TelevisionGeography / TheMountainsOfIllinois: For the Trog sequence, a Hollywood lot stands in for Bray Studios, which is portrayed as a Thamesside studio rather than a converted manor house in rural Berkshire.
* DawsonCasting: Sarandon and Lange (70 and 67, respectively, during production) play Bette and Joan from their 50s to around 70. David Kimball, in his mid-sixties, plays a grey-haired Freddie Francis, who at the time was a dark-haired 52-year-old. Inverted with 17-year-old Kiernan Shipka playing B.D. in her twenties.
* DevelopmentHell: The series was in development for about seven years - with Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange on board - before it was finally given the green light.

** Olivia De Haviland, one of the few individuals depicted in the first season's story to still be alive during its initial airing, flatly refused to watch it. She was opposed to making portrayals of real people who are no longer alive to give their own viewpoint. Later on she sued FX over being portrayed as selling her co-workers out in an interview that never actually happened, as well as calling her sister Joan Fontaine a "bitch" (though they famously had their own lifelong rivalry, De Haviland insists that she's always prided herself on her decorum and would never use that word).

* FakeAmerican: Londoner Alfred Molina plays American Robert Aldrich. Pauline is also played by an English actress, Allison Wright.
* FakeBrit: British directors Freddie Francis and David Lean are played by Americans David Kimball and Anthony Crivello.
* HeyItsThatPlace: Bette Davis's house was used in ''Film/DonnieDarko''.

** B-movie director William Castle is played by cult film director John Waters, who has cited the former as one of his biggest influences. He wasn't made to resemble William Castle, so that audiences would instantly get the gag.
** Susan Sarandon had been given approval through a mutual acquaintance that Bette Davis wanted her to play her in a biopic. This was the fifth of four other projects where she had been suggested to play the actress.

* TakeThat:
** A huge chunk of the "Take Thats" in the series dwell on obscure and not so obscure movie industry lore. One of the most notable examples: Bette Davis refuting 20th Century Fox's desire to have Vivian Leigh as Joan Crawford's replacement on ''Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' - claiming she could not play a convincing Southern Belle. This refers to the bad blood Davis had towards Leigh for winning the role of Scarlett O'Hara, resulting in Davis starring in FollowTheLeader ''Jezebel'' instead, a film Warner Brothers secured to placate her when talks fell through.
** The entire season can be seen as a TakeThat against ''Literature/MommieDearest'', in that it portrays Joan as a good mother and someone who, while possessing a cruel streak professionally, is sympathetic in her private life. The film also takes jabs at Faye Dunaway (portraying her as unprofessional) and positions that Joan even knew about Christina's book but allowed it to be published, declining to read the manuscript when offered. She didn't want to spend her last days filled with rage over Chistina's lies - though her line of parenting, when shown, seems to give some credibility to the book, with strict and mostly out-and-out strange behavior.

* CreatorBacklash: Olivia De Haviland, one of the few individuals depicted in the first season's story to still be alive during its initial airing, flatly refused to watch it. She was opposed to making portrayals of real people who are no longer alive to give their own viewpoint. Later on she sued FX over being portrayed as selling her co-workers out in an interview that never actually happened, as well as calling her sister Joan Fontaine a "bitch" (though they famously had their own lifelong rivalry, De Haviland insists that she's always prided herself on her decorum and would never use that word).

* TakeThat: A huge chunk of the "Take Thats" in the series dwell on obscure and not so obscure movie industry lore. One of the most notable examples: Bette Davis refuting 20th Century Fox's desire to have Vivian Leigh as Joan Crawford's replacement on "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" - claiming she could not play a convincing Southern Belle. This refers to the bad blood Davis had towards Leigh for winning the role of Scarlett O'Hara, resulting in Davis starring in FollowTheLeader "Jezebel" instead, a film Warner Brothers secured to placate her when talks fell through.
** The entire season can be seen as a TakeThat against Literature/MommieDearest, in that it portrays Joan as a good mother and someone who, while possessing a cruel streak professionally, is sympathetic in her private life. The film also takes jabs at Faye Dunaway (portraying her as unprofessional) and positions that Joan even knew about Christina's book but allowed it to be published, declining to read the manuscript when offered. She didn't want to spend her last days filled with rage over Chistina's lies - though her line of parenting, when shown, seems to give some credibility to the book, with strict and mostly out-and-out strange behavior.
*** Ironically, while portraying Christina Crawford as a liar, the show appears to lend some credibility to B.D. Hyman's claims about her mother's alleged abuse. This includes having B.D.'s final scene on the show forbidding Bette from contact with her grandchildren after Bette hit one of them, and Bette admitting to hitting B.D. when she grew up when B.D. "misbehaved". To add extra irony, the allegations against Bette were debunked when B.D. published a book about them.
*** The TakeThat would be more against the movie and its batshit crazy "no wire hangers!" Joan (which even Christina rejected) than the book. In the final she admits her treatment of Christina wasn't the best. As for Faye Dunaway, Bette Davis was the one who chose her as one of the worst people she knew in Hollywood.

* CreatorBacklash: Olivia De Haviland, one of the few individuals depicted in the first season's story to still be alive during its initial airing, flatly refused to watch it. She was opposed to making portrayals of real people who are no longer alive to give their own viewpoint.

*** Ironically, while portraying Christina Crawford as a liar, the show appears to lend some credibility to B.D. Hyman's claims about her mother's alleged abuse. This includes having B.D.'s final scene on the show forbidding Bette from contact with her grandchildren after Bette hit one of them, and Bette admitting to hitting B.D. when she grew up when B.D. "misbehaved".

*** The TakeThat would be more against the movie and its batshit crazy "no wire hangers!" Joan (which even Christina rejected) than the book. In the final she regrets her treatment of Christina and Christopher. As for Faye Dunaway, Bette Davis was the one who chose her as one of the worst people she knew in Hollywood.

*** The TakeThat would be more against the movie and its batshit crazy "no wire hangers!" Joan (which even Christina rejected) than the book. In the final she regrets her treatment of Christina and Christopher. As for Faye Dunaway, Bette Davis was the one who chose her as one of the worst people she know in Hollywood.

*** The TakeThat would be more against the movie and its batshit crazy "no wire hangers!" Joan (which even Christina rejected) than the book. In the final she regrets her treatment of Christina and Christopher.
As for Faye Dunaway, Bette Davis was the one who chose her as one of the worst people she know in Hollywood.

* DawsonCasting: Sarandon and Lange (70 and 67, respectively, during production), play Bette and Joan from their 50s to around 70. David Kimball, in his mid-sixties, plays a grey-haired Freddie Francis, who at the time was a dark-haired 52-year-old. Inverted with 17-year-old Kiernan Shipka playing B.D. in her twenties.

* DawsonCasting: Sarandon and Lange, both 70-odd play Bette and Joan from their 50s to around 70. David Kimball, in his mid-sixties plays a grey-haired Freddie Francis, who at the time was a youthful-looking dark-haired, widow's peaked 52-year-old. Inverted with 17-year-old Kiernan Shipka playing B.D. in her twenties.
* FakeAmerican: Londoner Alfred Molina plays American Robert Aldrich. Pauline is also played by a British actress.
* FakeBrit: British directors Freddie Francis and David Lean are played with wonky accents by Americans David Kimball and Anthony Crivello.

** The entire season can be seen as one huge TakeThat against Literature/MommieDearest in that it portrays Joan as a good mother and someone who, while possessing a cruel streak professionally, is sympathetic in her private life. The film also takes jabs at Faye Dunaway (portraying her as unprofessional) and positions that Joan even knew about Christina's book but allowed it to be published, declining to read the manuscript when offered. She didn't want to spend her last days filled with rage over Chistina's lies - though her line of parenting, when shown, seems to give actual credibility to the book, with strict and mostly out-and-out strange behavior.
*** Ironically, while portraying Christina Crawford as a liar, the show appears to give some credibility to B.D. Hyman's claims about her mother's alleged abuse. This includes having B.D.'s final scene on the show forbidding Bette from contact with her grandchildren after Bette hit one of them, and Bette admitting to hitting B.D. when she grew up when B.D. "misbehaved".

** The entire season can be as one huge TakeThat against "Mommy Dearest" in that it portrays Joan, as a good mother and someone who, while possessing a cruel streak professionally, in a sympathetic light in her personal life. The film also takes jabs at Faye Dunaway (portraying her as a flake and a diva) and positions that Joan even knew about Christina's book (which is arguably portrayed as lies), but allowed it to be published (and did not even read the manuscript when offered) because she didn't want to spend her last days filled with rage over Chistina's lies, though her line of parenting, when shown, seems to give actual credibility to the book, with strict and mostly out-and-out strange behavior.
*** Ironically while portraying Christina Crawford as a liar, the show goes out of it's way to give credibility to B.D. Heyman (Bette's daughter)'s claims in her book, where she accused Bette of physical abuse. Right down to having B.D.'s final scene on the show be banning Bette from contact with her grandchildren after Bette hit them and Bette admitting to hitting B.D. when she grew up when B.D. "misbehaved".

** The entire season can be as one huge TakeThat against "Mommy Dearest" in that it portrays Joan, as a good mother and someone who, while possessing a cruel streak professionally, in a sympathetic light in her personal life. The film also takes jabs at Faye Dunnaway (portraying her as a flake and a diva) and positions that Joan even knew about Christina's book (which is portrayed as lies), but allowed it to be published (and did not even read the manuscript when offered) because she didn't want to spend her last days filled with rage over Chistina's lies.

* CreatorBacklash: Olivia De Haviland, the only participant in the first season's story to still be alive when it aired, flatly refused to watch it as she was opposed to making such a negative portrayal of real people who aren't alive to give their own viewpoint.
* ProductionPosse: ''Bette and Joan'' stars Creator/JessicaLange, Creator/SarahPaulson, and Creator/KathyBates have all played prominent roles in other Murphy projects.
* TakeThat: A huge chunk of the "Take Thats" in the series dwell on obscure and not so obscure movie industry lore. One of the most notably examples: Bette Davis refuting 20th Century Fox securing Vivian Leigh as Joan Crawford's replacement on "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte"/claiming she can not play a convincing Southern Belle? A reference to the bad blood Bette Davis had towards Leigh for stealing the role of Scarlet O'Hara from her (resulting in her having to film the FollowTheLeader film "Jezabel" instead, a film Warner Brothers secured to placate a livid Davis when talks fell through).

* MoralEventHorizon: Joan hijacking the Oscars and humiliating Bette Davis by accepting the Oscar for Anne Bancroft is one (though the film attempts to justify this by having it implied that Bancroft only went along with it out of pity) is one though by the time Joan attempts to kill the film "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte", the show doesn't even try and give an out for Joan's monstrous behavior.

* TakeThat: A huge chunk of the "Take Thats" in the series dwell on obscure and not so obscure movie industry lore. One of the most notably examples: Bette Davis resuting 20th Century Fox securing Vivian Leigh as Joan Crawford's replacement on "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte"/claiming she can not play a convincing Southern Belle? A reference to the bad blood Bette Davis had towards Leigh for stealing the role of Scarlet O'Hara from her (resulting in her having to film the FollowTheLeader film "Jezabel" instead, a film Warner Brothers secured to placate a livid Davis when talks fell through).

* DawsonCasting: Although much different from the usual examples. At the time of the events of the series Bett Davis was 54 and Joan Crawford 56. At the time the series was released Susan Sarandon was 70 and Jessica Lange 67.

* ActorAllusion: Kiernan Shipka plays [[Series/MadMen a girl in a story set in the 60's who has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother]]. Not only that, but the mothers are referred to by similar sounding names that are derivative of the name Elizabeth.