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* MagnificentBitch: Joan Crawford, in spades. Even in her first full scene in the pilot, we see she is willing to be a chess player in order to benefit her career. She works with Hedda Hopper on a semi-consistent basis to get herself portrayed more positively than Bette during the film of ''Baby Jane'' and even instigates a cat fight in the papers by calling up Luella Parsons when Hedda publishes an insult Bette allegedly made about her falsies (but unbeknownst to her, that was disclosed by Bob Aldridge to get the movie more free press.) She and Bette only team up enough to get rid of the actress Bob initially picks for the part of the neighbor girl and every other time, they're at each other's throats physically or through spreading rumors. She tries to manipulate Bob on her side, but he's aware that she's just trying to control him and doesn't fall for it, despite her attempts. She also is about to pay off her shitty half-brother when he threatens to blackmail her with a possible stag film she did once and stops payment after he kicks the bucket since now there is no threat of her possible stag film being released. She and Hedda scheme and spread enough dirt that it possibly costs Bette her last possible Oscar win and it's the final nail in the coffin for Joan's career when she successfully shows up Bette by accepting Anne Bancroft's Oscar on stage.
** Hedda Hopper is as scheming as Joan, if not more. In the series, she's the one who comes up with the idea to show Bette up by accepting the Oscar for her competition, citing Anne Bancroft and Geraldine Paige as the ones who would truly break Bette to lose to. She is happy to work with Joan all buddy-buddy until they are at odds and after they are, she stops at nothing trying to spin a potential story about Joan doing a stag film.
** Hedda Hopper is as scheming as Joan, if not more. In the series, she's the one who comes up with the idea to show Bette up by accepting the Oscar for her competition, citing Anne Bancroft and Geraldine Paige as the ones who would truly break Bette to lose to. She is happy to work with Joan all buddy-buddy until they are at odds and after they are, she stops at nothing trying to spin a potential story about Joan doing a stag film.
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** Bette's husband Gary Merrill (a prolific TV and film actor) is portrayed as a terrible actor. Getting fired from her Broadway play for delivering a emotionless performance.
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Renamed some tropes.
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* LesYay: In this series' version of events, Mamacita acts very much like Creator/JoanCrawford's long-suffering, much-abused lover rather than simply her maid.
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* LesYay: [[HoYay Les Yay]]: In this series' version of events, Mamacita acts very much like Creator/JoanCrawford's long-suffering, much-abused lover rather than simply her maid.
* QuestionableCasting: Creator/CatherineZetaJones as Creator/OliviaDeHavilland is a strange choice. The former has very dark coloring thanks to her distant Greek roots, and in fact is often cast as the SpicyLatina because of it (even though she isn't Latina). Olivia de Havilland however in her youth was fairer with a more down to earth GirlNextDoor look. The two actresses simply don't look alike - making it an odd casting decision.
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* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/CatherineZetaJones as Creator/OliviaDeHavilland is a strange choice. The former has very dark coloring thanks to her distant Greek roots, and in fact is often cast as the SpicyLatina because of it (even though she isn't Latina). Olivia de Havilland however in her youth was fairer with a more down to earth GirlNextDoor look. The two actresses simply don't look alike - making it an odd casting decision.
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* ActorShipping: Due to their real life friendship and chemistry on screen, a lot of fans of the show ship Creator/JessicaLange and Creator/SusanSarandon, with loads of {{Real Person Fic}}s and even their own PortmanteauCoupleName, "Sarange".
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* ActorShipping: Due to their real life friendship and chemistry on screen, a lot of fans of the show ship Creator/JessicaLange and Creator/SusanSarandon, with loads of {{Real Person Fic}}s and even their own PortmanteauCoupleName, "Sarange".
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* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Joan Crawford really did find out that she'd been recast in ''Film/HushHushSweetCharlotte'' by hearing it on the radio.
** Bette's Baby Jane wig really was one that Joan Crawford had worn in an earlier film.
** Mamacita's nickname is real. The story goes that around the time she was first hired, Joan had recently done work in Brazil, and she went to call for her, forgot her name, and ended up calling her Mamacita instead. The nickname simply stuck after that.
** Joan Crawford really did find out that she'd been recast in ''Film/HushHushSweetCharlotte'' by hearing it on the radio.
** Bette's Baby Jane wig really was one that Joan Crawford had worn in an earlier film.
** Mamacita's nickname is real. The story goes that around the time she was first hired, Joan had recently done work in Brazil, and she went to call for her, forgot her name, and ended up calling her Mamacita instead. The nickname simply stuck after that.
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* RetroactiveRecognition: Although Kiernan Shipka was known for ''Series/MadMen'', she'd later be even more famous for headlining ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina''.
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** The worst of it is trying to imply that Joan was unfairly villified by her daughter Christina, where a scene has Joan talk to her daughter Cathy and insist that Christina lied with her book ''Literature/MommieDearest''. She only says she was "perhaps too strict" with her children, which is actually a common abuse tactic in and of itself called [[https://themendproject.com/minimization/ Minimizing]]. Especially short-sighted since the series also highlights that Bette may have been abusive to BD, ignoring that the latter's tell-all book was quickly debunked - and while ''Mommie Dearest'' was disputed too, far more sources verified some of Christina's stories.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: They had Susan Sarandon playing Bette Davis, whom the real woman had even given her approval to play her if a biopic was ever made. And rather than make the most of a talented actress playing one herself, they largely relegate Bette to a one-dimensional rival whose main motivation seems to be sticking it to Joan.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Rather than a serious biopic examining the lives and similarities of two of Hollywood's most celebrated female stars, what results is essentially a DracoInLeatherPants FixFic for Joan Crawford that's more like a trashy SoapOpera than anything else.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: They had Susan Sarandon playing Bette Davis, whom the real woman had even given her approval to play her if a biopic was ever made. And rather than make the most of a talented actress playing one herself, they largely relegate Bette to a one-dimensional rival whose main motivation seems to be sticking it to Joan.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Rather than a serious biopic examining the lives and similarities of two of Hollywood's most celebrated female stars, what results is essentially a DracoInLeatherPants FixFic for Joan Crawford that's more like a trashy SoapOpera than anything else.
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* HarsherInHindsight: Bette's statement in the pilot episode "this is not a Joan Crawford picture" is oddly prophetic of how the series would focus more on Joan than Bette.
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* HarsherInHindsight: Bette's statement in the pilot episode "this is not a Joan Crawford Creator/JoanCrawford picture" is oddly prophetic of how the series would focus more on Joan than Bette.
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* {{Narm}}: Joan's BigNo when she hears she's been replaced by Olivia de Havilland is unintentionally hilarious, as is the way she throws the vase at Mamacita - and then [[spoiler: acts surprised when the maid quits then and there]]. It has to be said though that Joan Crawford was said to be quite theatrical in her everyday life, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch if she did act that way at some point.
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* {{Narm}}: Joan's BigNo when she hears she's been replaced by Olivia de Havilland Creator/OliviaDeHavilland is unintentionally hilarious, as is the way she throws the vase at Mamacita - and then [[spoiler: acts surprised when the maid quits then and there]]. It has to be said though that Joan Crawford was said to be quite theatrical in her everyday life, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch if she did act that way at some point.
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* {{Squick}}: No offense to Alfred Molina, but explicitly showing Bob trying to have sex with his wife wasn't exactly the most pleasant sight.
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* {{Squick}}: No offense to Alfred Molina, Creator/AlfredMolina, but explicitly showing Bob trying to have sex with his wife wasn't exactly the most pleasant sight.
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** Robert Aldrich developed ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'' long before Joan Crawford came on board, and she was pretty passive in its pre-production. Bette arguably was more involved - she suggested the black and white cinematography and recommended her old movies for Jane Hudson's bad performances.
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** Robert Aldrich Creator/RobertAldrich developed ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'' long before Joan Crawford Creator/JoanCrawford came on board, and she was pretty passive in its pre-production. Bette arguably was more involved - she suggested the black and white cinematography and recommended her old movies for Jane Hudson's bad performances.
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* {{Squick}}: No offense to Alfred Molina, but explicitly showing Bob trying to have sex with his wife wasn't exactly the most pleasant sight.
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* {{Wangst}}: What Joan's most sympathetic moments tend to be, despite stellar acting by Creator/JessicaLange.
