![]() ![]() On The Mentalist, Patrick Jane (played by Simon Baker) was a behavior analyst who perpetually dodged and swerved around his rules-obsessed partner (a woman, of course, played by Robin Tunney), whose job was mostly to try to keep his impulses in check. On both that show and Criminal Minds, two of CBS’s longest-running procedurals, male bosses lay down the law from their paternal seats on high, meting out justice and breaking the rules only when it is clearly in everyone’s best interest, as decided by them. He’s not even the first one that Weatherly has played on CBS - prior to Bull, he had a popular role on NCIS for 13 years. Jason Bull is the kind of seemingly innocuous, boys-will-be-boys male protagonist who has filled CBS’s airwaves for years. ![]() He has principles, sure, but his principles are mostly that he loves attractive women and he wants to win cases for his clients. Setting aside the curdled stench of a show about a heroic protagonist whose job is to tilt the justice system toward those who can pay him, Jason Bull as portrayed by Michael Weatherly is also an immediately recognizable type: He plays by his own rules, but he doesn’t dismantle the system he massages it in just the right spot. Bull is about a guy you can hire if you have massive amounts of money, and he’ll make sure you don’t get convicted. His job is to analyze juries, learning as much as he can about the individuals who’ve been empaneled, and to counsel litigators about the best way to present their cases so juries will be receptive to their arguments. The problem also carries through to the stories it tells, which are watched by millions.īull is a show about a smart, charismatic guy named Jason Bull, who failed the bar exam twice and instead became a trial consultant. But the problem with CBS’s toxic culture is not just the damage it’s done to the people - mostly women - who’ve been harmed behind the scenes. Johns, and through on-air talent like Charlie Rose, Jeremy Piven, and most recently, Weatherly. The details of Dushku’s experience are horrifying and unsurprising, one of many accusations of terrible behavior at CBS that extends from Les Moonves all the way down, through its news division with 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager, through CBS Entertainment with NCIS: New Orleans showrunner Brad Kern, the showrunners of Star Trek: Discovery, comedy exec Vinnie Favale, Criminal Minds director of photography Greg St. But when Dushku told Weatherly how much his behavior upset her - she says he commented on her appearance, made a rape joke during filming, and suggested that they have a threesome with another cast member - her hoped-for role as a series regular evaporated, and her character was written off the show. In this most recent story, the Times reports that Eliza Dushku, who joined the popular CBS procedural drama Bull in 2017, was repeatedly harassed by the show’s lead actor Michael Weatherly. On Thursday evening, the New York Times published the latest in what can only be described as a months-long avalanche of stories about the toxic workplace at CBS. ![]() L-R: Michael Weatherly and Eliza Dushku on Bull. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |