Were In It For A Massive FEUD

Feud is a new Television series that premiered March 5th.  The show depicts the rivalry between film legends Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.  It is also the first division of the new FX anthology sequences from writer producer Ryan Murphy. 

The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios which stars Crawford who is played by Jessica Lange and Davis played by Susan Sarandon. Amid their work together on the Academy Award-nominated thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? the two had become opponents well after the cameras had stopped rolling.

In episode 3 titled Mommie Dearest, as the creation of Baby Jane reaches its pinnacle, the bickering becomes palpable.  

Davis's relationship with her daughter becomes compromised when she connects with a new cast member as Crawford admits a confidential detail about her past.

The series examines how the two actresses experience age biases, chauvinism, and discrimination while striving to keep their achievements and stardoms in the afterglow of their careers.

Accompanying Academy Award winners Lange and Sarandon is Alison Wright as Aldrich’s assistant Pauline, Jackie Hoffman as Crawford’s housekeeper Mamacita,  Alfred Molina as the film’s director Robert Aldrich, Stanley Tucci as studio titan Jack Warner, Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Other prominent guest stars will include Dominic Burgess as Crawford and Davis’ co-star Victor Buono, Catherine Zeta-Jones as film star Olivia de Havilland, Sarah Paulson as Geraldine Page, Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell and Kiernan Shipka as B.D., Bette Davis’ daughter. 

 Since the pilot, the show has gained 3.8 million watchers, upplus 68% vs. the narrowed series Live plus Same Day audience.

Feud margined the new openings of Legion by 16% (3.8 million vs. 3.27 million) and Taboo by 11% (3.8 million vs. 3.43 million) to gross as the most viewed FX series premiere since Murphy’s numberone The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story in February of 2016 (8.3 million). 

However, not all surveys about the show have been favorable as Sonia Saraiya of  Variety analyzed Murphy's The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story stating that the show is, "neither as brilliantly campy and hateful as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? nor as contextualizing and profound as People v. O. J. Simpson."  

Likewise with David Weigand of the San Francisco Chronicle offered the show a merged review disparaging the writing and Lange'sexecution but complimented Sarandon's script by saying: 

"Lange is always interesting, but she’s only occasionally convincing here as Crawford. The voice is too high, for one thing. Sarandon fares better, as much good as that does with such a lousy script."

The next episode titled You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends will address Joan taking a principle part in new film, even though her failing health as Bette is confronted with new competition and remembers her mislaid confrontation with Joan.  This episode is scheduled to air Sunday April 23.