A few days ago, Ed O’Neill gave an interview to TV Guide Canada to promote his show Modern Family. In the interview, he talked up his costar and on-screen wife, Sofia Vergara. He claimed that Sofia should have won the Best Supporting Actress Emmy this year – the Emmy that went to Jane Lynch, for her work on Glee. Ed’s comments were: “I love Jane, honestly I do. I’m dying to star in one of Christopher Guest’s movies alongside her, but I don’t think she should have gotten the Emmy for that part. [Sue Sylvester] is just a one-note character.” It was rather a bitchy thing to say, in addition to being unprofessional and ungracious – but many (including myself) thought that it was just Ed being Ed, doing a little trash talking. The man’s an institution!
A day later, Jane Lynch responded, via E! News. She sounded displeased.
What does J.L. have to say about it all? Not much. Look, we love us some Lynch over here at Awful Truth, so much so, we ignored O’Neill’s jealous tirade at first. I mean, isn’t it obvious?
Ed was never nominated for an Emmy for Married With Children. Add to that little hurt the fact that every other cast member of Modern Family was nominated for an Emmy this year—except Ed. Easy to see where this guy’s head is at.
So where’s Jane’s?
We finally decided to call her rep and say we were so repulsed by Ed’s fat mouth, we just had to find out what the divine Sue was thinking.
Here was Camp Lynch’s remarks: “Thanks for being repulsed,” Jane’s rep emailed us. “But let it go, that’s what we’re doing.”
And then the rep added one of those adorable smiley faces that usually make us want to puke. But this time, it just made us laugh.
Do you think that’s what was missing from Ed’s statements? A smiley face? I’m sure he just forgot to add one.
[From E! News]
And now another chapter: Ed just gave a statement to Entertainment Weekly denying that he ever bitched about Jane or her Emmy win:
“Last week I spoke to a group of journalists and one quoted me supposedly saying of Jane Lynch, ‘I don’t think she should have gotten the Emmy for that part.’ I never said those words and transcripts of the press conference attest to that fact. Of course I root for my dear friends Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen (and all of my colleagues on our show) at Emmy time, but I absolutely never said, nor do I believe that Jane — whom I think is an enormous talent — was undeserving of the award. I reached out to her yesterday to ensure she knew I’d been misquoted but I wanted to clear this up publicly as well.”
[From Entertainment Weekly]
Blood feud over? Eh. If Ed says he didn’t disrespect Jane, then I’ll take him at his word. And I hope Jane accepted Ed’s call and all is well with the universe. I think the problem is that Ed comes across as such a curmudgeon in real life – people will believe that he trash-talks everybody. But whatever, it’s over, in my opinion.
Team Al Bundy. lol. I don’t watch Glee, but Jane Lynch cracks me up on everything else I’ve seen her on. Still I don’t think what he said was a big deal, IF he said it like that.
If he said that about Jane Lynch’s “Sue Sylvester” he was right anyway — it is a one-note character.
In fact, I think Lynch pretty much plays the same character over and over again.
P.S.: Also love him in Modern Family (love everybody on that show).
OMG he has become old! over here they still run married with children…
I love him. HE was fantastic on Married With Children, and Love him on Modern Family on the occasion I watch it.
Jane Lynch hardly plays the same character over and over. Yeah, Sue Sylvester is one note, but so are the vast majority of comedy/variety characters. Not many nuances to Ed Bundy, were there? How many layers were there to Kramer? How many layers are there to Sphia Vergara’s character? Unless it’s a “very special episode” most characters in that milieu are one note.
I know one is recently married and one is not gay, but I think Lynch and Vergara would make a hot couple.
IDK. If he didn’t say it, he didn’t say it. End of story – or more to the point, no story at all. I’ll believe him because I think it would be easy, if someone really wanted to, to find out all that was said in this press conference. He’d look like a complete fool to proclaim he never said it if someone shows up with him on tape saying those very things. Non-story.
#7 – There are transcripts of the press conference, but he could have done an interview with TV Guide Canada that wasn’t part of the press conference. I don’t know (or care) if he said it or not. He’s entitled to his opinion.
Well Mr Bundy, you just boarded the Sue Sylvester Express, destination: horror!
The truth is, Sue IS a one-note character. If he said that, it’s just the truth. But I still think Lynch deserved to be recognized for her talent. Sometimes the award is not just about the part they’re being nominated for; sometimes it’s about their body of work, or for making up for past mistakes. IE: Whoopi winning the Oscar for Ghost instead of Color Purple.
I believe Ed O’Neill.
EW just had an online article saying that TV Guide Canada is apologizing for the misquote. The real quote doesn’t sound too bad.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/12/09/ed-oneill-modern-family-glee/
The real quote was this:
“I’m one of Jane Lynch’s biggest fans. I love Jane Lynch. She is a genius. But at the same time I said ‘Sofia could win’ because … and I’ve only seen Glee a couple of … I’ve only seen Glee once. But I thought Jane’s role is rather one-dimensional. It’s kind of strident. It’s always kind of the same. I’ve seen her be much better. So I thought ‘Sofia’s funnier,’ and I think she is in these two comparative roles. Anyway, Jane won. But I was hoping that Sofia would.”
Glad they printed the correction, it definitely doesn’t sound as bad as the mysteriously incorrect one did. Ah, journalism.
I think most of the characters on Glee are one-dimensional, but Jane takes it and runs with. She and the music are what keep me watching. She’s been great in everything she’s done.
I do think though that Sofia has really knocked it out of the park this season on Modern Family, and I’d love to see her win for it. If she submits the rat episode, or the one with the bb gun, I think she’s got it.
He said the exact same thing basically, just using different words. And again, it’s his opinion and he’s entitled to it. I happen not to find either character particularly funny. I’m still off Sophia Vergara for her flippant comment when some screaming harridan on the View asked her how she could have an 18 year old son and she responded in a joking manner “I was raped at 13.”
I absolutely disagree that the character of Sue Sylvester is one-dimensional. Do you guys even watch the show? Her character is probably the least one-dimensional. She’s not just a b*tchy coach. She shows a soft side with her sister, has shown embarassment, vulnerability and sadness is various episodes, etc. Now, if there was ever a 1-note character on tv it was Al Bundy!!
If Sue Sylvester is a one-note character, it’s a note that Lynch plays beautifully. I don’t think, however, that Sue is a one-note character. She has a lot of layers to her, and Lynch does a brilliant job being vulnerable and hard-as-nails. She deserved the award, IMO. And O’Neill comes across, to me, as too classy to badmouth someone.
Is that what they do now? Talk ish, then blame it on the media?
Jane Lynch is fabulous. It’s a shame she’s now associated with that shitty show. Mr Bundy ain’t aging well.
@ Tweeter Bird, my thoughts exactly. Just because the character’s the same all the time (I thought her turn as Principal showed another note) doesn’t mean the character doesn’t need some talent to play the role. As funny as I find Sophia Vergara on MF, she couldn’t do what Jane Lynch does with Sue (and vice versa).
I wish the entertainment media would stop calling a simple remark a “feud”. We’re not that gullible.
He admitted that he’s only seen Glee once–so not hard to understand why he thinks Sue is a one-note character. One of the things I like about the character is that they don’t drag out the villain-with-a-heart-of-gold thing out in every episode. Glee can be pretty ham-fisted about everything else, but Sue’s a good character.
It sounds like Ed just kinda sorta put his foot in his mouth in supporting a co-worker. We all say things we wish we could go back and rephrase. We just don’t say them to reporters.
Jane Lynch is a pitch-perfect comedian. I’ve loved her ever since Best in Show. But Sofia Vergara is hilarious, too. IMO, she’s the funniest person on Modern Family, or at least neck-and-neck with the guy who plays Cam.
I’m glad this one was cleared up. But I’d bet money that if Ed O’Neill were a women, the original misquote would be what stuck in the public consciousness (fueled by the media) so people could consider it a catfight.