I wouldn’t read too much into an article from the Daily Mail. As an infamous tabloid rag, they’d never be satisfied with a mere “show cancelled” story; they’ve got to play up the emotional angle, even if it means inventing it. It’s just “juicier” to imagine a glamorous actress crying herself to sleep at night, and there’s probably a bit of “she had it coming to her, thinking she was too big for the UK” in there, too.

Brits are known for eating their young in the tabloids. MR may wish to compare notes with Joss Stone, another young Brit given a very bad time in the local press. I wouldn’t accept their journalistic account as being 100% on the up and up.

Bad shows happen to good actors. Victor Garber was brilliant as Jack Bristow for 4.77 seasons and was rewarded with the ridiculous role of Ron Trott in the dreadful and brutally formulaic “Justice”. Hugh Jackman was great as Wolverine, but “Viva Laughlin” didn’t make it past the 2nd eppie. It’s the old story, if you throw enough shit at the wall, some of it’s bound to stick.

MR had a career before BW and she’ll have a career after BW, although it may be a while before she gets another crack at a US network lead. If she makes it back to the US, she may be better off in a supporting role rather than having to play the lead. Less pressure, more breathing room, that sort of thing.

No matter how you slice it, BW was a disaster, but hardly alone in that department. It was as poorly written as any 1-hour network show I’ve seen, but I don’t recall MR receiving writing credits for any of the 8 episodes which made it to air, so as far as I’m concerned, she and the other cast members are blameless in this fiasco.

She should start looking for roles in films and television, good supporting roles would be fine for now. She can cut her teeth more and then move into the lead in several years’ time, once again she’s young so there’s no problem with this plan. She should probably play the second girl in a romantic comedy and help support the lead actress. Good exposure but there’s no pressure to be better than the lead and if she does steal attention away from the main girl then that’s all the better for her. It’s also a good chance to separate herself from the action hero typecasting.

Theatre would be worthwhile personally as an actor. I’m taking a drama class in university and it’s difficult work but it’s rewarding and you learn quite a bit. It wouldn’t be bad for her acting but professionally in terms of commerical projects, she shouldn’t do theatre too much. One play would be enough and she’s done theatre already so it’s not compulsory. Anybody agree or disagree with my thoughts? I would love to hear from people.

MARSHA LEDERMAN

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

February 22, 2008 at 4:13 AM EST

Vancouver — The future of the Vancouver-shot television series Bionic Woman is looking more bleak.

Officials with NBC confirm that no new episodes of the series will be shot this season. They stopped short, however, of saying the series has officially been cancelled.

Pete Mitchell with Vancouver Film Studios, where the series was being shot before writers in the United States went on strike in November, says the show’s production office is still being staffed and the sets have not been destroyed, although they have been removed.

“It’s kind of in this suspended animation,” Mitchell said yesterday. “They haven’t cancelled it and they aren’t going ahead at this point.”

At its peak, Mitchell estimates that 200 to 250 people were working on the series. About 10 people are currently staffing the office.

Sadly the Daily Mail loves to slag of celebs.

RyansExpress - i too have read that Daily Telegraph interview. MR sounded so optimistic. But like you IDK when the interview took place. But i suspect sometime after Xmas as they mentioned she came back to Britain just b4 Xmas.

I don’t believe MR is to blame for BW’s failure. She did not write the show and all the behind problems were not her fault.

My guess is (based on the Telegraph interview) is that she’ll go back to the States. Why? It mentioned that she never bought a place in Britain because she wasn’t sure if her future was here. She also mentioned that she wouldn’t mind living in the states.

My personally view now is that the show has been cancelled. Sad really as it had alot of potential.

Sorry for the long post.

Michelle Ryan was very good in the role and its not her fault that the show had badly written scripts. She did the best she could with what she had to work with. The fault belongs on the show runner and the writers, not Ryan.