MCTV Presents: What Would Sharon Raydor Do? Podcast with Mary McDonnell – #13 – Special Guest Olivia Jane Mell



Welcome to Episode 13 of the “‘What Would Sharon Raydor Do?’ podcast, the podcast devoted to getting an in-depth view at Major Crimes Commander Sharon Raydor by the woman who knows her best, Mary McDonnell.

Recorded with Mary McDonnell, with special guest Olivia Jane Mell and host Mina Sharpe of MajorCrimesTV.net

INSIDE THIS EPISODE:
Wedding time! We discuss the long-awaited wedding of Sharon and Andy, and Olivia talks about her guest role as the wedding singer, and her experiences working on the show. Mary discusses the recent developments with Sharon Raydor and her health, faith, and what lies ahead as the season progresses.

FEEDBACK/QUESTIONS: Ask your questions by tweeting with the hashtag #WWSRD, Commenting under each podcast on Facebook, or on MajorCrimesTV.net.

This podcast is sponsored in part by MajorCrimesTV.net

FIND MARY ONLINE
Facebook.com/TheMaryMcDonnell
Twitter.com/MaryMcdonnell10
Instagram.com/theladyBAM

FIND OLIVIA JANE MELL ONLINE
Facebook.com/OliviaJaneMusic
Twitter.com/OliviaJaneMusic
Instagram.com/OliviaJaneMusic

FIND MajorCrimesTV.net ONLINE
Facebook.com/MajorCrimesTV
Twitter.com/MajorcrimesTV
Instagram.com/MajorCrimesTV

HELP SPREAD THE LOVE
Have a Major Crimes or Mary McDonnell fan in your life? It would be awesome if you shared this podcast with them! Share on Facebook or Tweet some love!

If you love the podcast, subscribe on soundcloud or iTunes and never miss an update!

MCTV Presents: What Would Sharon Raydor Do? Podcast with Mary McDonnell – #12


Welcome to Episode 12 of the “‘What Would Sharon Raydor Do?’ podcast, the podcast devoted to getting an in-depth view at Major Crimes Commander Sharon Raydor by the woman who knows her best, Mary McDonnell.

Recorded with Mary McDonnell. Guest host this week Mina Sharpe, editor of MajorCrimesTV.net.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE:
Mary comments on the recent announcement that the upcoming season (season 6) will be Major Crimes last. Mary and Mina discuss some of Sharon’s experiences on last season, and what is ahead for Season 6.

FEEDBACK/QUESTIONS: Ask your questions by tweeting with the hashtag #WWSRD, Commenting under each podcast on Facebook, or on MajorCrimesTV.net.

This podcast is sponsored in part by MajorCrimesTV.net

FIND MARY ONLINE
Facebook.com/TheMaryMcDonnell
Twitter.com/MaryMcdonnell10
Instagram.com/theladyBAM

FIND MajorCrimesTV.net ONLINE
Facebook.com/MajorCrimesTV
Twitter.com/MajorcrimesTV
Instagram.com/MajorCrimesTV

HELP SPREAD THE LOVE
Have a Major Crimes or Mary McDonnell fan in your life? It would be awesome if you shared this podcast with them! Share on Facebook or Tweet some love!

If you love the podcast, subscribe on soundcloud or iTunes and never miss an update!

MCTV Presents: What Would Sharon Raydor Do? Podcast with Mary McDonnell – #11 – Season Finale Edition



Welcome to Episode 11 of the “‘What Would Sharon Raydor Do?’ podcast, the podcast devoted to getting an in-depth view at Major Crimes Captain Sharon Raydor by the woman who knows her best, Mary McDonnell.

Recorded with Mary McDonnell. Guest hosted this week by the editor of MajorCrimesTV.net, Mina Sharpe.

INSIDE THIS EPISODE
In this episode Mary and Mina discuss the season 5 finale of Major Crimes, Mary (and Sharon’s) take on the events of the finale, and some insight into the season as a whole, and what’s ahead for season 6.

FEEDBACK/QUESTIONS: Ask your questions by tweeting with the hashtag #WWSRD! Commenting under each podcast on Facebook, or on MajorCrimesTV.net.

This podcast is sponsored in part by MajorCrimesTV.net

FIND Mary McDonnell ONLINE
Facebook.com/TheMaryMcDonnell
Twitter.com/MaryMcDonnell10
Instagram.com/theladyBAM

FIND MajorCrimesTV.net ONLINE
Facebook.com/MajorCrimesTV
Twitter.com/MajorcrimesTV
Instagram.com/MajorCrimesTV

HELP SPREAD THE LOVE
Have a Major Crimes or Mary McDonnell fan in your life? Please share this podcast with them!

If you love the podcast, subscribe and never miss an update!

WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE TO WWSRD
Follow MajorCrimesTV.net on YouTube
Subscribe on Soundcloud
Subscribe on iTunes

Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next season!

MCTV Exclusive: SPOILERS – James Duff Talks Major Crimes Season Finale (Explosions! Promotions!) and More

By M. Sharpe



MAJOR CRIMES (TNT)

CAUTION – the below includes spoilers for Wednesday’s season finale of Major Crimes. Do not read if you have not yet seen the episode and don’t want to be spoiled!

In Part Two of our exclusive interview with James Duff, we discussed some of the most shocking (blowing up the squad room!) and long-awaited (Commander Raydor has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?) moments of the season finale, and what’s ahead for the team when it returns next fall for Season 6.

MajorCrimesTV: So, first of all, wow! That was a very nerve-wracking finale, and then right at the end, it packed a big emotional punch!

James Duff: I agree. And also, I want to point out how well-directed it was all the way through. Patrick Duffy did a great job of last week’s episode and Michael Robin did a fantastic job of the finale, and it all worked very well. Very happy about it.

MCTV: You mentioned earlier that there two drafts of this finale – one if it was the season finale, one if it was the series finale. Certainly I didn’t want it to be a series finale, but had it been, I feel like this was satisfying and beautiful, and would have been one we could have lived with as the end.  But had this been the series finale, what can you tell us about what might have been different?

JD: There would have been many changes. There was an important reprise, a very important reprise, and there was a heightening of what could happen in the future. Also, the explosion (at the LAPD) happened much later in the story than it would have, had it been a series finale.

MCTV: I saw that explosion and thought, wow, I don’t know if they would have blown it up if they knew they were going to have to put it all back together again for the next season!   Continue reading

MCTV Exclusive: James Duff Talks Major Crimes Explosive Season Finale, 200 Episodes and More

By M. Sharpe




MAJOR CRIMES (TNT)As Major Crimes prepared to film the two-part finale to season 5, there was some question whether what they were filming would be a season or series finale. Several versions of the script were prepped by the writers, and just days before filming on the “Shockwave” arc began, TNT renewed the show for season six, and tonight the season finale of Major Crimes airs at 9pm/8c.

In part one of our interview with series creator and writer of tonight’s episode, James Duff, he discusses in what ways the late renewal affected tonight’s season finale, and how it feels to be celebrating a combined 200 episodes in the world and characters of The Closer and Major Crimes. Stay turned for part two of our interview tonight, after the episode airs.

MajorCrimesTV: Last week’s episode was a real nail biter, and going into tonight, I have a lot of questions about what’s going to happen. And in terms of bad guys, it seems like Christian Ortiz rates right up there with some of the biggest foes the team has ever faced, right up there with Phillip Stroh and the Chris Wood character from the Poster Boy arc a few years ago. Was that an intentional choice to just put everything into this character and story?

James Duff: Most of our finales on Major Crimes center around a really bad guy you get to know. And Chris Wood is a fantastic example of someone we employed in that capacity. And by the way, look what happened to his career afterwards! He exploded. He’s such a fantastic actor. And the same thing is going to happen with this guy. He’s in “The Fate of the Furious”, coming out this weekend. So, we just got him at the right time. He was awesome and fantastic in this role. Continue reading

MCTV Exclusive: Tony Denison On Flynn’s Evolution, Shandy and the Answer to That VERY Important Question

By M. Sharpe



 517- flynn raydor n2 lrAfter a nearly five-season courtship, the very slow-burn relationship between Andy Flynn and Sharon Raydor hit a milestone last week, when after a series of near-miss attempts, Andy finally proposed to Sharon. As the episode faded-to-black, fans were left with a lot of questions, most notably…. did she say yes?

We spoke with Tony Denison to try and find out the answer to that, as well as his feelings about the Flynn/Raydor relationship, the changes his character has undergone this season, and how that’s affected him as an actor, as well as the scoop on the new project he’s been working on during his hiatus.

MajorCrimesTV: So, before I go any further, the question everyone is asking is, what happened? Did she say yes? 

Tony Denison: Well, I’m not allowed to say… But apparently there’s unintentional hints out there. So if people are observant, they might see something. If not, maybe they don’t see, or they see the absence of something. But they’ll have to watch (tonight) and see what happens.

MCTV: Ah, I see. Well, a little bit of suspense is healthy for us all. After five seasons to get here, we can’t have the answer in one episode–that’d be too easy!

TD: Exactly. I agree.

MCTV: But it was very exciting! What was it like for you, getting to this point in the characters relationship and filming that proposal scene?

TD: It was great! I enjoy every moment of screen time that I get to work with Mary, especially when it’s one-on-one scenes, so that was really cool, because we got a little bit of the payoff of what’s been going on. And as we move forward, people will see where it goes, and as far as what happens this next season that we’re about to start filming in few months, I don’t really know what happens, to be honest with you. I just know that according to James, it’s going to be a good season.517- flynn raydor3

MCTV: The whole proposal scene was done a little differently than a lot of the show, in that we saw Flynn proposing, but there was no dialogue.  A lot of the fans have been asking, was there more to that scene when you shot it?

TD: There was never dialogue. When I say my last line, after I close the sliding door, at that point, it’s all silence from there on and we don’t say a word. I just take it out of my pocket and then I do what I did. And that’s how it ends. I mean there may have been different camera angles that were shot, but those are the ones that they showed, and there wasn’t anything more than that.

MCTV: Andy has had a lot of health issues in this last year, and a lot of changes in his life. How has he, or has he changed, from experiencing all that, and is that part of the reason he’s kind of gone from this confirmed bachelor to proposing to Sharon? 

TD: Well, I don’t know. Andy’s going through a lot of changes. And there’s a couple of payoffs in this season that are exciting, I have to admit, that happen in terms of how Andy is – his health issues and all that stuff. So I don’t want to give away too much but he’s really enjoying this relationship. I mean, I’m enjoying it because I love working with Mary, and so as an actor and as a character I’m having a lot of fun.

MAJOR CRIMES (TNT)MCTV: It seems that your role has changed a bit this year. All these seasons on The Closer and then for most of Major Crimes,  Andy’s always been “The Cop” and that’s been so much of the role, in terms of being part of the team solving crimes and dealing with suspects. And now with these health issues, that’s shifted, and he’s not out with the team as much, he’s in the office with Sharon. How has that been for you as an actor, to have the role you’ve played for many years undergo this big change?

TD: I’m glad you asked that question. It has been strange. It’s been a really interesting adjustment because Andy has gone through a lot of different things over the years. It started out, he was the nemesis to Kyra’s character, and then they joined forces, and became part of the squad, and then she left and then he was at odds with Raydor early on, and then when she took over the squad they instantly hit it off as co-workers and then it became…I guess the natural extension was for us to hit it off as a man and a woman.

Those changes, as an actor, to get the opportunity to keep playing stuff like that, is great. And that’s the joy of television vs. doing feature films. You do feature films and you get two hours of action-packed fun, you do your character, and your character has his journey, and then the movie’s over and you wind up with all these things you’d like to explore beyond what’s written, and hopefully you’ll get a sequel in a movie and a chance for a bit of that. But in a TV series, the sequel occurs every week. And you get the opportunity to continually explore into different things for the character. And I like that. As an actor, I like that a lot.

MCTV: I can see how it would be517- flynn2 lr very rewarding to be able to continue with, and grow with the character for many years. Another thing I’ve seen a lot of fans commenting about in terms of the storyline between Sharon and Andy is that so much of the development of their relationship has tended to happen off-screen. Is that frustrating to you, or are you satisfied with how the development of their relationship has been portrayed on screen?

TD: I think leaving it up to the imagination is good for us. It’s good for me. I mean, no matter which way it’s done, the fans are clamoring for more of whatever they get, you know? Which is really great. And more than that, the cast, we’re all part of the – I say this a lot because it’s true, for me anyway, but we’re all part of the same team. And it’s great when someone on your team hits a home run and wins the game even if you’re not on base or you didn’t score. You all celebrate the victory. So, the way the show is structured now, [James Duff]is trying to give everybody their home life moments, and to do that, means we can’t follow any one relationship or person that much. And he’s doing a good job trying to satisfy that aspect of the show. But I think at the end of the day, I have no complaints about the work that I get to do with Mary, and there’s also going be some more stuff coming up with G.W. again, which I know a lot of fans miss.

MCTV: Oh, great! We’re looking forward to that!

TD: So that’s going to be happening again. And for me, I don’t ever ask what’s going on, or what’s going to happen to my character. When I get the scripts and read them, I’m like “Oh! Okay, cool.” And that’s it. I don’t question things or want to complain about having more or less to do. It’s not my job.

517- flynn raydor2Now, if they, or come over and say, “Hey, listen, are you happy with the script?” At that point, I might turn around and say “Well, you know, I was wondering is it possible for this to happen or that to happen?” And a lot of times, James is very accommodating to me. We have a good collaborative effort on a lot of that stuff. But for the most part, one thing’s sure, he knows I don’t knock on his door up at the office and say “Hey, you know, I was wondering…?” I don’t do that. So I’m happy with what is written, and what I’ve gotten to do, and how we’ve told this story.

MCTV: You’re filming a new movie right now. Can you tell us about that?

TD: I just finished. It’s called “Agent Emerson” and a virtual reality movie. They needed me for two days and I had some really good stuff to do, and it’s an interesting–and I really highlight the word and underline the word and quotation mark the word “interesting” project. I’ve not ever done anything like that before, in terms of how the camera works. It’s not your typical 3-D, it’s not your typical virtual reality, it’s incredibly immersive. It was pretty cool, and I’m excited for it. People are going to have a ball watching this thing.

MCTV: Well, we look forward to seeing it. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, Tony. We always look forward to chatting with you.

TD: My pleasure!


Major Crimes is all new tonight at 9PM/8C on TNT.

MCTV Exclusive: James Duff on THAT SCENE and Other Shocking Moments from Tonight’s Major Crimes Premiere

By . Sharpe


514 - sharon fritzCAUTION – the below includes spoilers for Wednesday’s all-new episode of Major Crimes. Do not read if you have not yet seen the episode and don’t want to be spoiled!

Major Crimes is always full of twists and turns, and tonight’s winter premiere is no exception, with two particularly shocking moments towards the end of the episode. We wanted to find out just how those moments came to pass, so we checked in with creator James Duff for the scoop.

MajorCrimesTV: So, this episode was full of shocking moments, but first, let’s talk about Sharon getting punched, because I was NOT ready for that!

James Duff: Sharon was just trying to find a reason to hold her suspect and she put her face in the line of fire. You see our characters running towards the danger at the top of the episode, and then you see Sharon walking in and putting herself in the line of danger in the interview room. It’s actually a parallel to that moment in the beginning. It’s a dramatization of her putting herself first – she is trying to find a way to stop this guy. And the way to stop him is to get him to assault her. And she succeeds. That was her strategy to resolve this case.

MCTV: Well, it sure got me – I wasn’t expecting it at all, and it looked very real.

JD: It got me, too, even though we wrote it and knew it was happening, when I saw them on screen I gasped. And Mary was fantastic in that scene. It’s very unnerving.

MCTV: The other big bombshell at the end of this episode is that Stroh may be back. How is that going to play into the rest of this season?

JD: Well, we’re going to get more information as we go along about Stroh, but I’m not going to be able to tell that story–remember when I was doing these last eight episodes, I didn’t know whether or not we would have a season six, and so I put all the Stroh information where I could excise it if I needed to. And I made it small, so I could track his potential return without promising to actually show anything.

Indeed, if he has come back, he would be very careful. I mean, he’s on the ten most wanted list, he is a serious, serious criminal, people seriously want to catch him. He’s the subject of a world-wide manhunt. So how he may be accomplishing these things is questionable. He may not be here in person. We know he has a history of manipulating people into helping him. I’m not really going to pay off the story in the back eight, but I’m going to continue setting it up, because I am going to go there next year.


Major Crimes returns with an all-new episode next Wednesday at 9pm/8c on TNT. Don’t forget to check out the “What Would Sharon Raydor Do?” podcast tomorrow, where we talk about this episode (and that scene!) in depth with Captain Raydor herself, Mary McDonnell.

MCTV Presents: ‘What Would Sharon Raydor Do?’ Special Edition Podcast – Mary McDonnell


Welcome to a Special Edition of the ‘What Would Sharon Raydor Do?’, Podcast with Mary McDonnell. This episode features Mary with Maggie and Nachelle as they take on an important topic.

Leave your feedback and questions by commenting on Facebook or Twitter with #WWSRD or leaving your comments below.