Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Feud Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2017 - 2017
Episode 1
Pilot
Sun, Mar 5, 201757 mins
In two separate interviews in the late 1970s, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Blondell, in part, place the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and the difficult relationship between its two stars, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, before, during and after filming into some context. Joan and Bette are known as two of the most powerful actresses of their time. Bette in particular is known for her fearlessness on screen, while Joan was more protective of the image she projected both in her acting and personal life. It's 1961. Past middle age which is a difficult age for actresses to get substantial leading roles, both Joan and Bette are past what would be considered their acting prime, with Marilyn Monroe the Hollywood "it" girl of the day. Joan's latest husband, Pepsi executive Alfred Steele, has just passed away. Although Pepsi no longer pays Joan, she is still flogging the brand to appear relevant. Although her absence from acting was partly to focus on her life with Al, it was also largely due to Hollywood not searching her out for work. She now wants to get back into the movie business, but her manager Marty informs her of the types of roles she would now be offered, largely in support of current bigger and younger stars. Following Marty's advice, she searches for material on her own, she stumbling onto the book, "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" by Henry Farrell. She passes the idea of turning the book into a film to her old friend, director Robert Aldrich to write and direct, and to Bette to co-star, Joan believing Bette, who is currently appearing on Broadway in what is largely a supporting role in "The Night of the Iguana", needing a success as much as she does. While Bob also needs a success more than he would like to admit, Bette may be a more difficult sell if only because of their mutual dislike for each other. While both Bob and Bette come on board, finding a studio who would distribute the picture may be just as difficult a sell if only because of having aging stars like Joan and Bette without a younger current name on the marquee, and many long established studio executives, such as Jack L. Warner, having burned bridges with difficult Joan and Bette. Even with the production getting the eventual green light with Joan, Bette and Bob all on board, Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper is waiting in the wings to dish up any dirt on the production, any fireworks most-likely stemming from the animosity between Joan and Bette.
Episode 2
The Other Woman
Sun, Mar 12, 201751 mins
In 1970s interviews, Joan (Blondell) and Olivia continue to provide context into Joan (Crawford) and Bette's relationship, including that Jack put Joan under contract at Warner's (at a pittance) in the early 1940s solely to irk Bette, with the dynamic between the two and within Hollywood changing with Joan's success in Mildred Pierce (1945), after which it was Joan who got the plum roles and Bette largely the ones as housewives and slatterns. Back in 1962, filming on "Baby Jane" is well under way, and Joan and Bette are largely getting along as well as can be expected in their joint goal of making the movie a success and showing their joint dominance on the set. The latter issue does not sit well with Bob, as although he realizes he is considered a B-list director, he is still the director who should command the respect of his cast and crew. Both Jack and Hedda are miffed by the seeming cordiality between the two stars, Jack specifically who orders Bob to create emotional fireworks between them if only to translate those fireworks into the relationship shown on screen for the movie. Bob has to decide how to proceed under this directive, and how far he will go in his personal relationships with the two women, as his marriage, which he wants to save, is already on the rocks. Beyond Bob's actions, what happens on the set is affected by the two stars' personal lives, including Joan's tenuous relationship with Peter and her financial problems, and Bette's relationship with daughter B.D., that later relationship which is placed into further clarity when Bette meets co-star, Victor Buono.
Episode 3
Mommie Dearest
Sun, Mar 19, 201750 mins
Although no where close to being friends, Bette and Joan find that they make a connection based on family, despite both having ulterior motives entering into making that connection. Part of the discussion includes Joan opening up about a sensitive issue from her childhood. The impetus for those discussions stem from three of their offspring being constant fixtures on set - Bette's daughter B.D. and Joan's twins, Cindy and Cathy - and their differing parenting styles. Bette, feeling that B.D. needs more of a focus in her life, follows Bob's lead, which may not sit well with Joan. Bette may regret her decision with regard to B.D., who she does not want to hurt, but who may prove a liability in the bigger picture of the movie. It is also not helped by Bette making a connection with Victor, who treats her more like a mother than his own mother when he gets into a bind. Despite that connection between Bette and Joan ultimately falling apart to those in the know, both Bette and Joan cannot help but feel that family is something they want to focus on outside of the movie. Part of that breakdown between Bette and Joan started before making that connection as Joan and Hedda were conspiring together to make Joan the star of the movie in the public mindset, Joan who alters the plan based on that connection and innocent comments by Bette. That breakdown turns physical on the set, especially as "Jane" and "Blanche" reach critical points in the story.
Episode 4
More, or Less
Sun, Mar 26, 201749 mins
The film is in post-production, and Joan and Bette expect that they will be flooded with high profile movie offers, which is not the case. The scuttlebutt within the public via various leaks is that the film will be a flop. Jack, Bob, Joan and Bette react to the news in different ways, Bette's advertisement in Variety which she later states was meant to be a sarcastic response. However, the film is a smash, positive public and critical response only growing from the first preview in Long Beach. Bob feels that the film could be his springboard to the A-list and he refuses to follow Baby Jane with similar material, which is what Jack wants to do if only to build on its momentum. Despite the film's acclaim and acclaim for Bob, Bette and Joan, the latter two still do not get the recognition in the form of high profile acting offers. Joan does get a script from a surprising source, Pauline, who wrote a script specifically with Joan in mind, the movie which she wants to direct herself. Pauline receives many platitudes for her efforts, but only one heartfelt set of words of encouragement from all those to who she shows her script. Further, Joan and Bette react differently to the success of the movie based largely on the predictions for this year's Oscars. The announcement of the nominations will only confirm or prove wrong the feelings of Bob, Joan and Bette.
Episode 5
And the Winner Is... (The Oscars of 1963)
Sun, Apr 2, 201745 mins
The town is abuzz that Bette was nominated for another Best Actress Oscar, while Joan was not. The situation makes the relationship between the two women even more strained. Bette, who in many quarters is considered the front-runner which if she does win would make her the first person to win three Best Actress Oscars, openly admits that she desperately wants to win to resurrect her movie career. She also calls her good friend Olivia de Havilland in Paris to attend the ceremony with her to show the world that she does have the support of her peers, Livvie who can relate in her own publicly known mutual dislike of her acting sister, Joan Fontaine. Joan, on the other hand, is livid that she was not nominated while Bette was. With Hedda by her side and largely drafting the plan, Joan conspires to take whatever spotlight she can away from Bette, especially at the ceremony itself. While Joan's initial thoughts are to present one of the big awards of the evening, she settling only for Best Director or Best Picture, Hedda's plan is to mount a campaign against Bette and for any one of her competitors that is most likely to win if Bette was not, the two chosen being the New York "theater" women, Geraldine Page and Anne Bancroft. Hedda's plan, if it succeeds, also has Joan walking out on the stage during the presentation of the Best Actress Oscar, gloriously to walk off carrying the statue to thundering applause. Those who Hedda and/or Joan contact in carrying out the plan are well aware of what they are trying to do. While some sympathize with Joan for Hollywood's general mistreatment of her, some, even those in her camp, believe that what she is doing is only hurting herself in the long run.
Episode 6
Hagsploitation
Sun, Apr 9, 201747 mins
1964. Life post successful "Baby Jane" is not as either Bob, Joan or Bette would have liked or imagined. Agreeing to direct 4 for Texas (1963) to irk Jack and prove him wrong, Bob is now banned from the studio for the movie being a disaster. Joan is now reluctantly on a gimmicky promotional tour for her latest movie, Strait-Jacket (1964), a shlockfest which she agreed to do only because she got no other offers and needs to pay bills. Despite the movie doing decent box office, she realizes the people coming to see the movie are there to see ax murders on screen and not her specifically. And Bette has been relegated to doing television again. Jack is irked, but it's because other studios are cashing in on what he likes to think he created with Baby Jane and which he also likes to think he coined "hagsploitation" films: seeing great actresses in the twilight of their careers in roles where they are placed in mortal danger. He does end up meeting with Bob to try and convince him to reteam with Joan and Bette to do, unlike Strait-Jacket, one of these high class hagsploitation films as a follow-up to Baby Jane. Bob agrees to do it, he having written a script with the working title "What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte". Even if he manages to sweet talk Joan and Bette to do it, the two actresses seeing each other again may change their mind, especially after the most recent issue of the Oscars. What Joan decides to do is based on some rumor mongering by Hedda and a subsequent meeting Joan has with someone from her past. And while Bob tries to regain his self-esteem and professional power in dealing with Jack, he also faces his own personal crisis in agreeing to proceed with this movie.
Episode 7
Abandoned!
Sun, Apr 16, 201746 mins
Joan arrives onto the set for location shooting in Baton Rouge for what is now titled Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) in relatively good spirits, having top billing for the movie over Bette, having the equally juicy role as a murderess, and feeling like both Bette but more specifically Bob respect her function within the production as all three desperately need another hit following Baby Jane and thus need to rely on each other for the movie to succeed. Joan even reiterates to Mamacita a pledge she made to herself not to drink during this production if only to be at the top of her game. Joan's good feeling slowly deteriorates as she believes, based on their actions on the set, that the majority of the crew, led by Bob and Bette, are all in some inside joke against her, especially as Bette seems always to be on the set even when she has no scenes to film, and is secretly giving Bob advice on the entire production. Joan's good feeling entirely evaporates when she learns the actions are because Bette is an associate producer on the production, even if it is, in Bob's words, a vanity title. As such, Joan slyly takes one stand after another, moving onto each successive move if and when one doesn't work to her satisfaction. Ultimately, Joan feels she has no other option but to take Bob, Bette and the movie down with her, even if it means her own financial ruin, she believing the studio's threats against her hollow ones and that none of her peers will cross her. The production may foster even more casualties than the ones Joan has in mind. Throughout the entire process, both Joan and Bette admit to themselves the envy each has for the other in what will probably be their legacy within the film industry. Meanwhile, Bette continues to have struggles at home with now sixteen year old B.D., Bette who has to decide what to do about a proclamation made by B.D. about what she wants to do with her immediate future.
Episode 8
You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?
Sun, Apr 23, 201761 mins
1978. For his documentary, Adam, backstage at the Oscars, continues to conduct interviews with those still alive that were involved or knew of the situation between Bette and Joan specifically during Baby Jane and after, Bette still an unconfirmed participant in the project. Most of the current discussion centers around the mid-1960s and later - the post Charlotte era. In the late 1960s entering into the 1970s, Joan, getting few movie offers, decides to accept two projects, the first against the advice of her agent, Stan: a low-budget B-movie eventually titled Trog (1970) which Joan nonetheless believes will bring her back into A-list status and into the minds of Oscar voters; and from Simon and Schuster, a lifestyle book for women in how to live and look like Joan Crawford. Concurrently, she is starting to face potentially serious health issues, she still not willing to forgo her beauty for her health. The outcomes of both projects in addition to a specific incident leads to her making a decision about her acting career. And following the poor reviews she personally receives for Charlotte, Bette accepts whatever acting offers come her way, believing each movie will be the last thing she will ever be offered. In doing so, she begins to lose what made her special as an actress. She also begins to face health problems from excessive drinking and smoking. Each woman also deals with what will become very public personal problems concerning estranged relationships with a daughter apiece, Joan with Christina, and Bette with B.D. As such, the two might be brought together knowing what each is going through when Joan is diagnosed with cancer, which will soon take her life.
