2 l May
9 - 15, 2021
Northeast Oregon TV Weekly
BY JAY BOBBIN
Allison Janney
Allison Janney brings ‘Mom’ to
a sooner-than-wanted close
It’s a bit ironic that in the week of
Mother’s Day, the time has come to say
goodbye to “Mom.”
The Chuck Lorre-produced CBS series
– ostensibly a comedy, but also acclaimed
for its amount of pathos – ends its eight-
season run Thursday, May 13, with Allison
Janney wrapping up the role of recovering
addict Bonnie that earned the “I, Tonya”
Oscar winner two of her six Primetime
Emmy Awards. Lorre wrote the final
episode.
“She’s been really fun,” the friendly
Janney says of playing Bonnie, “for
someone like me who always gets a thrill
out of getting to be any character who’s
not me. She’s narcissistic and unapologetic,
and it’s just a great excuse to be somebody
completely different. And to be celebrated
for it.”
Janney gives full acknowledgement to
fellow “Mom” star Anna Faris, who left
the show before what turned out to be its
last season. “It became about the two of us
and our relationships with the women they
knew in recovery,” Janney reflects. “I loved
the way the writers were willing to have the
show tell them what it was about, and I’m
so proud of what we’ve been able to do.”
With that, Janney is clear about her
feelings on “Mom” ending now: “I hate it!
I’ve cried about it, and that’s still going to
come up a lot. We’ve showed living life in
recovery, and that was the gift that meant
so much to so many fans. The letters I’ve
gotten from so many of them ... and the
people that come up to me in the street
and say they’ve gotten sober with ‘Mom.’
One young lady was worried her sobriety
would end with the end of the show, and I
said, ‘Lord, no! We must carry on.’ ”
Given the wide syndication “Mom”
repeats enjoy – on FXX, CMT and Nick
at Nite, among other outlets – the show
is destined to remain visible. Still, Janney
maintains, “I wish the writers had been
given a whole year to set up the finale,
instead of a few episodes.”
After taking some time to recharge,
“The West Wing” alum Janney will tackle
the adventure movie “Lou.” She says the
“Mom” staff “always worked with me”
whenever she wanted to do an outside
project, recalling that “when I filmed ‘I,
Tonya,’ that was a huge thing. I was also
rehearsing for ‘Six Degrees of Separation,’
which I was going to do on Broadway, and
I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to
work, guys.’ But all of the producers got
together and worked it out for me. I’m
happiest when I’m working with people on
a project. It’s like a community.”
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