Between the dueling trivia items about whether this show is partly based on Roseanne or Cybil Shepherd, I vote Roseanne. 100%. On the one hand you have a rando claim that Chuck Lorre had "issues" with Cybil. On the other hand, you've got a star who was supposed to be (at one time) America's lovable sweetheart, who was really a nightmare behind the scenes (believe it or not, there actually was a time when most fans saw Roseanne that way) and who went on to have a whole lot of plastic surgery and abuse a lot of substances. She started dating a guy a from Iowa (just like in this episode) who had a massive coke problem who then she made a producer and writer. There's also the infamous writers room on Roseanne which was like a revolving door, especially in the early years when Lorre worked there. There was even a quick joke about how spiritual Roseanne/Annabelle liked to portray herself in the media. There's way too many parallels to claim this is supposed to be Cybil Shepherd instead. I'm sure Lorre, like any writer, pulled from his lifetime of experience in Hollywood, plus his imagination, to add to the characters, but come on. Though I will say I don't know what issues Roseanne may have had with her female costars, especially Laurie Metcalf who won multiple Emmys for playing Jackie, and who Lorre later cast as Sheldon Cooper's mom. But Cybill did notoriously had an issue with Christine Baranski being considered funnier than her and getting accolades on her show as well.
There are so many other jokes in this make it really fun - like when Diedrich Bader told Grissom to be careful with the Emmy. "Is that what this is?" Petersen was nominated 3 times, as producer, but never won. Or the quick cameo of Lorre's Two and a Half men cast. Or Annabelle making Natasha feel her up. But what made me most happy is that it never turned out that Annabelle and Natasha ended up switched. I think on so many other shows, it would have turned out that Annabelle killed Natasha, then made it look like she herself was dead then she left town, only to have someone else knock her off later. It's such a cliche and I'm glad this episode didn't do that.
The ending though was a bit of a letdown. I mean it is also a cliche for detectives to confront a suspect with just a theory and little evidence, only for the killer to immediately confess to everything. But Rachel Harris' speech about Uncle Guiseppe went too far to be funny. Hanging a lantern on the lack of details or motivation didn't make up for the lack of details and motivation. Maybe Harris just wasn't funny enough in the part? Because the scene was somewhat saved when Stephen Tobolowsky showed up and then Brass said his line about Burbank. Can't win them all in the end.
There are so many other jokes in this make it really fun - like when Diedrich Bader told Grissom to be careful with the Emmy. "Is that what this is?" Petersen was nominated 3 times, as producer, but never won. Or the quick cameo of Lorre's Two and a Half men cast. Or Annabelle making Natasha feel her up. But what made me most happy is that it never turned out that Annabelle and Natasha ended up switched. I think on so many other shows, it would have turned out that Annabelle killed Natasha, then made it look like she herself was dead then she left town, only to have someone else knock her off later. It's such a cliche and I'm glad this episode didn't do that.
The ending though was a bit of a letdown. I mean it is also a cliche for detectives to confront a suspect with just a theory and little evidence, only for the killer to immediately confess to everything. But Rachel Harris' speech about Uncle Guiseppe went too far to be funny. Hanging a lantern on the lack of details or motivation didn't make up for the lack of details and motivation. Maybe Harris just wasn't funny enough in the part? Because the scene was somewhat saved when Stephen Tobolowsky showed up and then Brass said his line about Burbank. Can't win them all in the end.