Daltonite Toothpaste wrote:Omega wrote: It is hard to remember the good headlines much the same as craig about him when he was smeared by EON for several years.
Brosnan has never been smeared by EON. It's just the natural way that the current actor is praised at the expense of the previous Bond. The same will happen to Craig, when the next actor takes over.
Having lived through several changing of guard so to speak I tend to agree with you. However what was new was the media reaction followed by the fan meltdown when Daniel washed ashore seasick.
I believe EON / Barbara saw a true threat to her franchise so reacted to it, ignoring the forum fan based front line which I know there were those associated with EON posting and for the most part higher ups at those places were personally friendly with. After going on to explain it I do not hold those events in the greater picture of much consequence.
To me what constitutes smearing by EON is them sending out people normally behind the scenes like stunt men and prop people to say how manly or tough Daniel is and what a weakling Pierce was. The singer of the bloody caterwaul came out to say how much he personally didn't like the previous Bonds and how much better Daniel would be. The cherry on top was the DAD was so bad we had to reboot meme started directly by the two at the top.
Cubby never allowed such a circus to occurs no matter what the cost the previous actor even those who never appeared on screen were always well treated, allowing both parties to maintain their dignity.
Poor Timothy was roasted relentlessly however his honour was always defended by the top brass who praised his contribution and bemoaned his early departure. (Probably should note they also helped him successfully take legal action against a certain tabloid spreading stories of his impending departure in 1990 )

"Those were the days when we still associated Bond with suave, old school actors such as Sean Connery and Roger Moore,"
"Daniel didn't have a hint of suave about him," - Patsy Palmer