Hilarious article. If you had held the veiled vitriol back a bit more, and not worked so hard to try to bring the piece to a crescendo of 'hate on Sally', I might have seen your side. On second read, what I get from this article is that you asked stupid, obvious questions, came unprepared, didn't even know what and when she'd won awards for, and were simply looking for simple quote so it looked like you spent hours dragging some small confession or juicy tidbit out of her. Your laziness as an interviewer is underscored by your including ' (uninteligible).' as well as ' ( back then) '. A good reporter would have managed the less-than-a-minute it would have taken to dash off an e-mail for clarification. Short and sweet, you were intimidated, which is your issue, dude, and took it out on her.

Fail blogger is fail.

You also forgot about "The Girl With Something Extra," her third sitcom after "Gidget" and "Nun" -- which makes "B & S" her fifth time around as a star of a TV series. And you had to ask her whether she won an Emmy for "ER" -- you didn't seem especially prepared, and then, yes, a couple of your questions were pretty weak. I think you just annoyed her, and I can't honestly say I blame her.

Beth, she didn't hear or see me doing that "Why am I standing there?" bit. Way too noisy in there to hear anything that's happening more than two feet in front of you.

But she knows the deal at events like that. At those parties, the reporters get a chance to do one-on-ones with stars, producers, and executives. Yes, it's loud, and yes, there's booze there, so it's party-like. But if a celebrity shows up to one of these things, he or she should expect to be interviewed by a bunch of reporters.

If you actually did groan, "Why the hell am I standing here" out loud as she walked away then I'm sure she heard you and was insulted at you cussing at her while she was at a party. That's a hard thing to get over and be pleasant about. I also don't see in your transcpripts that you thanked her for taking the time to do the interview with you. That would have been a nice way to start, especially if you could sense in the beginning that something was off. I don't quite understand the party you were at. If it is a party, then why is she expected to give interviews and not simply enjoy herself. I know Doctors and Lawyers who will give you more than a "look" for discussing business at a social event.

Hey there Joel,

As an entertainment reporter in print mainly and not online mediums like say a blog like this, I'd say the majority of the questions weren't bad. But you didn't veer into some inanity later on, live and learn right?

But what spurred this post from me is the way you're responding to a couple of your readers. They expressed an opinion and you shoot them down and get so defensive. You'll never be good at what you do if you don't take advise and criticism well. After that was what you were angling for when you posted this right? Or did you expect everyone to call Ms Fields a bitch and take your side?

In my opinion, if you see a celebrity in public, and you feel you must say something other than "Hello," then say you enjoy their work. Even if you haven't. I mean, would you walk up to any other stranger and say "You suck."?

A few years ago I ran into Jay O. Sanders in the audience of a play I was seeing in New York. I happened to have worked with his sister at one point, so I mentioned that, but I also told him that I had quite enjoyed his work in "Tumbleweeds." He seemed very pleased, mostly because about 16 people saw that movie, I imagine.

In this case, I don't really see that her answers were all that bitchy or that your questions were annoying. Perhaps you're reading into things too much. On the other hand, the whole reason actors come to these events is to talk to the press, so maybe, as you said, she was tired. Who knows?

But does it really deserve special mention? It certainly won't make her (or any other celebrity who reads your post) more comfortable talking to you in the future. People make fun of James Lipton, but actors appear on his show because they know he's not going to sandbag them or make them look stupid. They're just human; they don't want to be embarrassed or put on the spot any more than the rest of us do.

Just my $.02.

Joel, I think you did marvelously. If it were me, I would have had to supress the desire to ask her "So, are you really a bitch or are you acting right now?"

Jothie - you just made me spit out my orange juice! You & Melissa have me laughing on the floor!

Sally Field was just rude. Joel was polite & civil & just doing his job, and there just isn't any excuse for her behavior, no matter how bad her day might have been. If her day was THAT bad, she should have kept her osteoarthritic ass at home! And Joel, I think you did great with the questions! What are you supposed to ask Sally Field anyway?? "As an actress, how much growth did you experience between the first Smokey & the Bandit and Smokey & the Bandit II, and how did that translate into your character?" ;)

Hey man ya did good, I remember her as Gidget B4 she got high and religion, even remember an episode with Jack Nicholson as beach biker bum, so as Jack might say "hey good job, if it was me, I would have interviewed her juggs, ya know"

Joel, I think you did a good job with the interview. I, myself, am a very star-struck girl, and have put my foot in my mouth upon meeting celebrities. I mean, what the hell can you say to them that they haven't heard a million times already?

If you made her feel old, that's because she IS old! She's in a freakin' osteoperosis commercial! She probably farts dusty mothballs (is that the Sierra Nevada talking??!).

Anyway, just shake it off and don't think about it when you're doing your next celeb interview.

Oh, and I may be young, but for the longest time I thought that Sally Field was Shirley from "Laverne and Shirley" so there. At least it wasn't me interviewing her.