The Joan Rivers Acting Method

Does a certain FX legal drama (okay, Damages) employ an in-house plastic surgeon? Recently, after watching a rerun from late last season, I was left with little sense of what had transpired dramatically, but rather with a distinct, lingering impression of artificially serene foreheads and features disconcertingly askew. Although, as always with celebrity cosmetic work, it’s impossible to know who has done what—Hollywood denials have become a spectator sport—it was also impossible not to notice that on this show, as on so many others, the faces look like they have been adjusted, and with not-very-natural results. Nearly all of the actors, male and female, appear too stiff, too sleek, and project a general cryogenic torpor.