No One Can Get Too Much “Data” These Days

March 27, 2023November 11, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Today we are winding up our “I Robot” blog series. We began our journey with Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century, an outer space drama that was not that successful. Today we are at the other end of the universe spectrum, discussing Star Trek: The Next Generation. You will be very familiar with this show if you were a teen or young adult in the late eighties and early nineties or if you were a devoted fan of The Big Bang Theory.

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, brought Star Trek: The Next Generation to the small screen two decades later; this show would stay on the air for seven seasons, producing 178 episodes. The series is set in the 24^th century; the original show was set in the 23^rd. Earth belongs to the United Federation of Planets, and this show features a Starfleet ship, the USS Enterprise, as it explores the Milky Way.

Roddenberry served as executive producer, as did Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jen Taylor. The show focuses on the mission and the personal lives of the crew members: Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Worf (Michael Dorn), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), and our major concern today, Data (Brent Spiner).

The show was very popular, and by its fifth season, reached 12 million viewers. The show would go on to spur other Star Trek series and movies, as well as novels and comic books.

Critics also liked the show, and it received 19 Emmy Awards and a Peabody. In 1994 it became the first syndication show to be nominated for an Outstanding Drama Series Emmy.

The theme was also a nod to the original series, combining Alexander Courage’s original piece with Jerry Goldsmith’s theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture released in 1979.

In an unusual deal, Paramount decided to broadcast the show in first-run syndication on independent networks. As a “barter syndication,” the show was offered to local stations for free. The station got five minutes of commercial time to sell to local businesses, and Paramount sold seven minutes to national advertisers. Stations had to agree to purchase reruns in the future, and only those stations that participated in this deal were able to purchase reruns of the original series which was still extremely popular.

Some sites stated that Paramount received $1 million for advertising for every episode; by 1992 the studio received $90 million a year and the episodes cost $2 million each to produce.

The show debuted in 1987. The first season did not start off so well. The show had a $1.3 million per episode budget. The staff had a lot of creative freedom, but many of the writers had disagreements with Roddenberry and left the show. They felt that Roddenberry was too strict with the themes and the characterizations. It’s hard to argue with his vision too much because it won several Emmys and was extremely popular.

Season two brought some critical changes to the series. Beverly Crusher was replaced by Chief Medical Officer Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur). Whoopi Goldberg guest starred in her first episode. The plots were more sophisticated and there were some comic elements sprinkled throughout the drama.

Personnel changes were made for season three. Head writer Hurley was let go. Roddenberry suffered from some health issues which necessitated his stepping back and Berman took over more production chores. Season four had eight episodes nominated for Emmys. The episode “Family” was the only one that did not feature Data. Crusher left the show in season four as well.

Roddenberry passed away during season five. During season six, astronaut Mae Jemison came on board as Lt. Palmer, and Stephen Hawking appeared in the season six cliffhanger.

The final season introduced themes that would carry into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The finale of the show was filmed in Toronto where thousands of people watched in person.

The cast was surprised that the seventh season was the last one, because they had contracted for eight seasons. Paramount wanted to make several films and felt that the movies would be less successful if the television show was still airing. The cast must have been close because they claimed to be life-long friends, and in 1992 when Burton married, Spiner was best man and Stewart, Frakes, and Dorn were ushers.

Data was an android who served as lieutenant commander. Data’s perspective on humanity was similar to Spock’s in the original show. Spiner would also be cast as Data in 2020 in Picard. Data was found by Starfleet in 2338. He was the sole survivor on Omicron Theta in the rubble of a colony left after an attack from the Crystalline Entity.

Dr. Noonian Soong built Data on Omicron Theta. He had an evil twin, (who doesn’t have one on television?), named Lore. Eventually, Data dismantled Lore. One resource I read said that Data was destroyed during the Enterprise E’s battle with the Scimitar in 2378. I have to take their word for that because my Star Trek trivia is not advanced enough to confirm or deny it.

In 1974 Roddenberry created a project for television called The Questor Tapes. The show centered around an android who was studying humanity. When The Next Generation was proposed, Roddenberry reinvented this android and combined it with Xon, the curious Vulcan from Star Trek: Phase II and came up with Data. However, Spiner said he modeled Data after Disney’s Pinocchio.

Fun fact, since we started with Buck Rogers in this month’s blog, Data has a positronic brain—in 1981, Buck Rogers used this same term in one of their episodes. They both were honoring Isaac Asimov who first used the term in his story “Runaround” in 1942.

According to Spiner, Data was pronounced “dat-uh” but Stewart, being British, said “day-tah.” On the show Data has a pet cat named Spot. Spiner was not fond of that idea because he was not a cat fan at all.

Data was supposed to be the Chief Science Officer, the same position Spock had on the original show. The uniform for that position was blue. Unfortunately, the blue clashed with his make-up. He was transferred to the Chief Operations Officer with a gold uniform. I never really understood why the Chief Science Officer could not wear a gold uniform. This was a new generation and I did not think that there were other shows from that century that made it impossible to portray that officer in gold? I mean, sports teams change their colors from time to time. However, if I am missing something, please feel free to enlighten me.

Obviously, comparing Buck Rogers to Star Trek: The Next Generation, it is easy to see why the Next Generation was on the air so much longer and attracted so many more fans.

Data was a fun character. While he can blink and age, we are reminded that he is not human. His duties with the crew included navigation and systems control. Because androids don’t sleep, he was able to take the night shift. Data was interested in literature and the humanities. He likes mysteries. Like Spock, with his lack of emotions, love is very hard, if not impossible, for him. He does make many friends though. He can’t get sick which is convenient if the rest of the crew is affected, but computer viruses can damage him. While he can process data in a millisecond, his inability to read human emotions is troubling for him. Although he does feel a bit arrogant; as he said “I am superior, sir, but I would gladly give it up to be human.” I can’t argue with his claim of superiority when I look around at some of the things humans have been doing the past three or four years.

If I had to go through life with a robot, based on the four we discussed this month, Data would definitely be my choice. I hope you had fun with this series.

Not Many of Us Can Compute Small Wonder

March 20, 2023November 11, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are in the midst of our blog series “I Robot.” If you read last week’s blog, you will remember we were discussing My Living Doll, a science fiction comedy from the mid-sixties created by Howard Leeds.

Today we are moving ahead two decades to look at another Howard Leeds’ show from the mid-eighties called Small Wonder, another science fiction sitcom.

The concept of the show is that Ted Lawson (Dick Christie) and his family–wife Joan (Marla Pennington) and son Jamie (Jerry Supiran)–live in a typical residential area. Lawson has created V.I.C.I., an android that contains Voice Input Child Indenticant whom he calls Vicki (Tiffany Brissette). Lawson created the robot to help handicapped children, and she looks like a ten-year-old girl. Lawson has to take her home to learn about family environments and be “trained” for home service. Similar to Rhoda on My Living Doll, Vicki has an outlet under her right arm, a data port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. She possesses superhuman strength and speed. Seth Green auditioned for the role of Jamie and, Candace Cameron Bure was up for the role of Vicki, along with 398 other girls.

The Lawsons have to keep her identity a secret and pass her off for a daughter they adopted. Their neighbor, ten-year-old Harriet (Emily Schulman), a la Gladys Kravitz, was very nosy and made the secret hard to maintain. Jamie works hard to scheme and find ways to get Vicki to make his life easier.

Rounding out the cast were Brandon and Bonnie Brindle (William Bogert and Edie McClurg) who were Harriet’s parents; Brandon was also Ted’s boss; Reggie (Paul C. Scott), Jessica (Lihann Jones), and Warren (Daryl Bartley), Jamie’s friends.

The show was on for four seasons and, of course, Brissette continued to grow and age, so in season three Ted gives Vicki an upgrade which allows her to wear current fashions, eat, and drink, making it easier to conceal her identity.

Unfortunately for Leeds, this show has also been dubbed one of the worst sitcoms of all time, despite the fact that it was on for four years. Robert Bianco, TV critic for USA Today, wrote in 2002 that it was a contender for one of the worst TV shows of all time, and the BBC described it as the worst low-budget sitcom of all time (as an aside, the first season provided $300,000 per episode). Lest you think Leeds could not come up with a successful show; know that he also produced The Brady Bunch, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Silver Spoons, and The Facts of Life. He also wrote scripts for forty-two different shows.

Although it was not popular with critics, viewers seemed to enjoy it. The show was later sold to more than twenty countries, including Brazil, France, India, and Italy.

In 2015, Dave Nemetz spoke with Marla Pennington Rowan and Emily Schulman Webster about their time on the show. They both felt sorry for Brissette. She had a lot of skills such as singing, dancing, gymnastics, and piano playing, but all she could do on the show was to be a robot. She had to talk in a monotone while showing no emotions. Webster said it was so challenging for her but she was a pro. She mentioned that “she had to bite the inside of her cheeks to keep from smiling. That was tough. My heart sort of broke for her.”

Both stars mentioned how hard the special effect filming was for Tiffany. It might be her head spinning around and around or lifting the couch with one arm to clean under it. Those scenes were filmed on Thursdays with the use of green screen technology. Webster said it was not easy and that “Tiffany had to endure it, it would take a lot of trial and error.” In addition to these talents, Vicki could shrink down to the size of a doll, extend to ten feet tall, channel electricity through her hands, and she possessed unlimited learning ability to improve products.

Rowan and Webster said the cast got along great, just like one big family. However, the parents of the minor stars surely did not. Three tutors were employed on the set because the parents could not agree on choosing the same one. Rowan mentioned that apparently, the parents thought they were the stars of the show.

The show was very popular with kids especially. However, power struggles were not confined to overbearing parents; the corporate level had plenty of controversy as well. I’m not sure why, but the show was owned by five different companies, and they did not agree on much either. Once they knew there were enough shows to put it into syndication the show was done. No one knew if they were going to be picked up for the next season or not; they weren’t, so there was never any finale produced.

One of the most memorable parts of the show might be the theme song. It’s lyrics are:

She’s a small wonder; pretty and bright with soft curls.

She’s a small wonder; a girl unlike other girls.

She’s a miracle and I grant you, she’ll enchant you at first sight.

She’s a small wonder, and she’ll make your heart take flight.

She’s fantastic, made of plastic; microchips here and there.

She’s a small wonder, brings love and laughter everywhere.

We understand her pain at watching the show. Photo:smallwonderrevisited.blogspot.com

So how did it work out for the trying parent/managers? None of the three children are actors any longer. Brissette is a nurse in Colorado, Supiran was broke and homeless in 2012 but is in a better place today, and Schulman Rowan writes cookbooks and is considering acting again. Her last role was in the show Christy in the mid-nineties.

If you watch Antenna TV you might be very familiar with the show. It’s no longer in the rotation, but I have watched it several times on the network in the past. It definitely is not anything I would clear my schedule for. I’m not sure I would classify it as the worst sitcom of all time; it seems in the past 40 years, we have come up with some pretty bad options. However, I certainly would not spend my time watching this one. I’m just going to chalk it up to fulfilling a need in the eighties on Saturdays that does not age well.

How My Living Doll Became Cat Woman

March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are learning more about some of our favorite robots in this blog series called “I Robot.” Today we go back to the mid-sixties for My Living Doll.

This was both a science fiction and comedy show that debuted in September of 1964. Jack Chertok produced it for Television Productions with CBS. The show was filmed at Desilu studios. Chertok had been the creative force behind My Favorite Martian. James Aubrey, president of CBS, approached Chertok about doing another show. He did not even require a pilot to be made. Chertok’s writers from My Favorite Martian, Bill Kelsay and Al Martin, created the show from an idea proposed by Leo Guild. Kelsay wrote many of the episodes for Date with the Angels starring Betty White and several My Three Sons plots. Martin wrote for many earlier shows and screenplays including Roy Rogers.

The plot they created was that Dr. Bob McDonald (Bob Cummings), a psychiatrist for the Air Force, was given Rhoda Miller (Julie Newmar), a lifelike robot to protect. He was trying to keep her out of the hands of the military. Rhoda’s formal name was AF709. Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built her for the US Air Force but she eventually lands in McDonald’s care when Miller is transferred to Pakistan. His job is to help educate her to be the perfect woman while keeping her true identity a secret. Beauty marks on her back were the control buttons. Her main power switch was on her right elbow. Her eyes could be covered to prompt a system relaxation. Rhoda’s memory bank contained 50 million pieces of information. Bob told his coworkers Rhoda was Dr. Miller’s niece, and she took on the role of his secretary at the office, typing 240 words a minute. On other episodes, she learned to calculate where dice would fall and how to make trick shots playing pool.

In one episode, Rhoda is asked to play Chopin’s “Fantasie Impromptu” on the piano. Newmar actually played the piece herself. She had studied under concert pianist Dr. MacIntyre, and she said that scene is the only one she’s done with her playing the piano which had been her career choice before acting.

Like I Dream of Jeanne, many of the episodes deal with Bob trying to keep Rhoda out of trouble while she is learning what society and the current culture is like. Rhoda learns human emotions throughout the first season; perhaps this would have led to a romantic relationship between the robot and the doctor.

Rounding out the cast was Peter Robinson (Jack Mullaney), Bob’s neighbor and coworker who thinks Rhoda is someone he wants to date. Irene Adams (Doris Dowling) plays Bob’s sister who moves in to act as housekeeper and chaperone so the neighbors are not suspicious of a single woman living there. On Love That Bob, Rosemary DeCamp played Bob’s sister who moves in to take care of the household for him. Mrs. Moffat was added later on as Peter’s housekeeper.

The show never really found its viewer base. The New York Times reviewer Jack Gould noted that it “very probably had the makings of a popular novelty hit . . . with Miss Newmar giving a light and amusing performance as the automated dish, the premise could work out . . . Bob Cummings, an old hand at chaperoning pretty girls, again is cast in his familiar assignment.”

Newmar didn’t feel that Cummings was the right actor for the role. She said that “They originally wanted Efrem Zimbalist Jr. It was not a flip part—it needed a straight actor who could play opposite this bizarre creature so the comedy would come off. That quality was lost when they hired Bob. The show could have been wonderful. I think it would have run for many seasons had they hired Efrem because he had the right qualities.”

The ratings were not good; however, another issue was the fact that it was on Sunday nights against Bonanza, one of the most popular shows ever. In December, CBS moved the show to Wednesday nights but the ratings did not improve. In January, Cummings asked to be written off the show. CBS agreed but never got a replacement for him. He was said to have been transferred to Pakistan, and Robinson took over caring for Rhoda with his housekeeper living in his house again to keep the neighbors from talking.

Apparently, Cummings and Newmar never hit it off. She complained that he had tried to teach her to act and that he seemed unhappy that she was getting more press attention. Later Newmar stated that the real trouble on the set was Cumming’s addiction to methamphetamines. She said he had erratic behavior and became increasingly more depressed and insecure.

After Cummings left the show, another five episodes were aired, and then the show was canceled. The show ended up ranking 79^th out of 96 shows. Two decades later, producer Howard Leeds would go on to create the show we will discuss next week, Small Wonder.

I was not able to confirm it, but I read several sources that said this show coined the term, That does not compute” which is what Rhoda said when she was asked something she did not understand.

During the summer of 1965, CBS aired repeats of the show. After that, the show was never seen on television again in the United States. Rumors were rampant about whether the 26 episodes had been damaged in a fire, hidden by Chertok, or destroyed. Two episodes seemed to have survived, but there were also reports that six or ten existed in all. CBS was able to obtain about half the episodes somewhere and released a DVD with them on it. We will have to see if the additional episodes ever show up or not.

Transitioning to Cat Woman Photo:designyoutrust.com

This was another of those shows that seemed to suffer from an identity complex. Cummings was known as a ladies’ man to viewers from his seasons on Love That Bob. If the show was not going for romance, then it seems that Newmar was correct in her assessment of Cummings being the wrong person for the role. With Bewitched debuting the same year and I Dream of Jeanne coming right on the heels of My Living Doll, it seems like one of the shows might not obtain enough viewers. Cummings’ addiction problems certainly did not help the show. Newmar should probably be happy the show ended when it did, allowing her to step into the role of Cat Woman on Batman. Like My Living Doll, Cat Woman had all the qualities Batman admired and wanted in a romantic partner, but unlike Rhoda who was not human, Cat Woman was all too human and too much of a villain to allow Batman to act on his passion for her.

Although the show debuted almost sixty years ago, many of the issues of working with a robot are still with us today as scientists work on giving robots a sense of humor and some empathy. We are seeing more of them in the workplace, and it will be interesting to see if any new shows take up the subject in the near future.

Buck Rogers Is Not for This Century

March 6, 2023November 10, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

I am calling this month’s blog series, “I Robot.” We are taking a look at some popular shows that featured robots. I did not include Lost in Space in this group because I did devote a blog to the show that discussed that robot in some detail.

Cast of Buck Rogers Photo: pinterest.com

Today we start with a show that was a fan favorite in the 1980s, although full disclosure, I had never seen this show until I wrote this blog: Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century.

Because Star Wars was so popular, Universal decided to develop a television show about space. Glen Larson was the primary face behind the creation. The original plan was to make a series of Buck Rogers made-for-tv movies for NBC. Larson was also behind the show Battlestar Galactica.

Universal changed plans and filmed a big-screen movie about Buck Rogers. It had good reviews, netting $21 million. After the success of the film, NBC asked for a weekly series. Buck Rogers was not a new concept; he was created in 1928 by Philip Francis Nowlan and had been featured in a variety of media including comic strips, books, and radio. The original movie was edited for television, and it became the first two episodes of the series.

The concept of the show was that Captain William “Buck” Rogers (Gil Gerard) was a NASA pilot commanding Ranger 3 which was launched into outer space in 1987. Because of a part malfunction, Buck is frozen for 504 years and his spacecraft is found in 2491. At this time, he learns the Earth was recovering from a nuclear war.

Buck has to try to assimilate into the 25th-century culture. Because he was previously a pilot, he is placed in the Earth Defense department. Buck is often undercover. He works with Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), a starfighter pilot. Stargates were artificially created portals in space to help travel between stars. If you watch the episodes closely, you will notice a subtle shift in Wilma’s hair color. Gray was required to dye her hair blonde for the first season. As the season progresses, the color begins to fade and she was allowed to do that, so by the second season, she has brunette hair.

Another coworker is Twiki, a small robot (Felix Silla and voiced by Mel Blanc). Twiki provided much of the humor on the show. Also helping the trio was Dr. Theopolis (voiced by Eri Server), a small computer disk who understood Twiki and was part of the Computer Council. In the first season, the group received its orders from Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O’Connor).

It was a bit kitschy a la Batman. Several villains are involved in plots. In the first season, the “bad guy” was Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) who tried to conquer Earth. Most of the population resided in New Chicago and the rest of the planet was being explored again, and new cities were popping up like New Detroit, New Manhattan, New Phoenix, etc.

In the original story, Buck awakes after 500 years to learn that America was overrun by Mongol invaders and in ruins. Wilma and Dr. Huer are both part of that story, as are Killer Kane and Ardala Valmar.

For a show that did not produce very many episodes, a lot of celebrities were featured on the show including Gary Coleman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Graves, Jack Palance, Markie Post, Dorothy Stratten, and Vera Miles. A few of the stars who played Batman’s foes show up on Buck Rogers including Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Roddy McDowall, and Julie Newmar.

The opening theme music for the show was composed by Stu Phillips and arranged by Johnny Harris. Harris added a 45-second audio clip when Rogers is spinning and then begins with the main theme.

The show debuted in September of 1979. It was popular with viewers, but critics were not on board with the show. Gerard did not like the direction his character was taking. He was in favor of more series stories and felt like his character was just used to make continual jokes and not taken seriously. At times he even rewrote scripts to favor his character over other roles. There was a lot of tension on the set. Two of the writers and script editors left in the middle of the year. Gerard was reprimanded by the network, and he said he hoped that the series would not be picked up for a second season.

James Van Hise said the show’s scripts “never took advantage of what they had at hand.” And he said Larson exploited a well-loved character in popular culture. John Javna in his book The Best of Science Fiction TV described the show as the worst science fiction show of all time. Bill Lengeman said the acting was wooden and specified that the episode “Space Rockers” was the worst episode of TV science fiction he had ever seen. Many critics were not happy with the way the women were treated in the second season. Ardala was dismissed, and Wilma lost her respectful position, almost becoming an inconsequential sidekick to Buck.

An actors’ strike delayed filming for season two. A new set of producers was brought in and the format was tweaked. Buck, Wilma, and Twiki were now on a spaceship called the Searcher with a mission to look for lost groups of humanity. Many of the previous characters were no longer part of the series, including Theopolis, Ardala, and Dr. Huer. The Starfighter on the series was created by Ralph McQuarrie and had been one of his designs for Battlestar Galactica.

Taking on more of a Star Trek aura, the new characters included Admiral Efram Asimov, a distant relative of Isaac Asimov (Jay Garner) who commands the Searcher; Hawk (Thom Christopher) an alien who represents the Bird people, now almost extinct; like Spock, he remained straight-faced while others are enjoying emotional moments; Dr. Goodfellow (Wilfrid Hyde-White) an elderly scientist; and Crichton (voiced by Jeff David) a robot built by Goodfellow who disdains humans.

The storylines became more serious and an underlying romance was hinted at between Buck and Wilma. Although the changes were what he asked for, Gerard later complained again about the show. Larson might have been second-guessing himself for casting Gerard. His first choice for the role was Kurt Russell. However, he was concentrating on his movie career and had no interest in coming back to television. Interestingly, Russell had been passed over for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars, losing to Harrison Ford. Ratings dropped in the second season. After only producing 21 episodes for season one, NBC canceled the show after 11 episodes in season two.

Despite the small number of shows produced, Universal released the show on DVD in 2004, but the first two episodes were replaced with the original big-screen movie. The series can also be streamed on NBC’s app.

New books and comic books were produced in the eighties. There were also several sets of action figures released by Mego. Milton Bradley debuted a Buck Rogers board game. You could also purchase jigsaw puzzles, model kits of space ships, die-cast toys, trading cards, and a lunch box.

Although the show garnered no Emmys for acting which is not surprising, it did receive five nominations. In season one, Bruce Broughton won for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series. Other nominations included Outstanding Cinematography for a Series in season one, Outstanding Art Direction for a Series in season two, and Outstanding Costume Design for a Series in both seasons. The miniature sets for the landing bays and launch tubes were built with Styrofoam. Although they were inexpensive, combined with clever lighting, they appeared as complex architectural sets.

The show was beloved by its fan base. It’s hard to say why it had such a short life. There seem to be many reasons it didn’t last. With the success of Star Wars, everyone jumped on the outer space bandwagon, and the viewers could only watch so many of them. Gerard certainly did not help the ratings with his complaints and dissatisfaction with the show. Getting rid of Princess Ardala and reducing the role of Wilma to a minor character did not help retain female viewers. The show never seemed to be able to figure out what it was. Was it a Star Wars? Was it Batman? Was it Star Trek? It just seemed to not be very well planned or developed.

If you enjoy science fiction, it might be worth watching. After all, there are only 32 episodes, and if nothing else, you might want to watch to see if in the decades since it debuted, it still makes that list of worst science fiction shows. I’d be interested in hearing what you decide. As for this blog series on robots. I can happily relay that Twiki won the TV Land Awards in 2008 for Most Awesome Robot!

Bill Cullen Wants to Tell the Truth

February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We have come to our final blog post about four interesting To Tell the Truth panelists. Today we are concentrating on Bill Cullen, who many of us associate with game shows during the era we grew up in.

Born William Cullen in 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was an only child. His father owned a Ford dealership there. Like many children in that era, he was diagnosed with polio which left him with physical issues to deal with for the rest of his life. The combination of the effects of polio and a motorcycle accident in 1939, that left him hospitalized for nine months, made it difficult for him to stand or walk for long periods of time.

He was originally a pre-med student but had to leave school because of financial problems. After a break to earn some money, he later returned to college to earn a degree in Fine Arts.

During this time, Cullen was married to Ruth Harrington; the two would divorce in 1948.

In 1939, Cullen worked at WWSW, a Pittsburgh radio station. He was a disc jockey and a play-by-play announcer with Joe Tucker for the Steelers and the Hornets (an earlier hockey team). In 1943 he was hired by KDKA. In 1944 he moved to New York where he got a job as an announcer at CBS.

While working on CBS, he tried his hand at joke writing, supplying Arthur Godfrey, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny with his humor. He also obtained a writing job for the radio show Easy Aces.

During WWII Cullen became a pilot and served in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor. He had become a pilot at age 13, and it remained one of his great passions his entire life.

In 1945 he was hired as the announcer for a radio quiz show called Give and Take. In 1952, he worked with Mark Goodson and Bill Todman on Winner Take All. This relationship would bring him a lot of work during his gameshow career, and he would host numerous game shows during the late forties and early fifties.

In 1948, Bill tried marriage again, wedding singer Carol Ames. They were married seven years before calling it quits.

In 1952, Cullen made the move to television where he would become a household name. During the fifties, he hosted The Bill Cullen Show, Bank on the Stars, Place the Face, Name That Tune, and The Price is Right. Cullen beat out Dick Van Dyke as host of The Price is Right. Later it was determined the demands were too high for him when the show moved to prime time, and he was replaced by Bob Barker.

Not long after his divorce from Ames, Bill married dancer and model Ann Macomber. They would remain married until his death. She passed away in 2018.

He also appeared as a panelist on I’ve Got a Secret from 1952-1967, on To Tell the Truth from 1969-1978, What’s My Line, The Cross Wits, Password, Match Game, and Tattletales.

Not one to sit around, he also hosted Eye Guess, Three on a Match, Blankety Blanks, The 25,000 Pyramid, Chain Reaction, Blockbusters, and The Joker’s Wild. After his stint with The Joker’s Wild, he retired.

After retirement, he was able to spend more time on his hobbies including photography, interior decorating, model airplanes, painting, magic tricks, raising fish, writing plays and poetry, learning the saxophone and guitar, and flying.

In 1969, Cullen got very ill and was diagnosed with pancreatitis that required surgery. The surgery and recuperation took quite a toll on him and left him 30 pounds lighter.

In a TV Guide interview in 1984, Cullen said he was just lucky with game show offers. He said “This is how it happens every time. A known packager comes up with the idea for a new show. The network says do a run-through. They do. The network likes it, and they say, we’ll give you a pilot. Then the network says ‘Who are we going to get to host it?’ Then he says they have the discussion about hiring someone new or someone gets mentioned who didn’t work out on another show. They hire the staff and weeks before the pilot is scheduled, they say, ‘Let’s just go with Bill Cullen.’”

Cullen was nominated for an Emmy three times but only won for Three on a Match in 1973. It was said he hosted more than 25,000 episodes of television during his career. Cullen often filled in for other people including The Tonight Show when Johnny Carson took vacation, for To Tell the Truth when Garry Moore had throat cancer, and for Allen Ludden on Password when he was ill. During the 1960s, he was the first game show announcer to be working on all three networks at the same time. He was also the first game show host to appear on the cover of TV Guide in 1954, and he would go on to have six more covers.

With wife Ann Photo: billcullenarchives.com

It sounds like Cullen was more than satisfied with his career and had no desire to be a television star. With his limp and horn-rimmed glasses with thick lens, he said “I often ask myself, ‘How am I working? I’m certainly not the guy who appeals to women between the ages of 18 and 35.’” When asked if he had frustrations about his career, his response was, “If anything, the industry has treated me better than I deserve. If you don’t have high aspirations—and I don’t—it’s terrific. I like my niche. I’m never under great pressure, and I’ve made a lot of money over the years doing what I enjoy.”

If that isn’t a definition of success, then I’m not sure what is. I have to admit that I think being a panelist on a game show would be a pretty fun gig. I really enjoyed learning about the four panelists of the To Tell the Truth that I remembered watching on television when I was a youngster.

Kitty Carlisle Tries To Tell the Truth

February 20, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are in the middle of learning more about four of the regular members of To Tell the Truth. We have looked at Orson Bean and Peggy Cass, and today Kitty Carlisle is up.

Kitty was born Catharine Conn in 1910 in New Orleans. Her grandfather was the mayor of Shreveport, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. He was on the USS Virginia as a gunner during the battle with the USS Monitor. Her father, a gynecologist, died when she was only ten. Her mother took her to Europe the following year. Apparently, her mother thought European royalty would be more likely to marry a Jewish girl than a wealthy American. Kitty was enrolled at some of the best schools on the continent: Chateau Mont Chois in Switzerland, Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. She studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and studied singing with Estelle Liebling who taught Beverly Sills.

In 1932 she and her mother returned to the United States, settling in New York. Under her stage name, Kitty Carlisle, she appeared in several operettas and musical comedies. She apprenticed with the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. She also appeared on the radio during the early thirties. She studied with Julliard teacher Anna E. Schoen-Rene and appeared in 16 theater productions.

Kitty dated George Gershwin for a while in the 1930s. In April of 2007 in an interview on NPR, Kitty talked about her relationship with George: “Oh, George was fun. George was a really most interesting man. He was an egomaniac, but then I’d grown up with egomaniacs, so that didn’t bother me. He did ask me to marry him, but he wasn’t in love with me, nor was I in love with him.”

Not long after her arrival back home, she began her movie career. Her first film was Murder at the Vanities in 1934. She appeared with the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. That must have been quite an experience. In a trivia post on imdb, Kitty is quoted as saying during her filming, “Groucho would come up to me from time to time to ask me, ‘Is this funny?’ Then totally deadpan he’d try out the line. I’d say, ‘No I don’t think it is funny,’ and he would go away absolutely crushed and try it out on everyone else in the cast. Chico was always playing cards in the back room and had to be called on the set. Harpo would work until about eleven o’clock. Then he’s stretch out on the nearest piece of furniture and start calling out at the top of his voice, ‘Lunchie. Lunchie.’”

Carlisle also made several films with Bing Crosby. However, her movie career never took the direction she was hoping for, and she only appeared in six movies, two as herself.

In 1946, she married playwright Moss Hart. The first time she met him was in Hollywood when she was introduced to several theater playwrights and musicians. She was so excited that she tripped over a cable and fell right in front of Moss. A few years later she was introduced to Moss at a dinner party at Lillian Hellman’s house. They would have two children. She appeared in several of his productions including “The Man Who Came to Dinner” in 1949.

They were married until 1961 when he passed away at their home. She never remarried; at one time she said, “When you’ve had the best of it, why fiddle around? He was so wonderful. He was so witty and it was such fun to be with him. I loved it and I loved him.” Carlisle lived another 46 years after his death and she did have several important romances, including a long-time relationship with Ivo John Lederer, a historian for sixteen years until his death in 1998.

In 1966, Kitty made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus.” Her final performance with the company was in 1973.

She also showed up on a couple of television shows: Nash Airflyte Theater in 1951 and Max Liebman Spectaculars in 1956, as well as one made-for-tv movie, Kojak: Flowers for Matty in 1990.

Carlisle appeared on To Tell the Truth from 1956 to 1978 and again in reboots in 1980, 1990, and one episode in 2000. In fact, she was the only panelist to appear on every version of the game show. She always showed up elegantly dressed in evening gowns or beautiful dresses and jewelry. The show has a reboot currently on television, but if you have not seen it, the format was that three contestants all claimed to be the same person. The panelists ask them questions to try to figure out which one was really the person. Some of the original contestants on the show included aviator Douglas Wrong-Way Corrigan, a concert pianist who was also a judo expert; a female bullfighter, Winston Churchill’s butler, President Eisenhower’s barber, and a gondolier from Venice. Kitty also appeared on Password, Match Game, Missing Links, and What’s My Line.

After her fame on To Tell the Truth, she was probably best known for her support of the arts. She participated in a variety of councils and was chairman of the New York State Council of the Arts for two decades from 1976-1996, as well as other cultural institutions.

Later in her career, she performed in a one-woman show, telling anecdotes about the men she knew from musical theater including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and Kurt Weill, performing some of their more famous songs.

Kitty died in 2007 from congestive heart failure after a battle with pneumonia.

Both Kitty and Moss wrote autobiographies. Carlisle’s is called Kitty: An Autobiography. Hart’s was Act One. Kitty said that she believed it was the best book ever written about theater life. Both books have a 4.5 rating. I have not had a chance to read Kitty’s book, but I did read Hart’s. It is a detailed look at how a boy born into poverty in New York was able to become a musical playwright. The book ends before Moss becomes famous. If you love the theater, it’s an amazing piece of history of early theater life in New York City.

I had a lot of fun learning about Kitty Carlisle. She overcame life with an overbearing mother who often criticized her and constantly reminded her she wasn’t the prettiest girl or the best singer or actress. She had a lot of interesting romantic relationships including a wonderful marriage, had two children, performed on stage and in movies and on television, and did an incredible amount of work to support the arts. I hope she knows how much we appreciate her. I am looking forward to reading her book to continue learning about her interesting life.

Peggy Cass Has To Tell the Truth

February 13, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue getting to know several of the panelists from To Tell The Truth, today we look at the career of Peggy Cass.

Mary Margaret Cass was born in 1924 in Boston. She attended Cambridge Latin School and after graduation became interested in acting. She joined the HB Studio in New York City, probably about the same time Orson Bean was there.

In New York, she was employed in various positions while waiting for her big break, including secretary, telephone operator, advertising solicitor, and model. She traveled to Australia with the USO for seven months. Her first role was in a traveling production of “Born Yesterday” where she was an understudy to Jan Sterling.

Cass married Carl Fisher in 1948; they divorced in 1965.

As Agnes Gooch in glasses Photo: imdb.com

Peggy’s Broadway debut came for “Touch and Go” in 1949. One of her next shows was Agnes Gooch in “Auntie Mame” (based on a book written by Patrick Dennis) which she won a Tony for. She was cast in “A Thurber Carnival,” a 1960 Broadway revue of James Thurber’s works.

She also tried her hand at movies. Her first movie was 1951’s The Marrying Kind. In 1958 she reprised her role as Agnes in Auntie Mame, receiving an Oscar nomination, 1961 found her in Gidget Goes Hawaiian. She would be cast in three movies in 1969 and 1970.

Cass accepted her first television role in a show I’ve never heard of in 1950: Nash Airflyte Theater. In addition to playhouse dramas, she was on The Phil Silver Show in 1958 and 1959. In 1961 she was a regular on The Hathaways, a show we discussed a few months ago. Cass as Elinor raised three monkeys (The Marquis Chimps) along with her husband (Jack Weston); the monkeys were stars, and Elinor was also their agent. After 26 episodes, the show was canceled.

After the cancellation, she would take roles in thirteen other television shows including Love American Style, The Love Boat, and Hotel. In two of the shows, she had regular roles: The Doctors with 145 episodes, an afternoon soap opera; and Women in Prison. This is another show I have never heard of; it was set in my home state. The synopsis on imdb lists it as a “comedy taking place in Cell Block J of the Bass Women’s Prison in Wisconsin. Some of the inmates are Vicki, a yuppie housewife framed for shoplifting by her husband; Dawn, who murdered her husband; Bonnie, an English prostitute; Eve, the old lady who has been there for at least 10 years; and Pam, serving time for computer crimes. Meg is the guard and Blake is the assistant warden. Cass played Eve.

Cass was also in the pilot of Major Dad. She played Esther Nettleton a secretary working for Major MacGillis.

With Jack Paar and JFK Photo: collectors.com

Cass appeared on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar in 86 episodes as one of his regular cast members. She also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show ten times and on The Merv Griffith Show 26 times.

I guess the reason I recognize her as a game show celebrity is because she was on 21 different game shows. I remember her best from To Tell the Truth which is also not a surprise because if you count episodes of the various versions, she appeared in 481 episodes.

Cass remarried late in life in 1980. Her second husband was Eugene Feeney. He was a former Jesuit priest and educator. That same year she had an interesting experience we all think about but don’t think really happens much. She needed a left-knee operation and engaged the services of Dr. Norman Scott, doctor for the New York Knicks. After the operation, while Cass was in the recovery room, she realized they had operated on her right knee, and they had to take her back in for a second surgery.

In 1999 Cass died from heart failure.

I have to admit Cass’s role as Agnes Gooch is one of my favorite supporting actress roles. I’m not sure what her hopes and dreams were. I wish she had been cast in a second sitcom; it might have changed the trajectory of her career drastically. It was fun to learn a bit more about the woman behind Agnes.

Orson Bean Likes to Tell the Truth

February 6, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are looking back at a few of the game show celebrities from To Tell the Truth. These are four individuals who were stars in their own right before they did the game show circuit. Although I know the game shows were typically at the end of their illustrious careers, for better or worse, it is how most of us know these interesting personalities.

We are beginning the month with Orson Bean. Bean expressed the sentiment I was discussing above by saying that the was a “neocelebrity,” someone who is famous for being famous for his appearances on prime-time game shows. While I agree with this conclusion, part of what I want us to learn today is why he is a memorable star even without the game show fame.

Bean was born in 1928 in Vermont as Dallas Frederick Burrows. Silent Cal Coolidge was a first cousin twice removed. His father was one of the founding members of the ACLU and chief of police on the Harvard campus. When Bean was sixteen, his mother committed suicide, and he left home.

Bean attended the Rindge Technical School in Massachusetts, and after graduation, he joined the army and was sent to Japan. He spent some time at the HB Studio in New York, studying drama. After returning to the US, Bean began working as a stage musician before trying his hand at stand-up comedy in the early fifties.

Bean tells a fun story about how he came up with his stage name on The Tonight Show. When he was performing at a nightclub in Boston, the piano player would give him a different silly name to use every night. One night it was Orson Bean, and it went over great with the crowd.

In 1952 Bean started his radio career with an appearance on The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. When the show was renewed for 13 weeks, Bean was the full-time host.

In 1954 he was the house comedian at the Blue Angel Comedy Club in New York. Unfortunately, Bean was dating a girl who was a member of the Communist Party, and he was blacklisted as well. Ed Sullivan canceled his appearance on his show; he did later book him years later for five different episodes.

In 1956 Bean married Jacqueline de Sibour (stage name Rain Winslow). They had one child before divorcing in 1962.

In the fifties and sixties, Orson also was a regular on the Broadway stage. His first production was Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter with Walter Matthau and Jayne Mansfield. He continued on Broadway shows throughout the sixties, getting a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for “Subways Are for Sleeping.”

The Twilight Zone Photo: wikimediacommons.com

It was also during this decade that Bean began appearing on television where he earned 84 acting credits. He started in the many drama and playhouse series that were on television in the fifties and sixties. He also had his fair share of sitcoms including The Phil Silvers Show, Love American Style, Will and Grace, Becker, Two and A Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family. His dramatic appearances included The Twilight Zone, Ellery Queen, The Fall Guy, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, and Seventh Heaven. During his career he was a regular cast member on Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman, Normal Ohio, and Desperate Housewives.

In 1965 he tried marriage again to fashion designer and actress Carolyn Maxwell. They had three children before they divorced in 1981.

The same year he married Maxwell, he entered into another new relationship. He was one of the founding members of The Sons of the Desert, an international organization that was started to share information about the lives of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and to preserve their films.

In 1966 Bean founded the 15^th Street School, a primary school in New York City. It was modeled on the Summerhill School in England.

He also showed up on the big screen for 23 movies, the two-best known being Innerspace in 1987 and Being John Malkovich in 1999.

In the 1970s, Bean moved his family to Australia to live in a commune with a hippie lifestyle. They later became bored and returned to the US where he resumed his career.

Orson was popular on the talk and variety shows. In addition to Ed Sullivan, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and was on The Tonight Show more than 200 times.

With wife Alley Mills Photo: soaphub.com

Bean was a competitor on many game shows including I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line, Super Password, Tattletales, $10,000 Pyramid, and Match Game. He was best known for being a regular on To Tell the Truth. In addition to being in 317 episodes of To Tell the Truth with Peggy Cass, the two were also regulars on two other game shows: Keep Talking and Call My Bluff.

In 1993, Bean tried marriage again. He wed Alley Mills, best known as the mom on The Wonder Years. They were married until his death. The couple were members of the First Lutheran Church in LA and participated in the church’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol.”

Bean had a terrible death. In February of 2020 when he was 91, he was crossing Venice Boulevard when he was struck by a car. He fell down and a driver of another vehicle, distracted by people trying to tell him to slow down, hit him again before realizing what they were trying to tell him and that hit caused Bean’s death.

Certainly, game shows were only a small part of this celebrity’s career. However, I admit before I wrote this blog, I only knew him for his To Tell the Truth appearances. Now I have a much better appreciation for his long and successful career. I’m glad we are getting a chance to know some panelists from that show this month in more detail.

This Full House Was Never Too Crowded

January 30, 2023January 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we are looking at some of our favorite television families, the series would not be coplete without the Tanners. Airing from 1987 to 1995, Full House appeared on ABC, producing 192 episodes. Jeff Franklin created the show about widower Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) who raised his three daughters: D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodi Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) with the help of his brother-in-law Jesse (John Stamos) and best friend Joey (Dave Coulier). DJ’s best friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber) is also on the scene quite often. Interestingly, Coulier was friends with Saget and early in his career, he slept on Saget’s couch while he was trying to become a comedian.

The First Season Cast Members Photo: time.com

Because Saget and Coulier were already friends, the two actors went on a road trip to Las Vegas with Stamos to help them get to know each other. Since Coulier and Stamos were both single at the time, they bonded a lot. On the show, Joey and Jesse also become closer friends, seeming to have more in common with each other than with Danny.

Danny is a sports anchor, his brother-in-law is a musician, and his best friend, a comedian. They juggle schedules to get the girls where they need to go and tuck them in at night.

In season two, Danny becomes the host of a morning show, Wake Up San Francisco. His costar, Rebecca (Lori Loughlin), is young and fun and smart. However, the romance is not between her and Danny; she dates and later marries Jesse.

Saget was always first choice for Danny but because of his schedule, the pilot features John Posey in the role. Jodi Sweetin was brought in after an appearance she made on Valerie. Loughlin was hired for a six-week limited romance but never left once she started.

There were a lot of famous celebrities who appeared on the show including Frankie Avalon, Scott Baio, The Beach Boys, Phyllis Diller, Annette Funicello, Kareem Abdul Jabaar, Little Richard, and Marcia Wallace. On one episode Cameron’s real brother, Kirk Cameron appeared with Chelsea Noble. They began dating and later married.

Surprisingly, the show’s writing staff was inconsistent; Franklin who also wrote for the show was the only writer to stay through eight seasons.

Several of the characters developed catch phrases that were repeated all over the country. Jesse’s was “Have Mercy”; Joey’s was “Cut it Out”; and D.J.’s was “Oh My Lanta.” Stephanie often said “How Rude” while Michelle fittingly had two (one for each twin), with “You Got it Dude” and “You’re in Big Trouble Mister.”

The theme song, “Everywhere You Look,” was co-written by Bennett Salvay and Jesse Frederick, with Frederick doing the singing.

The show was in the top thirty every year after season one. It was on Friday nights for most of its run. There was a short time during season two when it was briefly moved to Tuesdays and then aired on both Tuesdays and Fridays to try to build its audience numbers. During season five, the show moved to Tuesdays until it was canceled. Despite its being in the top 25 in 1995, the network decided to end the show. It cited increasing production costs.

Fun fact, Dave Coulier made a puppet for the show, Mr. Woodchuck. He sold it to Toys R Us if you are ever looking for a gift for a big fan of the show. Another interesting item is that Ashley Olsen was right-handed while Mary Kate was left-handed, so Michelle is ambidextrous.

Unlike so many of the reboots of shows from the 80s and 90s, this show had a sequel, Fuller House, starring the same cast from 2016-2020. The show recently began appearing in Me TV’s lineup of shows.

The cast was definitely one big family on the show and they considered themselves family off the air as well. This came to light recently after the death of Bob Saget. When asked about how they were doing, Coulier commented, “We pull together as a family during moments like this. We’ve pretty much experienced everything that a real family can experience. Getting picked up, getting canceled, marriages, divorces, births, deaths. I mean, it’s pretty much what every family goes through. And we’ve stuck together through all of it.”

He also said that it “was incredible to have a group of people in our lives like this, where we know we’re going to get that instant support system. It’s pretty special.” Bure said that the cast “genuinely love each other.”

Saget, Stamos, and Coulier truly watched the girls grow up and transition from their kids to their friends. It is these relationships that give the show the special heart-warming atmosphere that surrounds most of the scenes. There are the arguments, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings that all families experience, but there is also unconditional love both on and off the set. We would all be better off if we had a “Full House.”

Life Goes On, But Television Shows Do Not

January 23, 2023January 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 3 Comments

This month’s blog series is “Some of Our Favorite Television Families.” In 1989 I remember tuning into a new show on ABC on Sunday night called Life Goes On. I continued to plant myself in front of the television every Sunday night for the next four years to do life with the Thatcher family.

The Cast of Life Goes On Photo: tvline.com

Executive Producer Michael Braverman worked with Chris Burke, an actor with Down syndrome in 1987 in a movie Desperate. ABC asked Braverman to create a series for Burke. Life Goes On was the first series to star a character with Down Syndrome.

The Thatchers lived in a Chicago suburb. Dad Drew (Bill Smitrovich) is a restaurant owner of The Glen Brook Grill and Special Olympics coach. Mom Libby (Patti LuPone) was a stay-at-home mom but when their restaurant burns down, she goes to work for an advertising agency.

Oldest daughter Paige (Monique Lanier season 1, Tracey Needham, seasons 2-4) has a great relationship with her brother but a trying one with her sister. She was Drew’s daughter from a previous relationship and moves back into the house trying to find her purpose in life. Lanier left the series to have a baby, so Needham took over the role.

Son Corky (Chris Burke) is the middle child. He has Down Syndrome and much of the first season is centered on Corky, especially his acclimating to “regular” high school.

Daughter Becca (Kellie Martin) is the youngest; she is extremely intelligent but feels socially awkward, and many of the episodes from later seasons feature Becca as she grows up. Many shows include her boyfriends, Tyler (Tommy Puett), Corky’s best friend and her boyfriend for the first half of the series, and Jesse (Chad Lowe), her boyfriend in seasons 3 and 4.

The show handled a lot of sensitive issues from a practical and healthy perspective. Corky deals with the difficulties his disease produces, especially how other people interact with him. After graduation, he gets a job at a local movie theater, moves into an apartment, and meets a girl named Amanda who also has Down Syndrome. The two eventually marry. His best friend Tyler dies in a car accident while Corky is a passenger in the car. Another ongoing storyline was when Becca’s boyfriend Jesse was diagnosed with HIV. It dealt with the ways people treated him, or mistreated him, after his diagnosis and the effect his illness had on their romantic relationship.

The show reminded me a bit of Family having three kids, with the son being the middle child. In that show, both sisters got along with Willy but Nancy and Buddy’s relationship was not always positive. It had a lot of humor written into the scripts and like life, more heart-warming than heart-breaking moments.

Life Goes On borrowed the Beatles song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” for its theme song; the song contained the lyrics “Life goes on.”

From The Partridges to the Thatchers Photo: wikifandom.com

The home in the opening credits of the series was located at 305 North Bowling Green Way in Brentwood as cited by https://www.iamnotastalker.com/tag/tv-houses/page/3/. If you have never seen her webpage, you should definitely check it out. Filming was done at a sound stage and at the Warner Brothers Ranch, an area you know well if you’ve been reading my blog for a while. The Thatchers lived in the same house the Partridges did.

The show was nominated for four Emmys, winning two. Lowe won for supporting actor in 1993 and Martin was nominated for supporting actress but lost to Mary Alice in I’ll Fly Away. Burke won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

Last fall it was announced that a sequel to the series might be in the works. A pilot was produced in January for a show that Martin would star in with both Martin and Lowe producing. This show would portray Becca returning to her hometown.

In the series finale in 1993 Jesse and Becca marry after she finishes college and begins her career as a doctor. She wants to have a baby which he has a hard time reconciling with his AIDS. Becca is telling a story to a ten-year-old boy at the time and at the end of the show, she kisses him and says “Good night Jesse,” leaving us to imagine that she and Jesse did have a baby but leaving the actual identity of his parent unknown. It is also revealed that Becca married a man named David after Jesse died from AIDS.

I’m guessing that Martin and Lowe must still be close if they are involved in a potentially new project. Typically, one of the things I run across in my research is the relationships of the cast members. Unfortunately, I could not find any information about how the cast got along, with the exception of LuPone’s and Smitrovich’s dislike of each other. In her biography, LuPone mentions that the two costars were not even speaking to each other by the time the show went off the air and did not get along during the filming of most of the episodes.

LuPone was also not particularly happy with her character’s plots, or lack of plots. It’s surprising that a show would cover so many controversial or misunderstood topics and yet not address the role of women very well. When LuPone was discussing her character during the run of the show, she said that she was “’very unhappy with the way the season has unfolded and how unimportant the mother is in the family. I’m not satisfied — there’s no other way to put it. There are a lot of issues for women over 40 that they could have explored and they chose not to.’ LuPone says she has made her discontent known, but ‘men run the show, and they’re not interested in exploring these issues. [Libby] is going the way of all Hollywood mothers — she’s just a fixture, a device.’”

If you want to learn more about the show, Herbie Pilato wrote a book, Life Story—The Book of Life Goes On: Television’s First and Best Family Show of Challenge. I’m not sure how the book was received by the cast and crew, but Braverman wrote the forward. It has a 4.5 rating on Amazon and most people gave it a 5.0.

I’m not sure how well the show would play in the 2020s. Because it dealt with so many topics of the eighties and nineties, it may feel stuck in that time period. However, we have proven over and over that we are slow learners and there are probably a lot of issues dealt with in the show that we are still trying to resolve today. And, there are a lot of great life lessons and stories to learn, so it would be well worth investing in the DVD set to check it out.