I was flipping through the channels one day a couple months ago, and came across Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals on the Biography Channel. It was about Gilligan's Island and Diff'rent Strokes and I was intrigued. Of course, I knew a lot about some of the background stories about Dana Plato and Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges, but there were tons of interesting bits that were new to me.
I ended up setting my DVR to record the series. As I was watching the sixth episode (having deleted the fifth after just a few minutes, realizing that the entire hour would be about Lost In Space, a show that I don't care about), I decided to look up the series and figure out how many other episodes I could look forward to, and what other shows it might feature. Well, imagine my disappointment when I discovered that there were only six made... I was watching the final installment right then and there. So, I heard fascinating things about The Facts of Life, Welcome Back Kotter, Roseanne, Laverne & Shirley, Cheers, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Happy Days, and M*A*S*H, in addition to Diff'rent Strokes and Gilligan's Island. It was fun to hear the different actors talking about the ways that things went down and the issues that they dealt with earlier in their careers.
I would have enjoyed seeing more old shows covered. And it's not like there weren't any other shows that had issues. I'm not sure what happened to The Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals, but maybe another show can try something similar... after all, in the days of reality television being king, there is certainly a lot more shady stuff going on!
by Amy K. Bredemeyer
Quite some time ago I was flipping through the channels late at night and caught the episode of The Flintstones where Fred and Wilma have Pebbles. It really is hilarious if you haven't seen it. I saved it to my DVR and later showed a friend. He asked if the same thing happens when Bamm-Bamm is born, and I pointed out that Bamm-Bamm was adopted. He didn't know that, and I think that many people probably don't. So, I wanted to take some time to draw attention to some of the great adopted characters on television. I'm specifically looking at adopted characters whose stories are told or addressed in the show.
10. George Camden from 7th Heaven. Although not a major character, George is adopted by Eric's parents, the Colonel and Ruth. In the same episode, Eric and Annie also consider adopting the child, which would have been interesting since the Camden kids did not particularly take to him. His real father shows up later in the series, and after some strife, gets along with everyone.
9. Arnold Jackson (and Willis) from Diff'rent Strokes. Mr. Drummond's housekeeper was the boys' mother, and after she died, he took them in. It's a real rags-to-riches story, and while the fact that the boys weren't Drummond's biological children popped up from time to time, it wasn't a big issue for arcs at a time.
8. Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls. I didn't know that Rose was adopted until I had seen thirty or forty episodes of the show. Turns out, her mother died in childbirth and her father was a monk who chose to return to the monastery (weird, huh?). She lived in an orphanage until she was 8, then was adopted by St. Olaf's favorite dairy-farming couple, the Lindstroms. There's an amusing storyline about Rose thinking that Bob Hope was her biological father, too.
7. Natalie Green, from The Facts of Life. She grew up knowing that she was adopted, and while she was at the boarding school she decided that she wanted to meet her birthmother. Blair (who had the money and the connections) tracked down the woman, but Natalie ended up not showing to meet her, deciding that she was grateful for the parents who raised her. Later in the series she does meet her birthmom, but ultimately decides that she's very thankful for her adoptive parents.
6. Skippy Handleman from Family Ties. Skippy accidentally found out he was adopted when he saw the papers in his mother's drawer. Skippy is determined to meet his birthmother, and brings Alex to see her. Skippy and his mother have a lot in common, and Skippy is excited to being a long-lasting relationship... only to have his mother tell him that she doesn't think that they should see one another again, and that he reminds her of a painful past. Skippy returns home to his loving parents, who have been heartbroken about the whole matter at the Keatons' home.
5. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Seville; Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor Miller from Alvin & the Chipmunks. Going off of the cartoon stories of the chipmunks' & chipettes' origin, the guys were placed in a basket and their mother left them on Dave's doorstop. Dave struggled with them at first, but as soon as they got him a job with their recording of "Witch Doctor," all was well. The Chipettes, on the other hand, came from an orphanage in Australia, where they were a pet of a girl named Olivia. When Olivia was adopted, the chipettes were about to be exploited by the woman running the orphanage, but they ran away in a kangaroo's pouch, then stowed away on a ship to America. They lived in the park and worked in a restaurant, then rode a bus to California and got a singing job. They moved into a treehouse, but when they went to school, the school was upset that they had no guardian... so Dave's neighbor, Mrs. Miller, adopts the girls.
4. Steve Sanders from Beverly Hills, 90210. So this is a tricky one. He doesn't know he's adopted until the end of the first season. He went crazy trying to find his "real" parents, only to find just his mother's father, as his birthmother had died. Later we find out that his adoptive dad is his real dad as well, and only his mother, actress Samantha Sanders, was not actually a blood relative.
3. Punky Brewster from Punky Brewster. Her father abandons the family, then her mom leaves Punky and her dog (Brandon) at a shopping mall, never to return. Punky takes shelter in an empty apartment, but is found by the building's manager, who ends up jumping through a lot of hoops to adopt her. He fosters her for a while, she gets sent to an orphanage, but eventually the two live happily, and his curmudgeon ways disappear.
2. Bamm Bamm Rubble, from The Flintstones was the very first adopted child on television. He was left in a basket (as an orphan) at the Rubble's house, with a note revealing his unique name. Betty and Barney Rubble want to adopt him,and head to the Child Welfare office to make it official... only to discover they have to wait a week while their application is processed. They end up being denied, since someone was ahead of them on the waiting list. Betty and Barney take the other couple (rich folks) to court. Turns out, the woman from the other couple is pregnant, so they let the Rubbles have Bamm-Bamm. In case you've never seen this one, I've added a couple clips:
1. Albert Ingalls, from Little House on the Prairie. Charles wanted a son so badly, but a biological one just wasn't in the works (the only son Caroline birthed, died). They find Albert living on the streets when they live in Dakota Territory, and he comes back to Walnut Grove in the end. His biological father does come back into the picture for a short time, but it is ultimately the Ingalls who love the boy despite his faults... like burning down the school for the blind with his niece inside, getting addicted to morphine, having the town believe that he was an illegitimate father, and ultimately dying of cancer before he could achieve his dream of becoming a doctor.
I know I'm missing another dozen or so adopted characters, but I really enjoy these stories (I mean, wasn't Webster just a copy of Diff'rent Strokes, LoL?). What adoption stories come to your mind?
Well, I know we've slipped into February already (is it just me, or is 2011 turning out to be the fastest year yet?!?), but I did want to do a little spotlight on the television actors we lost in 2010.
- Gary Coleman, from Diff'rent Strokes, died of a brain hemorrhage at age 42.
- Andrew Koening, who played Boner on Growing Pains, committed suicide at age 41.
- Barbara Billingsley, who is famous for her role as June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver, died at age 94.
- Tom Bosley of Happy Days fame died at age 83.
- Rue McClanahan suffered from a stroke and died at age 76, leaving Betty White as the only surviving Golden Girl.
- Charlie O'Donnell died at age 78. He preceded Pat Sajak as announcer for Wheel of Fortune.
- Harold Gould, of Rhoda and Golden Girls, died at 86 of prostate cancer.
- Leslie Nielsen died at age 84.
- James Wall, who played Mr. Baxter on Captain Kangaroo, died at age 92.
- Mitch Miller died at the age of 99.
- Jimmy Dean died at the age of 81.
- Art Clokey, the creator of Gumby, died at 88.
- Billie Mae Richards, who is the voice of the famous Rudolph in the stop-action animation specials, died at 88.
- Merlin Olsen, who played Jonathan Garvey on Little House on the Prairie, among other roles, died at 69, from complications of mesothelioma.
you know. the characters which never appear, but are often referenced. They might even speak, but no face is ever given to the name. Some shows use this convention more than others, but there are definitely some memorable characters which have no formal physical appearance.
10. Charlie Brown's Teacher (Peanuts), whose voice is created by a trombone (although someone once told me it was actually a muted trumpet, so that may also be the case). She's the one animated character to make the list, and I think it may be because the "voice" amused me from a young age.
9. The Gooch (Diff'rent Strokes), Arnold's foil. Bet you forgot about him, eh? Well, he was mentioned plenty of times... teasing Arnold, daring Arnold, fighting with Arnold, all sorts of childhood mischief.
8. Cousin Jeffrey (Seinfeld), the one that Uncle Leo is always bragging about. He was rumored to have kissed one of Jerry's girlfriends. He worked for the Park (Central Park, maybe? I'm not sure) and once got Jerry some concert tickets. Considering how often other members of Jerry's family were seen, I'm completely unsure as to why we didn't see Jeffrey even once.
7. Dr. Kahn (Salute Your Shorts), the camp director whom none of the characters seem to have seen, either. His voice was heard over the loudspeaker (almost) every episode, and Counselor Ug seems quite afraid of him.
6. Vera Peterson (Cheers), Norm's wife. You might argue that she shouldn't be on this list, since her legs are on camera, and I believe her torso is seen once as well. But Norm speaks of her semi-regularly, and the other characters seem to have a grasp of her as well, so she still counts as unseen.
5. Heather Sinclair (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Holly J's older sister, who is pretty much everyone's enemy. Paige specifically doesn't like her, but many of the characters talk about Heather in an unpleasant tone throughout the show.
4. George Steinbrenner (Seinfeld), George Costanza's boss while he worked for the Yankees. We see the back of his large office chair, and hear him speak almost constantly (his voice is not by the real George Steinbrenner). I wonder if that's why we don't see him... because he is an actual person and didn't want to be on the show.
3. Stanley Walker (Will & Grace), Karen's rich and obese husband. Technically you see his feet and hands at separate times, but he's talked about a crazy amount of time without actually ever being seen. His character ends up with quite the storyline, including jail, (faked) death, divorce, and financial difficulties.
2. Maris Crane (Frasier), Niles' first wife. She's spoken of throughout all eleven seasons, although she and Niles divorced several years into the show. She specifically was never seen because it became too difficult to properly portray her due to all of the crazy attributes which she gathers throughout the series.
1. Alma Borland (Home Improvement), Al's often-ridiculed mother. Since Al and his brother Cal look so much alike, and it's made clear that one takes after the mother and one takes after the father, mom & dad must also look quite similar. That, and Tim's frequent teasing of Al about his mother's size (among other things) really made me want to see how they'd cast her. Alas, it never happened, despite the fact that Al had two planned weddings.
The other major contenders: The Gibblers (Full House), Kimmy's family, that includes two parents, an older brother, and possibly three sisters. Dr. Claw (Inspector Gadget), the guy always plotting against Inspector Gadget. Nanny (Muppet Babies), although we do see her striped socks. Mr. & Mrs. Urkel (Family Matters), Steve's parents. Sparky (M*A*S*H), the radio operator. The Ditmeyer Family (Brady Bunch), the neighbors to Mike, Carol, and family.
