I'm gonna go ahead and say it... I don't know how this series will play out for three more seasons. I don't feel like the situations the characters come into are as "everyman" as Friends or Seinfeld, but there's no big gimmick to be revealed like on How I Met Your Mother, either. The close dynamic of Frasier and Happy Days isn't there, and it's not "workplace" enough to work like Cheers or M*A*S*H. But, Two and a Half Men manages to keep finding things to write about, so I suppose there's still humor to be found. One thing is for sure, though... they better find a way to write-in a multiple-part episode with the guys ACTUALLY AT COMIC-CON!
The Big Bang Theory "The Status Quo Combustion" (S07E24): Leonard and Penny share their proposal news with their friends, then their parents, but Leonard's mother already knew, courtesy of Sheldon. [ugh.] Leonard talks to Sheldon about not living together anymore, so he rants to Amy, who suggests that they live together. [basing the wedding on Penny's brother's schedule, it will be 12-18 months from now... good to know.]
Sheldon finds out that he can't change his field of study at the University, as he was hired to do String Theory. He appeals to the faculty senate, but things just start turning sour in every area of his life... and after the comic book store burns down, he heads to the train station, with the intent to ride the rails. [seriously?]
CBS
Amy is pissed that Leonard and Penny let Sheldon leave. [understandably.]
Howard's mom has gone through multiple nurses, and when Penny can't handle the job (at carte blanche), Howard and Bernadette worry that they may end up stuck caring for her... until they realize that Stuart is happy to be Debbie's caretaker, and they take to each other well. [did we previously know Howard's mom's name?]
I'm very curious as to how the guest stars [Meredith Baxter (Family Ties), Jackee Harry (Sister, Sister), Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch), Marion Ross (Happy Days), Tempestt Bledsoe (The Cosby Show)] were selected for this episode... did the producers see who was available and then have the writers craft the jokes from there? I mean, Jackee Harry is perfect for this, but Meredith Baxter and Marion Ross in particular are very interchangeable with the dozens of other sitcom mothers over the years. Tempestt Bledsoe seemed like a fill-in... like maybe Phylicia Rashad was supposed to be there but then they re-wrote it for whichever Cosby kid they could manage, and Tempestt is the most sitcom-oriented these days? Regardless, I loved the catchphrases ("jump the shark"!!) and jokes (haha, younger, cuter kids), particularly Tempestt's about how perfect Cliff and Clair were as parents... a doctor and a lawyer with unlimited time to teach their children lessons in the most creative ways! This series is gonna be fine... and might even pick up a larger audience now that Trophy Wife has been cancelled!
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Instant Mom "Not Your Mother's Day" (S01E22): Stephanie expects the full Mother's Day treatment from the kids, but they didn't really get anything for her, so they cover by claiming that Stepmother's Day is the following Sunday. [I looked it up... apparently it's not really a thing.] She takes her own mother to a day at a spa to celebrate the day but they wind up arguing over who is a better mother, but Maggie's anger is actually stemming from the fact that Stephanie didn't write a mushy message in her card. [I'm doing my "not impressed" face over Maggie's issue here.] Stephanie gets some advice from other mothers (the guest stars), but she and Maggie still wind up slinging mud at one another. All is made well again when Stephanie says something that would be sweet in a card, and Maggie forgives her. [is Maggie really the type of mother who will read a card over and over?] Meanwhile, back at the house, Charlie and the kids put together a hodgepodge Mother's Day for Stephanie, including someone else's cake, off-holiday balloons, a solution of various perfumes, and a poorly constructed poem. [you win some, you lose some.]
Here we go, the sequel to our Top 10 Television Democrats! No pairs today, so it's truly ten characters listed below, including one who is very new this season but she's so staunch that we couldn't make the list without her!
all images pulled from wikisand IMDB
10. Lucille Bluth, Arrested Development. Out of touch with the
economic problems surrounding her, Lucille doesn't believe that it's
her responsibility to take care of anyone she doesn't have to. She also
has no concept of economics or poverty, believing that the poor must
certainly be able to afford food, bananas are only like ten dollars.
Humorously, she won't respond to to questions she doesn't understand,
has a Bush/Cheney 2000 sweater, and the internet has created a Mitt Romney/Lucille Bluth tumblr, (and a Lucille Bluth/Mitt Romney one) if you need some laughs about her conservatism.
9. Ned Flanders, The Simpsons. It's not difficult to see that Homer's neighbor is a pretty conservative guy... in fact, he might top the list for Springfield. He has said that he wished they "lived in a place more like the America of yesteryear that only exists in the brains of us Republicans," solidifying his stance against change and the desire to turn back the clock, as many see Republicans to believe. When his son, Todd, asks him what taxes pay for, Ned explains that the go toward "policemen, trees, sunshine. And let's not forget the folks who just don't feel like working," another quote showing his anti-handout grounding. It's difficult to get beyond that because his Christian outlook begins to mingle with his political affiliation.
8. Cindy Sanders, Freaks and Geeks. Cindy is the head of the
Young Republicans club at McKinley High, and receives the honor of
introducing Vice President George H. W. Bush when he comes for an
assembly. Cindy stops dating Todd partly because he is a Democrat, and
she annoys Sam with her political rants to the point where he becomes
disinterested in her. One of her key conservative lines may be, "poor people shouldn't get handouts; they should get jobs."
7. Jane Forrest, The New Normal. A new character this year,
Jane is very proud of her Republican upbringing and beliefs. She forced
her daughter to keep her baby at age 18, because she needed to face the
responsibility of her actions. She also stole Goldie's ballot in 2008
and is shocked when Goldie might not vote Republican in 2012. She's very against the "definition of marriage" changing, so when Shania has a pretend wedding to classmate Wilbur, Jane organizes a protest with some of the girls at the school whose parents have Romney stickers on their cars. Not bad for a character who has only been in six episodes so far!
6. Howard Cunningham, Happy Days. Late in the second
season, "The Not Making of the President" (which can be seen on Bing)
has Howard as an Eisenhower
supporter. That's not much, but when Richie decides to campaign for
Adlai Stevenson because a girl he likes is the President of the Junior
Democrats, Howard is upset that Richie isn't respecting his opinion.
He's also upset that other people are putting Stevenson bumper stickers
on his car, but he flips his lid when Richie makes a speech for a
Democrat when the Cunningham family is a long line of Republicans. When
Fonzie is also shown to support Ike in the 1956 election, Howard is
intrigued, though he later admits that he respects Richie for thinking
for himself. When Marion admits to voting for Stevenson, however, Howard
again erupts!
5. Carlton Banks, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He doesn't miss an opportunity to remind people that he's a Republican. He thinks that wealthy people should be left alone and not have to pay higher taxes, that everyone should look out for their own interests, and that laws should have strict interpretations. He's not big on environmental protection like his sister, Hilary, and thinks that environment in which you're raised shouldn't affect your outcome too much - everyone knows right from wrong and has the ability to work hard. He follows that party line pretty hard...
4. Stan Smith, American Dad. Stan is a very impulsive guy,
latching onto and then abandoning beliefs as they fit his situation,
though he doesn't sway from being a card-carrying member of the NRA.
He's pro-surveillance (of course, he works for the CIA), patriotic to
the bitter end, and opposed homosexuality and gay marriage for the first
season of the show. He's offended when he's not chosen to give a speech
at the Republican National Convention, and is an authoritarian to the
point where he'll brainwash his family into obeying him. He quotes
Reagan, considers George Bush to be a hero, and opposes abortion. Am I
missing any glaring Republican traits?
3. Charles Winchester from M*A*S*H. He's an
uber-conservative. What's interesting, though, is that rather than
adoring Republicans, he just really hates Democrats, like Franklin
Delano Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. Charles is so conservative that he
says things like "a lot of people dribble soup on their chins and vote
for Democrats," that he'd rather "share his toothbrush with a Democrat"
than ask to borrow Margaret's record player, and "he's so conservative
that he'd make McCarthy look like a New Dealer.
2. Alex P. Keaton, Family Ties. In contrast to his "hippie"
parents, Alex is a staunch Republican, idolizing Nixon (both framed on
his wall and appearing on his lunchbox!) and voting for
Reagan and George H. W. Bush during the run of the show. Alex has a keen
interest in economics, belongs to the Young Republicans, and dreams
about the Declaration of Independence being written. A good chunk of the
entire series features Alex being conservative in one way or another,
actually. 1. Archie Bunker, All in the Family. As the only Republican in his household (Edith voted for Carter in 1976 and Mike donated to the McGovern campaign, just for the tip of the iceberg), Archie maintains a conservative stance on many things, causing regular tension with his family. Though he is also seen as an extreme bigot, his Republican perspectives led him to support Nixon and Reagan, and oppose peace protestors and civil rights movement organizers. Additionally, when his neighbor, George Jefferson, runs for a local office on the Republican ticket, Archie supports him, regardless of his George's African-American heritage.
Here, take a look at him rail the Democrats.
Some honorable mentions include Matt Camden on 7th Heaven, Spinner Mason on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Charlotte on Sex and the City, and Leon Carp on Roseanne. Who is missing?
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!
Ever watch a show and realize that a character just comes along and steals the show... over and over? It happens, and while it's not incredibly common, it's far from a rare occurrence. Today I'm going to give some examples of this character type, and feel free to suggest others that I might not have thought of.
10. Mimi on The Drew Carey Show. Although I have only seen a couple episodes of this show, I am familiar with the character Mimi. I think that she is kinda synonymous with the show, and I was amused to find out that she wasn't originally intended to be a main character.
9. Spock from Star Trek. He was the only character carried over from the first pilot to the second for the television shows, and ended up becoming one of the most-identifiable characters in all of the Star Trek saga.
8. Elmo on Sesame Street. He was originally a background Muppet without a name, but has really become a mainstay fixture since the 90s. Who knew that a preschool speaks-in-the-third-person red monster would end up taking popularity from Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and the rest of the crowd?
7. Slimer from Ghostbusters. Yes, he's originally from the movie, but he was so popular in it that he became a major character in the television series. A one-hit ghost that even ended up with a flavor of HiC named for him... cool. Ecto Cool.
6. Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls. Originally, she was intended to be a supporting character... but tested so well that the writers included her as one of the main characters. Kinda funny when you think about how they eliminated Coco the housekeeper after a single episode... perhaps partially to give Sophia more of a role.
5. Butters Stotch from South Park. He fought so well with Cartman that he ended up a regular, and even got his own episode to give the audience more background on this nerdy, strives-to-please kid. Butters is unlike the other main characters in so many ways, yet he fits right in.
4. Carol Hathaway from ER. The well-known retcon that a suicide became just a coma. Carol went on to have an interesting run on the show, and everyone seemed to be rooting for her and Doug Ross (George Clooney's character) by the time she left the show. The final season revealing that they were still together was heartwarming.
3. Fonzie from Happy Days. Probably the best example of this idea, since they were considering renaming the show because of his popularity. Again, Fonzie was different from the main cast of characters on this show, but he managed to fit in and add a new angle on the retro show.
2. Maxwell Klinger on M*A*S*H. He was originally written just to get a laugh out of crowds at the crazy things that people did to try to get a Section 8 discharge from the armed forces. He ended up becoming a regular, continuing to fight for a discharge up until his time in the service was about over.
1. Urkel from Family Matters. This instance is my favorite. I can't really imagine how this show would've played out without Steve. And, when I was a kid, my family referred to this sitcom as "The Urkel Show." Oh, and were there toys made of any of the other characters? Because I had a friend who had that talking Urkel doll... and he was so dorky he was cool!
Last Christmas I received a Punky Brewster DVD set. I haven't opened it, which is atypical of me. I generally spend a good chunk of January (and sometimes part of February) watching TV-on-DVD sets that I acquire of the holidays. And, while I did watch Punky Brewster a lot when I was in middle school, I'm not a giant fan of the live show. However, I always adored the animated show! It was a Saturday morning fixture when I was very young, and I had Punky Brewster sneakers when I was in kindergarten. In fact, I wasn't aware that the cartoon was a spin-off of the sitcom for a good decade. And, that's what sparked today's post... what other live-action shows have tried animated spin-offs... but more particularly, what strange ideas have there been?
In looking into this, I discovered that there have been a lot of primetime shows that tried to go the cartoon route. I found a lot that made some sense to me (The Addams Family or the Sabrinathe Teenage Witch incarnations, for instance), but others seem so unlikely that I thought I'd share. I'm especially interested to find out if anyone has ever seen any of these wacky incarnations (which I haven't really ordered, though I do believe that I might have saved the best for last!)!
- I knew that ALF had ALF Tales. And I had a coloring book to reflect the latter. However, apparently that was the second animation attempt... the first was Alf: The Animated Series. Who knew? It looks kinda like your typical late 80s/early 90s cartoon, though.
- When you think of family shows, none really come to my mind as screaming for an animated trial. However, The Brady Kids is out there. Looks like they sang. and had sidekicks... two panda bears and a bird! here's a clip.
- I didn't know Gilligan's Island had any animated spin-offs, but apparently they had TWO! One in the 1970s (The New Adventures of Gilligan) and one in the 1980s (Gilligan's Planet). (Links give you the theme songs to each.)
- Bewitched had Tabitha & Adamand the Clown Family. really. Apparently, Darren's sister is a clown, and her whole family is in the circus. This cartoon has Tabitha & Adam hanging out with their cousins and stuff. I could only find a single clip, in which Tabitha and Adam do not seem to appear.
- Apparently The Dukes of Hazzard had The Dukes, not only is that really old, I also don't really care for that show. It amuses me particularly because I didn't feel that the original was aimed at children... so is the cartoon supposed to?
- Who here has heard of The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang? Not me, that's for sure. This one actually sounds particularly interesting because of the focus it places on the Fonz. But, as the theme song states, the premise is that they're in a spaceship traveling through time. o.O
- Speaking of the Fonz, apparently there was also a Laverne & Shirley with the Fonz. Um, what??!?!? Similarly, there's also a Laverne & Shirley in the Army, which was before the other cartoon. (Okay, upon a tiny bit of research, it appears that Laverne & Shirley was a spin-off from Happy Days to begin with, so now the Fonzie thing makes sense, LoL.) This proves it was real. LoL.
- Apparently, Lassie made a go of the animation world as well. No offense to the dog, but I think that Chip and Dale made better "Rescue Rangers" than Lassie.
- I Dream of Jeannie had Jeannie, which, although I didn't know about, completely makes sense, given the opening to the original. However, after I saw the opening, I'm not convinced that this was anything other than completely ridiculous!
And, theoretically, Muppet Babies may have seemed like a strange direction for The Muppet Show to head toward, but I thought it was fabulous and not peculiar at all... so while it might deserve to be placed under the heading of "strange idea for an animated show," I am going to refrain from doing so. But what are your thoughts? Where would you place that cartoon spin-off, or others for that matter? And have you seen any episodes of the shows I mentioned above? Or are you just as shocked as I am to find out that they're out there?!?
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.
This is a category that is up for much debate. For instance, on Saved by the Bell, most of the secondary characters appear on less than four episodes.
10. Chuck Cunningham. The obvious choice, since the idea of missing characters has become synonymous with "the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome." (He was Ritchie's older brother on Happy Days in the event you don't know what I'm talking about)
9. Jenny Kelly. The name probably doesn't ring a bell, but she was a best friend to Sabrina (The Teenage Witch) for the first two seasons. She even co-crushed on Harvey. But she was dropped like a hot potato with no explanation or warning!
8. Judy Winslow. Honestly, I watched Family Matters in original run and it took me a good season or so to realize that she was missing. (Cousin Richie also vanishes, as does Waldo, but that's beside the point...)
7. Bob on Becker. While Reggie's write-off was stupid (she went to travel through Europe for TWO YEARS with friends after sleeping with Becker...), Bob's was practically invisible. Jake mentions at one point that Bob had gone on vacation, but that's the only mention audiences have, with no big departure from Bob at all.
6. Maggie from A Different World. Maggie was Marisa Tomei character's, a military brat who was Denise's roommate during the "sophomore season." Come Season 2, no more Maggie. Probably because she wasn't black, and they were going for realism at an HBCU.
5. Eric, Jessie Spano's stepbrother. He was in two episodes, and in the end he decided to stay in LA, and make a life in California instead of New York. But in the next episode, he's gone without a trace. um, what? I guess he wasn't "Saved" by the Bell.
4. Sara Spooner. You know, Carrie's little sister on King of Queens? She even moved in with Doug and Carrie at the same time Arthur did - she got the office and he got the basement. But, after the sixth episode of this long-running series (207 episodes in all), she vanished. What's worse, it pretty much seems like Carrie is an only child after that!
3. Minkus. He made a good classmate to Cory and Shawn on Boy Meets World, and a good opposite after Topanga became cool instead of dorky. But the weirdest thing about it is the reappearance he makes at the end of the high school years, where he claims he's been there all along, just taking classes in a different hallway.
2. Brendan Lambert. You remember him... the littlest boy on Step by Step. He was cute, but other than sharing his birthday with his dad's wedding, he really didn't get many storylines to himself. What was even more amusing is that they age Lily so she's five years old, yet Brendan gets cut for being just a few years older.
1. Steven Floyd and Ruth Ann Torkelson. Of The Torkelsons five children, two of them disappear and are never mentioned when the remainder of the family moves from Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma to Seattle. Technically the show was then called Almost Home, but it kept the same story idea and such, so it should have included the entire family.
Possibly worth mentioning: Denise, who plays Little Richard's niece on Full House, disappeared as Michelle's best friend. But Teddy is still there (as is Aaron), as are newcomers Derek and Lisa.
The Fonz entertained the world for eleven seasons (1974-1984), and was VERY MUCH an idealized decade (to have taken place in the 50s and 60s). My favorite part of Happy Days are the various catchphrases that came out of the show. And no, I'm not referring to "Aaaaaaay" but instead to things like "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome" and "Jump the Shark." The former comes from the fact that Richie and Joanie originally had an older brother (Chuck), but he disappeared without an explanation in the second season (think Judy from Family Matters as well). The latter stems from an episode in which Fonzie waterskis over a shark, and now it refers to any television show that has taken on a drastic move to try and save their audience.
I don't know of another television show that spawned so many spin-offs. Of course there was Joanie Loves Chachi and Laverne and Shirley and The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, but there was also Mork and Mindy, Blanksy's Beauties, and the problematic Out of the Blue which some classify as more of a crossover than a spin-off. In itself, Happy Days stemmed from Love, America Style, and was lucky to make it, since that show became known as the place where "sitcom pilots went to die." Oh, and then you can look at Arnold's character, who leaves the show to do Mr. T and Tina, which was a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter.
Let's review the stereotypes in the show. Dad owned a business and sat around reading a newspaper in his favorite chair. Mom was a homemaker... and that's it. Richie was a naive schoolboy who joined the army. Joanie was boy-crazy. Fonzie could make anything cool, although he did play that bad-boy, high school dropout, leather-clad teen. The show took place in Wisconsin (which makes me giggle when you consider other shows form this locale... That 70s Show and Step by Step). While clothing and storylines pretty much fit the 1950s, hairstyles didn't, mostly those of the male characters. Oh, and digital watches shouldn't be in the show, shame on the director for that.
I actually can't stand the show, and therefore have only seen like ten episodes. MAYBE. But what always bothers me when it runs on TVLand or Nick at Nite is the two-theme-song thing. They use both "Rock Around the Clock" and the "Monday, Tuesday, Happy Days" song. I know they're for early and late seasons, but it's really annoying. Here are the two different theme songs.
