Valerie Harper and/or Sandy Duncan?

[Movie12]

Who did you prefer playing on Valerie / Valerie's Family / The Hogan Family, Valerie Harper and/or Sandy Duncan? I actually prefer both Valerie Harper and Sandy Duncan. They are both great actresses and they both did a great job playing on Valerie / Valerie's Family / The Hogan Family. I hope someday they have a Valerie / Valerie's Family / The Hogan Family reunion special with all the cast and also have both Valerie Harper and Sandy Duncan there.

[Edster2973]

Who did you prefer playing on Valerie / Valerie's Family / The Hogan Family, Valerie Harper and/or Sandy Duncan?

Valerie Harper, hands down. I just can't reconcile that Valerie Hogan had to die in order to bring Sandy on. It isn't right, and the way the family acted about it made it even worse.

Valerie all the way!!!

Ed

[Scoobiedoo30]

Valerie Harper

[80sTrivia]

I did like them both, but I think I would have to chose Valerie; I felt bad for her when she was canned from the show...

[Ryan Jones]

I rule in favor of the great Valerie Harper. Hands down over Sandy Duncan.
I never call the show "The Hogan Family" always "Valerie". The series was made for her!! No one else. Valerie Harper is the star!!!!
They should have given her the money that she wanted. She did get a lot in court. Good for her! How dare they take Valerie out of "Valerie". I like Sandy Duncan, but nothing compared to Valerie Harper! Sandy Duncan was just a co-star on "Valerie" to me, nothing more. Every cast member was Valerie's co-stars. Valerie Harper is amazing!!!

[Brian Damage]

Valerie Harper

[Buffyboy323]

Sandy. She's funny, and has great chemistry with the cast. I like her character better than Valerie. And I think the show got better when she came on.

[boechsner]

Valerie, all the way.

The first two seasons are the best. Valerie had great chemistry with Josh Taylor and in my opinion, she was the BEST TV mother of the 80s.

[mstewart]

Valerie, all the way.

The first two seasons are the best. Valerie had great chemistry with Josh Taylor and in my opinion, she was the BEST TV mother of the 80s.

I agreed wholeheartedly. I did like the chemistry with her and Josh Taylor and it was much better than the chemistry with her and David Groh on Rhoda. They were not compatible.

Valerie's sarcasm and edge was hilarious. Her last episode with Skip, Mike's friend, she was hilarious. I was screaming out loud because the episode was funny. A lot of Rhodaisms came out in her interaction with Skip. It had some bits of Rhoda and Phyllis.

The storylines with Valerie Harper had much substance than the one's with Sandy Duncan. Sandy Duncan is a good actress but her style of comedy is much different than Valerie Harper's. Unfortunately, Sandy was put in a situation where the lead actress was fired plus she was well loved by the cast and audience. The storylines with Sandy Duncan was hit and miss.

[Edster2973]

Valerie's sarcasm and edge was hilarious. Her last episode with Skip, Mike's friend, she was hilarious. I was screaming out loud because the episode was funny. A lot of Rhodaisms came out in her interaction with Skip. It had some bits of Rhoda and Phyllis.

The storylines with Valerie Harper had much substance than the one's with Sandy Duncan. Sandy Duncan is a good actress but her style of comedy is much different than Valerie Harper's. Unfortunately, Sandy was put in a situation where the lead actress was fired plus she was well loved by the cast and audience. The storylines with Sandy Duncan was hit and miss.

I couldn't agree more. The thing is, I think those of us who prefer the Valerie era recognize that the problem wasn't Sandy Duncan but the writing itself. Every character and their personalities became more of a stretch and wasn't in tune with what went on before, and I don't mean just the lack of mourning for the passing of Valerie Hogan.

The episodes were still funny, make no mistake about it, but it was less adult and mature. It's like the show went into another universe where the characters became more stereotypical and cartoonish. It was still well-acted; the cast was brilliant, but the material was sub-standard for the better part of it. I loved the episode where Mark was stuck in the chimney and David stole the school mascot (a wolverine). It was funny as heck but it was still not realistic. If these episodes had starred Valerie Harper instead of Sandy Duncan, I'd still feel that way. It was just sillier and sure as heck was NOT an improvement.

The Valerie episodes overall were a lot better written...


Ed

[boechsner]

I couldn't agree more. The thing is, I think those of us who prefer the Valerie era recognize that the problem wasn't Sandy Duncan but the writing itself. Every character and their personalities became more of a stretch and wasn't in tune with what went on before, and I don't mean just the lack of mourning for the passing of Valerie Hogan.

The episodes were still funny, make no mistake about it, but it was less adult and mature. It's like the show went into another universe where the characters became more stereotypical and cartoonish. It was still well-acted; the cast was brilliant, but the material was sub-standard for the better part of it. I loved the episode where Mark was stuck in the chimney and David stole the school mascot (a wolverine). It was funny as heck but it was still not realistic. If these episodes had starred Valerie Harper instead of Sandy Duncan, I'd still feel that way. It was just sillier and sure as heck was NOT an improvement.

The Valerie episodes overall were a lot better written...


Ed

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I like Sandy and it must have been so hard for Sandy Duncan those first couple of days on the set for her. The fact is, Valerie was the mom for these boys. She was much more strict with them than Sandy is. I mean, come on, Valerie would have had a totally different reaction to David's gambling than Sandy. I think the fact that Sandy was the aunt and not the mom, really showed in the writing. I think the writing shows that a mom commands much more respect than an aunt.

[88survivor]

Which reminds me, when are they releasing Valarie/The Hogan Family on DVD?:) Deserves DVD treatment, I believe.

[Edster2973]

Which reminds me, when are they releasing Valarie/The Hogan Family on DVD?:) Deserves DVD treatment, I believe.

Couldn't agree more, but let's face it, the show is hardly remembered. It's considered too ordinary and sub-par for the general buying public to take it seriously. It's regarded as a clone of Family Matters, Step By Step and Two of a Kind and so it's unlikely it will be seen on DVD unless there's a huge demand for it. Even the show Step By Step (which recycled some of the post-Valerie scripts from The Hogan Family) has been released but only as a "best-of" set because of how small they anticipate the demand for the show is. Stinks, doesn't it?

I'd consider registering on www.tvshowsondvd.com and voting for it. I don't know what else to do to try to convince the-powers-that-be that there is healthy demand for the show. But the fact that it was culled from its first time-slot on The Family Channel doesn't help our cause. It may be doing fine in its new timeslot, but I doubt the ratings are stellar.

This will require some work...


Ed

[88survivor]

Biscuit in a barrel!

I can't believe it.
And it had a beautiful theme song, sung by Roberta Flack. Step By Step, day by day.....such a sweet insanity. I love that song. That should be played at family reunions.

[mstewart]

I couldn't agree more. The thing is, I think those of us who prefer the Valerie era recognize that the problem wasn't Sandy Duncan but the writing itself. Every character and their personalities became more of a stretch and wasn't in tune with what went on before, and I don't mean just the lack of mourning for the passing of Valerie Hogan.

The episodes were still funny, make no mistake about it, but it was less adult and mature. It's like the show went into another universe where the characters became more stereotypical and cartoonish. It was still well-acted; the cast was brilliant, but the material was sub-standard for the better part of it. I loved the episode where Mark was stuck in the chimney and David stole the school mascot (a wolverine). It was funny as heck but it was still not realistic. If these episodes had starred Valerie Harper instead of Sandy Duncan, I'd still feel that way. It was just sillier and sure as heck was NOT an improvement.

The Valerie episodes overall were a lot better written...


Ed

The Valerie episodes was good and had substance. They were entertaining. With Valerie Harper coming off MTM she understood comedy being funny without being silly and unrealistic. Some episodes with Sandy Duncan were unrealistic and silly. David stealing the mascot reminded me too much of the Brady Bunch when Greg stole the school mascot, goat, and hid in his bedroom. I found that storyline watching it as an older person quite silly.

[Karen197488]

I liked both of them. They each had something special about themselves. How they interacted with the cast.:)

[Heidi Dawn]

Sorry to bump this thread, but after watching episodes posted on YouTube, this show brings back a lot of memories.

I remember the controversy when Valerie Harper got fired (I really felt bad for her, she's a great actress). I also remember hearing that Sandy Duncan was replacing her (I've seen Sandy in a lot of interviews and TV specials, she had that sunny personality). Sandy is also a great actress.

The bottom line is that I liked both Valerie and Sandy, it was a great show no matter who the leading lady was. Valerie had a lot of sarcasm, Sandy had that fun-loving personality.

This show is an example that when the lead character leaves the series, the show can still be successful; unlike Petticoat Junction and Chico & The Man.

[catlover79]

Sandy by default - I never saw the Valerie episodes.

[Jude The Obscure]

I liked both of them as well. I sorta wish Valerie hadn't been fired, because it would have been nice for her to have another hit series, where she played someone besides Rhoda.

[Edster2973]

I liked both of them as well. I sorta wish Valerie hadn't been fired, because it would have been nice for her to have another hit series, where she played someone besides Rhoda.

For me, it was that Valerie Hogan died on the show. That was something that never felt right. It still doesn't. The family also got over it WAY TOO QUICKLY. Not that they should've dwelled on it, but to act like it was business (horseplay) as usual was a bit much. It never felt right for me after that...


Ed

[Jude The Obscure]

I think the situation was not handled correctly by both parties.

[Edster2973]

I think the situation was not handled correctly by both parties.

Could you elaborate please?


Ed

[catlover79]

^ I heard that Valerie Harper was fired in a contract dispute. Why they kept the name "Valerie's Family" right after she left is anyone's guess. Thank goodness they changed it to "The Hogan Family".

[Jude The Obscure]

Monika is correct and I'm sure some threads on this board prolly give it way more attention than I can.

[Edster2973]

^ I heard that Valerie Harper was fired in a contract dispute. Why they kept the name "Valerie's Family" right after she left is anyone's guess. Thank goodness they changed it to "The Hogan Family".

The dispute is well known. That wasn't what I was asking. Jude stated that both parties didn't handle the situation properly. I wanted him/her to elaborate as to what was meant by that.

NBC & Lorimar wanted to keep the "Valerie" name as part of the title because fans at that point knew it as simply "Valerie". They wanted to keep the name "Valerie" in "Valerie's Family" so that the audience knew what show it was that they were tuning in to. To switch it to "The Hogan Family" would've confused some of the show's audience because they weren't used to that title yet. To prepare the show's audience for that eventual name change, they showed the title "Valerie's Family" first and then followed it with a second sub-title called "The Hogans". It was all about maintaining some sort of title continuity to ensure that the show didn't lose more viewers than it needed to since many predicted the show would fall without "Valerie".


Ed

[friendsfan77]

It's funny though. Until the show started airing on Pax, I didn't even remember Valerie being on this show at all, since I was real young when I first saw this show. Not to mention I was only like five months old when it debuted.

Nothing against Sandy as I did like seeing her on this show a lot, but as far as the characters go I prefer Valerie over her. I did enjoy most of the show's later years though.

[ewoowoo]

I liked them both. They both brought something a little differnt to the show and made the show their own.
That being said and if I had a gun to my head, I'd say Valerie.

[DarkDante]

The show was Valerie's and it should've remained hers for the duration of the run. I have nothing against Sandy Duncan as she was a fine actress who was hired to come in and do a job and she did the job well as the series didn't tank like most series do that lose their lead actor.

But the series was really about Valerie Harper and now more than twenty years later its still pretty disgusting what the studio did to her and probably is something that if it would've happened today would've caused even more of an uproar now in the media than it did back in the 80s.

Something else really quick, the studio actually had to make some concessions for Valerie Harper to allow the show to be titled for awhile "Valerie's Family: The Hogans" - Harper apparently had the right to have her name taken entirely off the show after they fired her and she made a deal with Miller-Boyett where she would allow them to use her name in the title as long in return for an expedited settlement to the lawsuit that was going on at the time. Harper feared quite legitimately that the lawsuit she had filed against Miller-Boyett would drag on for years and years and wanted the issues resolved as soon as possible.

In the end we all know she recieved a measure of vindication as Miller-Boyett paid 1.4 million dollars as a result of the lawsuit.