Looking For A CertainHogans Episode... Please Read/Respond!! [Archive] - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Edster2973

03-03-2006, 06:05 PM

Hi! I was wondering if anyone on this message board had the episode "Burned Out" (the one where The Hogan's house burns down) recorded on VHS. If so, could I have a copy? I'd be willing to pay for materials/time/shipping. Feel free to email me at GoAwAy669@aol.com or post in this thread if you have the episode! Thanks! :)

I have the episode that you're looking for. It's actually from when it first aired on NBC so it's unedited. I just don't know what condition it's in since it's been forever since I've watched it (I've been told that VHS tapes degrade after a while, and I taped this back in the fall of 1987, along with a few other "Valerie's Family" episodes). By the way, I do know the opening credits have the original "Valerie's Family" title instead of "The Hogan Family" title as well.

I don't mind doing this for you at all. I'm always happy to help. I recommend letting me burn this onto a DVD for you instead of a VHS, but it's your call ultimately. Just please make sure you understand that I don't know what condition the episode is in. Also, I don't think I knew back then the difference between tape speeds so I may have recorded the episode in SLP instead of SP so I'd be able to fit more episodes on there.

If you're interested, give me a holler at: edster73@comcast.net

Take care,

Ed

Edster2973

03-03-2006, 07:13 PM

OK, I just got done watching the episode and it played without a hitch. The only thing noticeable was distortion of the tape for one second during the opening credits when Sandy is introduced. And the episode is indeed in its entirety, along with the commercial break picturing the cast of Valerie's Family going on a picnet.

I know you didn't ask for a commentary about the episode but I really can't resist giving one. The episode itself is acted superbly. Sandy Duncan and Jason Bateman (in particular) give stellar performances and the episode tugs at our heart strings. But there's a slew of things wrong with it as well, at least continuity-wise.

Firstly, the show's humor seemed awfully forced, like it was no longer clever but kid-like, kind of on the same level as Family Matters or Step By Step. It seemed less funny than Valerie Season 1, which I think suffered from its desire to be more cute than funny. The show's jokes just really came off stale, like that of Bob Saget who used to host America's Funniest Home Videos. Before you all blame this on the serious tone of the episode, note that the other episodes were done the same way. It's like the show was scrambling to find its humor without Valerie, and its awkwardness really shows during this season (3).

Also of note is the father's interaction with his sons. He's just too close to them. For the first 2 seasons of the show (as Valerie), Michael Hogan was the airline pilot husband of Valerie Hogan, and he was very rarely seen. Sure, that doesn't mean that the boys wouldn't have a relationship with their father, but surely their primary source of love and parenting came from their mother (Valerie Hogan), and you'd think the boys would resent the father's interaction now as a poor substitute for mom, or at least resent Sandy. Nope, not here. Everything is rosy as can be. And mom? What was her name again? Val... something or other. But it's ok, 'cause other than David, no other son ever mentions mom. It's as if she never existed. Personally, I find that insulting and a slap in the face to all mothers. Mothers cannot be replaced by anybody, even by a father's sister. As someone who has lost his own mother (she passed 2 years ago February 5th), let me tell you one never gets over that, let alone pretends it never happened.

Secondly, in one particular episode of Valerie, Valerie's friendship with Annie Steck is threatened since the roots of Annie's oak tree are clogging the Hogans' plumbing. This is also the same episode that the twins invest in a used car with David, and they end up fighting about it. It's ironic to see Valerie advising her boys to consider their relationship over a contract, knowing what trouble she herself would get into less than a year later with the show's producers.

In any case, Annie Steck lived close enough to the Hogans that her roots clogged their pipes (and also Rebecca, Annie's daughter, saw David pull down Willie's pants as a joke) so you'd think she would have been there to help out her dead friend's (Valerie) family, but where was she? Nope, can't bring her on, that would remind the audience too much of Valerie, even though, hey, her name is still the title of the show. Nope, we have to pretend she never existed... whatever.

Also of note, the show's title was Valerie's Family, so, where was her family? Where were her parents, who would be the boys' grandparents? Certainly they'd want to help out their dead daughter's family, no? And where were her sisters that she sometimes mentioned on and off? Nope, can't have them by either. It would remind us too much of you-know-who. It's also unrealistic that Michael's and Sandy's parents wouldn't have come by either, which is why it doesn't sit well with me.

I also disliked this season not just for the shoddy handling of Valerie Hogan's death but for the devolving of Mark into a whining neurotic. Sure, his voice clearly changed from the end of Valerie Season 2 to the beginning of Valerie's Family Season 3, but that was no reason to change him into a squeaking cretin. Instead of the bright, caring and sometimes insecure boy that Mark was on Valerie, he became an over-the-top, obnoxious squeal. On Valerie, you could buy Mark's situations and problems. They were rooted in reality and whatever antics he'd get himself into (he was a young boy after all) would still show that he was intelligent and deserving of his 'brainiac' status. But from Season 3 to the end of the show he degressed into just an ordinary sitcom character and an overall idiot. In an attempt for a laugh, the show had him doing things that were not in his character, contradicting his established personality while the show was Valerie. He lost his character truth. Mark ceased to be real and he ceased to be Mark. Not an improvement if you ask me.

So there you have it. This episode is one that I love and deplore equally. It's through the awesome talents of Sandy Duncan and Jason Bateman that the show got to hang in there, because I gotta tell you, the writing sure took a nosedive. It seems Valerie Harper had a legitimate reason to complain about script chores all along...

In either case, if you're interested in acquiring a copy of this episode (or a few others that I have), let me know...

Ed (so glad to get that off my chest ;))