Will Nancy always be 'Jo' to you?

[Michele35]

I wasn't sure which board to post this on but I was wondering even if "The Division" is a big hit, will you still think of Nancy as "Jo" from FOL?

Even with the success of her television movies, seems Nancy is still tied to her "Jo" persona. What do you guys think?

[coily2]

She will always be Jo. Ron Howard will always be Opie, Gary Coleman will always be Arnold.... you can't escape from your childhood alter-egos.

[JoFan]

No, since I started seeing Nancy in all those TV movies...she is now an actress to me and will not always be Jo. She's whoever she's playing at the time, and good actresses can pull off being believable in diferent roles.

I still love Jo, don't get me wrong. But I really love the character on "The Division" and I don't think anyone else could have played her quite like that.

People say they're alike (the two characters) I personally disagree. Jo always had a strong support system, and didn't have the emotional problems that Jinny has. I'm positive we'll see Jinny spiral downward, as alcohol takes control of her life. But I like that...she's not perfect, people simply aren't perfect. She drinks too much, sleeps around (afraid of commitment) and pretty much has only one thing in her life, her job. Jo was totally different. The blonde cop, CD...she's more like Jo. Tough, rude to her partner, but married with both feet on the ground.

OK, I've rambled on long enough. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

[JoBlaiRNaTooT]

i was kinda wondering the same thing. it seems everything she's in, we (myself included. hehe.) compare her character to jo. i guess since that's the character she's most famous for, people are always gonna know Nancy McKeon as "Jo." u know? that's probly why she wants to try and distance her self from that image. like ginger on "gilligan's island"...david cassidy in "partridge family"...marcia in "the brady bunch"...they all try to distance themselves, altho it never seems to work. lol. they'll always be known (IMO) as the character ppl grew up w/ and saw every week.

------------------
"You're born, you move on, you die. That's life." ~ Jo Polniaczek

Margo: "I'm on a diet. I'll just have one roll."
Jo: "I've seen you in gym clothes. You've got a lot more that one roll!"

[A.J.]

I'm probably going to stop watching FOL as much now that the Division is on.But she will sort of always be Jo. But if the Division does well, Jinny might be a popular character too.

[ks]

Boy Michele, that really is a tough question, and one I've been asking myself alot lately. I'll try and explain the way I feel about Nancy/Jo:

Nancy McKeon is a great actress, and from what she said in the IP she is a great woman in general. She seemingly has her priorities straight and is willing to pass uo on great opportunities to get where she thinks she needs to be. She has a strong family and friend support system, and seems to have a special relationships with many of those people. With the interviews of hers I've read she also seems to have a great sense of humor.

Jo Polniazcek is very strong willed and levelheaded. She also seems to become real close to people once they earn her trust and respect:which is seemingly hard to do in alot of cases. She respects people's property and their thoughts though.

I think in some respectives Nancy and Jo are alike, but I think they're also different in alot of ways. According to the interviews I've read Nancy was a very shy, polite person when she was a teenager who didn't follow the crowd. Jo was rough edged and spoke what she thought, even if it wasn't the friendliest of thoughts. She didn't follow the crowd either though, and she thought the people who did were wimps.

I've played the Nancy/Jo thing over and over in my head and finally convinced myself of this:

Nancy McKeon is a great actress and it's truly amazing how well she portrayed Jo. It seemed to come very natural to her. However, since she is an amazing actress she is also able to portray other characters just as convincingly. I think Nancy might always be remembered as Jo, including by me, but I also with all the TV movies she's done she's proved she can hold her own as any character. That's not to say though that every time I see Nancy McKeon playing someone I won't compare that character to Jo, because Jo is a great individual in my opinion.

In my mind Nancy McKeon is the person who played Jo Polniaczek, but after seeing her in other rolls, and in the IP I've come to respect that she is her own person--not Jo Polniaczek.

Although there couldn't have been a better Jo http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif


...Well, those are my thoughts about it. Anyone else?

------------------
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
[Jo to Blair]
Jo: Did you know that when you shake hands your lips 'pucker'?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Beverly Ann: Let's see. It's tomorrow in Africa so if I want to talk to Edna today then I should have called her yesterday...
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Blair: The worst thing about falling asleep at the wheel is that I didn't get to see my whole life flash in front of my eyes.
Jo: Well that woulda killed ya for sure.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[I'm_NMK]

Very well said, ks!

[Cokies]

I don't know, it's like this, if I saw her on the street, i'd probably go, 'Whoa, it's Nancy McKeon.' Three months ago, I would of probably said, 'Whoa, it's Jo!'. I think it's just a matter of respect of their job as an actor, whether they do a good job of that or not. Even if I saw Opie, i'd still say, 'Wow, it's Ron Howard!' Same with Penny Marshall, and Gary Coleman. Actually, i'd laugh if I saw Gary Coleman, LOL!

------------------
"It was just like Saturday Night Fever, except it was a Friday."

[ks]

LOL! Cokies, that's too funny about Gary!

------------------
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Jo: Things are not going well here...I think I'm gonna have to hit somebody.
Natalie: I didn't ask you to stick up for me, Jo.
Jo: I think I'm gonna have to hit you.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Beverly Ann: Let's see. It's tomorrow in Africa so if I want to talk to Edna today then I should have called her yesterday...
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Blair: The worst thing about falling asleep at the wheel is that I didn't get to see my whole life flash in front of my eyes.
Jo: Well that woulda killed ya for sure.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Michele35]

I noticed over at the Lifetime 'Division' messageboard that they were getting so many posts about Nancy, Jo, and FOL that they had to start a new board just for Nancy's fans.

Seems to me that the 'Jo' hysteria that was so prominent in the '80s has resurfaced with Nick playing FOL every night. There is now a new generation of Jo crazy fans.

I read an interview with Lisa Whelchel that basically said that the friends we make when we're young alot of times turn out to be the best and longest lasting friendships, even if it's a friend that we make through tv. I think there is alot of truth in what she said and that alot of people have made a connection at a young age to the character of Jo and will always see Nancy as her FOL character. In the same way I agree that Ron Howard who has had a very successful directing career will always be Richie Cunningham or Opie to many people.

It's funny that someone brought up the Ginger character from 'Gilligan's Island' because I had her character in mind when I asked this question. I recall that she basically wanted nothing to do with GI and wouldn't participate in any of the reunion movies for fear of being typecast. I believe she did some B movies but Ginger was probably the role she is most recognized.

[80skid]

In a way. TD rocks and I can't wait for the next one, but its like that w/FOL too. She just has such great characters!!!! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

P.S. Does anyone agree that the two female cops (the new one and the blond one) kinda remind you of Blair and Jo in the sense the blond one's Jo and the new one's Blair... attitudes 2wards 1another, i mean?? (if i'm confusing, sry)

------------------
jo: there's face cream, high heels, and perfume. it's like livin' in a drugstore and i can't get to the check out line!
tootie: this is gonna be a great semester... would I lie?
molly: oh, a blister, blair. you'll live.
jo: so my mom stops the romance by sending me here.
tootie: thats one cold mama!

[ks]

LOL! That's incredible! Nancy has a board all to herself http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif I agree Michele that she is getting a whole new fan following since FOL is currently airing on N@N, and LIFETIME's ratings are going to be steady because of all the Nancy fans.


80's kid, I was thinking the same thing about the Jo/Blair relationship. I watch FOL so much I find myself comparing it to everything! Anyway, Jo and CD seem very much alike, and the relationship between the two partners seem to have the same Jo/Blair hostility. I wonder if they'll end up best of friends in the in like Blair and Jo did...

ks


------------------
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Jo: Things are not going well here...I think I'm gonna have to hit somebody.

Natalie: I didn't ask you to stick up for me, Jo.

Jo: I think I'm gonna have to hit you.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[Miller15]

Well, I haven't exactly come up with an in depth analysis of Nancy/Jo/Jinny... but I do have to say that when I was watching The Division, I wasn't comparing Jinny to Jo or anything like that. I was just watching an incredible actress playing yet another role better than anyone else could.

[coily2]

The whole time watching the Division, I kept comparing both CD and Jinny to Jo. CD is a very likely candidate with as to what Jo could have become 15 years later, although I think Jo is a little warmer than CD. On the other side of the coin, Jinny could have easily been Jo too, if Jo had a couple of bad turns in her life. Her marriage failed, she wasn't performing well at work, all those things could have lead to a transformation to Jinny.

[Michele35]

I think that CD and Angela the new girl are eventually going to become friends, too, 80's kid. They do remind me a bit of Jo/Blair except that Angela is not nearly as snobby as Blair although I don't think CD liked the fact that she was the daughter of a brigadier general, was a college graduate or was married to a doctor. I would definitely say that the CD character is most like Jo when she first started at Eastland.

[AlexzBonner]

Well... I think that every time I see her on a show other than FOL, I'll automatically register in my mind as 'Jo'. But, like she said, she always going to be sterotyped as 'Jo', and like in 'The Wrong Woman' she was able to take care of her self. In 'A Cry for Help' which I didn't see, she played more of a weak character. But IMO, she will always be known as 'Tough-Girl Jo Polniaczek'
There's no escaping it!

------------------
J: Partners? You mean 50/50? Uh... 50/50...50?
B: Oh, good, Jo. We'll let you do the books!
.........................
B: I know a phony when I see one!
J: You should. You spend enough time looking at yourself in the mirror.
.........................
T: What it is.
B: What is it?
.........................
Ra: Is it what I think it is?
A: Well... if you think it is, what I think you think it is, it is what you think it is.
Ra: (confused) What is it?
.........................
J: Well, I hate to tell you this, but you're wrong. Oh, and please see that it doesn't happen again in our marriage.
R: Right. Hello, my baby, hello my darlin' (runs into door) Hello, my aching head!
.........................
B: You were a concert pianist?
R: Yeah, what's wrong with that?
B: On a regular size piano?
.........................
T: Jo, I know you're upset. I don't know why. (Jo glares at her) And I don't need to know why, but when I'm angry at someone, do you know what I do? I write and angry letter to the person that I'm mad at and then... I don't send it!
J: Oh, that'll teach 'em, Tootie.
T: Well, if I'm still mad the next day, I send it to myself. That way I'll have the satisfaction of knowing how the other person would have felt if I had had the courage to send it to them. What do you say to that?
J: Get out!

~`~ Kenzie ~`~

[Love The Facts Of Life]

If you would have asked me this question a couple of months ago a picture of Jo would have been in my head but now I also see her as Jenny!Oh well that is just me http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Daggoth Urr]

I personnally like Jinny better, I just don't like Jo too much. Of course I'm the kind of guy who likes dramas over comedys.
To me, she'll always be known as Jinny, not Jo.

[*Marilyn Monroe*]

I'll always just think of her as Nancy. Awhile ago, when the very first TD commercial came on, I yelled..."OMG it's Jo!" but then I started thinking of her as Nancy.

[JDS84]

She will always be Nancy to me.

[mapmanmsl]

It's always hard to escape a typecast no matter how many other tv shows, tv movie or major box office movies you do. Look at Robin Williams, he's done about 35 major movies over his post Mork and Mindy acting career. Yet, a vast majority of people out there still remember him solely as Mork from Ork.

Alot of people who meet lets say Arnold Scwartzenneger could end up being either afraid of him or worshipping him because people know him best as the t-2000, otherwise known as the Terminator.

So there you see it, no matter what Nancy McKeon does, She could do 10,000 major Box Office movies and get academy awards in every one of them, but the vast majority of them will remember her solely as Jo. It's just that Jo, Like Mork from Ork, The Terminator, and The Fonz, is a very popular character to know. Maybe it's the popular character syndrome, ya know.
And yes, if you want to know the cases with breaking old typecasts in the case of Bruce Willis and Pierce Broznan, their Moonlighting and Remington Steele characters were not that well known at all, in fact I don't think anyone knew Remington Steele existed at all until Pierce Broznan himself mentioned it on E.

Maybe the real reason why NAN and the Hallmark channel took away the FOL is because Nancy McKeon herself may of payed these networks to not show FOL at all.

[Sparo]

n/a