does anyone else think that the show got better after cody left? i thought it did because it gave us a chance to pay more attention to the other characters and jean luc is funny too.

Even though Cody is hysterical, I like Lilly & Rich :)

Tiff7

I didn't. I think it got WORSE when Cody left. I didn't enjoy the later seasons as much as I did the earlier seasons. The kids were growing up and Lilly became an annoying character. Jean-Luc...was just useless. Rich was okay. I HATED his relationship with Dana though. I didn't want them to get together. And I'm still trying to figure out WTF was up with Brendan leaving! pissed:

I love all of SBS, but it's definitely better with Cody!

he was ok but that character was so much like balkey from perfect strangers
i don't really know if he fit .rich was ok but i still think the show lost something when cody left

he was ok but that character was so much like balkey from perfect strangers
i don't really know if he fit

Both characters were played by Bronson Pinchot, so I guess that's why they were kind of alike.

I love all of SBS, but it's definitely better with Cody!

yes I agree with you :)

in the last season the episode cody returns he wasn't as fun as he was earlier on maybe the whole show wasn't as funny or just a lack of good writing

Yeah, I noticed that Cody wasn't as funny in his return. I agree that the writing quality overall dropped. Times had changed a bit, too. By 1998, his grunge, brainless rocker schtick wasn't exactly popular, so it was hard to really make the character work.

I feel the show went downhill after Cody left, though sometimes I think that's a coincidence. Cody shouldn't have been irreplacable. He had a lot of episodes about him, but the other characters more than held their own and so they should have been able to do it once he left.

The show started relying on a lot of topical humor and I think that always hurts because, for me, a lot of humor needs to be timeless, not references to Jennifer Aniston's hair, Fabio, or the Clintons. It just doesn't work as well.

Lily was a horrible addition to the show because even though I thought the kid was cute, the writers relied too much on her. The kid is that traditional sitcom tool for when writers get lazy. You can have a kid say anything and it's funny. Very lazy.

I liked the show better WITH Cody. They probably would have had him trying to break the world record in Disney World, instead they brought in that Flash character...briefly. Cody was much better.

As far as Rich and Dana, I liked it better when they insulted each other. Their relationship wasn't believable. I didn't see any chemistry.

I liked it with Cody, but I liked the later seasons too. I thought that Jean Luc kinda got in the way and wasn't really needed even though he was funny. I like it with Cody whenever he would sing the blues that was hilarious! :lol: I like when Rich was on there too. I thought they Dana and him were nice together. I like all the seasons pretty much. I like them alot more when they are older though.

So did I.One of my fav.episodes is where Dana is trapped at this bar full of mean guys and Cody comes to the rescue which Frank comes in to the rescue also

Dana:Cody,where did you learn how to do that?

Cody: Do what?
------------------------------
Cody:If could only know where I learned how to do that :lol:

That was on a few days ago. That's one of my favorites, too.

Yeah, I noticed that Cody wasn't as funny in his return. I agree that the writing quality overall dropped. Times had changed a bit, too. By 1998, his grunge, brainless rocker schtick wasn't exactly popular, so it was hard to really make the character work.

I feel the show went downhill after Cody left, though sometimes I think that's a coincidence. Cody shouldn't have been irreplacable. He had a lot of episodes about him, but the other characters more than held their own and so they should have been able to do it once he left.

The show started relying on a lot of topical humor and I think that always hurts because, for me, a lot of humor needs to be timeless, not references to Jennifer Aniston's hair, Fabio, or the Clintons. It just doesn't work as well.

Lily was a horrible addition to the show because even though I thought the kid was cute, the writers relied too much on her. The kid is that traditional sitcom tool for when writers get lazy. You can have a kid say anything and it's funny. Very lazy.


Obviously Cody was an integrel part of the show, and when he left, it lost something. But I disagree about the writing quality. Yes there were more than enough bad episodes that focused solely on Jean-Luc and/or Lilly. I can't even watch those ones because they're soooo bad... BUT on the other hand, they're are ALOT of season 6 & 7 episodes that have made me laugh so hard and I've watched a dozen times over.

In my honest opinion, Jean-Luc is the one that ruined the show. He was brought on when SBS was running it's last year on ABC, and I think those Season 6 unfunny JL episodes, paired with Cody being gone, are what made people stop watching. Season 7 was one of the best ones, I think, and it got the axe b/c it was moved to CBS and the ratings sucked. Which, in turn, was b/c the fans stopped watching. I even remember myself LOVING SBS and watching dilligently on friday nights. Then when I've rewatched it on ABCFam, I realized I hadn't seen half of season 5 and all of 6 & 7. That's when I stopped watching during it's original run....

And now I will stop b/c I've written a novel. :)

Guys,

I HATED Jean Luc! I forgot, what was the storyline with regards to why he became a character on the show? Many times, his French accent was very hard to understand. I found him neither a strong contributer to the show, nor funny.

Lily was just ok. Too unbelievable that Dana and Rich would get to like each other, let alone establish a romantic relationship!

I thought JT was so cool! He became even funnier as the series wore on. Rich was OK. Cody was funny in the beginning, but his goofball image had worn thin by the later seasons. When they tried to make him this "serious character", it didn't work.

Jack

I didn't mind JL (OK, in some epizodes he was terrible and annoying, but in most he was funny and OK). I think that SBS has changed since 5th season (season 5 since its second half was MUCH different from earlier epizodes and seasons, and following 6th and 7th season were keeping the changed style. It's not worse, it's just different, but what I'm sure, it didn't match everyone's taste. I like seasons 1-4 most though.

Obviously Cody was an integrel part of the show, and when he left, it lost something. But I disagree about the writing quality. Yes there were more than enough bad episodes that focused solely on Jean-Luc and/or Lilly. I can't even watch those ones because they're soooo bad... BUT on the other hand, they're are ALOT of season 6 & 7 episodes that have made me laugh so hard and I've watched a dozen times over.

In my honest opinion, Jean-Luc is the one that ruined the show. He was brought on when SBS was running it's last year on ABC, and I think those Season 6 unfunny JL episodes, paired with Cody being gone, are what made people stop watching. Season 7 was one of the best ones, I think, and it got the axe b/c it was moved to CBS and the ratings sucked. Which, in turn, was b/c the fans stopped watching. I even remember myself LOVING SBS and watching dilligently on friday nights. Then when I've rewatched it on ABCFam, I realized I hadn't seen half of season 5 and all of 6 & 7. That's when I stopped watching during it's original run....

And now I will stop b/c I've written a novel. :)

I wonder why ABC held off airing Season 6 (the last season on TGIF before moving over to CBS) until March of 1997 and then, proceeding to air them out of order. For example, the last episode that ABC aired is chronologically, the first of Season 6, since we're first introduced to Jean-Luc and are given an explaination behind Cody's absence.

Watching these episodes on the Hub together, I immediately assumed (without going online to look it up) that the episodes were originally aired on ABC out of order. I say this because I've noticed that Patrick Duffy was sporting a much shorter haircut in some episodes (namely at the very start and end), while he grew it back out (like in the previous seasons) in others.

I wonder why ABC held off airing Season 6 (the last season on TGIF before moving over to CBS) until March of 1997 and then, proceeding to air them out of order. For example, the last episode that ABC aired is chronologically, the first of Season 6, since we're first introduced to Jean-Luc and are given an explaination behind Cody's absence.

Watching these episodes on the Hub together, I immediately assumed (without going online to look it up) that the episodes were originally aired on ABC out of order. I say this because I've noticed that Patrick Duffy was sporting a much shorter haircut in some episodes (namely at the very start and end), while he grew it back out (like in the previous seasons) in others.I think Disney might have been trying to sweep it under the rug because of the whole Sasha Mitchell issue. They certainly tried hard to detract attention from it in season 6, I don't even remember them hyping Jean-Luc at the time.

I don't know if it's true, but SBS was certainly not given much attention in the sixth season by ABC which lead to that quiet cancellation.

To me, it was still worth watching, but in my opinion, it lost a lot of its charm with Cody gone. :( :( :(

God bless you always!!! :) :) :)

Holly

The Cody character was dopey and always felt kind of unnecessary... until he was gone, and then it was clear he had been an important part of the show.

The 'zany' characters brought in to replace him, Flash and the French dude, never really worked.

I wonder why ABC held off airing Season 6 (the last season on TGIF before moving over to CBS) until March of 1997 and then, proceeding to air them out of order. For example, the last episode that ABC aired is chronologically, the first of Season 6, since we're first introduced to Jean-Luc and are given an explaination behind Cody's absence.

Watching these episodes on the Hub together, I immediately assumed (without going online to look it up) that the episodes were originally aired on ABC out of order. I say this because I've noticed that Patrick Duffy was sporting a much shorter haircut in some episodes (namely at the very start and end), while he grew it back out (like in the previous seasons) in others.

Everyone had assumed all these years, myself included that at the end of the '97 season ABC had quietly cancelled both shows. However, we've learned in the past few years that's not quite what happened. At that point for many years both CBS and yes even NBC were badly wanting their own TGIF block hoping fir the same success that ABC had. NBC was looking at ideas, CBS had already begun development on their Friday Night Block Party. They had ideas for shows but really wanted two big shows to anchor it. At that point, ABC wanted to give both SBS and FM 2 year renewals so that way they could end their series runs with BMW. Then, they wanted just 1 year renewals. After that they flip flopped between 1 and 2 years. Ultimately they couldn't decide if they wanted either show anymore at all. Then came the quiet cancellations.

After the shows were completely cancelled, Les Moonves finally found the two big anchor shows he'd wanted for his Friday night block, and immediately picked up both. He said at the Upfronts in '97 he was very proud and excited to have gotten both shows. I remember that was the first time he'd announced that and everyone was very surprised. He said he was wanting to give both shows at least 2 more years on CBS but we all know how that turned out :( that same day he announced the other two shows he picked up for the block. Bronson Pinchot in his big return to TV in Meego, and Gregory Hines try at a sitcom in The Gregory Hines Show-which was actually a really fun little show from what I remember. It seemed like Gregory enjoyed it and I'm glad he did that for us before he passed away.

I just thought people would be interested in the real story behind both shows ABC cancellations.

I didn't mind JL (OK, in some epizodes he was terrible and annoying, but in most he was funny and OK). I think that SBS has changed since 5th season (season 5 since its second half was MUCH different from earlier epizodes and seasons, and following 6th and 7th season were keeping the changed style. It's not worse, it's just different, but what I'm sure, it didn't match everyone's taste. I like seasons 1-4 most though.


I am actually more partial to the later episodes. I like some of season four and enjoyed seasons five through seven. The kids were older and more attractive. They were getting along more and had each other's backs. They did more things together. I like the addition of Lily and Jean Luc. Dana and Rich were good together. I like the fact that the writers put them together. It was a good contrast that made for good comedy and romance as well. The Lambert kids were more tolerable in the later seasons to me.

I also love how the last two seasons looked and sounded from a cinematic POV. The music beats: I loved how the rock and roll sound was used during scene transitions and at the beginning of the opening scenes of the show when the family is around celebrating Lily's birthday. Loved that. The set and lighting was different with a slight, intimate, modern gothic (just a little) Plus, those girls looked good (Dana, Karen, Al). They were very nice eye candy with Dana with the Platinum Blonde, short hair, Karen with her beautiful long, brunette locks with her various styles and Al had peaked the previous season so Al was on point this season. Other eye candy was the Lily, an adorable little funny child who had great, comedic timing. The set as I mention previously was great eye candy. Eye Candy couples were Dana and Rich along with JT and Sam. I loved how the siblings found romance and we get to see other sides of them. Dana was still icy but even more fun at times when he got together with Rich. Good move IMO. JT, we get to see a deeper side of him with Samantha. I think that she was just his speed.

These kids grew up and bonded more when appealed to me as a viewer. I almost hated seeing them at each others throats during the first four seasons. The oldest four sharing a car, hanging out at Rockfest and ragging each other in good fun like when Karen overkilled on Botox and Al tried to get JT and Dana to go easy on Karen but then JT's wisecracks started which got Al and Dana to laughing. Liked seeing JT and Mark going bowling together and the siblings laughing and abandoning JT when he is stuck in the hotdog costume and is about "to blow". Al, who used to look up to her brother began to get annoyed and disgusted by JT's antics (much like Dana) and would not want to acknowledge that they were siblings out of embarrassment. See, these are my favorite episodes.

The downside was that since the show was going into this direction, it meant youngest Foster Mark got less airtime as he was separate from his older siblings and growing slightly out of the nerd shtick and youngest Lambert Brendan was gone altogether. He was not given much to do during the first five seasons but was almost out of the picture in season six and gone by season seven he was out for the count. It seemed as though he was being portrayed as a "Jughead" type in season six which I was ok with. He was starting to get some personality at age 13 and had some comic relief with a scene where his little sister had him in a tutu or dress at the end of one episode. It's too bad they couldn't keep him. I think Mark stuck around because he had a branded, bookworm, nerdy but loveable image. He didn't do very much during the last season but I think he did enough during season six to remain. I think that if the show had an eighth season, it is possible that Mark would have graduated a year early and went to an out of state college if he were to be written off. Whew! I know I said a lot but that is my 22 cents. LOL.

Having Cody dropped from Step by Step, was just as bad as if Steve Urkel would have been dropped from Family Matters. Sure I can see the show going on without Urkel, but it would have sucked big time just like SBS did during its last few years.

i really wish i could watch the last episode where Cody comes back

^^^ Actually the episode when Cody came back was not the final. The next episode after that one was the final.

God bless you always!!! :) :) :)

Holly

P.S. In case you never saw the final, it was when the family comes close to selling their home, which in my opinion was too much like the Full House episode when that Bond man made the Tanners an offer for their home at the end of season 7. Michelle is the reason why they never left. Well Lily is the reason why the Lamberts/Fosters do not go anywhere either.

i hated how they ended up selling their homes on Fresh Prince and Blossom finales

i'd rather see Cody's last episode lol

In case you never saw the final, it was when the family comes close to selling their home, which in my opinion was too much like the Full House episode when that Bond man made the Tanners an offer for their home at the end of season 7. Michelle is the reason why they never left. Well Lily is the reason why the Lamberts/Fosters do not go anywhere either.

Step By Step copied other shows quite a bit.

I remember thinking when it first premiered that it really was just an updated version of The Brady Bunch.

Dana and Rich's first kiss was an obvious ripoff of a very famous Cheers scene.

JT's World is probably the most tired, lame spoof that I've ever witnessed in my whole life.

That JT's world was kinda lame but still fun and cheesy. LOL.

That JT's world was kinda lame but still fun and cheesy. LOL.


yeah I liked it but it was very predictable. Not exactly DVD material (for christ sakes you can pick SIX episodes out of over 150 and you chose that one?)

I have to say that the show wasn't as funny as Cody had to leave.

Dana and Rich actually worked rather well for me, even though you would think that they didn't belong together at all.

I have to say that the show wasn't as funny as Cody had to leave.

Dana and Rich actually worked rather well for me, even though you would think that they didn't belong together at all.


yeah, that made it such a hilarious relationship since it sickened JT so much :cool:

Was it ever explained onscreen why Cody and Flash left?

I liked season 6 and 7 but not as much as seasons 1-5. My biggest gripes about seasons 6 & 7 are how they threw Miracle-Gro on Lilly in season 6 and how Brendan goes missing in season 7.

When Cody didn't return for season six, he was written off as going to Russia. Frank was on the phone with him in one of the earlier episodes as he was ironing in the living room. He had a lot going on in the house and had to let Cody off the call. Flash? I have not answer.

When Cody didn't return for season six, he was written off as going to Russia. Frank was on the phone with him in one of the earlier episodes as he was ironing in the living room. He had a lot going on in the house and had to let Cody off the call. Flash? I have not answer.
At least Cody didn't just magically vanish like Brendan.

These later seasons felt like unnecessary add-ons. The show was already over thematically but somebody kept giving the green light. SBS lost its 90s vibe with Cody's absence, the kids all got along mostly, the marriage between Frank and Carol was clearly cemented, Brendan disappeared and Mark went into the background. The show just kind of lost its identity from being a situational comedy to just a bunch of young adults living at home with no real conflict to develop anyone.

I loved the show, but my favorite seasons were actually the last 3.

I really liked the storylines centered on Dana, Karen, JT and Al - LOVED the one where Al was inadvertently put in a commercial for a phone sex line!!

I loved Cody, and did not like Jean Luc - his storylines were just so stupid.