...should they have just written off the Lionel character until he could make his return? I hated the new Lionel. He was as funny as Jenny and that's not funny.

I don't know. I actually think I'm in the minority here because I didn't mind the new Lionel which is odd because I usually don't care for character replacements. Michael Evans was still the better one though.

Well, they needed SOMEONE to play Lionel, since the insults about Jennys parenthood were a large part of the show...I will say Lionel 2 was terrible...of course, the actors who played Jennys parents werent the same ones who played them on All in the Family, but no one seems to mind

Maybe they could have said he transferred to a College overseas. It was said before the second season started, that the producers/writers were just going to act like he never existed-lol Read this in the fall preview of 1975 Jet Magazine

Well, they needed SOMEONE to play Lionel, since the insults about Jennys parenthood were a large part of the show...I will say Lionel 2 was terrible...of course, the actors who played Jennys parents werent the same ones who played them on All in the Family, but no one seems to mind


They didn't need ANYBODY to play Lionel. Jenny was still going to be a part of the show with or without Lionel.

They didn't need ANYBODY to play Lionel. Jenny was still going to be a part of the show with or without Lionel.



Brian the Jenny character only existed because of her relationship with Lionel so if he was written off the actress would have lost her job-lol

Brian the Jenny character only existed because of her relationship with Lionel so if he was written off the actress would have lost her job-lol
She was still on after Mike Evans left the second time although she just guest starred. She was really a pretty boring character without Lionel.

She was still on after Mike Evans left the second time although she just guest starred. She was really a pretty boring character without Lionel.


Well she had gotten married to him by that time so it was ok for her to guest star. But if Mike Evans character was written off after season 1, Berlinda Tolbert would have defintely been told she was no longer needed

She was still the Willis' daughter.

She was still the Willis' daughter.


True but what reason would she have had to be in the Jeffersons APT? That's where most of the eps took place and if there was no Lionel then it wouldn't be any reason for her to be seen.

Believe me, I agree that she was useless without Lionel. I actually think she was useless with Lionel. lol I'm sure they could've given her a storyline. They gave one to Alan.

Jenny was the most disposable of all the regular characters, hands down. In any given season she is in 10 shows tops and in some seasons she is in only a couple, but they couldn't have just written Lionel out of the show after year 1 for all of the reasons posted above. Damon was nowhere near as memorable as Mike, but he wasn't so bad as some make him out to be. I'd much rather watch him than no Lionel at all.

When Mike came back the second time he drifted into the background again after a time. In season 7 he's only in a handful of shows. I remember watching the show on CBS in the early 80s. The first shows shown in the fall of 1981 are The Separation in which Lionel and Jenny split but get back together again. These airings were deceptive because they (esp. part 2) give very large roles to those characters but then right after that Mike quit the series and only appeared in one other episode that season.

This series was never the same without him. There's a show in year 9 called Change of A Dollar where the dollar on the wall of George's first store tells the tale of how Jefferson Cleaners opened. In flashback Louise has her old bun hairdo and George has an older hairstyle but there is absolutely no reference to them having a child.

Jenny was the most disposable of all the regular characters, hands down. In any given season she is in 10 shows tops and in some seasons she is in only a couple, but they couldn't have just written Lionel out of the show after year 1 for all of the reasons posted above. Damon was nowhere near as memorable as Mike, but he wasn't so bad as some make him out to be. I'd much rather watch him than no Lionel at all.

When Mike came back the second time he drifted into the background again after a time. In season 7 he's only in a handful of shows. I remember watching the show on CBS in the early 80s. The first shows shown in the fall of 1981 are The Separation in which Lionel and Jenny split but get back together again. These airings were deceptive because they (esp. part 2) give very large roles to those characters but then right after that Mike quit the series and only appeared in one other episode that season.

This series was never the same without him. There's a show in year 9 called Change of A Dollar where the dollar on the wall of George's first store tells the tale of how Jefferson Cleaners opened. In flashback Louise has her old bun hairdo and George has an older hairstyle but there is absolutely no reference to them having a child.



Was that the episode about Martin Luther King? Or was there another Flashback?

Was that the episode about Martin Luther King? Or was there another Flashback?
No. The First Store is the MLK show- Lionel is in that one. Change of A Dollar is from season 9. It won an emmy for tape editing, but it is a poor episode.

No. The First Store is the MLK show- Lionel is in that one. Change of A Dollar is from season 9. It won an emmy for tape editing, but it is a poor episode.


Emmy for TAPE EDITIG??-lol

Emmy for TAPE EDITIG??-lol


I guess things were getting really bad for the show at that point. :lol:

Emmy for TAPE EDITIG??-lol
Well some show has to win an emmy for tape editing. Really I can tolerate years 10 and 11, but year 9 is hard to sit through.

Well some show has to win an emmy for tape editing. Really I can tolerate years 10 and 11, but year 9 is hard to sit through.


I watched the ep last night when Bentley returned after being out two years