In another thread we've mentioned some things you might not notice if someone didn't point them out. So I figured we could dedicate an entire thread to them. :D

The fact that you never see the lobby area where Marcy's desk is after she left or Benson's office as Budget Director after he became Lt Governor was mentioned.

I also mentioned the hall just outside the Governor's office. In the early episodes when Marcy was there, his office door opened straight into the lobby area. In later episodes, a hallway just outside his office was constructed.

I also just noticed the Governor's door. In early episodes, to enter the Governor's office, the door had to be pulled toward oneself. Later on it opened in the opposite direction with a push.

As I notice other things I'll post them. Feel free to post your own observations. (And yes, I watch this show way too much...:lol: )

I was wondering about those doors myself. The sets have doors that open both ways (i.e. some doors open away from the user and others towards).
I've never been in a place that had them coming toward me.

And who picked the color for the Benson's bathroom (lt. gov) -- what did he say it was? Pink? I'd have it changed too!

I was wondering about those doors myself. The sets have doors that open both ways (i.e. some doors open away from the user and others towards).
I've never been in a place that had them coming toward me.

And who picked the color for the Benson's bathroom (lt. gov) -- what did he say it was? Pink? I'd have it changed too!

He did say it was pink, didn't he? But I didn't see him ever having a pink bathroom.

You do remind me though, of another interesting observation. The bathroom in his Lt Governor's office. It showed up towards the end of the series to his right as he sat at his desk. It wasn't there when he first became Lt Governor!
And speaking of that bathroom, who would have a see-through window in a bathroom? Would you really want someone peeking in on you as you did your business? :lol:

Oh yeah, I also mentioned (in another thread) the Governor wearing his wedding band throughout much of the show's run despite being a widower, but it's appropriate for this thread. I imagine this was James Noble's real-life wedding band.

OK, this is the last bathroom-related message! However, I do have to say I liked the little bathroom downstairs. It was so cute.

Anyway…

I’ve been watching Season 1 eps and I have grown to appreciate Taylor. I had absolutely no memory of him being in the show (from when I was a kid), so discovering him has been nice. I wish he’d had a “farewell” episode though.

Taylor could be a real twit but he did have a certain "charm" to him at times. His laugh used to crack me up (not that you heard it that often!) and occasionally he'd have a pretty funny line.

I did prefer the Clayton character but here's an observation about Clayton. Did you notice that at the beginning of his employment at the mansion, he was especially cocky, confident, and often demanding to those below him in stature (Kraus, Marcy, and even Benson)? Then, as the show moved along and his career wasn't moving quite as well as he had hoped, he began to lose confidence and became more subservient to those around him, particularly Benson as he climbed the ladder. Recall the episode when Benson ran for Governor and Clayton said, "You are a winner, sir." Wow, Clayton calling Benson "sir"?! In the beginning, he would say things to Benson like, "Do I make myself clear?" (I thought they went a bit overboard in "The Bucks Stop Here" though, when they showed Clayton sucking his thumb after being reprimanded by his father. We know he fell from grace, but jeez!) :D

I was just watching "Jung At Heart" and I'm pretty sure the doctor's office used at the end of the episode is Benson's old Budget Director office. Looks pretty similar! :)

I do like Clayton, and his character was allowed to grow as the show continued, not always for the best, but always complicated. His relations with his father (“The Endicott Dynasty”) made me think his dad was rather disappointed in him, and from the son’s side, it was a constant trial to gain approval. Quite sad; I felt sorry for both.

The thumb sucking (pitiful as it was) paralleled with how he reacted in fear mode. His brother had to sing to him to soothe him as a boy (as he rocked and whimpered). And when Gene would finally lose his temper and yell at him, Clayton would *literally* cringe.

However, I was happy to see him with his Svetlana (“Secret Love”) -- finally some appreciative love in his life! Yet even here he treated her as a hidden treasure, unable to tell anyone of her; fear of losing her to someone worthier?

But at the end of that episode he also showed how he used to get his way with his father, crying, begging, and scaring people off with exaggerated emotion. And getting their contempt and disgust as well.

Clayton is complex, but the fact that he was -- at his core -- looking for love, makes me like him nonetheless.

I also been thinking about the Governor and the relations with*his* father, but that’s another story...

I was wondering about those doors myself. The sets have doors that open both ways (i.e. some doors open away from the user and others towards).
I've never been in a place that had them coming toward me.

I was just watching some of the early episodes and so far only in the episode "Power Play" does the door open toward you as you enter the Governor's office. Maybe it was just that 1 episode(?)

OK, finally noticed that Marcy's office had transformed into hallway. Maybe it was that part of the building that was so damaged in the earthquake; didn't the security guy say it had been in the gov's wing? It's been a while since I saw that ep.

Also noticed in "Secret Love" that the little signs with the senators' names had the names peeled off. Looked like only some adhesive remained, but nary a name.

Here's another thing I was thinking as I watched the episode "One Strike, You're Out": That dining room was so awesome-looking; why didn't they ever show it again? We mostly saw the kitchen and the living room in the mansion--I think they really should have focused a lot more on other areas of the mansion than they did. That dining room should have been in several episodes.

Agreed. We can only imagine they had various dinners there for special guests since the staff prefers the kitchen. I always think of the ep where Clayton was working on a train project and they wanted to have an dinner to sell the plan to the government people.

I also have a partiality for Katie's room b/c of the Pooh bear there, but it'd be hard to conduct business with those little chairs!

I also have a partiality for Katie's room b/c of the Pooh bear there, but it'd be hard to conduct business with those little chairs!

Yeah, the Governor ended up on his butt trying to get out of one of those chairs. :lol:

Taylor and Marcy were both very good dancers - I was impressed at how well Lewis Stadlen and Caroline McWilliams did the waltz in the kitchen. This of course was the episode where Benson, Marcy and Katie are trying to teach Kraus to dance before her big date with the butcher. Gov. Gatling and Taylor come in the kitchen and just join in the fun. :lol:

Did Taylor/Clayton, Pete, ANYONE have an office besides Gov. Gatling? You'd think in that huge house, there would be more office space. :lol:

Always watch where you're walking - you could trip over a bearskin rug at any time. :lol:

Did Taylor/Clayton, Pete, ANYONE have an office besides Gov. Gatling? You'd think in that huge house, there would be more office space. :lol:

From what has been mentioned in certain episodes, yes they all did have offices and I wish we could have seen them. That's also what I meant by my earlier post in this thread that I wish they would have shown more of the mansion. Especially since this show was a spinoff of Soap and if you saw that show at all, you know they must have shown a ton of different sets.

And not sure if I mentioned this, but in some episodes the Governor's office looks a lot smaller. That wall where his closet is seems a lot closer to his desk around Season 3; it's really weird.

The Governor’s office mutates apparently! :-D

For the others, I recall Clayton looking for Pete in his office, and I think Denise once had to go to Clayton’s to fill in for his secretary. Benson has his as Budget Director.

And of course, there’s that corner office Benson gets as Lt. Gov. I get the feeling that neither of the previous Lt. Governors had an office in the Mansion, though definitely at the Capital building.

Where Gene has another office…

……

OK, I’m out of office ideas!

Taylor and Marcy were both very good dancers - I was impressed at how well Lewis Stadlen and Caroline McWilliams did the waltz in the kitchen. This of course was the episode where Benson, Marcy and Katie are trying to teach Kraus to dance before her big date with the butcher. Gov. Gatling and Taylor come in the kitchen and just join in the fun. :lol:


All the actors (with the possible exception of Missy Gold--you couldn't tell from this scene) appeared to have pretty good dancing skills. And really, it doesn't surprise me because if you think about it, all these people came of age in a much different era; dancing was a regular social activity for young people until about the 70s from what I gather. (Well, when I say "dancing", I mean more like ballroom dancing, not disco...I think disco effectively killed the sophisticated dancing era!)

^ Not to mention (again, with the exception of Missy Gold) these were all stage actors. No doubt many of them also were in musicals and revues where they would have had to dance.

That's one reason why modern TV is so crappy. Back then, there were A LOT of stage-trained actors who made the transition to TV. Now it's just models and other hacks fouling up the airwaves. :mad:

What do you think those multi-color index/cue cards are for on the bulletin board in the kitchen? Could they be recipes?

What do you think those multi-color index/cue cards are for on the bulletin board in the kitchen? Could they be recipes?
Possibly - after all, Kraus had to cook one fancy dish after another for all those parties!

Whenever someone leaves the mansion, they seem to exit through the kitchen on the right-hand side of the screen. I wonder if that's supposed to lead to a side door, a back door, or the front door?

I think that heads toward the front part of the house, but a side/servant's door. In the episode "Power Play," they head towards the front by going away from us… (I guess that means my mental picture of the Mansion is backward).

"Front" would also go with "One Strike, You’re Out." Benson, Katie and Marcy looking out the window at the staff strikers. It would make more sense to picket out front instead of the back, no?

Still, my head still keeps thinking it’s the other way round. *We* the audience are the front!

Now, can anyone double-check on where Benson's Lt. Gov office is? B/c to me it seems to be a corner spot, yet the staff was also able to see people picketing from the balcony ("The Bookburner").

Not to mention Gene's office with his lovely view of the garden. I'd love to go walking out there. Apparently he can't see anything public, so perhaps his office is in back, for more privacy? He's got the best window though, surrounded by plants both inside and out. Are those inside plants his, I wonder? (Remembering that seed catalog).

Oh, boy, I'm getting a headache from all this figuring! Help!

+++

For the cue cards, I reckon they were notes on Mansion guests -- maybe with notes like Sen. XYZ doesn't eat fish/drink wine or whatever.

You're right, svt....I would like to see a layout of the place. Maybe we can create our own from our observations! :crazy:

You're right, svt....I would like to see a layout of the place. Maybe we can create our own from our observations! :crazy:
Good plan. ;)

I think that heads toward the front part of the house, but a side/servant's door. In the episode "Power Play," they head towards the front by going away from us… (I guess that means my mental picture of the Mansion is backward).

Mine was too, because when they go from the kitchen to the living room (as they do in "Power Play"), they make a right turn to head into the living room. I always thought it was a left. But you're right, it's because we are the audience and we think we're in front, but we're obviously in back! :crazy:

I'm surprised that swinging kitchen door never hit anyone. Oh wait, there was that one episode when Pete hits Clayton in the nose with the door. :lol:

Clayton always wore those glasses around his neck, yet you never see him wear them. Can anyone think of an occasion when he actually did? :confused:

I don't have easy access to the eps right now, but maybe the show where Kraus was on the Gov.'s telethon and got offered a recording contract? I recall Clayton reading the papers, but not if he was wearing his specs.
***
Episode #87 – Kraus Sings the Blues
***

Maybe he just needed them for that extremely small legalese!

I don't have easy access to the eps right now, but maybe the show where Kraus was on the Gov.'s telethon and got offered a recording contract? I recall Clayton reading the papers, but not if he was wearing his specs.
***
Episode #87 – Kraus Sings the Blues
***

Maybe he just needed them for that extremely small legalese!

That's possible...or there was the episode "Fools Gold" when he was reading the letter they found in the fireplace; I can't remember if he was wearing his glasses then or not.

It also occurred to me that we never see any sink in the kitchen. Where do you think it might be? :confused:

^ I think the sink is out of camera range - probably the spot where Kraus yells "I hear you!" and we can't see her. :lol:

^ I think the sink is out of camera range - probably the spot where Kraus yells "I hear you!" and we can't see her. :lol:

Yeah, maybe...or it might be on the other side; opposite the stove.

"Front" would also go with "One Strike, You’re Out." Benson, Katie and Marcy looking out the window at the staff strikers. It would make more sense to picket out front instead of the back, no?

Yes it would, however when Marcy is looking out that window, she says, "Look, you can see them picketing the back gate." Had she not said that, your theory would probably be correct. This sort of makes you wonder now, huh? :crazy:

Good catch. Maybe they were prohibited from picketing the front??

When the other picketers (from the book censoring/burning episode) were waving their signs, they could be seen from Benson's office. So were they in front, back, or side?

I am confused! Again!

There's always the possibility that Benson's office windows face the same direction as those kitchen windows, even though we don't seem to get that perception. We tend to think that the direction we're looking at stays constant but that's probably not the case because if it was, then we'd have to think that every room we're viewing, when we see windows in the back, that they're all facing west, east, etc, but that wouldn't make sense. If that was true, then the kitchen, the Governor's office, Katie's room, etc would all have to be in the same wing/in the same section of the mansion (north side, south side, etc), and the mansion is so big that's higly unlikely.

I'm not sure I explained that very well but I hope it makes some sense. :crazy:

Good catch. Maybe they were prohibited from picketing the front??

When the other picketers (from the book censoring/burning episode) were waving their signs, they could be seen from Benson's office. So were they in front, back, or side?

I am confused! Again!
Maybe Kraus talked the staff into picketing in that spot because she knew Benson (and everyone else in the house) spent a lot of time in that kitchen. They knew they would be seen (and heard) from there.

Why in the later season does Clayton keep referring himself as the budget director, (everyone then always says temporary budget director.lol), and he later wants and becomes the budget director? Would'nt that be a demotion since he was the governer's chief of staff?

Don't know if budget director would have been a step back for Clayton or not but for some reason I don't think he should have been entrusted with the state's money.

Remember what happened with the Bassett Hound. :snob: :dollar: :dollar:

Now that I've finally seen the last 2 seasons, I can jump in. ;>)

They also never said who took over as Chief of Staff for Clayton. Guess nobody did.

Why did the writers bother to give Clayton a "secret love," then never mention her again? By the time his dad visits with his fiancee, there's no Svetlana, no brother, and Clayton doesn't even mention taking flying lessons when he learns that the fiancee flew the private jet she and his dad arrived on.

Of course, continuity was a big problem on this show. Like the governor delivering a baby in season 1 ("Snowbound"), then forgetting he'd ever done it when Denise was in labor.

Not sure if it was mentioned, but, in "Marcys' Wedding"- when she tells Katie that Dan's daughter is going to be flower girl- her name is Sally. A wink to Caroline McWilliams' character on "Soap"? :)

Could be, because the name was old-fashioned even then. :>)