I mean, among the Keaton kids, she wasn't regarded as "pretty" like Justine Bateman (back on the old Jump the Shark site, many commenters were harsh on Tina's puberty phase) or the breakout star like Michael J. Fox. And once Andy was born and Brian Bosnall started playing the role, Jennifer was no longer the "cute" youngster in the family.

I saw that episode from the last season the other night on the Hub (fittingly on Earth Day) about Jennifer becoming obsessed w/ saving the environment. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it seemed like as Tina got older, the writers (they if you ask me, used Jennifer as an avatar to peddle their particular points of view about "protecting the environment") didn't really know what to do w/ her character. We all know that Mallory was kind of an airhead and fashion obsessed while Alex was the young money obsessed Republican. I mean, towards the end, Jennifer had pretty much outgrown her "tomboy" image/role.

I managed to catch that one too. It's the first time I watched in a long time and was disappointed of all the episodes that one aired on that particular night lol. It's not one of my favorites.

I never really thought about the actors on the show but she seems to be the most criticized out of the cast so I do feel a little bad for her. Not just this site but on others people criticize her looks, acting ability etc. I don't think she was that bad. I think she did a good job as Jennifer with what she was given.

I liked her more in the later episodes -strange I know, because most people think she got worse in the later episodes. But I found her annoying when during the earlier seasons and, even though she seemed to be wanting for storylines as she got older, I thought her acting abilities matured.

I do think the writers had a problem writing storylines for her as she got older. She was initially added in to meet the "cute kid" quotient that seemed to be the mainstay for most 80s sitcoms -i.e. Rudy on the Cosby Show et all -but then, as she got older, the producers felt the need to add in another cute kid so we got the new baby who was quickly advanced in age to where he could meet the cute kid quotient. So then they weren't sure what to do with her

Yes, I did feel bad for her. I thought she was doing fine in the first seasons, in which she has some eps devoted to her character, that, actually, are not bad at all. For instance in "The Fifth Wheel", where Jenifer feels neglected and tries to run away from home, she was pretty funny and engaging. She was not just the cute supporting child actor. Although even then, screewriters made her do things that were not always coherent with her character's persona. I guess that's why in "Cry Baby", from the third season, she looked plain unconvincing: you can't quite believe casual Jennifer is going madly jealous at her baby brother, and apparently Yothers could'nt believe it either and therefore acted ill at ease.
In the later seasons it just went worst and worst. She did have her high school stories, and boys stories but somehow we had seen that all before with Mallory. Some aspects of her characters just disappeared (like her anxiety over the parents' relationship, or her precocious cleverness) and she was not even the youngest anymore. Still, I like her character, she was a good sport, putting on some comic relief and funny one-liners. But she was hardly a major part of the series. For that, I regret they added a fourth child to the family.

Very true. I have been watching the reruns and she just seems bored in the role and delivers some very flat one liners. They took away her sharp wit and replaced it with a watered down and aloof valley girl persona.