When looking back on 8isE, one thing that strikes me is how underused was Mary Bradford (Lani O'Grady). Not only did she get the least lead scripts of anyone, but they were almost always serious ones (moving in with her boyfriend, running for school board, protesting against the ROTC, etc.). Why didn't they more funny/romantic/goofy storylines with her?

Well she was the older more studious Bradford sibling, so I guess they wanted to stay true to that. There were plenty more kids for the more fun storylines.

I guess it's difficult to write funny/romantic/goofy stories about someone in medical school who spends all her time studying!

Mary, as the studious and driven medical student, was one of the better characters on the show. It was nice to see a character with an objective that was significantly different than the other kids in the family. I found the Mary character close to the Abby character. Abby also had an interest in significant academic pursuits. Moreover, I always saw Mary as a third parent for someone like Nicholas. Lani O’Grady’s acting could also be quite exceptional. The work done in Letter to One Bradford was impressive.

Mary had more to do when Diana Hyland was absent due to illness and later when Tom was a widower. The episode "V is for Vivian" comes to mind - I think that was originally written for Joan to be the one disapproving of Auntie V's behavior, and when she wasn't around, that story was given to Mary.