Ritchie was often obnoxious and annoying... in other words, all boy.

Would things have been better if he'd been a little girl in a pretty dress?

Ritchie was often obnoxious and annoying... in other words, all boy.

Would things have been better if he'd been a little girl in a pretty dress?

I didn't really care for Ritchie too much either. But if they made him a girl ( a Rachel) she might have been obnoxious too. Little girls can be just as bad as little boys!:D

This was never one of my favorite shows. IDK why? I love Dick van Dyke and I like Mary Tyler Moore, but never really got into this show too much!

I think Larry Matthews was the perfect compliment to the adult cast on TDVDS. Some of the storylines that they wrote for Ritchie (him learning bad words from his schoolmates, being bullied by a girl, being attacked by a woodpecker) wouldn't have worked as well or been as funny if the Petrie's had a daughter instead of a son!

I think at the time, it just would've been too weird for them to have a house together in suburbia and not have at least one child. Today it wouldn't be an issue.
But, in a world defined by the all-boy My Three Sons and Leave it to Beaver, Laura and Rob having a pretty little girl would have been a lot more subversive.

This was never one of my favorite shows. IDK why? I love Dick van Dyke and I like Mary Tyler Moore, but never really got into this show too much!

I feel exactly as you do. I love both Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, but I was never crazy about this show. I love The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and oddly, I even like Dick VD's long-forgotten 1970s show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, which I sometimes found LOL funny. And one of my very favorite movies growing up was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But this original series, I never found very funny. The only parts of this show I ever care to watch are the domestic scenes between Dick VD and MTM, and I actually do like Ritchie. But the scenes in the office, and the characters there, I don't care for. I didn't care for Sally or Buddy or Mel and never found their banter amusing. However, I loved Rose Marie on Hollywood Squares. She was one of my favorite celebrities on that show. And I loved Richard Deacon as Mr. Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver, but couldn't stand Mel Cooley. I'd probably feel the same about Morey Amsterdam, but I only know him from this show. I also didn't care for Jerry Van Dyke on this show, but like him in about everything else he's done. So I think maybe I get where you're coming from.

I think "To Rome With Love" was the only sixties sitcom with an all-girl tribe. It would have been a lot more interesting had Ritchie been, say, Penny Petrie.

I think the show worked well with a boy child. Some of the funniest scenes were when Rob had to parent from afar with Laura calling his office to report on Ritchie's latest misdeeds.

Their little man-to-man talks were priceless!

It was kind of unusual for a family from that time frame to have only one child. I had three siblings, all my friends had 3+ kids in their families. Guess I'm showing my age here!

I think it's important to remember that this show is partially autobiographical. Carl Reiner based the Petries on his own family. And Carl's (and Estelle's) oldest child was a son! (Rob Reiner)

I read somewhere that Dick hated Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. As for Richie, I took him in small doses. If Carl Reiner instructed Larry to play the part that way, you can't blame Larry. Sometimes the plot involving Richie I found rather dull. That Woodpecker episode didn't entertain me

I didn't really care for Ritchie too much either. But if they made him a girl ( a Rachel) she might have been obnoxious too. Little girls can be just as bad as little boys!:D

This was never one of my favorite shows. IDK why? I love Dick van Dyke and I like Mary Tyler Moore, but never really got into this show too much!

I'm not the biggest fan of the show. There are some really funny episodes, but I still haven't seen all of them, unlike other classics which I've watched over and over.

They didn't name too many kids named "Rachel" back then.

I think "To Rome With Love" was the only sixties sitcom with an all-girl tribe. It would have been a lot more interesting had Ritchie been, say, Penny Petrie.
Petticoat Junction had an all girl family as well! It's even hinted at in the theme song! "Lots of curves? You bet! Even more when you get, to the junction. Petticoat Junction!"

I'm sorry if i upset anyone. I just figured that it would be an interesting alternate history/counterfactual scenario to explore... the Petries having a little girl instead of a little boy.