I don't know if the story would have been as cute if Nancy was changed to a boy!! But I can see Max's point. Little girls will read stories about little girls or boys. Little boys not as likely to want to read a story about a girl! ;)

I used to LOVE Carolyn Haywood books when I was a kid!! She wrote a series of books on the adventures of a girl named Betsy, and also a series on a the adventures of a boy named Eddie! I liked both and read all the Betsy books and all the Eddie books. As did the other little girls my age ! ;) Now I remember boys my age that I knew that only wanted to read the Eddie books!! ;)


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My sister who happens to be named Betsy and I enjoyed the Betsy books and their lovely illustrations. Thanks for bringing back that memory.

Julie's story was cute enough but I don't know why the 2 sisters thought Max who seemed to be interested in toxic waste and electricity would want to be part of a children's book. He clearly didn't understand the lightness of the piece and took it way too literally. Frank L. Baum, he wasn't.

Furthermore Julie DEMANDED Max give up his job and threatened to leave him over it but in this episode acted like it was just a pipe dream of his and tore his head off about being irresponsible. He should have responded that it was all her idea in the first place.

Finally, this was Mack's last show and she looked like she had a terminal illness from all of her drug abuse. I am so glad she is doing well now and is helping others in that plight recover. Even though she looked so ill she STILL managed to pull off a credible performance despite slurring a few words here and there. It reminded me of Whitney Houston at the Michael Jackson concert, just skeletal. So hard to watch somebody suffering like that. Too bad they couldn't have the character just be referred to off screen instead of making her into a mother who would walk out on her family. I guess they felt it would make for good drama and with Dear Max and The Nearness of You, I suppose it did.

Yes! It was sad seeing Mack so bad and frail and knowing this was really it, the last show she would be a part of!!! And Max/Michael so good looking, chubby cheeked ,healthy looking!! It was like no way would he be into a skinny, drug addicted looking type woman!!!!!

Anna, looking back in hindsight , do you think they should have worked Mack's problem into the story with Julie? I mean at that point everyone knew what really was going on with Mack, from how she was looking so bad ,the tabloids and her being off the show than on again etc. Do you think maybe they should have had Julie have a problem with drugs, or perhaps be anorexic? This was a big topic back than with Karen Carpenter tragically dying of anorexia!!!Maybe the story line could be Julie developing an eating disorder after giving birth because she felt she gained WAY too much weight from the baby as to WHY she was SO skinny, and maybe some post partum depression or something and she had to go away and get help for that! Rather than her being made to just look like a selfish ,crazy b*tch abandoning her baby and husband who truly loved her!!!!!!!

What do you think, Anna?

I don't know if the story would have been as cute if Nancy was changed to a boy!! But I can see Max's point. Little girls will read stories about little girls or boys. Little boys not as likely to want to read a story about a girl! ;)

This is (oddly) true; that's why J.K. Rowling goes by her initials on the "Harry Potter" books, and not her actual name. The publishers advised her to use her non-gender-identifying initials because while girls will read books about both girls and boys, boys tend to only read books about boys, not girls.

boys tend to only read books about boys, not girls.

On a related note, I (a male) had a Hardy Boys book collection growing up. I did not have any Nancy Drew.

But should the giraffe be changed to a chipmunk? Or the compromise of a long necked chipmunk? LOL!!!

^ Lol! I did think the "Miss Nancypants" idea by Julie was cool. I don't care what people say, I am a fan of the Julie character. I think it's tragic she was ravaged by drugs at such a young age!

Julie was cool. I don't care what people say, I am a fan of the Julie character.

I'm with you. By far my second fave Cooper sister.

^ Lol! I did think the "Miss Nancypants" idea by Julie was cool. I don't care what people say, I am a fan of the Julie character. I think it's tragic she was ravaged by drugs at such a young age!


Agreed!!! I liked Julie too! Very sad she got so heavily into the drugs!! :(

It is! Sure she acts like a brat and everything, but she seemed like a great character to me

I thought Max looked way better without the beard IMO. The beard was ... fine ... but without he actually looks like a young man!

I thought Max looked way better without the beard IMO. The beard was ... fine ... but without he actually looks like a young man!


I usually LOVE beards on guys, and Max looked fine with the beard!!! ;) BUT!!!!!!! He is TOTAL hotness without the beard!!! I like being able to see more of his face! And his hair is so beautiful, dark and thick and just beautiful!!! Always was but it just looks even better after he no longer had the beard for some reason!!! ;)

He does look really good w/o his beard lol. I am a boy and I am straight lol btw I just thought he did look good without it

This drooling over fictional TV characters is unseemly. I would never do such a thing.

^ Obviously

Yes! It was sad seeing Mack so bad and frail and knowing this was really it, the last show she would be a part of!!! And Max/Michael so good looking, chubby cheeked ,healthy looking!! It was like no way would he be into a skinny, drug addicted looking type woman!!!!!

Anna, looking back in hindsight , do you think they should have worked Mack's problem into the story with Julie? I mean at that point everyone knew what really was going on with Mack, from how she was looking so bad ,the tabloids and her being off the show than on again etc. Do you think maybe they should have had Julie have a problem with drugs, or perhaps be anorexic? This was a big topic back than with Karen Carpenter tragically dying of anorexia!!!Maybe the story line could be Julie developing an eating disorder after giving birth because she felt she gained WAY too much weight from the baby as to WHY she was SO skinny, and maybe some post partum depression or something and she had to go away and get help for that! Rather than her being made to just look like a selfish ,crazy b*tch abandoning her baby and husband who truly loved her!!!!!!!

What do you think, Anna?

Hi Bonnie, I just watched Dear Max for the umpteenth time and I thought it was dealt with fairly well given the circumstances. I do think that referring to Julie as being anorexic or post partum would have been tricky to write for without Mack's actual presence, so her leaving suddenly made sense and great Emmy bait for the very talented ensemble specifically your lover man, Lembeck.:) However in the last show they could have had Max mention Julie as getting her head together and making plans to have visitations with the baby. Not that they should have gotten back together, necessarily but it made NO logical sense that Julie, who was shown as a loving, caring mother who made up bedtime stories for her child and who went to such trouble to give Baby Annie a gentle (if ridiculous) underwater birth, would express no love or concern for her baby all of a sudden. It didn't have to be an either/or situation. Julie could have shared custody with Max offscreen and continued on in her "doughnut training program" LOL. That last episode, borne out of frustration with the drug addicted but basically good soul, Mackenzie Phillips painted too bleak a picture for the character Julie, who despite her failings, loved her family too much to abandon them and especially her much wanted child like that just because she wasn't getting along with her husband. They punished the character through the actress who portrayed her and it just didn't ring true for me. Too harsh a sendoff for a basically goodhearted character.

The show pretty much sucked (for the lack of a better word) as Nick, Ginny, Alex and got horrible write offs. Mr. Connors probably got the best one of written off characters, with his lovely parting scene with Ms. Romano. Mr. Davenport however, just vanished into the air with no mention in the Amarillo arc.

BTW, was it you I saw on another board discussing the infamous gray sweatpants? LOL.:wave:

Episodes that focus on Julie usually aren't my favorites, this one is no exception.

Episodes that focus on Julie usually aren't my favorites, this one is no exception.

Pre-Max Julie is good. And before Bonnie drones my house, what I really mean is healthy, pre-drugs Julie.

Pre-Max Julie is good. And before Bonnie drones my house, what I really mean is healthy, pre-drugs Julie.

I'll agree that the earlier Julie episodes are better, I'd say seasons 1, 2, and 3 display Julie at her best before the drug problems really started kicking in. Mac isn't a bad actress. But I've never been a Julie fan, she was such a problem child, she seldom seemed happy and was usually complaining about one thing or another, didn't seem to know what she wants, giving Ann a hard time and often getting into trouble.

Hi Bonnie, I just watched Dear Max for the umpteenth time and I thought it was dealt with fairly well given the circumstances. I do think that referring to Julie as being anorexic or post partum would have been tricky to write for without Mack's actual presence, so her leaving suddenly made sense and great Emmy bait for the very talented ensemble specifically your lover man, Lembeck.:) However in the last show they could have had Max mention Julie as getting her head together and making plans to have visitations with the baby. Not that they should have gotten back together, necessarily but it made NO logical sense that Julie, who was shown as a loving, caring mother who made up bedtime stories for her child and who went to such trouble to give Baby Annie a gentle (if ridiculous) underwater birth, would express no love or concern for her baby all of a sudden. It didn't have to be an either/or situation. Julie could have shared custody with Max offscreen and continued on in her "doughnut training program" LOL. That last episode, borne out of frustration with the drug addicted but basically good soul, Mackenzie Phillips painted too bleak a picture for the character Julie, who despite her failings, loved her family too much to abandon them and especially her much wanted child like that just because she wasn't getting along with her husband. They punished the character through the actress who portrayed her and it just didn't ring true for me. Too harsh a sendoff for a basically goodhearted character.

The show pretty much sucked (for the lack of a better word) as Nick, Ginny, Alex and got horrible write offs. Mr. Connors probably got the best one of written off characters, with his lovely parting scene with Ms. Romano. Mr. Davenport however, just vanished into the air with no mention in the Amarillo arc.

BTW, was it you I saw on another board discussing the infamous gray sweatpants? LOL.:wave:


I just now saw this/ your post!!! LOL @ The gray sweatpants!!!!:wave: I have my eye out now on Mark!!! :eek: Hoping that ep will show up soon on a Saturday, where they randomly put on the eps out of order!!! Or else I have to wait another cycle to see his "endowment" in the infamous sweatpants!!!!( I'm so pervy) !!!:happyface :crazy: :lol: :D :eek:


LOL @ Donut training program!!! That was really lame explaining her absence from eps, cause she was out of town on a "donut training program"!!! The writers really were scratching their heads at that point coming up with random scenarios as to where Julie was!! :crazy: :D


But all in all it was sad what happened to Mack and the character of Julie!!:( Like you said in the last ep.it should have been mentioned that she was doing a lot better and really wanted to come see baby Annie and be part of her life . Even if her and Max weren't to get back together!!! ;)


And I'm getting ready in great anticipation for the "Nearness of you"!!! The infamous Max and Barbara kiss!!!!!! ;) It should be on Wed. or Thurs. I'm thinking? ;)

Just thought I'd bump this thread up too!!!!