View Full Version : Was Janine Turner "too attractive" to play June Cleaver in the 1997 movie?


TMC
07-16-2016, 03:12 AM
I'm not saying that the original June Cleaver, Barbara Billingsley wasn't an attractive woman in her own right during her youthful "prime", but Janine, w/ her supermodel/centerfold/beauty pageant contestant like looks really took the MILF vibe to the extreme (https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/4rhdcd/what_actors_were_too_attractive_for_the_role/) here.

http://www.janineturner.net/pics/Current%20projects/litb_lg.jpg

Dennman
07-17-2016, 02:14 PM
That's debatable. I've always seen Turner as a brunette, so to me it just looks like they tried to give her a trendy '90s version of a June Cleaver look.
I really think the film would have worked better had not so much emphasis been on updating it to 1997. It didn't need that and to me, the film is far more dated now than the show. A lot of the themes on LITB remain universally relevant, so they could have just told a solid LITB story, and not worry about the updating. We might have had a June Cleaver that looked more natural.

TMC
11-01-2017, 11:32 PM
That's debatable. I've always seen Turner as a brunette, so to me it just looks like they tried to give her a trendy '90s version of a June Cleaver look.
I really think the film would have worked better had not so much emphasis been on updating it to 1997. It didn't need that and to me, the film is far more dated now than the show. A lot of the themes on LITB remain universally relevant, so they could have just told a solid LITB story, and not worry about the updating. We might have had a June Cleaver that looked more natural.

I could've sworn that Janine Turner was in the running to play Betty Rubble (https://www.google.com/search?q=janine+turner+betty+rubble&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4iKfF-Z7XAhUF1oMKHYrKDbQQ_AUICSgA&biw=1600&bih=794&dpr=1) in the 1994 live-action Flintstones movie but she of course lost out to Rosie O'Donnell (who many people contend was woefully miscast).

https://www.wbkidsgo.com/Portals/4/Images/Content/Characters/The%20Flintstones/Character%20Art/characterArt_FL_Betty.png

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/32/f0/bd/32f0bd3fac298abc91637b6f7d83572b--janine-turner-short-haircuts.jpg

Scrabjan1
11-02-2017, 09:13 AM
I hated all remakes of old TV shows. Brady Bunch Movie, LITB, Beverly Hillbillies etc.

jehobden
11-14-2017, 08:18 PM
I didn't think this so much about Janine Turner, but I thought Christopher McDonald was badly miscast as Ward in the movie. He was too scary-looking to me to be Ward. He worked better for me as an antagonist.

stevea
11-14-2017, 09:39 PM
I hated all remakes of old TV shows. Brady Bunch Movie, LITB, Beverly Hillbillies etc.

As I recall Dennis the Menace and the Addams Family movies were lousy, also. When it comes to the originals they should leave well enough alone.

The Father Knows Best reunions had possibilities, but both were pretty poorly written, and badly filmed (they appeared to be videotaped, which is unheard of, even for a TV movie).