In my opinion, to say that Samantha was the tomboy of this series is on the same idea as saying that Jo was the tomboy of "Facts of Life". However, over in the "Facts of Life" section, there is a thread about how all of the main characters (including Jo) developed over the seasons. During the last couple of seasons, Jo would wear a skirt from time to time, get her hair styled and appear as a more feminine person in the eyes of the audience. Well, I would say that a similar thing happened on "Gimme a Break!". I thought that, in the first season, Samantha was at least as butch as Jo ever was. This carried over to her interest in sports and various other aspects of her life. However, as the seasons progressed she sprouted a chest, wore a dress from time to time and showed interest in dating and relationships with boys. However, as ladylike as she became, one thing that I never saw her do was carry a purse. If anyone here watches "Facts of Life", I would be very interested in hearing from you. I would like to know how you think that the development of Samantha measures up to the development of Jo. On top of that, if anyone has any thoughts as to why Samantha never crossed the line into purse-carrying, I would like to hear your ideas as well.

"Jo" definitely softened as time went on, but there was always something sort of masculine about her. On the other hand, "Samantha" really became a lady and nothing about her seemed masculine in the later years.

The Facts of Life was better than Gimme a Break. I like Gimme a Break, but they took it a step too far thinking they were a hybrid of Barney Miller, Hill Street Blues and The Jeffersons (Nell taking Florence's place). Like I said, I like the show but sometimes they went too far on ripping off better shows.

I'm pretty sure Smartboy's thread is about "Jo" vs. "Samantha." This isn't about which show was supposedly better. :confused: :crazy: :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure Smartboy's thread is about "Jo" vs. "Samantha." This isn't about which show was supposedly better. :confused: :crazy: :rolleyes:


Both this post and your earlier post on this thread showed a lot of interesting incite. I would really like to think you for your ideas. I am guessing that, the person who posted in the middle of your two just saw the two shows mentioned on the same thread and decided to offer his or her opinion on how the two compared. Who knows?

Both this post and your earlier post on this thread showed a lot of interesting incite. I would really like to think you for your ideas. I am guessing that, the person who posted in the middle of your two just saw the two shows mentioned on the same thread and decided to offer his or her opinion on how the two compared. Who knows?

Yeah, I saw Compare and Contrast and saw Samantha and Jo so I thought we were comparing the two shows. I like Jo better than Samantha, too. I like Gimme a Break, it's a good show, there are just so many I like better. And if it was trying to be like Facts of Life, it failed miserably.

Gimme a Break was mostly a copycat show of other shows, with little else to offer besides Nell herself. She, to me, was the best thing about Gimme a Break. Such a classy and funny lady.

I am very happy to have thought or a topic that people thought was worthy of a reply. It was nice to have a little interaction going for a short while. However, one thing that I would still be interested in peoples' points of view on is the fact that, throughout the series, Samantha never carried a purse. In the early seasons, this could be explained by her youth as well as her image as a tomboy. However, like we already stated, as time went on, she became quite ladylike and quite interested in boys. I would have thought that she would have felt that the right purse would have complemented her dress or would be a good place to store her makeup, hairbrush or whatever other devices she was using to make herself attractive to boys. Any thoughts anyone?

Even when Samantha was a tomboy, she always carried herself like a girl and then as time went on, she was much more lady like. Jo always seemed awkward in her mannerisms, the way she carried herself and even the way she walked. Jo always seemed boyish no matter how she dressed or anything she ever did. That never changed.

I am very happy to have thought or a topic that people thought was worthy of a reply. It was nice to have a little interaction going for a short while. However, one thing that I would still be interested in peoples' points of view on is the fact that, throughout the series, Samantha never carried a purse. In the early seasons, this could be explained by her youth as well as her image as a tomboy. However, like we already stated, as time went on, she became quite ladylike and quite interested in boys. I would have thought that she would have felt that the right purse would have complemented her dress or would be a good place to store her makeup, hairbrush or whatever other devices she was using to make herself attractive to boys. Any thoughts anyone?

Samantha was more boyish in her mannerisms than Jo ever was. I mean, if you think about it, Samantha was basically a copycat cut out of Jo.

^^^ Samantha never carried herself as boyish even when she was a "tomboy" so somebody saw something that nobody else did. "Jo" ALWAYS had manish/boyish/awkward mannerisms. Samantha did not.

P.S. IMO, Gimme A Break was a better sitcom than Facts Of Life.

Samantha was more boyish than Jo. Jo was also a much better written and portrayed character.

While it is true that "Jo" was a better written character, that does not diminish the fact that "Jo" was like a dude. Samantha never seemed boyish. Never. Some people just like to disagree with me no matter what.
Samantha was just a tomboy in the beginning, yet nothing about her was ever mannish. She always looked, sounded and conducted herself as a girl. And as she grew, she became a lady.
"Jo" never lost her masculine mannerisms. Samantha on the other hand never had any masculine mannerisms.

Samantha was much more of a "boy" than Jo. Jo dated guys, and acted much more feminine than Samantha did. I consider Jo a loose definition of a tomboy, and Samantha more like a wannabe boy. Watch the episode where she watches "Jaws" with Nell. Definitely acting more like a boy, who would be the only fans of that movie. Jo wouldn't be able to stand horror movies like that.

^^^ Samantha never carried herself as boyish even when she was a "tomboy" so somebody saw something that nobody else did. "Jo" ALWAYS had manish/boyish/awkward mannerisms. Samantha did not.

P.S. IMO, Gimme A Break was a better sitcom than Facts Of Life.


I am a little confused about what you mean when you say that Samantha was never masculine even when she was a tomboy. I do not understand how a girl can be a tomboy without being boyish or mannish. Please explain.

I am a little confused about what you mean when you say that Samantha was never masculine even when she was a tomboy. I do not understand how a girl can be a tomboy without being boyish or mannish. Please explain.
A female tomboy may like stuff like baseball and football or cars, typical stuff that a boy likes, but that does not mean that the girl has to carry herself like a dude. In other words, she still may walk like a girl and carry herself like a girl. So what are you saying now, because you are the one who now has me confused. You said yourself that Samantha was a tomboy, so are you also saying that Samantha was mannish? Please, you explain. :confused:

A female tomboy may like stuff like baseball and football or cars, typical stuff that a boy likes, but that does not mean that the girl has to carry herself like a dude. In other words, she still may walk like a girl and carry herself like a girl. So what are you saying now, because you are the one who now has me confused. You said yourself that Samantha was a tomboy, so are you also saying that Samantha was mannish? Please, you explain. :confused:


When I wrote that Samantha was a Tomboy, I meant that she was interested in sports and tended not to wear makeup or dress up or carry a purse. This was mainly in the first two seasons. By season three, she started to become more ladylike. The thing that confused me was you saying that although you agreed with me about the tomboy part, you did not think that she was ever masculine. The seemed like a conflict of interests when I first read it.

No, I don't think that "Samantha" was ever masculine. Just because some girls like "guy stuff", that does not make them masculine.

Samantha was more "masculine" than Jo. BUT Jo was a much better written character than Samantha. On Gimme a Break, honestly not a lot of them had probably acted before, and thus why sometimes the acting was lousy on the daughters' parts, because they didn't have experience, and probably realized it paid well enough for them to continue. Samantha was such a blatant ripoff of Jo it isn't even funny. Even some of the storylines were directly ripped from The Facts of Life' scriptbook, only with the names changed. Sad that they couldn't be ORIGINAL on this show, they had to resort to ripping off other (better) sitcoms.

No, I don't think that "Samantha" was ever masculine. Just because some girls like "guy stuff", that does not make them masculine.


I think I understand what you mean.

Samantha from GAB was absolutely nothing like Jo from FOL. I am bewildered as to how anyone can think that Samantha is a ripoff of Jo.

Samantha's personality:
Geeky
Nerdy
Ditzy
Naive
Childish
Spoiled

Jo's personality:
Street smart
Wise crackin'
Studious
Mechanical
not childish
not spoiled
not geeky or nerdy

Someone please explain how "Samantha is an obvious ripoff of Jo." because I certainly never saw it.

:crazy: :lol: :D

Samantha really had nowhere near as much character development and personality has her FOL counterpoint, Jo. They were both really tomboyish. Samantha also really gets on my nerves sometimes lol.

Samantha really had nowhere near as much character development and personality has her FOL counterpoint, Jo. They were both really tomboyish. Samantha also really gets on my nerves sometimes lol.


I agree that they were both tomboys. At least when they were first introduced. However, their situations were quite a bit different and there were also differences in their personalities.