Mentioned in the "Busted Pilots" thread is this little Charlotte Rae gem, the pilot of a planned US version of "Are You Being Served", which aired just after the end of the first season of Diff'rent Strokes. Charlotte replaces Molly Sugden in the role of Mrs. Slocombe (no p**** jokes in the US version).

7rry-zw1buo

Nice find. Didn't know about this show.

Nice find. Didn't know about this show.

Me, neither. It's crazy to think that if this show had been greenlit, we likely would have had no FOL!

Ha ha ha that was MRS G alright! (our 'feisty red haired' is simply the best!!!)

Me, neither. It's crazy to think that if this show had been greenlit, we likely would have had no FOL!

And likely no Molly Ringwald in those John Hughes movies.

And likely no Molly Ringwald in those John Hughes movies.
True. And no Mindy Cohn in anything, since Charlotte discovered her.

Nice find!
Thank God it didn't happen :lol::lol::lol: or we wouldn't have had The Facts of Life :lol:

But I think Charlotte, if this pilot became a series, would have continued her established role of Edna Garrett.

What you guys are basically saying, had CHARLOTTE being kept on 'Are you being served' she wouldn't have been able to continue with FOL????

I think like FOL FAN ITA: that our 'feisty red haired' would been able to handle both shows lol!

What you guys are basically saying, had CHARLOTTE being kept on 'Are you being served' she wouldn't have been able to continue with FOL????

I think like FOL FAN ITA: that our 'feisty red haired' would been able to handle both shows lol!

She would need a good lawyer to do both show since they were on different networks.

Wayne Knight (Newman on Seinfeld) did two shows at the same time. He also was Officer Don, Sally's boyfriend on Third Rock from the Sun. He played a nice guy there as opposed to NEWWMANN.

What you guys are basically saying, had CHARLOTTE being kept on 'Are you being served' she wouldn't have been able to continue with FOL????

I think like FOL FAN ITA: that our 'feisty red haired' would been able to handle both shows lol!

There's no way she could have done both shows and have done Diff'rent Strokes, as she did, as well.

In fact, in at least two video interviews, Charlotte states she had a contract with CBS, and had to get out of it in order to pursue work at NBC. Norman Lear bet her a nickel he could get her out of the CBS contract.

Oh, no. I didn't mean that. I was thinking, if this pilot became a series, Charlotte probably would have turned down that role and she would have continued to play Edna Garrett, since she was an established character at that point.

Oh, no. I didn't mean that. I was thinking, if this pilot became a series, Charlotte probably would have turned down that role and she would have continued to play Edna Garrett, since she was an established character at that point.

Yes. She was a regular character on DS, and was offered the starring role of FOL, with a guarantee of returning to DS if FOL didn't make it. Why would she give all that up to appear as an ensemble player on CBS?

And there's no way she could have appeared in about a dozen Season Two episodes of DS, thirteen Season One episodes of FOL, and appeared in a regular series for Beane's of Boston.

In any way, i'm surely glad CHARLOTTE left 'Are you being served': without her, FOL would have never been the same!!!! (she was the force of the show, and no BEVERLY ANN or anyone else could ever replace her!)

In any way, i'm surely glad CHARLOTTE left 'Are you being served': without her, FOL would have never been the same!!!! (she was the force of the show, and no BEVERLY ANN or anyone else could ever replace her!)

So true!

So true!





I'm really happy you agree with me Retro: you and i are among the few who are season 1 lovers!!!! (i just couldn't imagine what it would be like, not having MRS G first interaction with BLAIR on the pilot 'The girls school' either! No other pilot had so much impact on me lol!)

:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:

If Charlotte was not available for Facts of Life, I wonder if the similar "Dorothy" show at the time would have lasted more than 4 episodes?

I'm really happy you agree with me Retro: you and i are among the few who are season 1 lovers!!!! (i just couldn't imagine what it would be like, not having MRS G first interaction with BLAIR on the pilot 'The girls school' either! No other pilot had so much impact on me lol!)

:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
Oh yeah. For me, the pilot is the true root of the show; seeing not only Blair and Mrs. Garrett interact for the first time, but also Nancy's major storyline, feels like this was how the series was meant to be.

And yes, we do get plenty of Blair, Mrs. G, and Tootie, but this is before Natalie and Jo had even been conceived, so there are very different dynamics at play than what we saw in seasons 2-6; we've talked about how Blair is still the "bad girl", and how Sue Ann started off dumber, but one thing we've discussed a lot less is how this episode for the first time casts Mrs. Garrett in that "protector" role: here, she's got to find a way to save Nancy from being removed from the school, a plot we see reused later in "Overachieving", where Tootie's going to be removed from the school.

By casting Mrs. Garrett in that "protector" role, she immediately becomes the girls' surrogate mother: the one who will protect them from uncaring men: first Mr. Crocker, then Mr. Bradley, Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Branch, Mr. Harris, Mr. Parker, etc.

It's clear that from very early on, the producers knew that Mrs. Garrett would have to assume that motherly role; and it, in turn, gave entire generations of viewers (no matter what their backgrounds) a feeling of being mothered while watching the show.

In subsequent episodes, we saw Mrs. Garrett mother Cindy and Blair, Blair, Nancy and Sue Ann, Tootie, Blair, Sue Ann, Natalie, Sue Ann and Cindy, Molly, and Sue Ann and Blair. At that point, the original family dynamic came to an end, replaced by a slightly different scenario, with only the Core Four and Mrs. Garrett continuing forward.

In writing Mrs. Garrett as a protector, the writers guaranteed that the girls would need to go to Mrs. Garrett for advice, allowing viewers at home to learn the life lessons the girls are learning. After the sixth season, the format of "life lessons" was purged from the show, and Mrs. Garrett soon departed. It's not just the loss of Mrs. Garrett that changes the show irrecovably; it's the loss of the original format: Mrs. Garrett watching over her girls: first seven, and then four. By the end, she's just a woman in a purple scarf who flits in and out of the scene to deliver snacks. I'm not surprised Charlotte no longer found that role enjoyable anymore.

But here in the pilot episode, we see the show Charlotte was pitched: the show the producers intended, before network execs and new writers interfered with the magic of the series.

If Charlotte was not available for Facts of Life, I wonder if the similar "Dorothy" show at the time would have lasted more than 4 episodes?

That's a good question; my understanding is that Dorothy Loudon didn't like children, and was, according to the LA Times, quoted as saying "Never work with animals or children." Yet she appeared in Broadway in Annie, so who knows?

Oh yeah. For me, the pilot is the true root of the show; seeing not only Blair and Mrs. Garrett interact for the first time, but also Nancy's major storyline, feels like this was how the series was meant to be.

And yes, we do get plenty of Blair, Mrs. G, and Tootie, but this is before Natalie and Jo had even been conceived, so there are very different dynamics at play than what we saw in seasons 2-6; we've talked about how Blair is still the "bad girl", and how Sue Ann started off dumber, but one thing we've discussed a lot less is how this episode for the first time casts Mrs. Garrett in that "protector" role: here, she's got to find a way to save Nancy from being removed from the school, a plot we see reused later in "Overachieving", where Tootie's going to be removed from the school.

By casting Mrs. Garrett in that "protector" role, she immediately becomes the girls' surrogate mother: the one who will protect them from uncaring men: first Mr. Crocker, then Mr. Bradley, Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Branch, Mr. Harris, Mr. Parker, etc.

It's clear that from very early on, the producers knew that Mrs. Garrett would have to assume that motherly role; and it, in turn, gave entire generations of viewers (no matter what their backgrounds) a feeling of being mothered while watching the show.

In subsequent episodes, we saw Mrs. Garrett mother Cindy and Blair, Blair, Nancy and Sue Ann, Tootie, Blair, Sue Ann, Natalie, Sue Ann and Cindy, Molly, and Sue Ann and Blair. At that point, the original family dynamic came to an end, replaced by a slightly different scenario, with only the Core Four and Mrs. Garrett continuing forward.

In writing Mrs. Garrett as a protector, the writers guaranteed that the girls would need to go to Mrs. Garrett for advice, allowing viewers at home to learn the life lessons the girls are learning. After the sixth season, the format of "life lessons" was purged from the show, and Mrs. Garrett soon departed. It's not just the loss of Mrs. Garrett that changes the show irrecovably; it's the loss of the original format: Mrs. Garrett watching over her girls: first seven, and then four. By the end, she's just a woman in a purple scarf who flits in and out of the scene to deliver snacks. I'm not surprised Charlotte no longer found that role enjoyable anymore.

But here in the pilot episode, we see the show Charlotte was pitched: the show the producers intended, before network execs and new writers interfered with the magic of the series.




Wow! That was beautifully written Retro!!!!:eyes::eyes::eyes:

I understand what you mean by MRS G mothering each one of the girls (depending on the episode): on 'Rough Housing', she lectures BLAIR like a mother would to her oldest child, by reprimanding her for bullying her younger sister (in that case CINDY) and shames her for her behaviour.
On the next episode, 'Like mother, like daughter': MRS G takes BLAIR under her wings and becomes her mother figure.
On the 'dieting' episode, MRS G serves as a mother figure to SUE ANN; on 'Running', to both CINDY and SUE ANN;on 'Overachieving' to TOOTIE; on 'Adoption' to NATALIE; on 'Molly's holidays' to MOLLY, and of course on the pilot MRS G serves as a mother figure to NANCY!


Overall, our 'feisty red haired' became the surrogate mother to all those teenage girls, teaching them life lessons, but also nurturing them and being their confidante/friend until the very end.....

In fact, even after 15 years, at her Reunion with the '4 musketeers', they still called her MRS G! (the respect for their surrogate mother was still there in their adulthood lol!)

And yes, it is definitely clear on the pilot, that the writers had the intention on having MRS G become the 'protector', but also the teacher: during the pilot, she protects NANCY from the bad headmaster, and on the very first episode she molds BLAIR so much, that by the following episode she stops being the mean girl.

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

Wow! That was beautifully written Retro!!!!:eyes::eyes::eyes:

I understand what you mean by MRS G mothering each one of the girls (depending on the episode): on 'Rough Housing', she lectures BLAIR like a mother would to her oldest child, by reprimanding her for bullying her younger sister (in that case CINDY) and shames her for her behaviour.
On the next episode, 'Like mother, like daughter': MRS G takes BLAIR under her wings and becomes her mother figure.
On the 'dieting' episode, MRS G serves as a mother figure to SUE ANN; on 'Running', to both CINDY and SUE ANN;on 'Overachieving' to TOOTIE; on 'Adoption' to NATALIE; on 'Molly's holidays' to MOLLY, and of course on the pilot MRS G serves as a mother figure to NANCY!

Yep, that's it exactly.


Overall, our 'feisty red haired' became the surrogate mother to all those teenage girls, teaching them life lessons, but also nurturing them and being their confidante/friend until the very end.....

In fact, even after 15 years, at her Reunion with the '4 musketeers', they still called her MRS G! (the respect for their surrogate mother was still there in their adulthood lol!)

That's a good point: they weren't calling her "Edna" in the reunion; the respect they had for her was still evident, and even though I'm not really a fan of the Reunion, other than a couple of nice scenes, it's cool that they stuck to that continuity.


And yes, it is definitely clear on the pilot, that the writers had the intention on having MRS G become the 'protector', but also the teacher: during the pilot, she protects NANCY from the bad headmaster, and on the very first episode she molds BLAIR so much, that by the following episode she stops being the mean girl.


Yeah, it's clear Mrs. Garrett has caused Blair to grow up considerably. She's no longer "both of the nasty step-sisters"... although she could occasionally be one of them. :lol:

Yep, that's it exactly.



That's a good point: they weren't calling her "Edna" in the reunion; the respect they had for her was still evident, and even though I'm not really a fan of the Reunion, other than a couple of nice scenes, it's cool that they stuck to that continuity.



Yeah, it's clear Mrs. Garrett has caused Blair to grow up considerably. She's no longer "both of the nasty step-sisters"... although she could occasionally be one of them. :lol:




It's also interesting to know, that out of all her girls, BLAIR is the only one MRS G always insisted on acting maturely: she never told JO or any of the other older girls to grow up lol! (I guess it was because BLAIR could be mean sometimes, like on the episode 'kids can be cruel', when she laughs at the boy with acne).

So yes you're right: BLAIR did behave like the nasty step-sister (just like NANCY calls her on the pilot hee hee!) occasionally, but one look from MRS G was enough to shut her ha ha!

:nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono::nonono: