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Member
Forum Idol
Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
Posts: 124,387
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https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/
- Other Thoughts:
This show got much better when they stopped doing the "relevant issues."
Alex Karras and Emmanuel Lewis. Need I say more?
The producers could have made a big step for television history, and certainly for ABC's Friday night lineup, by making Jerry, Ma'am's secretary in the 1st season, gay. I mean, look at the show one time when he's on it. It certainly makes one wonder.
When Webster hit puberty, you could tell they were getting ready to end it all, which is generally a good idea.
Who can forget the chuckle by the ABC promo guy after announcing the next episode of "Webster...heh heh"?
I always liked this show. However, I didn't particularly care for Cousin Nicky; he was rather annoying.
Did anybody notice Emmanuel Lewis was 12 when "Webster" was first on the air? He looked half that age, but I should mention that he WAS 12.
When they moved out of the apartment. Was there ever an episode when little webster got trapped in all those stupid passages in that house? If there wasn't there should have been. Ben Vereen tap dancing with webster all the damned time was pretty dumb.
Webster jumped the shark when those two landlords joined the cast, and jumped back when they left.
I used to play "Is he or isn't he" with Jerry Silver, Ma'am's secretary.
Chuck Cunningham kidnapped Uncle Phillip.
Webster actually got better as the years progressed, especially when the hot tub broke and water fell in the kitchen.
When ABC pulled the plug and they did new episodes in first-run syndication, adding the expendable characters played by Corin Nemec and Mayim Bialik (yes, Mayim Bialik). The episodes without them are better.
I could stand Mayim Bialik, and I could stand Chad Allen, and I could stand that couple that sold hot tubs. But I could not stand Cousin Nicky. That's another comparison between this show and Diff'rent Strokes; Nicky did to this one what Sam McKinney did to DS. But at least they could get rid of Cousin Nicky without any bloodshed; when Sam got kidnapped, Mr. Drummond bothered to pay the ransom. I still love both shows, though.
Never jumped. Sure it's a Diff'rent Strokes clone, but I loved that little guy.
When they took Ma'am's ineptitude as a cook and didn't play it out until it got annoying.
Ben Vereen, as the diabetic. Next week richard pryor as an asthmatic.
Since day one, this was the most racist show in television history. A black pygmy is reluctantly adopted by a rich, older, white couple. Webster calls his new adopted mother "ma'am". All that's missing is him calling George "massa". Uncle Tom for the late seventies/early eighties.
Sure it was a 'Diff'rent Strokes rip off, but it good.
Remember the episode where Webster decided to run around in his 'birthday suit' with this other kid? They were running around naked singing 'Happy Birthday' to each other... that about killed it for me...
The episode when Webster's charming long-lost uncle reappears, and a circumspect Alex Karras surprises him needling in the bathroom: "Aha, I always knew you were a junkie!" As it turns out, the long-lost uncle was a diabetic.
Are you people crazy?! There's no way such a brilliant show could have ever jumped the shark. You've got a female character named "Ma'am" who has a crew cut, Alex Karras (he should've played the bike shop owner in the Different Strokes molestation episode), a house full of secret passages, and an annoying 27 year old black midget playing a 10 year old. How could this one miss?!
Never did! Webster is the bomb! He and Gary Coleman will destroy all who walk in their path!
I am appalled by the favorable comments on this show. This was a horrible show, (they ripped off Different Strokes for Christ sake), and I dont think I ever made it past the opening credits. If it wasnt for Head of the Class this would hands down be the ugliest cast ever assembled on a TV show.
Chaulk up another "New Kid in Town" wrecking a show. This time Corin Nemec as Cousin Nicky is the culprit. Webster was better as an only child.
I think this show was actually a trailblazer, of sorts. There was always that long-standing trend of blatantly ripping off and stupidizing half way decent shows (ie:'Maude'/ 'After Mash'/ 'Petticoat Junction,' etc.) But Webster may have been the very first show to blatantly rip off and stupidize a God-awful ****ty show. Paved the way for 'Saved By The Bell' and 'What's Happening'-type garbage. Jumped on the day this sewage seeped into the writers' polluted minds.
Episode 32. The Uh-Oh Feeling (1/25/85) Webster and his friends learn how to deal with a substitute teacher who is also a child molester. "So Webster, what did you learn in school today?" Uh-oh....
This show jumped TWICE. The first time was Day 1. Webster sleeps in a drawer. IN A DRAWER, people. And calls his mother "Ma'am". This show sucked from the get-go. But then, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. Enter season 2 when the family moves in with super-creepy Bill and Cassie Parker, a couple who had lost a child, and lived in eternal morose in a weird house with secret passageways. By the next episode, they had gone from morose to candy-sweet obnoxious. Before, we only had 2 annoying adults, now we have 4. And Webster rides the DUMBWAITER instead of taking the stairs. Pure excrement.
Webster was just an awful show from day one; the only reason it was even on was so that ABC could have some competition for Gary Coleman. The plots were really lame, and the acting--if you can call it that--was uninspired and just plain bad. I feel especially bad for Alex Karras; his career went from Blazing Saddles (YAY, MONGO!!) to this bucket o' chum.
This show was a wanna-be Diff'rent Strokes with just one kid. Any TV sitcom that has Alex Karras playing a major role is in trouble. (He has been better in feature films -"Blazing Saddles, "Porky's", "Against All Odds", etc ) Emmanuel Lewis is another one of those kids that are perpetually young. I think he had some medical condition like Gary Coleman that stunted his growth. Anyways, have you seen what Webster looks like now? He looks like an alien. Even Michael Jackson doesn't talk to him anymore.
First of how, I HATE when they try to make a kid cute by using baby talk. That's all Webster did, even when he got older Plus, they had to make sure they got a kid with that type of disease so he'd stay cute and cuddly for the entire run of the series. The problem is, the series sucked the entire time. This was especially true when they did the "A very special Webster." However, I did name my fantasy football team after Webster.
Webster jumped when they did the "Star Trek: Webster Clips" Episode (Guest starring Micheal Dorn as Worf). It was mainly a flashback episode where Emmanuel Lewis ends up on the bridge of the Enterprise D sharing screen time and banter with Worf. Totally sunk the show for me.
Ugh. I can't even begin to explain my hatred for this show! Why did he call his stepmom "Ma'am"? Was there ever a explanation?! And yet, I'm compelled to get online and discuss this terrible show. Does anyone remember the one where Webster got locked in one of the crazy secret passages up in the attic? It was behind a bookcase or something. I think it was a clip (flashback) episode perhaps. And then his stepdad found him by running an old football play, or maybe it was Ma'am, I'm not sure. Boy, good stuff.
Pardon my language, but cute sucks. I hate Alex Karras, I hate Susan Clark, and I while I don't really hate Emmanuel Lewis, he grates on me. Then the show added Eugene Roche and that lady from Soap (I think). Just attrocious. I can't believe I ever watched this show. That is perhaps why I am writing this message as some sort of therapy.
When Webster and pals walked in on webster's grandpa, who was the school janitor, dancing with a mop. Man, I **** you not-the old dude was slow-dancing with a damn mop! And there wasn't any music, unless you count the music in the old dude's head! actually, he wasn't webster's "real" grandfather, he was mr. popadopolis' father, which makes this all the more complex. but then the kids at school made quite a sport of webster and that's when this show jumped the shark for me.
Jumped when Webster's Grandpa turned out to be illiterate. That's right -- he couldn't read, but was fluent in both English and Greek. And, although he'd been in America some 50 odd years, he needed Webster to read street signs to him as he drove. Are you kidding? Apparently he had some weird memory problems, too, b/c once you've seen one stop sign you've seen them all. And how did he get a license in the first place? It's all water under the bridge, of course, seeing as he learned to read by the end of the episode.
I haven't seen this show since it was first run but I seem to recall one where Webster and his friends want to go to a wrestling match for his birthday but Ma'am instead plans to have them go to her friends opera performance instead. Webster is bummed when he finds out but after hearing the woman belt out a number, he is amazed and delighted with the cultural enlightenment he has just received. Even at 7, I knew what bull**** this was.
To explain why Webster called her "Ma'am"....there was an entire episode about this. She was hurt that he was being formal with her and thought he didn't love her. Typical sitcom confusion reigns. At the end, she asks him about it and he tells her that he calls her "Ma'am' because it's almost "Mom". Loving glances are exchanged, hugs follow, and the closing credits roll.
In a shameless attempt at a cross-promo, Frank Gifford was enlisted to appear as himself. The premise of the episode was that Alex Karras' character thought about returning to the NFL (wasn't he 50 years old when this show was on the air???)- but the Mr. Kathie Lee Gifford convinced him that it was a crazy idea.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the episode where Webster walks in on his parents Doing It, and they have to explain to him that Daddy was not hurting Mommy, etc. If only I could have washed my brain out w/ some abrasive cleanser. I was far too young to have my mind forced to contemplate those two going at it w/ "young" Webster looking on in horror.
I can't believe no one mentioned the episode about the fire! Webster left a rocket or some toy with a fuse burning in his closet. Later that night it set the whole apartment on fire. I was very young when it first aired, I think I cried because I was scared for Webster. ABC was cruel for doing that to kids. Looking back the show was pure crap with a dwarf playing a child and all the lameass rip-off plots from other crappy shows.
Webster calling that lady with the crew cut, "Ma'am" is what made the show jump the shark. What the hell was up with THAT? "MA'AM"? Whatever.
Definitely when Webster and George sneak into Madison Square Garden and hang out with Patrick Ewing. Webster can't hit a free throw because he's too damn small. He tries one last time and its the classic slo-mo shot that cuts to George's and Ewing's awestruck faces...SWOOSH!!! One point. Too bad everyone knows Webster could barely lift the ball let alone toss it into a metal cylinder 12 feet away and 10 feet high.
WEBSTER jumped in the episode that featured a football team singing and (ugh) rapping, "We Wear the Silver, We Wear the Black" as Lewis danced. It's bad enough that the show cloned the minstrel show DIFF'RENT STROKES, but this episode of the cloned show featured a song cloned from the Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle." I think the show was produced by Raelians.
To the poster who recalls the episode "Knock, Knock" less than fondly, I'd like to clarify a few things. Webster cut his finger one night, and when he went to get a Band-Aid, he passed by George and Katherine's room where, quite accidentally, he saw them both naked. He asked them about this the next day, and they explained to him that they were "playing" in their "birthday suits." Shortly afterward, Webster and his then best friend Charlene Chambers (a cute little black girl slightly taller than himself) were in his room when he suggested to her that they "play" similarly. This is how they came to be singing "Happy Birthday." George, Katherine and Mrs. Chambers heard them and looked in, looking very shocked indeed (I remember the commercial break came here). But the two kids were never actually "running around naked": as George clarified (after the commercial break), "He had his shirt off, and she had one shoe off." But that was bad enough for Mrs. Chambers, who wouldn't let Charlene play with Webster any more. Webster explained to George and Katherine that he and Charlene were only going to play as he'd seen them doing. He then told Jerry (I think that's who it was) about his predicament. Jerry was very sympathetic: he recalled a time when he and a girl had been caught in a similar situation by her mother (I think those two were considerably older though) -- he would have married the girl to keep from losing her. So it was with Webster: he offered to marry Charlene rather than lose *her*! Well, he didn't lose her, but unfortunately she never appeared in the series again. A pity too: she seemed rather nice.
Let's see here...Black midget orphan, taken in by a white family...Now, where have I heard this one before???
Susan Clark's early-'80s "spikey" hair-do was horrifying. Somewhere, Pee Wee from (the) Porky's (movies) is laughing his ass off. Webster original working-title was A Whole New Ball Game, then changed Then Came You, before deciding on the name Webster... much to the anger of the show's grown-up stars.
When you're a kid, you watch pretty much anything for a few episodes because the commercials tell you to. I didn't like it then, and it jumped the shark from its premise. First off, if you're going to rip off a successful television show, try to differentiate between "success" and "quality", and rip off one that had both. Not "Diffrent Strokes" for the love of God. When I watched the first episode, I remember wondering if you had to be a black dwarf to get a job in Hollywood anymore. At least Webster was cuter than Arnold, but ...ewww. It was creepy. It sailed over the snapping jaws of the shark on day one!
"WEBSTER was to "DIFFRENT STROKES" what "CRACKED" magazine was to "MAD"... (we all know and love Alfred E. Newman, but who even knows the name of that dumb blonde janitor kid)
Sylvester. Sylvester is the name of "Cracked" magazine's "dumb blond kid." Anyhoo, "Webster" jumped BEFORE Day One...it strapped on the skis the moment someone decided to reuse the "Diff'rent Strokes" formula with yet another preternaturally tiny black child being adopted by really rich, really white folks. This bizarre concept practically became a genre unto itself in the '80s.
All right people, listen up! I'm gonna clear up the whole Ma'am argument right now. In one ep Katherine asks Webster why he calls her Ma'am. She's affraid he doesn't like her. The truth is, to him, Ma'am sounds enough like Mom without being Mom. His birthmother who died n the car crash will always be Mom to him. But he wanted to call Katherine something that sounded like Mom.
First off, George demonstrated a clear bias against "theater folk" by assuming that Uncle Philip, just because he liked to break out in spontaneous tap routines from time to time, must be wrapped up in the dirty underworld of drugs. Second, there is a pretty big difference between the materials that a heroin addict uses to shoot up and the "kit" that a diabetic uses for insulin. Heroin addicts do not usually have their needles all nicely placed in leather kits with a blood testing machine, alcohol wipes, and paper strips. Also, diabetics do not usually have track marks like heroin addicts do (in fact, insulin is usually injected into the torso region). Any fool could tell the difference at a distance, let alone "catching" somebody in the act of supposedly shooting up. It was a stupid plot device that really didn't work. Even I realized that at the age of 10 when I watched the show.
I was watching Webster one time and he was walking and walked past a garbage can that was bigger than he was. I freaked out, how can someone be shorter than a garbage can? This show jumped the shark big time for me then. I could never watch it after being freaked out seeing how short webster really is.
A very special guest star appears and teaches Webster to play "My Country Tis of Thee" on the triangle. No, seriously. My country 'tis of thee.. "Ding." Sweet land of liberty.. "Ding."
Though I fear becoming a curmudgeon as I age, I recollect that Emanuel Lewis was born in 1968, which would have made him either 15 or 14 when the show made its debut, not 12, as one poster commented, and, perhaps more disturbingly, he would have been the best part of 20 by the final season. Though few clamor to become child stars, that could be attributed to hindsight being , of course 20/20 (not the show), I would not want to have been had a child star chiefly for the reason that the devil must be avaricious if people like Scot Baio sell their soles to him only to end up living most of their lives as epilogues, being asked constantly for autographs, and recognized everywhere. But EM has it worst, for he would be instantly recognizable even were it not it not for his role as Webster. If I were to sell my sole, I would hold out for a better deal than this-perhaps ex child stars do not know how to drive a hard bargain. Faking one's suicide is an ideal option, though this is becoming increasingly difficult. Fittingly enough, you could go to Australia and swim into the open ocean, and people would believe you had been eaten by sharks, though even with plastic surgery, and a new life as a goatherd in the Zagros mountains, another shepherd would probably still proclaim "Webster" (no, I don't know Persian for Webster). Were I a preacher, and not an atheist, I would pen the "Webster" sermon; the devil drives a hard bargain, though at least there are positions that command less notoriety, such as goatherd and microbiologist. Also, always being compared to 'crosstown rival' Garry Coleman must suck, and EM was, I believe from Southern Illinois-I wonder if anyone recognized his 'Harlem' accent as being off.
Uncle Phillip is a diabetic. I didn't like the character and I sure didn't like the episode. Could the characters in this episode be more ignorant.
The episode where Webster tells everyone at school his birthday is coming up when it isn't. Even Ma'am and George are fooled! This was a joke. Not only would any couple raising a child born in a place that keeps records HAVE those records, but we were shown in a flashback that George was AT THE HOSPITAL the day Webster was born!
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09-26-2013, 06:17 PM
Webster Boned the Fish When...
