"The Girls' School" - Dissection and Discussion

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

No; are you? You ask!

Sadly, she's never responded to me.

And yeah, it's nice that there were some lasting friendships. I remember seeing "behind-the-scenes" photos of the girls at birthday parties (Lisa's, maybe?), and I remember seeing at least Felice of the Lost Girls at one of them.

Yep! Mindy, Lisa, Julie Anne, and Melissa Gilbert attended Felice's 18th birthday party, which is pretty awesome.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Sadly, she's never responded to me.

Darn...maybe if you ask her to nicely? On behalf of the "Facts" community? lol

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yep! Mindy, Lisa, Julie Anne, and Melissa Gilbert attended Felice's 18th birthday party, which is pretty awesome.

Yes! That's it...and wow, look, it's 4 "Facts" girls! Just imagine what the show would have been like if this were the "Four Musketeers" under Edna's watch, on probation working in the cafeteria...Cindy, Natalie, Nancy, Blair. That would've been interesting.

Oh, and I should have added after my Nancy/Mrs. Garrett mock-up: "The comments of Edna Garrett do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Charlotte Rae, 'The Facts of Life', or Sony Television"

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Yes! That's it...and wow, look, it's 4 "Facts" girls! Just imagine what the show would have been like if this were the "Four Musketeers" under Edna's watch, on probation working in the cafeteria...Cindy, Natalie, Nancy, Blair. That would've been interesting.

It's hard to imagine FOL without Tootie, though. And Natalie would be a shell of her former self without her bestie! Not to mention Cindy without Sue Ann...

Splitting those girls up would be cruel.

Oh, and I should have added after my Nancy/Mrs. Garrett mock-up: "The comments of Edna Garrett do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Charlotte Rae, 'The Facts of Life', or Sony Television"

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It's hard to imagine FOL without Tootie, though. And Natalie would be a shell of her former self without her bestie! Not to mention Cindy without Sue Ann...

Splitting those girls up would be cruel.

Yeah it's not the foursome I would put together, I was just saying it would be interesting since we saw a photo featuring only those 4 girls (not counting Melissa Gilbert, I'm strictly talking "Facts" girls, lol).

Although, I do enjoy the little glimpses we get of Natalie and Cindy's friendship in season 1.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Yeah it's not the foursome I would put together, I was just saying it would be interesting since we saw a photo featuring only those 4 girls (not counting Melissa Gilbert, I'm strictly talking "Facts" girls, lol).

Oh, I understood you wouldn't necessarily put those four together. I do wonder what such a FOL would look like in that scenario: we saw Lisa, Kim, Mindy, and Nancy... and also Lisa, Kim, Julie, Molly and Felice, but never Julie Anne, Lisa, Mindy, and Felice.

Although, I do enjoy the little glimpses we get of Natalie and Cindy's friendship in season 1.

And Blair and Cindy's budding friendship, too!

['80sSitcoms]

I wonder where Jennifer, Laura, and Molly came from?

As RetroGuy2000 pointed out, these 3 characters have the same name as the actresses who play them. Coincidence? As a little boy I thought so when it came to Molly in season 1, but in this backdoor pilot, hardly, if 3 girls have characters with their same name, lol.

It makes you wonder why these girls had characters using their own names? It wasn't a last-minute "Oh, we need more girls---here, take these, just use their own names!" deal, because Molly was discovered by the show's casting director when she saw her in a production of "Annie". So the producers obviously had time to come up with a name for her. Did they already have a "Molly" character in mind, and it was an amazing coincidence this little girl's name was already Molly? Or was it something else?

It's interesting that Jennifer is kind of "the Nancy" of the backdoor pilot. A handful of lines, and she's just basically wallpaper for this episode. Maybe the producers realized she didn't offer much to the show (no offense Jennifer), and Laura barely had one line, so maybe that inspired them to come up with two new characters: the athletic tomboy, and then the sheer chance encounter of finding Mindy and adding her different look and personality into the mix. It's funny though how Kimberly even points them out as being friends of hers when she introduces them and future Lost Girls in that show to Mrs. Garrett, yet they fall by the wayside while Molly, Sue Ann, Blair, Tootie, and Nancy all have generous numbers of lines (obviously with Nancy being the focus of the episode).

And poor Leon didn't even get a closing credit!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I wonder where Jennifer, Laura, and Molly came from?

As RetroGuy2000 pointed out, these 3 characters have the same name as the actresses who play them. Coincidence? As a little boy I thought so when it came to Molly in season 1, but in this backdoor pilot, hardly, if 3 girls have characters with their same name, lol.

It makes you wonder why these girls had characters using their own names? It wasn't a last-minute "Oh, we need more girls---here, take these, just use their own names!" deal, because Molly was discovered by the show's casting director when she saw her in a production of "Annie". So the producers obviously had time to come up with a name for her. Did they already have a "Molly" character in mind, and it was an amazing coincidence this little girl's name was already Molly? Or was it something else?

I actually do believe it was a last-minute "take these three girls and just use their actual names"-type thing: this was the end of the DS season, they probably had very little time to put everything together. The show's producers even used a set from a recently-cancelled show, Co-Ed Fever, rather than build something new. Only Nancy's character was well developed, with the Blair role still developing, and Sue Ann's character being more of a dumb character. Molly was a "talker" more like Karen (Vanessa's friend) on The Cosby Show than the character she became.

There was no stage set, so they just rehearsed in the dorm set. The script was rough, and needed refining before NBC would agree to even a 4-episode tryout in the fall.

I suspect the producers of DS sent Eve Brandstein to check out plays in San Francisco and Boston to look for stage talent: Molly was spotted in "Annie" in San Francisco, and I believe Laura Shuman was spotted in "Cyrano" (or another 1970s play) in Boston, based on this info. No idea where Jennifer Rooney came from, but it's possible she was another play actress fill-in.

It's interesting that Jennifer is kind of "the Nancy" of the backdoor pilot. A handful of lines, and she's just basically wallpaper for this episode. Maybe the producers realized she didn't offer much to the show (no offense Jennifer), and Laura barely had one line, so maybe that inspired them to come up with two new characters: the athletic tomboy, and then the sheer chance encounter of finding Mindy and adding her different look and personality into the mix.

I think that's what happened: NBC looked at the pilot and said, "We need better characters. Fire those two Bea Arthurs!" (That's a Three's Company reference, BTW).

It's funny though how Kimberly even points them out as being friends of hers when she introduces them and future Lost Girls in that show to Mrs. Garrett, yet they fall by the wayside while Molly, Sue Ann, Blair, Tootie, and Nancy all have generous numbers of lines (obviously with Nancy being the focus of the episode).

Probably what happened is that seven girls were scripted, but partway through rehearsals, the producers saw some of the girls had more of what they wanted, and lines were hastily reassigned. Blair became a snob, etc. This left Jennifer and Laura with not much to say.

In the context of the show, it's really not even all that strange that Laura and Jennifer disappeared: they were friends of Kimberly, but we never even saw Kimberly after the pilot. But their disappearance really was a sign of things to come...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I actually do believe it was a last-minute "take these three girls and just use their actual names"-type thing

Could be, perhaps they had Eve scout for talent while they were still trying to hastily develop things. She did her part, but by the time all the paperwork had been signed, they were still trying to finalize things, lol...good theory.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Molly was a "talker" more like Karen (Vanessa's friend) on The Cosby Show than the character she became.

They retained that charter part of her character and showed it a few times in season 1, which I always love seeing, lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Laura Shuman was spotted in "Cyrano" (or another 1970s play) in Boston, based on this info.

She was? Wow...scouted out for her talent all for one line in a hurried moment! (I think it's "Thanks Mrs. Garrett!"---it's when the girls are piling up their costumes on her) She doesn't even get to ask Mrs. Garrett if she's seen her frog Leon, naive Sue Ann gets to ask that, lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Probably what happened is that seven girls were scripted, but partway through rehearsals, the producers saw some of the girls had more of what they wanted, and lines were hastily reassigned. Blair became a snob, etc. This left Jennifer and Laura with not much to say.

True, Blair's transformation did change everything; who knows?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

She was? Wow...scouted out for her talent all for one line in a hurried moment! (I think it's "Thanks Mrs. Garrett!"---it's when the girls are piling up their costumes on her) She doesn't even get to ask Mrs. Garrett if she's seen her frog Leon, naive Sue Ann gets to ask that, lol.

It's always possible that there was a different Laura Shuman who was working as an actress in the 1970s, but this is the only one I've found.

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I actually do believe it was a last-minute "take these three girls and just use their actual names"-type thing: this was the end of the DS season, they probably had very little time to put everything together. The show's producers even used a set from a recently-cancelled show, Co-Ed Fever, rather than build something new. Only Nancy's character was well developed, with the Blair role still developing, and Sue Ann's character being more of a dumb character. Molly was a "talker" more like Karen (Vanessa's friend) on The Cosby Show than the character she became.

There was no stage set, so they just rehearsed in the dorm set. The script was rough, and needed refining before NBC would agree to even a 4-episode tryout in the fall.

I suspect the producers of DS sent Eve Brandstein to check out plays in San Francisco and Boston to look for stage talent: Molly was spotted in "Annie" in San Francisco, and I believe Laura Shuman was spotted in "Cyrano" (or another 1970s play) in Boston, based on this info. No idea where Jennifer Rooney came from, but it's possible she was another play actress fill-in.




I think that's what happened: NBC looked at the pilot and said, "We need better characters. Fire those two Bea Arthurs!" (That's a Three's Company reference, BTW).



Probably what happened is that seven girls were scripted, but partway through rehearsals, the producers saw some of the girls had more of what they wanted, and lines were hastily reassigned. Blair became a snob, etc. This left Jennifer and Laura with not much to say.

In the context of the show, it's really not even all that strange that Laura and Jennifer disappeared: they were friends of Kimberly, but we never even saw Kimberly after the pilot. But their disappearance really was a sign of things to come...

Wow this is fascinating! Great info. Two Bea Arthurs I saw the original pilots and they have a point.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Two Bea Arthurs I saw the original pilots and they have a point.

The TC pilots? You saw them?! Where!????

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

The TC pilots? You saw them?! Where!????

I think they were on Dailymotion

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

I think they were on Dailymotion

THANKS Lorimar!

*rushes off to see two Bea Arthurs in a TC pilot*

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I think that's what happened: NBC looked at the pilot and said, "We need better characters. Fire those two Bea Arthurs!" (That's a Three's Company reference, BTW).

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Two Bea Arthurs I saw the original pilots and they have a point.

I need to know the full context of this reference, because of course Bea Arthur was an amazing talent; but this makes it sound like it's insulting/demeaning to her? That doesn't add up, so I need to be clued in to the meaning behind the TC joke here, lol.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I need to know the full context of this reference, because of course Bea Arthur was an amazing talent; but this makes it sound like it's insulting/demeaning to her? That doesn't add up, so I need to be clued in to the meaning behind the TC joke here, lol.

It's pretty demeaning to poor Bea Arthur.

According to Joyce DeWitt, who co-produced the Three's Company "Unauthorized Story" (which is on YouTube), when the network suits at ABC saw the original pilots for Three's Company (which did not have Joyce or Suzanne), they hated the original two actresses, calling them "those two Bea Arthurs" (or something along those lines), in a very condescending tone.

So when I was discussing how Jennifer and Laura disappeared after the pilot, I mentioned "those two Bea Arthurs". Network execs are not known for their finesse.

But I do have to admit that Three's Company would have been very different with Maude and Dorothy in the place of Chrissy and Janet!