Two unknown students in "Rough Housing"!

['80sSitcoms]

WOW! Somehow I've never registered this before; it must be because it's at the very start of season 1's first episode, so I'm immediately drawn into "our girls" as the show gets underway.

But check it out, there are two unknown students who are in this dorm at the beginning of the episode! As the show fades in you can barely see they have just descended the stairs, and then they immediately walk out the back door, allegedly never to be seen again, lol. Obviously we've seen them before as they are on camera, but I just never thought about them at all once they whisked themselves out of sight.

Perhaps they were to be thought of as two other girls living in that dorm, to give the impression it housed more girls than it eventually seemed? (i.e., 7, lol) Or perhaps they just wanted it to look like the campus was "all abuzz" getting everything ready for the Harvest Fair, so girls were going in and out everywhere to get things ready? But, they were seen having just come down from the stairs; fan speculation could create any number of reasons for their having been in the dorm, and having been upstairs. Maybe one was Nina Branch! Maybe one was Kedgie Barksdale! Maybe they were completely different girls! Maybe they were checking dorm attics for any extra materials they could use for the Harvest Fair. Maybe they were dropping off extra materials to girls' rooms at the dorms for them to decide what to use. The possibilities and reasons are endless...

The first two students seen in the season 1 dorm of the actual FOL series---fascinating!

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[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

WOW! Somehow I've never registered this before; it must be because it's at the very start of season 1's first episode, so I'm immediately drawn into "our girls" as the show gets underway.

But check it out, there are two unknown students who are in this dorm at the beginning of the episode! As the show fades in you can barely see they have just descended the stairs, and then they immediately walk out the back door, allegedly never to be seen again, lol. Obviously we've seen them before as they are on camera, but I just never thought about them at all once they whisked themselves out of sight.

Perhaps they were to be thought of as two other girls living in that dorm, to give the impression it housed more girls than it eventually seemed? (i.e., 7, lol) Or perhaps they just wanted it to look like the campus was "all abuzz" getting everything ready for the Harvest Fair, so girls were going in and out everywhere to get things ready? But, they were seen having just come down from the stairs; fan speculation could create any number of reasons for their having been in the dorm, and having been upstairs. Maybe one was Nina Branch! Maybe one was Kedgie Barksdale! Maybe they were completely different girls! Maybe they were checking dorm attics for any extra materials they could use for the Harvest Fair. Maybe they were dropping off extra materials to girls' rooms at the dorms for them to decide what to use. The possibilities and reasons are endless...

The first two students seen in the season 1 dorm of the actual FOL series---fascinating!

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GREAT catch! I will think of one as Nina Branch, and other could be... well, not Kedgie Barksdale, because Blair says she lives with Tumpy, and Tumpy lives in a different dorm.

Could these be students seen in the opening credits? And are there other girls in the dorm, which we somehow missed? Where we these girls during the flood, and Parents' Night?

More thoughts later...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

GREAT catch! I will think of one as Nina Branch, and other could be... well, not Kedgie Barksdale, because Blair says she lives with Tumpy, and Tumpy lives in a different dorm.

Yeah, it's strange trying to pinpoint Nina Branch; she is such an anomaly. Her father comes to this dorm for Parents' Night, leading one to believe she lives there. Nancy even says he's "Nina's father", not feeling the need to say Nina's last name, which adds to the naturalism of imagining Nina as living in that dorm. Yet, it's presented in most of the other season 1 episodes as this dorm only housing "our seven". How odd...

As for Kedgie, you could always say she started living here, and then moved into Tumpy's room later. If you wanted, just saying, lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Could these be students seen in the opening credits?

That thought floated through my mind as well! lol

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

And are there other girls in the dorm, which we somehow missed? Where we these girls during the flood, and Parents' Night?

I don't think any other girls appeared in this dorm in season 1. I could be wrong, though; after all, I didn't realize at all these two gals were here! lol

[RetroGuy2000]

This really is a game changer, '80s. Because now we know Mrs. G wasn't a housemother to just seven girls. There were at least nine girls, only some were more talkative than others.

We need to check the other episodes, when possible. I know the Sex Ed episode has girls, too, but they aren't in the dorm, so we can't count them.

And this plays into a theory I had.

The exterior shots show a building that is very symmetrical: same on the one side as it is on the other.

Since we see at least three upstairs dorm rooms which have entries on the right-hand side, we should also see at least three dorm rooms which have entries on the left-hand side. We only see Cindy and Sue Ann's room, meaning we never see two other rooms.

I suspect these other rooms housed Nina and her best friend, and possibly other students.

As you say, it's possible Kedgie moved, and that would explain why we don't see her (unless the girl on the bed is Kedgie), but there are too many variables for me to say for certain that that's Kedgie. I won't say it's 100% certain it's NOT her, though.

['80sSitcoms]

^---That's the thing; so many anomalies!

Oh, well...we don't have to (and probably can't!) pinpoint everything down, but it is fun exploring.

[RetroGuy2000]

Thinking about it more, I wonder if Nancy wasn't roommates with Nina. After all, Nancy is the one who introduces Nina's dad to Mr. Bradley.

In addition, Mr. Branch is introduced to Mrs. Garrett, as if it was important that he meet her. Why would that be, if Nina lived in another dorm? It's too bad Mr. Branch and Monica Warner didn't hit it off and get married; then we could have explored a Blair/Nina storyline!

So does Molly bunk with the girl who could possibly be Kedgie Barksdale, if Kedgie later moved into another dorm?

Do either of those girls resemble any of the girls seen in "The Girls' School"?


Also: I just noticed in LMLD, Edna asks Cindy to help her in the kitchen... but then Cindy doesn't do it, and heads upstairs instead! Naughty Cindy!

[Lorimar Television]

They might be 2 of the girls walking out of the dorm at the start of the intro.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Also: I just noticed in LMLD, Edna asks Cindy to help her in the kitchen... but then Cindy doesn't do it, and heads upstairs instead! Naughty Cindy!

lol, it seems like rather than "go upstairs instead" (because I thought you meant she immediately did), she outright ignores her by hanging around that common room with her friends for a bit, and then yeah she heads upstairs with 'em.

Did they ever get the cheese dip that night??

But she makes it up to Mrs. Garrett in "Flash Flood" by taking the initiative herself to take Chestnut around to the "back porch" and dry him off, lol.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

lol, it seems like rather than "go upstairs instead" (because I thought you meant she immediately did), she outright ignores her by hanging around that common room with her friends for a bit, and then yeah she heads upstairs with 'em.

Yeah, I kept thinking she would do it in a minute (as kids often do), but she didn't. She just stood there hanging out, and then went upstairs to change clothes.

Was this rebelliousness? Was this a chip on Cindy's shoulder? Or was this a mistake in the script? Did Julie Anne notice, and try to get the issue resolved? Did the producers decide to reduce her role because she was now "difficult"?

Did they ever get the cheese dip that night??

That is the most important question of all. Do we ever see dip in the common room?

But she makes it up to Mrs. Garrett in "Flash Flood" by taking the initiative herself to take Chestnut around to the "back porch" and dry him off, lol.

I think she was already on thin ice, going down into the basement during the flood!

This, coupled with the dip retrieval failure, led to Mrs. Garrett deciding to send her to the basement.. permanently!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Was this rebelliousness? Was this a chip on Cindy's shoulder?

A "chip" that would go well with cheese dip?

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Or was this a mistake in the script? Did Julie Anne notice, and try to get the issue resolved? Did the producers decide to reduce her role because she was now "difficult"?

Haha...you would think though that she would say to someone, "Mrs. Garrett tells Cindy to go get the cheese dip, but Cindy doesn't respond at all; no verbal answer, no stage direction, nothing! What does she do, what's her motivation?" lol

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I think she was already on thin ice, going down into the basement during the flood!

This, coupled with the dip retrieval failure, led to Mrs. Garrett deciding to send her to the basement.. permanently!

Hahaha!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

That is the most important question of all. Do we ever see dip in the common room?

We may never know! The couch blocks the table with the provisions, though you can see the big pot Prototype Monica brought out, and a smaller dish; perhaps this smaller dish may be said cheese dip??

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[RetroGuy2000]

Mrs. Garrett: Oh, there's the cheese dip I asked for twenty minutes ago!

Prototype Monica: We can all be happy, now that the cheese dip is at last here!

Blair: I love you again, Prototype Mother, since you're standing next to the delicious, but oh so late, cheese dip!

Creepy Stranger: I'll just leer over Blair's shoulder, ignoring the cheese dip entirely!

Miss Mahoney: What do I care about cheese dip?! I just discovered I've been canned!

Mr. Bradley: Dammit, I misspelled my name tag! Third time this week!

['80sSitcoms]

Ahhhhh,hahahahahaha! That is a perfect representation of the action!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Creepy Stranger: I'll just leer over Blair's shoulder, ignoring the cheese dip entirely!

Hahahaha! Somehow I skipped over him when I read your post, lol...poor man, I hope he's an unidentified father and not really Creepy Stranger!

And Sue Ann looks kinda like, "Hey ev'rybody! Cindy finally got the cheese dip!" lol

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Hahahaha! Somehow I skipped over him when I read your post, lol...poor man, I hope he's an unidentified father and not really Creepy Stranger!

I edited the post. I felt bad for leaving out CS, who is now wearing his best suit to the First Annual Eastland Parents' Night and Cheese Dip Extravaganza!

And Sue Ann looks kinda like, "Hey ev'rybody! Cindy finally got the cheese dip!" lol

Yep!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I edited the post. I felt bad for leaving out CS, who is now wearing his best suit to the First Annual Eastland Parents' Night and Cheese Dip Extravaganza!

lol, well, even though he's from a distance, I felt Creepy Stranger in the opening credits looked more "fit" than this guy (that's not a slam, just an observation, lol).