Why is Miss Jane so ... plain?

[Chocolate Moose]

It's like they're trying to make her unattractive with her plain wardrobe, hair and those hideous glasses.

Why

[PracTz]

Originally Posted by Chocolate Moose

It's like they're trying to make her unattractive with her plain wardrobe, hair and those hideous glasses.

Why

Maybe so no one would imagine Mr. Drysdale would possibly be having an affair with her despite all the time they spend together- least of all Mrs. Drysdale. Of course, the plainness also made her vain pursuits of Jethro just a bit more comically hopeless.

[Sherrie Anson]

plain girls get attention...

[stanwyckfan07]

Originally Posted by Chocolate Moose

It's like they're trying to make her unattractive with her plain wardrobe, hair and those hideous glasses.

Why

Why not?? She's supposed to be a spinster without a sex life - a classic man-hungry love-starved "old maid". It would have killed much of the humor of the character to make her more glamorous or fashionable.

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by stanwyckfan07

Why not?? She's supposed to be a spinster without a sex life - a classic man-hungry love-starved "old maid". It would have killed much of the humor of the character to make her more glamorous or fashionable.

I think she spent some time bird watching with Wally Cox ? He was more of her type ? !

My fav is when she dress's as a Playboy Bunny and instead of her filling out the top the material just sags down empty - very funny that the writers put that in there !

I get the impression that her true personality was like her character +- (?)

In real life she was a lesbian, who later ran for political office, and Buddy Ebsen went out of his way to say he did NOT support her candidacy !

[hifijohn]

Lets face it nancy wasn't very attractive, to begin with, the way they presented her fits her perfectly.

[stevea]

A perfect 24 X 24 X 24 (or maybe 26 X 3). We had a girl named Sandy in our school who would have also made a perfect Miss Jane.

Interesting about Ebsen--never knew that.

Yes she and Wally bird watched. And there was a a mixup where Dash Riprock thought Miss Jane was Elly May, which was eventually straightened out.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Chocolate Moose

It's like they're trying to make her unattractive with her plain wardrobe, hair and those hideous glasses.

Why

I've known similar set-ups in real life, and typically it's where the wife's family has the money and the husband takes on a homely secretary to appease the wife's jealousy.

Also, the role of Drysdale is of a man who suffers his own excess. You can't very well give him anything in his life to give him joy, or you derail the theme.