Eastland's Cafeteria: "No Holidays Allowed"

['80sSitcoms]

I was just thinking, I would really like to have seen holidays at Eastland while the girls lived over the cafeteria. Just think of Halloween, with decorations in the windows and along the walls; they could even make a haunted house out of the whole building, utilizing the lounge, cafeteria, kitchen, and even the upstairs!

And then Christmas, with tinsel (after all, it was the '80s, lol) and ornaments trimming the windows, greenery hanging all around, and a big Christmas tree in front of that wall between the cafeteria and inner lounge entrances.

It's nice we got to see them acknowledge these holidays post-Eastland, but it sure would have been nice to see them while they were there.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I was just thinking, I would really like to have seen holidays at Eastland while the girls lived over the cafeteria. Just think of Halloween, with decorations in the windows and along the walls; they could even make a haunted house out of the whole building, utilizing the lounge, cafeteria, kitchen, and even the upstairs!

And then Christmas, with tinsel (after all, it was the '80s, lol) and ornaments trimming the windows, greenery hanging all around, and a big Christmas tree in front of that wall between the cafeteria and inner lounge entrances.

It's nice we got to see them acknowledge these holidays post-Eastland, but it sure would have been nice to see them while they were there.

Well, I see what you mean, but we do get some holidays at Eastland:

Halloween: "Fear Strikes Back" (3-02)

Sadie Hawkins Day: "For the Asking" (4-10)

Mrs. G's birthday: "Shoplifting" (2-06)

Blair's birthday: "Teacher's Pet" (4-15)

...A Christmas episode at Eastland would have been very nice! Imagine a beautiful tree by the fireplace in the dorm common room. Or twelve stockings hung on the mantle!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Well, I see what you mean, but we do get some holidays at Eastland:

Halloween: "Fear Strikes Back" (3-02)

Sadie Hawkins Day: "For the Asking" (4-10)

Mrs. G's birthday: "Shoplifting" (2-06)

Blair's birthday: "Teacher's Pet" (4-15)

Now you know what I mean. Holiday holidays. The biggies (so birthdays don't count). But why do you say FSB has Halloween? I just played the opening scene in the girls' room, and there is no mention of Halloween at all. The school is simply having a "costume party". Not a Halloween party. I won't count it if the holiday is not specifically mentioned or implied (if they were all going in costumes of witches, ghosts, vampires, and devils, then I would agree it were obviously Halloween).

I see FSB aired on November 4th, so I can see where you're coming from if you say it was Halloween because they were going to a costume party just after Halloween (though this aired after it instead of before it), but there is still no deliberate recognition or acknowledgement of the holiday.

Besides, my original point was I wanted to see these holidays celebrated at Eastland, with decorations everywhere. What a missed opportunity!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

...A Christmas episode at Eastland would have been very nice! Imagine a beautiful tree by the fireplace in the dorm common room. Or twelve stockings hung on the mantle!

Yes, more interaction for that part of the set! lol

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Now you know what I mean. Holiday holidays. The biggies (so birthdays don't count). But why do you say FSB has Halloween? I just played the opening scene in the girls' room, and there is no mention of Halloween at all. The school is simply having a "costume party". Not a Halloween party. I won't count it if the holiday is not specifically mentioned or implied (if they were all going in costumes of witches, ghosts, vampires, and devils, then I would agree it were obviously Halloween).

I see FSB aired on November 4th, so I can see where you're coming from if you say it was Halloween because they were going to a costume party just after Halloween (though this aired after it instead of before it), but there is still no deliberate recognition or acknowledgement of the holiday.

Besides, my original point was I wanted to see these holidays celebrated at Eastland, with decorations everywhere. What a missed opportunity!

Well, a number of episode guides call it a Halloween party, including Wikipedia and Television of Yore, but you're right: it doesn't actually say it was Halloween, even though it was aired right around Halloween.

And you're right: they should have had more holidays at Eastland: Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Valentine's Day...

Yes, more interaction for that part of the set! lol

AND the opportunity to see names on the stockings, so we could see Nina's name, possibly Kedgie, and any of the other girls who lived (or may have lived) in that dorm!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Well, a number of episode guides call it a Halloween party, including Wikipedia and Television of Yore, but you're right: it doesn't actually say it was Halloween, even though it was aired right around Halloween.

And you're right: they should have had more holidays at Eastland: Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Valentine's Day...

Interesting that some guides claim it's a Halloween episode, when it's never stated. I'm glad they didn't though, I mean I don't want that fun holiday marred by such awful events on a beloved sitcom.

Thanksgiving at Eastland...they could have done that "Friends"-style, where there's a blizzard that strands the 5 of them there (immediately after the rest of the campus has left, lol), unable to get to their families; so they have a Thanksgiving together, with this alternate family of themselves.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

AND the opportunity to see names on the stockings, so we could see Nina's name, possibly Kedgie, and any of the other girls who lived (or may have lived) in that dorm!

Ha, but there would have been no room for stockings on the mantel---there were too many girls!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I don't want that fun holiday marred by such awful events on a beloved sitcom.

True.

Thanksgiving at Eastland...they could have done that "Friends"-style, where there's a blizzard that strands the 5 of them there (immediately after the rest of the campus has left, lol), unable to get to their families; so they have a Thanksgiving together, with this alternate family of themselves.

I guess the writers felt that a boarding school would mostly be closed during the big holidays. Sure, they could do the "snowed in together" thing, and that would have been cool for fans, but it has been done many times on other sitcoms.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I guess the writers felt that a boarding school would mostly be closed during the big holidays. Sure, they could do the "snowed in together" thing, and that would have been cool for fans, but it has been done many times on other sitcoms.

True. But, it wasn't done on this sitcom, lol.

Then again, being forced to live together in small quarters, it was kind of like they were snowed in all school year-long anyway!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

True. But, it wasn't done on this sitcom, lol.

Then again, being forced to live together in small quarters, it was kind of like they were snowed in all school year-long anyway!

Haha! Great point!

Just imagine what they could have done for a Valentine's Day episode:

Blair meets two cute guys at a party in Peekskill. Hoping to get Jo to go on a double-date with her, Blair pens an anonymous letter from a 'secret admirer' to Jo, but the letter ends up in a pastry box headed for Roy's DeForest Bakery!

And Christmas:

With the road to Eastland School closed due to heavy snowfall, Edna Garrett and her girls must spend Christmas together. Blair, Jo, Tootie, Sue Ann, Nancy, and Cindy must huddle for warmth in the cafeteria lounge, where Natalie and Molly have decorated the world's saddest Christmas tree. Over cups of hot cocoa, the girls reminisce about their last three and a half years at Eastland.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

And Christmas:

With the road to Eastland School closed due to heavy snowfall, Edna Garrett and her girls must spend Christmas together. Blair, Jo, Tootie, Sue Ann, Nancy, and Cindy must huddle for warmth in the cafeteria lounge, where Natalie and Molly have decorated the world's saddest Christmas tree. Over cups of hot cocoa, the girls reminisce about their last three and a half years at Eastland.

Very nice! Hop in that there DeLorean! lol