Why didn't Julie Anne Haddock go on to bigger and better things

[TMC]

Like say Molly Ringwald after she was cut from TFOL after Season 1? She was the only one of the girls with big screen experience (Scavenger Hunt, The Great Santini), and still had more TV experience (Little House on the Prairie, Mulligans' Stew, Wonder Woman).

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TMC

Like say Molly Ringwald after she was cut from TFOL after Season 1? She was the only one of the girls with big screen experience (Scavenger Hunt, The Great Santini), and still had more TV experience (Little House on the Prairie, Mulligans' Stew, Wonder Woman).

She said in the DVD interviews that she felt as though the entertainment industry had changed, and she didn't really like it anymore. It really is a shame, though, because she was very good.

[RetroGuy2000]

Having seen her 1982 interview, where she said she wanted to continue in the industry until she was very old, it's so sad that she'd apparently given up the business by about 1984. Two years must have really shifted her perspective.

[rusty spike]

I don't have an inside perspective, but the legacy behind the casting couch seems to be prevalent whether a talented actress continues to get "offers". Hollywood is full of ugliness and the merit of previous experience doesn't seem to factor in too much.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

I don't have an inside perspective, but the legacy behind the casting couch seems to be prevalent whether a talented actress continues to get "offers". Hollywood is full of ugliness and the merit of previous experience doesn't seem to factor in too much.

I hope it wasn't anything like that.

[Impressions]

She was one of my favorite first season girls! I loved her as a foil to Blair. Though I felt like she tried too hard with her acting sometimes, often over enunciating certain things. To me, Jo replaced her and there was really no use for her character any more.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Impressions

She was one of my favorite first season girls! I loved her as a foil to Blair.

She was a pretty good foil to Blair. But once execs saw Little Darlings, the die was cast.

Though I felt like she tried too hard with her acting sometimes, often over enunciating certain things.

It's true, but she just needed stronger direction, as seen in her films.

To me, Jo replaced her and there was really no use for her character any more.

I respect that. But for me, there still could have been so many scenes where her character could have been useful. Take, for example, the scene in "Fear Strikes Back" where they needed someone athletic. They got Jo to do that scene, but it would have been more authentic to have the one person who had previously exhibited real athletic prowess on the show: Julie Anne, who was able to do backflips.

By only having four girls, the producers sort of limited themselves in what they could write. No more backflips, and no more pigs on the set. They could reproduce the scenes already made -- Cindy being mistaken for a boy, Cindy putting on her first dress -- with Jo, but they couldn't make her a real athlete. With Sue Ann also being cut, Athletics were out at Eastland. And since there were also now no more regular teachers at Eastland, there would be very few classroom scenes. With no gyms, no classrooms, and no offices, Eastland became... just a cafeteria. But it didn't need to be so restricted. Had they kept Julie Anne, they would have had many more storyline opportunities.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Impressions

She was one of my favorite first season girls!

She was my FAVORITE first season girl!

Originally Posted by Impressions

I loved her as a foil to Blair.

I appreciated them trying to make her a foil to Blair, but she didn't have the maturity to pull off being a formidable foil to Blair. Nancy McKeon did, and she was two years younger than Lisa! But she made it believable that she was older. I never really felt Nancy and Mindy were the same age, though they were in real life---Nancy always come off as older because of how strong and natural it is for her. So as soon as she came on the show, the Blair/Jo rivalry really did feel "on par" for me.

Originally Posted by Impressions

Though I felt like she tried too hard with her acting sometimes, often over enunciating certain things.

Not me. I mean, sure, I could pinpoint a few times where the acting could have been better, but I never ever get the feeling she's over enunciating. So to me it's interesting that you do.

Originally Posted by Impressions

To me, Jo replaced her and there was really no use for her character any more.

Well, word on the streets is Jo "replaced" Cindy, Sue Ann, and Molly. But they were such characters in and of themselves that Jo couldn't really replace them, and certainly not all three.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

She was a pretty good foil to Blair.

I didn't really think she was (see above post). But it would have been nice if she could have been, and if it could have lasted past the first episode!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

But once execs saw Little Darlings, the die was cast.

Huh? I thought that Hallmark commercial was the turning point?

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

With no gyms, no classrooms, and no offices, Eastland became... just a cafeteria. But it didn't need to be so restricted.

But that's still part of what I love so much about those years!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Huh? I thought that Hallmark commercial was the turning point?

The producers ripped off Little Darlings for a character they named "Foxy"; in the film, she clashes with the rich girl, and they eventually steal a school van, getting into serious trouble. Foxy evolved into Jo. While looking for actresses to fill the role, they saw Nancy McKeon in the Hallmark commercial. Charlotte approved Nancy over another girl who also auditioned.

But that's still part of what I love so much about those years!

Nothing wrong with loving those years. But imagine the episodes they could have done, if Julie Anne had stayed on the show! And would five girls really have been "too many girls" at a girls' school?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Well, word on the streets is Jo "replaced" Cindy, Sue Ann, and Molly. But they were such characters in and of themselves that Jo couldn't really replace them, and certainly not all three.

No way did Jo replace Molly: Molly's love of the camera went to Tootie; some of her feminism and love of journalism (she was in love with Dan Rather) were occasionally seen in Natalie. Jo got Sue Ann's scholarship student status and conflict with Blair, and Cindy's tomboy-ishness and outsider status.

But I agree she couldn't really replace them entirely, and part of her was quite unique anyway.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

The producers ripped off Little Darlings for a character they named "Foxy"; in the film, she clashes with the rich girl, and they eventually steal a school van, getting into serious trouble. Foxy evolved into Jo. While looking for actresses to fill the role, they saw Nancy McKeon in the Hallmark commercial. Charlotte approved Nancy over another girl who also auditioned.

Ahh, I see what you mean now. And I remember LD being mentioned here before, I just couldn't place its placement, lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Nothing wrong with loving those years. But imagine the episodes they could have done, if Julie Anne had stayed on the show! And would five girls really have been "too many girls" at a girls' school?

Oh no no, I wasn't including Julie Anne in my comments, that's why I specifically didn't quote that part. I just strictly meant set-wise, with the cafeteria.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

No way did Jo replace Molly: Molly's love of the camera went to Tootie; some of her feminism and love of journalism (she was in love with Dan Rather) were occasionally seen in Natalie. Jo got Sue Ann's scholarship student status and conflict with Blair, and Cindy's tomboy-ishness and outsider status.

But I agree she couldn't really replace them entirely, and part of her was quite unique anyway.

Hold up now, don't say "No way" so fast. Jo did get Molly traits too. She got Molly's angst of divorced parents, and heavy father resentment (not to mention Molly Ringwald claimed in the 1980s that Nancy McKeon replaced her in her slot as the 4th girl on the show). You may remember in my binging this year I was surprised to notice for the first time that Blair's pep talk to Jo in "The Secret" was really a rehash of her pep talk to Molly in "Molly's Holiday". And Jo's plan to get her parents back together in "The Second Time Around" was also like Molly's plan in MH---talk about recycling! So you can say Jo was the amalgamation of Cindy, Sue Ann, and perhaps to a lesser but specific extent Molly, with her own unique traits added in.

You could even say she replaced Nancy, as her actress name was "Nancy"!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Hold up now, don't say "No way" so fast. Jo did get Molly traits too. She got Molly's angst of divorced parents, and heavy father resentment

But Blair and Cindy both have divorced parents, as well. That's not something unique to just Jo and Molly. If you're saying Jo replaced Molly because of that, you might as well say that Jo replaced Blair... which we know isn't true.

(not to mention Molly Ringwald claimed in the 1980s that Nancy McKeon replaced her in her slot as the 4th girl on the show).

Well, in one sense, Jo "replaced" four girls. But not exclusively Molly.

You may remember in my binging this year I was surprised to notice for the first time that Blair's pep talk to Jo in "The Secret" was really a rehash of her pep talk to Molly in "Molly's Holiday". And Jo's plan to get her parents back together in "The Second Time Around" was also like Molly's plan in MH---talk about recycling! So you can say Jo was the amalgamation of Cindy, Sue Ann, and perhaps to a lesser but specific extent Molly, with her own unique traits added in.

Okay, I buy that.

You could even say she replaced Nancy, as her actress name was "Nancy"!

I'd say there may have been some elements of Nancy in Jo: both scholarship students, both crazy enough for their boyfriends to do impulsive, stupid things (like have sex or elope), both went long periods without their boyfriends actually being seen, both were brunettes, both talked with their boyfriends on the phone, both were frenemies with Blair, both didn't know how to sew, Nancy hung around the clock a lot while Jo threatened to clean Blair's clock...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Okay, I buy that.

See? That's what I meant, how those situations were specific to Molly and then copied the same for Jo. I bet if Molly Ringwald saw "The Secret" she would have really gone off: "They already did that with me in the first season! They're redoing it for the new girl who replaced me! "