This board is a testimony to the enduring popularity of "The Lost Girls"

[A.C.]

Different threads...so many mentions of the "Lost Girls". It kind of wams my heart because I consider Seasons 1 & 2 the "True" FACTS OF LIFE.

After all this was the show producers, presented and sold to the network.

What it morphed into was something else with its focus on four girls, classrooms or other parts of the campus rarely seen.

Eventually an UN-retooled version would have faced the same dilemena of graduating girls and how that would have been handled who knows.

The only thing I know was Nancy, Molly, Cindy and Sue Ann were great characters who deserved far better than what they got.

Jo was absolutly NOT NEEDED...Sue Ann was perfectly fine as Blair's rival. To many blonds? Pen and episode where Sue Ann dies her hair. There was so much potential with Sue Ann who was probably the most sharply drawn of the Losties and they threw it away. Plus she was simply drop dead gorgeous(to be 13 again and seeing Julie P. in that tennis outfit for the first time! good times!)

Nothing needs to be said about the axing of future 80's superstar Molly Ringwald. That speaks for itself.

If Mindy Cohn was not Charlotte's "discovery" she should have been axed if they were determined to pair down the cast and kept Nancy and developed her beyond the whole "Roger" thing. Or Cindy...she was so different than all the other girls.

The retooling will always in my book be huge mistake and few shows had a worse retooling than this one (well the Lynne Redgrave TEACHERS ONLY was worse when suddenly Lynn and Normal Fell were in an urban school or season 2 of WAR OF THE WORLDS when nearly everything about season 1 was discarded)

Anyway its good to see so many other "Fans of the Four"

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by A.C.

Different threads...so many mentions of the "Lost Girls". It kind of wams my heart because I consider Seasons 1 & 2 the "True" FACTS OF LIFE.

After all this was the show producers, presented and sold to the network.

What it morphed into was something else with its focus on four girls, classrooms or other parts of the campus rarely seen.

Eventually an UN-retooled version would have faced the same dilemena of graduating girls and how that would have been handled who knows.

The only thing I know was Nancy, Molly, Cindy and Sue Ann were great characters who deserved far better than what they got.

Jo was absolutly NOT NEEDED...Sue Ann was perfectly fine as Blair's rival. To many blonds? Pen and episode where Sue Ann dies her hair. There was so much potential with Sue Ann who was probably the most sharply drawn of the Losties and they threw it away. Plus she was simply drop dead gorgeous(to be 13 again and seeing Julie P. in that tennis outfit for the first time! good times!)

Nothing needs to be said about the axing of future 80's superstar Molly Ringwald. That speaks for itself.

If Mindy Cohn was not Charlotte's "discovery" she should have been axed if they were determined to pair down the cast and kept Nancy and developed her beyond the whole "Roger" thing. Or Cindy...she was so different than all the other girls.

The retooling will always in my book be huge mistake and few shows had a worse retooling than this one (well the Lynne Redgrave TEACHERS ONLY was worse when suddenly Lynn and Normal Fell were in an urban school or season 2 of WAR OF THE WORLDS when nearly everything about season 1 was discarded)

Anyway its good to see so many other "Fans of the Four"

Jo had her place in the place and she worked well with the 3 Amigo Lost Girls when they appeared together. The producers should have looked at how other half hour comedy shows handled large casts like the Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, and if they wanted more contemporary shows, look at Soap or even Alice. The new writers came from a show that had only 4 cast members (One Day at a Time) and didn't know how to handle more.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by A.C.

Different threads...so many mentions of the "Lost Girls". It kind of wams my heart because I consider Seasons 1 & 2 the "True" FACTS OF LIFE.

Welcome back, AC! Good to see an "older" board member here!

You will not find a more Lost Girls-friendly forum on the Internet than this forum. We do love us some Lost Girls. Not that we hate the Core Four, because we don't, but... part of the show went missing when these characters exited Stage Left. An important part: the feeling of a real school.

After all this was the show producers, presented and sold to the network.

What it morphed into was something else with its focus on four girls, classrooms or other parts of the campus rarely seen.

YES! Exactly. We ended up not even seeing classrooms. For seasons at a time.

Now, the cafeteria is beautiful and homey, but is it realistic that the Core Four were doing all of their studies in the cafeteria? Why were they typing their papers there? The writers began to lose the thread of the show, and by the end of the series, it was a completely different show.

The only thing I know was Nancy, Molly, Cindy and Sue Ann were great characters who deserved far better than what they got.

Jo was absolutly NOT NEEDED...Sue Ann was perfectly fine as Blair's rival. To many blonds? Pen and episode where Sue Ann dies her hair. There was so much potential with Sue Ann who was probably the most sharply drawn of the Losties and they threw it away. Plus she was simply drop dead gorgeous(to be 13 again and seeing Julie P. in that tennis outfit for the first time! good times!)

I have absolutely no problem with the hiring of Nancy McKeon. Jo brought a lot to the show, and Nancy was a good crier. But Jo was a loner and rebel; what the heck was she doing in "Teenage Marriage", suddenly with a boyfriend and trying to elope? That should have been Nancy and Roger, who were already established as hot-and-heavy students. They tried to do too many things with the same four students; this was clearly a mistake, and led to scenes where Jo was playing piano and Tootie suddenly developed a photography interest she'd never had before or after that episode.

As you say, (and I agree), Sue Ann was already a great foil for Blair. She was also very attractive (for the pre-teen me), but that's not the point: there was so much to Sue Ann that they could have kept telling stories about her, and her fish-out-of-water character from Kansas, for many years. Instead, they began running out of story ideas, and eventually had to purge Eastland altogether.

There could have been all sorts of interactions between Sue Ann and Blair, or even Sue Ann, Blair, and Jo. Throw Cindy into the mix, and you have a feud ready to boil over!

Nothing needs to be said about the axing of future 80's superstar Molly Ringwald. That speaks for itself.

Yes. Crazy that she was axed.

If Mindy Cohn was not Charlotte's "discovery" she should have been axed if they were determined to pair down the cast and kept Nancy and developed her beyond the whole "Roger" thing. Or Cindy...she was so different than all the other girls.

The retooling will always in my book be huge mistake and few shows had a worse retooling than this one (well the Lynne Redgrave TEACHERS ONLY was worse when suddenly Lynn and Normal Fell were in an urban school or season 2 of WAR OF THE WORLDS when nearly everything about season 1 was discarded)

Anyway its good to see so many other "Fans of the Four"

You are in the right place to discuss this, AC!

While we each have our own opinions, I think many of us agree that the Cast Purge changed the show significantly, and not often/always for the better: we lost the stories that Sue Ann, Cindy, Molly, and Nancy could have told. We lost seeing other faculty at Eastland, other than one-off characters we'd never see again. And we lost the feeling of a real school, the girls instead forced into a life of kitchen drudgery.

We could have seen Molly's feminism take center stage. We could have seen Cindy take part in a dozen sports episodes, becoming an icon for women's sports on TV. Unfortunately, the Cast Purge limited the stories that could be told, which, I suspect, is why the producers quickly tried to add more cast members, starting in Season Five: they realized they had purged too much.

I've never heard of Teachers Only. Please tell me more!

['80sSitcoms]

Welcome A.C.! Yes, several of us here are HUGE fans and supporters and proponents and advocates of the Lost Girls!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

An important part: the feeling of a real school...We ended up not even seeing classrooms. For seasons at a time...we lost the feeling of a real school, the girls instead forced into a life of kitchen drudgery.

Now, the cafeteria is beautiful and homey, but is it realistic that the Core Four were doing all of their studies in the cafeteria? Why were they typing their papers there?

This actually doesn't bother me at all. Actually, I embrace it! Part of it my extremely vivid nostalgia of watching this as a kid. Part of it is because the seasons 2-4 sets are just wonderful. And part of it is because I think it just works: our girls have been punished, are on probation, so they are largely "removed" from school life. To me, that bonds the viewer even closer to the characters.

I get where you're coming from (and we've discussed this elsewhere in the past), but this part of the show's change doesn't bother me--EXCEPT for the fact that the Lost Girls couldn't come over and hang out more.

Also, as a kid, I frequently got a "day camp" vibe from season 1 rather than a school vibe. Especially with episodes like "Running"!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I have absolutely no problem with the hiring of Nancy McKeon. Jo brought a lot to the show

Same here. Jo was a terrific addition, but there was room for Lost Girls.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

They tried to do too many things with the same four students; this was clearly a mistake, and led to scenes where Jo was playing piano and Tootie suddenly developed a photography interest she'd never had before or after that episode.

I knew you were gonna mention that!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

As you say, (and I agree), Sue Ann was already a great foil for Blair. There was so much to Sue Ann that they could have kept telling stories about her, and her fish-out-of-water character from Kansas, for many years.

Yes! I never realized until you pointed out here a couple of years ago that when the show lost Sue Ann, it lost the conservative viewpoint for clashing---well, that is, until Blair eventually morphed into being more the conservative one.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Welcome A.C.! Yes, several of us here are HUGE fans and supporters and proponents and advocates of the Lost Girls!

Fans, supporters, proponents, and advocates, indeed!

This actually doesn't bother me at all. Actually, I embrace it! Part of it my extremely vivid nostalgia of watching this as a kid. Part of it is because the seasons 2-4 sets are just wonderful. And part of it is because I think it just works: our girls have been punished, are on probation, so they are largely "removed" from school life. To me, that bonds the viewer even closer to the characters.

I get where you're coming from (and we've discussed this elsewhere in the past), but this part of the show's change doesn't bother me--EXCEPT for the fact that the Lost Girls couldn't come over and hang out more.

I see what you're saying, and agree that we've discussed this, and you're right that S2-4 are wonderful, but I wish there would have been more classroom scenes, more faculty continuity, and of course more Lost Girls. To me, Eastland began with The Girls' School, and so to no longer see those classroom and dorm sets, to no longer see the faculty, to no longer see that close bond we all know those seven girls had... the feeling of the girls' school became more... distant.

Do we really believe, for example, that Blair would ditch her BFF Sue Ann just because she had to do chores in the cafeteria? Sue Ann should have been hanging around the back door of the kitchen, waiting for Blair to get off her shift, so they could check out the Bates boys. Cindy and Molly should have been waiting in the lounge, waiting for Natalie and Tootie to get off KP duty so they could study for their math exams.

By jettisoning these characters, the writers forgot that there should still be interactions between seven characters who had bonded, some of whom had known each other for years by that point.

Also, as a kid, I frequently got a "day camp" vibe from season 1 rather than a school vibe. Especially with episodes like "Running"!

I don't get a day camp vibe from "running"; to me, that is an athletics episode, and we never had athletics at the camps I attended.

I knew you were gonna mention that!

You know me too well!

Yes! I never realized until you pointed out here a couple of years ago that when the show lost Sue Ann, it lost the conservative viewpoint for clashing---well, that is, until Blair eventually morphed into being more the conservative one.

It took me a few years to realize it, myself, but losing Sue Ann meant losing an important conservative voice that would allow for easy clashing with other characters, and not just Blair. Think of the clashes we could have had between Molly and Sue Ann!

And, to be fair, Sue Ann was no Alex P. Keaton or Alan from Head of the Class: she wasn't 100% conservative, but she was raised to be a little more old-fashioned. She did have a more traditional, Midwestern take to many subjects. Think of the stuff she could have said/done during the Abortion episode. That's the sort of thing we missed out on: that balance that would have been nice.

Yes, Blair did become strangely conservative in much later seasons, but I think that was mostly her being a fiscal conservative, rather than a social conservative.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

but I wish there would have been more classroom scenes

See, also, I think that would just have been the "easy way out". I know, you're going "" What I mean is, any show could have classroom settings. "Head of the Class" was set in a classroom, and nearly every single '80s family sitcom had scenes taking places in the kids' classrooms here and there. But with FOL we were set in a private school cafeteria and lounge and kitchen, much rarer sights to see at schools on sitcoms. So I like that it was at a school, but with a difference.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Do we really believe, for example, that Blair would ditch her BFF Sue Ann just because she had to do chores in the cafeteria?

Well, yes, because you said the key phrase: "had to", lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Sue Ann should have been hanging around the back door of the kitchen, waiting for Blair to get off her shift, so they could check out the Bates boys.

I could see Sue Ann doing that, BUT, only to be thwarted by the dietitian or the headmaster because Blair is on probation and is not allowed off school grounds (if they felt like going that harsh, lol).

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Cindy and Molly should have been waiting in the lounge, waiting for Natalie and Tootie to get off KP duty so they could study for their math exams.

Only to get distracted by board games!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I don't get a day camp vibe from "running"; to me, that is an athletics episode, and we never had athletics at the camps I attended.

Hey, I was, like, 5 when I was first seeing these, lol. So keeping that in mind, with all the kids running around in and out of that "surrogate cabin", and athletic activities like exercising, I totally got a "day camp" vibe as a kid. There were those bright yellow running outfits, and Sue Ann even wore sweat bands! lol

Plus, remember when I was a kid I was watching this right after its parent show, DS, 5 days a week in summertime at my grandparents'. So compared to a grand extravagant conservative penthouse 30 floors up in NYC, a somewhat unsupervised group of kids at a dorm with "grounds" where you can and go freely sure seemed like a day camp in comparison.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

You know me too well!

And then there was Natalie, picking up Molly's suffragette ribbon with the Sadie Hawkins dance---suddenly becoming a loud-mouthed feminist for one episode! lol

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It took me a few years to realize it, myself, but losing Sue Ann meant losing an important conservative voice that would allow for easy clashing with other characters, and not just Blair. Think of the clashes we could have had between Molly and Sue Ann!

Oooooo, the independent woman versus the old-fashioned homemaker! Yup, that would have been a great rivalry to mine!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

That's the sort of thing we missed out on: that balance that would have been nice.

It is surprising the writers never thought about that (or at least acted on it).

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes, Blair did become strangely conservative in much later seasons, but I think that was mostly her being a fiscal conservative, rather than a social conservative.

She became socially conservative in some ways. I know you don't have the later seasons, but have you seen how staunchly conservative her wardrobe and style became? And what an absolute unyielding shrew she became over her boyfriend dancing in a strip club?? And you just know she would have abhorred Natalie having pre-marital sex. It was like she became "the Sue Ann" of the girls in some respects.

[80s Dude]

Blair got so upset at Natalie losing her virginity that she had to take a trip to NYC for the weekend. Just imagine how Blair would have felt if Natalie lost her virginity the way an actress named Mindy Cohn did.

[Lorimar Television]

Great thread A.C.! We certainly do enjoy the lost girls here.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

See, also, I think that would just have been the "easy way out". I know, you're going "" What I mean is, any show could have classroom settings. "Head of the Class" was set in a classroom, and nearly every single '80s family sitcom had scenes taking places in the kids' classrooms here and there. But with FOL we were set in a private school cafeteria and lounge and kitchen, much rarer sights to see at schools on sitcoms. So I like that it was at a school, but with a difference.

I appreciate and love the kitchen and cafeteria, but I do also believe we should have seen other areas of the school. No way should Jo have been typing in the cafeteria; that should have been in the classroom.

Well, yes, because you said the key phrase: "had to", lol.

That never stopped Blair before!

I could see Sue Ann doing that, BUT, only to be thwarted by the dietitian or the headmaster because Blair is on probation and is not allowed off school grounds (if they felt like going that harsh, lol).

Well, then, where was that scene?

Only to get distracted by board games!

Haha! I can totally see that happening!

Hey, I was, like, 5 when I was first seeing these, lol. So keeping that in mind, with all the kids running around in and out of that "surrogate cabin", and athletic activities like exercising, I totally got a "day camp" vibe as a kid. There were those bright yellow running outfits, and Sue Ann even wore sweat bands! lol

For me, those running outfits just mean athletics.

Though I do know what you mean about your impressions as a kid still influencing your thoughts when watching the show. Every time I see FF and Tootie's red raincoat, I think of my sister's red raincoat, which she got to be "just like Tootie!"

Plus, remember when I was a kid I was watching this right after its parent show, DS, 5 days a week in summertime at my grandparents'. So compared to a grand extravagant conservative penthouse 30 floors up in NYC, a somewhat unsupervised group of kids at a dorm with "grounds" where you can and go freely sure seemed like a day camp in comparison.

Like you, I also first started watching FOL (at least seriously) during the summer at my grandparents' house. In those days, they had one of those giant console TVs, and we'd watch FOL while laying on the carpet in front of the TV.

And then there was Natalie, picking up Molly's suffragette ribbon with the Sadie Hawkins dance---suddenly becoming a loud-mouthed feminist for one episode! lol

Excellent point!

Oooooo, the independent woman versus the old-fashioned homemaker! Yup, that would have been a great rivalry to mine!

Yes. But now we shall never see that...

She became socially conservative in some ways. I know you don't have the later seasons, but have you seen how staunchly conservative her wardrobe and style became? And what an absolute unyielding shrew she became over her boyfriend dancing in a strip club?? And you just know she would have abhorred Natalie having pre-marital sex. It was like she became "the Sue Ann" of the girls in some respects.

It's been a few years since I've seen most of those episodes, and I suspect Lisa's conservativism leached through into Blair, but we didn't actually see Blair disapprove: only Lisa.

The original TGS Blair would have disapproved, as well, but only because "blue bloods" shouldn't mix with common folk.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Like you, I also first started watching FOL (at least seriously) during the summer at my grandparents' house. In those days, they had one of those giant console TVs, and we'd watch FOL while laying on the carpet in front of the TV.

Same!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It's been a few years since I've seen most of those episodes, and I suspect Lisa's conservativism leached through into Blair, but we didn't actually see Blair disapprove: only Lisa.

Her character is a complete turn-off when she conservatively lashes out at her boyfriend for being a stripper (the poor guy is just trying to put himself through college). And that's only in season 5! It was a little odd to see her gradually becoming more conservative as the show went on. Like, another instance, why on earth would Blair sing "My Boyfriend's Back" opera-style?? She never would have done that in the early years! If you watch the later seasons again, you'll see some odd things like this.

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Welcome back, AC! Good to see an "older" board member here!

You will not find a more Lost Girls-friendly forum on the Internet than this forum. We do love us some Lost Girls. Not that we hate the Core Four, because we don't, but... part of the show went missing when these characters exited Stage Left. An important part: the feeling of a real school.



YES! Exactly. We ended up not even seeing classrooms. For seasons at a time.

Now, the cafeteria is beautiful and homey, but is it realistic that the Core Four were doing all of their studies in the cafeteria? Why were they typing their papers there? The writers began to lose the thread of the show, and by the end of the series, it was a completely different show.



I have absolutely no problem with the hiring of Nancy McKeon. Jo brought a lot to the show, and Nancy was a good crier. But Jo was a loner and rebel; what the heck was she doing in "Teenage Marriage", suddenly with a boyfriend and trying to elope? That should have been Nancy and Roger, who were already established as hot-and-heavy students. They tried to do too many things with the same four students; this was clearly a mistake, and led to scenes where Jo was playing piano and Tootie suddenly developed a photography interest she'd never had before or after that episode.

As you say, (and I agree), Sue Ann was already a great foil for Blair. She was also very attractive (for the pre-teen me), but that's not the point: there was so much to Sue Ann that they could have kept telling stories about her, and her fish-out-of-water character from Kansas, for many years. Instead, they began running out of story ideas, and eventually had to purge Eastland altogether.

There could have been all sorts of interactions between Sue Ann and Blair, or even Sue Ann, Blair, and Jo. Throw Cindy into the mix, and you have a feud ready to boil over!



Yes. Crazy that she was axed.



You are in the right place to discuss this, AC!

While we each have our own opinions, I think many of us agree that the Cast Purge changed the show significantly, and not often/always for the better: we lost the stories that Sue Ann, Cindy, Molly, and Nancy could have told. We lost seeing other faculty at Eastland, other than one-off characters we'd never see again. And we lost the feeling of a real school, the girls instead forced into a life of kitchen drudgery.

We could have seen Molly's feminism take center stage. We could have seen Cindy take part in a dozen sports episodes, becoming an icon for women's sports on TV. Unfortunately, the Cast Purge limited the stories that could be told, which, I suspect, is why the producers quickly tried to add more cast members, starting in Season Five: they realized they had purged too much.

I've never heard of Teachers Only. Please tell me more!

Thanks Retroguy2000-I like to pop back in here from time to time as 60-80's tv has always been my favorite!

Like your passion for the lost girls and the original boarding school premise. It was great seeing that alternate cafeteria in the first season. I just like the real school feeling to the show and was thrilled that they honored it in the series finale with Blair taking possession of the school. A return to its roots and I wish it had been picked up.

My big issue with Joe was she was always borderline threatening violence against Blair. I just couldn't see them as real friends no matter how much the show tried to sell it and it always just felt like she was tolerating Blair and the other two.

TEACHERS ONLY was a two season wonder on NBC. Like first season FOL it had an ensamble cast that I like and then the axe swung and everyone but Redgrave and Fell got jettisoned and it was the death blow. Same thing kind of happened to MEN BEHAVING BADLY only worse as they got rid of one of the co leads Rob Eldard

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Great thread A.C.! We certainly do enjoy the lost girls here.

Thank you sir/ma'am....the LOST GIRLS...especially Sue Anne were awesome and much missed!

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Welcome A.C.! Yes, several of us here are HUGE fans and supporters and proponents and advocates of the Lost Girls!



This actually doesn't bother me at all. Actually, I embrace it! Part of it my extremely vivid nostalgia of watching this as a kid. Part of it is because the seasons 2-4 sets are just wonderful. And part of it is because I think it just works: our girls have been punished, are on probation, so they are largely "removed" from school life. To me, that bonds the viewer even closer to the characters.

I get where you're coming from (and we've discussed this elsewhere in the past), but this part of the show's change doesn't bother me--EXCEPT for the fact that the Lost Girls couldn't come over and hang out more.

Also, as a kid, I frequently got a "day camp" vibe from season 1 rather than a school vibe. Especially with episodes like "Running"!




Same here. Jo was a terrific addition, but there was room for Lost Girls.




I knew you were gonna mention that!




Yes! I never realized until you pointed out here a couple of years ago that when the show lost Sue Ann, it lost the conservative viewpoint for clashing---well, that is, until Blair eventually morphed into being more the conservative one.

Thanks 80'ssitcom! We may not agree on Jo but we can agree the world was a better place for this spinoff!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by A.C.

Thanks 80'ssitcom! We may not agree on Jo but we can agree the world was a better place for this spinoff!

Yes. Retro and I utterly disagree on some things but we utterly agree on others---including that the world is a better place for this show.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by A.C.

Thanks Retroguy2000-I like to pop back in here from time to time as 60-80's tv has always been my favorite!

Mine, as well. Everything from Bewitched and Leave it to Beaver, to Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes. I love classic TV.

Like your passion for the lost girls and the original boarding school premise. It was great seeing that alternate cafeteria in the first season. I just like the real school feeling to the show and was thrilled that they honored it in the series finale with Blair taking possession of the school. A return to its roots and I wish it had been picked up.

Yes! I actually even get chills when they show the Eastland exterior, in those last two episodes. It is such a cool "homecoming" moment.

My big issue with Joe was she was always borderline threatening violence against Blair. I just couldn't see them as real friends no matter how much the show tried to sell it and it always just felt like she was tolerating Blair and the other two.

I never got that vibe, but I definitely can see where the threats of violence were an odd disconnect.

TEACHERS ONLY was a two season wonder on NBC. Like first season FOL it had an ensamble cast that I like and then the axe swung and everyone but Redgrave and Fell got jettisoned and it was the death blow. Same thing kind of happened to MEN BEHAVING BADLY only worse as they got rid of one of the co leads Rob Eldard

What is it with NBC executives and cast purges?!