The tragedy that was the episode GOSSIP

[A.C.]

With all the posts about the Lost Girls lately I got stoked to go back and watch and episode tonight.

This episode is tragic because it showed it WAS possible to have Jo and the Lost Girls on the show at the same time and make it work.

Yeah Cindy and Sue Anne didn't have the biggest roles here but on another week they could have.

I got warm feels when it ended with the girls gathered around the table helping Tootie...even though Jo was sitting in for Molly it FELT like Season One.

What could have been if NBC hadn't been so short sighted *sigh*

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by A.C.

With all the posts about the Lost Girls lately I got stoked to go back and watch and episode tonight.

This episode is tragic because it showed it WAS possible to have Jo and the Lost Girls on the show at the same time and make it work.

Yeah Cindy and Sue Anne didn't have the biggest roles here but on another week they could have.

I got warm feels when it ended with the girls gathered around the table helping Tootie...even though Jo was sitting in for Molly it FELT like Season One.

What could have been if NBC hadn't been so short sighted *sigh*

Yes.

One of the things I liked very much about Season Two, and even the first half of Season Three, is that we still got to see the Lost Girls. "Gossip" gave a pretty major role to Nancy; if more episodes had been like this, there would have been more of a feeling of a real school.

Instead, we got too many episodes like "Best Sister", where the roles of the girls were so twisted they didn't even feel like the writers' original intent. And the Lost Girls were gone, replaced by characters like Miko and Princess Alexandra, who had far less depth to them, and who were just clones of earlier ideas.

It would have been really nice to have Molly involved in "Gossip", or even "Pretty Babies", where her interest in photography could have been featured... but by then it was too late.

[Lorimar Television]

Tragedy? Gossip is the best Ep of season 2 for sure. They def could’ve had all lost girls and Jo as regulars.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes.

One of the things I liked very much about Season Two, and even the first half of Season Three, is that we still got to see the Lost Girls. "Gossip" gave a pretty major role to Nancy; if more episodes had been like this, there would have been more of a feeling of a real school.

Instead, we got too many episodes like "Best Sister", where the roles of the girls were so twisted they didn't even feel like the writers' original intent. And the Lost Girls were gone, replaced by characters like Miko and Princess Alexandra, who had far less depth to them, and who were just clones of earlier ideas.

It would have been really nice to have Molly involved in "Gossip", or even "Pretty Babies", where her interest in photography could have been featured... but by then it was too late.

Kim did look a little awkward with a camera while Molly was much more natural with it.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Kim did look a little awkward with a camera while Molly was much more natural with it.

I don't doubt Molly knew how to use a camera, since so much of these characters were drawn from the actresses' real lives.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by A.C.

I got warm feels when it ended with the girls gathered around the table helping Tootie...even though Jo was sitting in for Molly it FELT like Season One.

What are you talking about? Molly was in the scene. Does she not appear in your DVD copy? Where she comes into the cafeteria to join her friends and she actually has a few lines.

-

['80sSitcoms]

Just kidding. RetroGuy2000 worked up that beautiful artwork in 2018.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

What are you talking about? Molly was in the scene. Does she not appear in your DVD copy? Where she comes into the cafeteria to join her friends and she actually has a few lines.

-

Hahahaha! Exactly.


(For the record, the photo is my Photoshop work: a composite of "Gossip" and "The New Girl, Part 2". Call it "Gossip Girl, Part 2". )

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Hahahaha! Exactly.


(For the record, the photo is my Photoshop work: a composite of "Gossip" and "The New Girl, Part 2". Call it "Gossip Girl, Part 2". )

By the way I like your alternate universe spinoff for EASTLAND ACADEMY...dying to hear what the premise would be!

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

What are you talking about? Molly was in the scene. Does she not appear in your DVD copy? Where she comes into the cafeteria to join her friends and she actually has a few lines.

-

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by A.C.

By the way I like your alternate universe spinoff for EASTLAND ACADEMY...dying to hear what the premise would be!

In my alternate universe, NBC executives see the summer ratings for The Facts of Life, and realize their mistake. They quickly spin off a new show, to capitalize on the 15+ million viewers who began tuning in once the show's time slot was changed.

In the Eastland Academy spin-off, we go back to the dorm. Molly, Cindy, Nancy, and Sue Ann learn their own facts of life, with Miss Mahoney and Mr. Bradley. Mrs. Garrett makes frequent appearances, coming over from the nearby cafeteria. We also see Tootie, Natalie, Blair, and Jo at least twice per season, although their roles are usually small (an exception is the episode "Chit Chat"). We also get to see Kimberly and the Drummonds, since Kimberly is still attending Eastland at this time, and it would be weird to not see her there.

We finally get to meet the parents of Cindy, Sue Ann, and Nancy. We meet Molly's mother and her brother. We get to see Cindy's broken family. Most of the episodes are centered in the dorm or in the classrooms.

And no-one but Miss Mahoney is named Emily.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

In my alternate universe, NBC executives see the summer ratings for The Facts of Life, and realize their mistake. They quickly spin off a new show, to capitalize on the 15+ million viewers who began tuning in once the show's time slot was changed.

In the Eastland Academy spin-off, we go back to the dorm. Molly, Cindy, Nancy, and Sue Ann learn their own facts of life, with Miss Mahoney and Mr. Bradley. Mrs. Garrett makes frequent appearances, coming over from the nearby cafeteria. We also see Tootie, Natalie, Blair, and Jo at least twice per season, although their roles are usually small (an exception is the episode "Chit Chat"). We also get to see Kimberly and the Drummonds, since Kimberly is still attending Eastland at this time, and it would be weird to not see her there.

We finally get to meet the parents of Cindy, Sue Ann, and Nancy. We meet Molly's mother and her brother. We get to see Cindy's broken family. Most of the episodes are centered in the dorm or in the classrooms.

And no-one is named Emily.

As you know Molly's TV mother was suppose to appear in the original script, but never appeared. From what I read many years ago, Charlotte didn't want her to appear because she (Molly's mother) was suppose to be OK with the divorce in the script and was friends with the father's new girlfriend. Charlotte thought that was unrealistic and forced a change where the show did not have a totally happy ending.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

As you know Molly's TV mother was suppose to appear in the original script, but never appeared. From what I read many years ago, Charlotte didn't want her to appear because she (Molly's mother) was suppose to be OK with the divorce in the script and was friends with the father's new girlfriend. Charlotte thought that was unrealistic and forced a change where the show did not have a totally happy ending.

I had no idea Charlotte influenced scripts.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I had no idea Charlotte influenced scripts.

That wasn't the only one she influenced. She refused to soften the suicide episode with Cynthia. She also made them take out what she perceived as a gay slur for one episode (I don't know which one it was).

I also think she put an end of having the Different Strokes kids on the set of FOL because of the problems they were causing on the DS set (at least with Gary and Dana).

[A.C.]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

In my alternate universe, NBC executives see the summer ratings for The Facts of Life, and realize their mistake. They quickly spin off a new show, to capitalize on the 15+ million viewers who began tuning in once the show's time slot was changed.

In the Eastland Academy spin-off, we go back to the dorm. Molly, Cindy, Nancy, and Sue Ann learn their own facts of life, with Miss Mahoney and Mr. Bradley. Mrs. Garrett makes frequent appearances, coming over from the nearby cafeteria. We also see Tootie, Natalie, Blair, and Jo at least twice per season, although their roles are usually small (an exception is the episode "Chit Chat"). We also get to see Kimberly and the Drummonds, since Kimberly is still attending Eastland at this time, and it would be weird to not see her there.

We finally get to meet the parents of Cindy, Sue Ann, and Nancy. We meet Molly's mother and her brother. We get to see Cindy's broken family. Most of the episodes are centered in the dorm or in the classrooms.

And no-one but Miss Mahoney is named Emily.

I would SO WATCH that! More than the "mothership" series. Like Mrs. G. becoming the "Oscar Goldman" or "Sam Drucker" playing the same character on multiple series.

A Lost Girls series...I'd be there and Felice would get her due instead of getting gyped the way she and the rest of the girls were.