Mini Jo--Kelly

[cfr1970]

I only have a vague recollection of her from the original airings, and remember I couldn't stand her back then. That feeling hasn't changed watching her episodes again. I just never knew they put her in the opening credits too! I don't remember her being that important a character and she didn't deserve to be in the opening.

Her presence was just so redundant and not needed. I see in IMDB she was only in 12 episodes and then shown the door.

['80sSitcoms]

And not shown the door soon enough! lol

I agree. Sorry for the actress, but I utterly disliked the character. Once she threatened Blair and held her up and smashed Mrs. Garrett's goods, uh-uh---you are GONE.

[FOL-FAN-ITA]

She is my unfavourite character, I can't stand her. They added her because they wanted to soften Jo but it didn't work and they fired her. Another useless character! But I don't remeber 12 eps with her, she was in like 7 or 8 eps

[cfr1970]

Originally Posted by FOL-FAN-ITA

She is my unfavourite character, I can't stand her. They added her because they wanted to soften Jo but it didn't work and they fired her. Another useless character! But I don't remeber 12 eps with her, she was in like 7 or 8 eps

Correction, she was in 9 episodes. On IMDB it says 3 of them were "credit only", I missed that part earlier. But yeah, the character certainly didn't make a good first impression by threatening everyone. The episode where she threatened Blair made her especially hateful.

I wonder if angry viewers wrote in demanding they get rid of her.

[80s Dude]

Pamela Adlon, the actress who played Kelly claimed it was Nancy M. who pressured the writers to make her character unlikable.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by cfr1970

I only have a vague recollection of her from the original airings, and remember I couldn't stand her back then. That feeling hasn't changed watching her episodes again. I just never knew they put her in the opening credits too! I don't remember her being that important a character and she didn't deserve to be in the opening.

Her presence was just so redundant and not needed. I see in IMDB she was only in 12 episodes and then shown the door.

Kelly was a terrible, terrible decision by Margie and Linda. Eve Brandstein did her best in casting the character (I have no problem with Pamela herself), but the way they wrote her quickly doomed the character. As you correctly write, I think they wanted a mini-Jo, trying to duplicate their success with Jo. But duplicating Jo would have just been... redundant. I honestly don't know why the writers kept trying to saddle these girls with much younger sidekicks. It just made no sense. What college student wants to hang out with a young teen or (in Andy's case) pre-teen?

Yes, both Kelly and Howard were seen in some of the opening credits, although Howard's were only seen in some syndication prints, and are not on the DVDs.

[cfr1970]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Pamela Adlon, the actress who played Kelly claimed it was Nancy M. who pressured the writers to make her character unlikable.

If that's true, I don't blame her one bit. I'd feel the same way if someone came in threatening my job, and that's what it rightfully could have been perceived by Nancy. Here's this new character who's pretty much a carbon copy of her own character just a few seasons ago. Hell yeah i'd be insulted as well as threatened by that and would complain to producers.

It's not even the fact that she was a mini Jo...the show was running just fine at that point and didn't need to have a 5th girl added to the mix.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by cfr1970

Correction, she was in 9 episodes. On IMDB it says 3 of them were "credit only"

How odd!

But, I don't see Kelly as them wanting to duplicate their success with Jo. I see it as an attempt to capitalize on Jo herself. The audiences LOVED Jo, and she had reformed from her socially unacceptable punk ways which she was before she came to Eastland. I think the producers/writers thought, gosh, since everyone LOVES Jo, and she's reformed her "bad" ways from her early adolescence, why not capitalize on this new "softer" Jo and have her be a mentor to someone who's like Jo was before we ever met Jo.

[valentina warner]

KELLY was definitely a 'doomed' character: JO treated her badly on the show and KELLY

And KELLY herself was horrible to BLAIR!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by cfr1970

If that's true, I don't blame her one bit. I'd feel the same way if someone came in threatening my job, and that's what it rightfully could have been perceived by Nancy. Here's this new character who's pretty much a carbon copy of her own character just a few seasons ago. Hell yeah i'd be insulted as well as threatened by that and would complain to producers.

It's not even the fact that she was a mini Jo...the show was running just fine at that point and didn't need to have a 5th girl added to the mix.

It's no slight to Panela Adlon to say that the character of Kelly just didn't work right for FOL. Kelly stuck out like a sore thumb. They made her unlikeable, so it was unbelievable that these girls would hang out with her, even at a shop.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

How odd!

But, I don't see Kelly as them wanting to duplicate their success with Jo. I see it as an attempt to capitalize on Jo herself. The audiences LOVED Jo, and she had reformed from her socially unacceptable punk ways which she was before she came to Eastland. I think the producers/writers thought, gosh, since everyone LOVES Jo, and she's reformed her "bad" ways from her early adolescence, why not capitalize on this new "softer" Jo and have her be a mentor to someone who's like Jo was before we ever met Jo.

I think that's well put. In fact, we saw shades of this in later seasons, when Jo began working at that youth center, helping inner city kids (or whatever it was; it's been years since I've seen most of those later-season episodes).

[Smartboy]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Kelly was a terrible, terrible decision by Margie and Linda. Eve Brandstein did her best in casting the character (I have no problem with Pamela herself), but the way they wrote her quickly doomed the character. As you correctly write, I think they wanted a mini-Jo, trying to duplicate their success with Jo. But duplicating Jo would have just been... redundant. I honestly don't know why the writers kept trying to saddle these girls with much younger sidekicks. It just made no sense. What college student wants to hang out with a young teen or (in Andy's case) pre-teen?

Yes, both Kelly and Howard were seen in some of the opening credits, although Howard's were only seen in some syndication prints, and are not on the DVDs.

I do not have a clear memory of who Howard was. Please help me out here.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Smartboy

I do not have a clear memory of who Howard was. Please help me out here.

He was an Eastland cook, played by Hugh Gillin. He only appeared in four episodes, but at the time FOL aired, he actually appeared in the opening credits (in the episodes where he appeared, much like Pamela), and in some syndication prints around that era. It was... odd.

[Wawwie]

Kelly was a weirdo with a strange obsession for Jo.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Wawwie

Kelly was a weirdo with a strange obsession for Jo.