Teacher's at Eastland.

[80s Dude]

One of the things the post Season 1 seasons got right was that they had several teachers in different episodes as opposed having Miss Mahoney, Mr. Bradley, and Mrs. Garrett be teachers. It gave it a more realistic touch. Boarding schools don't have one teacher who teaches all subjects like they have in elementary schools.

I loved Miss Mahoney, but I don't think she should have been a full time character.

[RetroGuy2000]

I agree that the teachers mostly shouldn't have been full-time characters, but they should have been recurring. "Teacher's Pet", for example, would have been more powerful if Gale had been seen before.

By having one-offs, it weakened the story, in some sense: we the viewer know they've never mentioned Gale before, and never will again, so the episode becomes a bottle episode: self-contained, with no past or future continuity connected to it.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I agree that the teachers mostly shouldn't have been full-time characters, but they should have been recurring. "Teacher's Pet", for example, would have been more powerful if Gale had been seen before.

By having one-offs, it weakened the story, in some sense: we the viewer know they've never mentioned Gale before, and never will again, so the episode becomes a bottle episode: self-contained, with no past or future continuity connected to it.

It was that way with students too. They should have the pregnant student called Nina instead of Allison. Nina being a name we heard and the girls seemed, Mrs. Garrett, and Mr. Bradley knew. Plus why would Cynthia be voted class President if she was brand new. They should have her in at least one earlier episode. Why the sudden entrance of Miko?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

It was that way with students too. They should have the pregnant student called Nina instead of Allison. Nina being a name we heard and the girls seemed, Mrs. Garrett, and Mr. Bradley knew. Plus why would Cynthia be voted class President if she was brand new. They should have her in at least one earlier episode. Why the sudden entrance of Miko?

Yes, yes, and yes. With some careful planning, they could have made these things happen.

For example, in Season 1, we hear about Tumpy Barksdale long before we meet her in episode 1-13. They could have dropped these characters in long before their main roles. That certainly happened on Degrassi.

Having Allison being named Nina Branch would have been so cool. It would have fixed two broken pieces of continuity: Nina being mentioned, but never seen, and Blair claiming she knew Allison, when we never saw or even heard about someone named Allison. They could have even thrown in a line like, "How's your father? I remember when he came for a visit a few years back."

Introducing Miko in an earlier episode, even briefly, would have made it more believable that she was close to Jo. I do like that we see Miko in a later episode, but it's still not the strong continuity of modern-day TV.

As you say, it seems unlikely that a brand-new student would be nominated for class president... of course, Blair did have a way of annoying people...

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes, yes, and yes. With some careful planning, they could have made these things happen.

For example, in Season 1, we hear about Tumpy Barksdale long before we meet her in episode 1-13. They could have dropped these characters in long before their main roles. That certainly happened on Degrassi.

Having Allison being named Nina Branch would have been so cool. It would have fixed two broken pieces of continuity: Nina being mentioned, but never seen, and Blair claiming she knew Allison, when we never saw or even heard about someone named Allison. They could have even thrown in a line like, "How's your father? I remember when he came for a visit a few years back."

Introducing Miko in an earlier episode, even briefly, would have made it more believable that she was close to Jo. I do like that we see Miko in a later episode, but it's still not the strong continuity of modern-day TV.

As you say, it seems unlikely that a brand-new student would be nominated for class president... of course, Blair did have a way of annoying people...

She even had the Cindy braids in one segment of that documentary. Some people said that the show gave Julie Anne braids to differentiate CIndy, Sue Ann, and Blair from one another. But Julie an had braids and pigtails in Wonder Woman and she had them in her pre-Facts of Life photos on her Instagram account.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

She even had the Cindy braids in one segment of that documentary. Some people said that the show gave Julie Anne braids to differentiate CIndy, Sue Ann, and Blair from one another. But Julie an had braids and pigtails in Wonder Woman and she had them in her pre-Facts of Life photos on her Instagram account.

I do believe they wanted to differentiate the girls, and I also believe it's something Julie Anne did long before FOL.