Why did they get rid of Jackie and Sara?

[rusty spike]

They didn't give an explanation. They wrote out her character one episode before the season ended. Wiki mentions that Sara's character failed to get a promotion based solely on her looks and sex-appeal. I don't know if that was a subtle jab at Lydia's acting ability. The other actress Deb wanted to move on so they gave her character a success story (moving to Italy), but Lydia had a falling out with the producers. A lot of good info here.

https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2008/...erview_29.html

[MikeLutton]

thanks id say she moved to italy to be with her sister who lives there

[TMC]

Originally Posted by MikeLutton

if jackie moved to italy how did they write jackie off where did she go

I was just thinking, after watching some of Season 6 on Tubi, where exactly is Sara? I know that this has been asked before, but at least we know why Jackie is absent since she moved to Italy. I mean, are we supposed to assume that Sara can afford to live by herself and without a roommate, which her sister pretty much was. I wonder why Sara didn't simply move to the house in Marin with her folks unless, she's too prideful to do that as an adult.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

They didn't give an explanation. They wrote out her character one episode before the season ended. Wiki mentions that Sara's character failed to get a promotion based solely on her looks and sex-appeal. I don't know if that was a subtle jab at Lydia's acting ability. The other actress Deb wanted to move on so they gave her character a success story (moving to Italy), but Lydia had a falling out with the producers. A lot of good info here.

https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2008/...erview_29.html

Lydia in this interview said that she had something of a falling out with Ted Knight, but he was thankfully, able to make up with him prior to his passing:

Fox News: Do you remember the last time you saw Ted Knight before he passed away in 1986?

Cornell: Yes, we made up. We had some problems with each other. I was so new to the industry and he had been around forever. So we had kind of a falling out over that. But in the end, we were fine. I cried so hard at his funeral. We were all together, relying on each other for comfort. But I just couldn’t stop crying. We really loved him and he was like a father figure to us — a real father.

I don't know if this helps explain well enough why she left the show once it was retooled as The Ted Knight Show in 1985-86. But since that previous interview with Lydia was posted, I'll let her explain it:

SitcomsOnline: Last question on Too Close for Comfort...what was the deal that you and Deborah Van Valkenburgh were written out of the show for the last season when Henry and Muriel moved out of San Francisco to a newspaper in Marin County and was retitled The Ted Knight Show? If Monroe (Jim Bullock) got to go, why not you and Deborah? Unfortunately, Ted Knight passed away at the end of that season, do you remember your last memories of Ted and what your thoughts are of him in general?

Lydia Cornell: That was a horrible decision on the producers' part. First, Deb dropped out and didn't want to do a final year. She was always more interested in doing theater and darker roles. But I loved comedy and wanted to stay on. Then Arne Sultan died and new producers came on board whose sole purpose was to satisfy Ted - who had an ownership stake. Since the network never got to develop the Jackie and Sara characters, and our value had been diminished in the last couple of years - the new producers were simply resistant to upsetting Ted. And they didn't realize the value of the Sara character without Jackie. It was like willful ignorance. But to be honest, we had the hardest time ever feeling like they cared about "the girls" on that show. They were constantly trying to push us aside and make us feel expendable. I remember we had these amazing writers for one season - Jeff Reno and Ron Osbourne - who wrote great shows for Sara and Jackie. They were fired for being too talented! They went on to write and create Moonlighting. I have the greatest respect for writers. All the writers on the show were wonderful -- especially Earl Barret and Arne Sultan. Also we were honored to have the gifted and amazing duo of Rocky and Irma Kalish, they wrote Gilligan's Island, Bob Newhart, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis shows, Facts of Life, and tons of classic sitcoms. Irma was President of Writer's Guild America West and is one of the first women to become a producer of a TV show... a woman's activist. We also had Doug Arango and Phil Doran -- who had written All in the Family.

The funny thing is, I would have done the show for free - but my managers at the time were negotiating my contract for more money. I cringed over this, begging them to stop. The producers were so mad they started playing games and wrote me out of one episode - the one with Cousin April and guest star Robert Mandan, who played Ted's brother.
I think that once Arne died, Ted was free to design the show his way. Originally I was so hurt. I thought they decided to get rid of the girls because Ted Knight didn't particularly like us having any clout and a possible spin-off. Who knows? I have grown to forgive and love Ted, but I think the new producers made a mistake.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

Lydia in this interview said that she had something of a falling out with Ted Knight, but he was thankfully, able to make up with him prior to his passing:


I don't know if this helps explain well enough why she left the show once it was retooled as The Ted Knight Show in 1985-86. But since that previous interview with Lydia was posted, I'll let her explain it:

It appears that Lydia's timeline is a bit off. Arne Sultan wrote and executive produced for Too Close for Comfort through the end of Season 4 in 1984. Sultan would pass away on March 17, 1986, which was about six months prior to Ted Knight's own passing on August 26, 1986. The episode "Rock Around Henry", which first aired on November 1, 1986 was dedicated to Arne Sultan's memory. Aaron Rubin was the solely credited executive producer in Seasons 5-6.