What really hurt Too Close For Comfort!

[Cbalducc]

Originally Posted by mstewart

Nancy Dussault was not pregnant in real life when her character, Muriel Rush, had a late in life pregnancy during the second season. The reason why they made her pregnant because Nancy complained that during the first season her character wasn't giving enough laughs. She felt that Muriel Rush was underdeveloped. From what I understand Nancy was not happy on the show and she and Ted did not exactly get along very well especially after she was public about her feelings about the show and her co-stars.

I think Nancy Dussault is a great comic actress but was not given good enough material to show that.

Nancy was in her late 40s when her character was made pregnant.

[James28]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

What really hurt Too Close for Comfort was ABC moving itto Thursday Nights in the 82-83 season up against Simon & Simon at 9pm. Simon &Simon was a popular show at the time on CBS.

Well, I have suggested in the past that the continued Top-30 ratings success of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley going into the '82/'83 season resulted in Too Close for Comfort being held back by those shows. TCfC's ratings nosedived from #6 to #38 with that move to Thursday. No way there was room on the ABC schedule for all three sitcoms in the long term. Had HD and L&S ended their runs earlier (like 1980 or 1981), it would've been easier for TCfC to stay on ABC Network for the duration of its run.

If ABC had put TCfC in the Happy Days timeslot in '81/'82, ABC would likely have had their new top sitcom in TCfC.

[icecream]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

Nancy was in her late 40s when her character was made pregnant.

What they said about being a late in life pregnancy is correct. The average person doesn't become pregnant when they are almost 50, that is really old for pregnancy.

[icecream]

I don't hate Monroe like the OP here. But I would also say he is overrated by so many Too Close for Comfort fans. The daughters added a lot more to the show, which is why season 6 jumped the shark and is easily its weakest.

[Wavy]

I thought the show suffered when they eliminated Jackie and Sara. Anybody know why they did that?

[Wawwie]

Originally Posted by HuntingtonM15

Monroe does annoy me every now and again, but I agree, he was a vital addition to the show. Without him, it probably wouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

The "April" character was much, much more annoying than Monroe IMO.

[Plater of Everything]

Originally Posted by Wavy

I thought the show suffered when they eliminated Jackie and Sara. Anybody know why they did that?

Deborah Van Valkenburgh decided that she wanted to do more dramatic roles, so she quit the show. I read somewhere that Lydia wanted to stay on the show, but they got rid of her because Ted Knight was annoyed that she frequently showed up late (I can't say I blame him!)

[Wavy]

Originally Posted by Plater of Everything

Deborah Van Valkenburgh decided that she wanted to do more dramatic roles, so she quit the show. I read somewhere that Lydia wanted to stay on the show, but they got rid of her because Ted Knight was annoyed that she frequently showed up late (I can't say I blame him!)

Thank you !!!!!

[michelala]

Originally Posted by Plater of Everything

Deborah Van Valkenburgh decided that she wanted to do more dramatic roles, so she quit the show. I read somewhere that Lydia wanted to stay on the show, but they got rid of her because Ted Knight was annoyed that she frequently showed up late (I can't say I blame him!)

Yes they wrote the character of Jackie off the show since DVV wanted out to pursue other acting opportunities. They had Jackie move to Italy to pursue fashion design. At that point both girls were well into their 20's and the actresses were both in their 30's. The Sara character had graduated college and was a tv weather girl the last few seasons that Lydia Cornell was on the show.

My main gripe with season 5 is they never explained what happened to Sara after Henry sold the San Francisco house.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Plater of Everything

Deborah Van Valkenburgh decided that she wanted to do more dramatic roles, so she quit the show. I read somewhere that Lydia wanted to stay on the show, but they got rid of her because Ted Knight was annoyed that she frequently showed up late (I can't say I blame him!)

Also, to make a long story short, after Arne Sultan died, Ted Knight was now according to Lydia Cornell, free to design the show his way. The new producers who came in after Sultan's death, were simply resistant to upsetting Ted. Hence why, they in no small part, didn't want to work harder in developing Jackie and Sara's characters and roles on the show. They were in effect, little more than "yes men" for Ted Knight, who keep in mind, had an ownership stake in Too Close for Comfort.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Adamantium

I've only seen the first two seasons, thanks to Rhino. Monroe made the show better, in my opinion.

In season six, both of the daughters are off the show. To me, their departures would be what hurt the show. Of course, the series was only canceled due to the death of Ted Knight. So it must have still had the ratings in the end.

I wonder if Season 6 had the same problem as Three's a Crowd, when it was spun off from Three's Company. The cast was too small and the whole set up for the show didn't make sense. Like at the newspaper offices that Henry worked at, there's hardly anybody else working there.

Like in Season 6 of Too Close for Comfort, what exactly compelled Henry and Muriel to move from San Francisco to Mill Valley? How come we don't hear anything about their daughter Sara's whereabouts? What's the justifiable reason for Monroe to still constantly be in Henry's life if Henry moved out of the city? How and why did Henry go from being an illustrator to a newspaper editor, which is a completely different skillset?