Did Emmanuel Lewis' Lack Of Size Eventually Hurt 'Webster?'

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by TMC

Webster is also pretty hard to sit through in modern eyes. Even when it was originally on, it was a tad bit too saccharine and bland for anybody's taste. Meanwhile, in regards to the similarities with Diff'rent Strokes, Emmanuel Lewis simply lacked a personality and charm unlike Gary Coleman's Arnold Jackson.

Also, Webster was an extremely creepy and depressing show to boot. There was the episode where they're still living in the high-rise and Webster burns it down; the other where the little blonde girl (played by a young Alison Sweeney) in Webster's class is being molested by a teacher.

Or how about that other one where they move into the big house and Webster finds the secret room with the life-size doll in the rocking chair. The doll was put there by the parents of a girl who ran away, who resembled the doll. And there was even an episode where one of Webster's grown-up friends had an epileptic seizure. To top it all, there's the utterly traumatic episode where Katherine has a miscarriage.

Which episode did Katherine have a miscarriage?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by glickmam

Which episode did Katherine have a miscarriage?

"In the Family Way: Part 2" from Season 2 (1984-85).

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

In a way I can see what you mean if the producers had their way they could have had Emmanuel age slowly to keep that "cuteness" factor.

To this day, I have a hard time grasping at the fact that Emmanuel Lewis was actually 12 years old (his character was said to be about 6 years old) when Webster first went on the air 40 years ago this month and about 17 going on 18 when it ended in 1989.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Sonny Carson

Agreed Webster doesn't hold up at all!

I've been watching various episodes of Webster on YouTube, and I've been asking myself, "This show was on for six years!?" Webster isn't an out and out awful show, it's like I said before, a very bland and maybe, a tad bit saccharine show even for its time period.

It really isn't a "laugh out loud" type of sitcom. There's a lot of stuff that really isn't that funny. It's pretty "low-key", dry, and cornball in its humor to put it in another way.

I guess you could say, that it weirdly, felt like a throw back to those family sitcoms from the 1950s and '60s that were very squeaky clean, innocent, and emptily preachy.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Sonny Carson

Agreed Webster doesn't hold up at all!

Another reason why Webster may not hold up to well is that it was one of those '80s sitcoms that always had some sort of “lesson” embedded in them. I've addressed in the past, why I believe and feel that "very special episodes" aren't made too much anymore. A newer generation of audiences do not want to be preached at and prefer sitcoms that are simply funny for funny’s sake. And if they have to deliver lessons, they're with a punchline rather than come as a distinctly non-comedic element.