Margaret Hamilton on Facts of Life?

[80s Dude]

Was Margaret Hamilton, the wicked witch of the west from the Wizard of Oz and Cora from the Maxwell House commercials in the 1970s supposed to have been the wealthy ecentric who wanted to leave her money to Jo in "The Oldest Living Graduate"?

['80sSitcoms]

Is that ad real, or has it been doctored?

Also, I never knew of her '70s coffee commercials until a few weeks ago.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Is that ad real, or has it been doctored?

Also, I never knew of her '70s coffee commercials until a few weeks ago.

Someone claimed it was real. I grew up with her and her coffee commercials. Had several general stores like that in my area.

['80sSitcoms]

I Googled and saw that image was from a FOL podcast. They said she was slated to be in the episode but had to drop out at the very last minute, but the ads had already run.

I find that kind of hard to believe because this isn't like soap operas, where they tape episodes two weeks in advance of airing. Sitcoms are filmed several weeks and even several months ahead of time (depending where in the season they are). So even though it could very well be real, the circumstances just seem pretty suspect.

Also, if they really wanted MH, why not just wait and tape that episode later? It's not like it mattered for continuity in the season. Plus, having MH on the show would have been SO cool. It's really a shame it didn't happen.

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I Googled and saw that image was from a FOL podcast. They said she was slated to be in the episode but had to drop out at the very last minute, but the ads had already run.

I find that kind of hard to believe because this isn't like soap operas, where they tape episodes two weeks in advance of airing. Sitcoms are filmed several weeks and even several months ahead of time (depending where in the season they are). So even though it could very well be real, the circumstances just seem pretty suspect.

Also, if they really wanted MH, why not just wait and tape that episode later? It's not like it mattered for continuity in the season. Plus, having MH on the show would have been SO cool. It's really a shame it didn't happen.

Margaret Hamilton was diagnosed with Altheimer's at the time. They struggled through with Molly Picon's second appearance on the show with her memory loss.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I Googled and saw that image was from a FOL podcast. They said she was slated to be in the episode but had to drop out at the very last minute, but the ads had already run.

I find that kind of hard to believe because this isn't like soap operas, where they tape episodes two weeks in advance of airing. Sitcoms are filmed several weeks and even several months ahead of time (depending where in the season they are). So even though it could very well be real, the circumstances just seem pretty suspect.

Also, if they really wanted MH, why not just wait and tape that episode later? It's not like it mattered for continuity in the season. Plus, having MH on the show would have been SO cool. It's really a shame it didn't happen.

The "Oldest Living Graduate" episode is discussed in this particular podcast.