The show jumping the shark

[JoshLarson24]

Too many things happened over the years with this show and some of it was ridiculous.

Here are a few:

The introduction of Alex
The death of Alex's father
Barbara getting Married
Julie getting married and pregnant
Ann marrying the father of one of her daughters' husbands
Barbara being jealous over Julie and Max's child
The entire travel agency idea

In short there were too many unnecessary characters added and story lines that became unbelievable. I also disliked that their was not much growth to the Schneider character. Their was a spin off attempt for him called Another Man's Shoes but that failed after an unsuccessful pilot.

When the series focused on Ann and her daughters plus Schneider it was pretty good. They lost the premise and heart of the show when that changed.

It reminded me of when Roseanne started adding all of those characters who ruined the show. That 8th and 9th season of Roseanne was a joke!

[Kasey]

To me, the first four seasons are the best. Season 2 is my favorite because everything just seems so '70s and I loved the Ginny character. Though she left, Season 3 was still one of the best ones with Season 4 falling a little short. Things went downhill in Season 5 when MacKenzie Phillips started spiralling out of control and had to be fired. Then we began getting more appearances from Nannette Fabray as Grandma Romano (never liked her) and producers and writers scrambling to keep the show afloat without Julie. I actually liked alot of the Alex episodes in Seasons 6 and 7 better than what was going on in Season 5.

[pkripper001]

The one subject that I feel most strongly about is,like stated,there was not much growth to the Schneider character.

[ThomasE]

Originally Posted by JoshLarson24

Too many things happened over the years with this show and some of it was ridiculous.

Here are a few:

The introduction of Alex
The death of Alex's father
Barbara getting Married
Julie getting married and pregnant
Ann marrying the father of one of her daughters' husbands
Barbara being jealous over Julie and Max's child
The entire travel agency idea

In short there were too many unnecessary characters added and story lines that became unbelievable. I also disliked that their was not much growth to the Schneider character. Their was a spin off attempt for him called Another Man's Shoes but that failed after an unsuccessful pilot.

When the series focused on Ann and her daughters plus Schneider it was pretty good. They lost the premise and heart of the show when that changed.

It reminded me of when Roseanne started adding all of those characters who ruined the show. That 8th and 9th season of Roseanne was a joke!

Well you have to consider the fact the show had to take a different direction as the mother raising two daughters plot was going to wear itself out over time as the girls grew up. I liked Alex but did not feel he was necessary but they made it work. I did not mind Barbara getting married. I think by season nine, they tried to eliminate the extra characters and prepping Mackenzie to be in the weekly lineup but she messed up with the drug issue again. When she came back in 1981, it was for four episodes. The next season (although the show was in a different direction) she was billed and featured in 10 of 27 episodes and the final season seemed as though she was back on the weekly basis until the drug habit came back into play. I hated that Mack was billed after all the other cast members, though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy9FdYyNjhI

[ThomasE]

In the previous post is a youtube attachment for the show's 8th season opening with Mack in the fold.

[TMC]

What about when Howard Hessman joined the fold? It on its own, seems awfully incestuous that his character would marry his son's mother-in-law. When Howard Hessman showed up, it was off the heels of WKRP, where he had created the memorable Dr. Johnny Fever. On ODAAT, he's asked to play virtually the most bland, milquetoast character ever.

[Fallon97]

The show never jumped.