A thought on why Richie was not seen more - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

jon123 · 05-13-2004, 12:59 AM

Ritchie's only scene was the opening phone call with Alan in the old house. It would have been nice at the end, or at some point, to see Rob and Laura visit Ritchie and his family at the old house instead of seeing them out of character.

One thought occured to me why we didn't see any scenes with Ritchie together with Rob and Laura. Mary's real son was also named Ritchie and killed himself in 1980. Is it possible that Mary requested to not have any scenes together with TV son Ritchie because it would have been too painful due to her real life tragedy?

Pentimento · 05-13-2004, 10:43 AM

I don't know if Mary had any final say -- or even any input at all -- on the script, but I just wanted to mention that she has never acknowledged her own son's death as being anything but accidental. In fact, a formal investigation by the L.A. Coroner's Office ultimately did lead to it being ruled an accident, but the circumstances indicated that it could just as likely have been a suicide.

Either way, I could see her not wanting to do any sort of mother/son scenes with Ritchie.

algebra74 · 05-13-2004, 09:16 PM

This may be a little out of place here, but I thought that the character Richie, not Larry Matthews was gay. I am pretty sure that I have seen one of Mary Tyler Moore's variety episodes where a Rob and Laura sketch had been done, in which Richie tells his parents. If so, I think that it would have been much better for Carl Reiner, eventhough he may not have had a part in the 1979 special, to keep the accuracy from the original series, as well as any reunions along the way. Would it really have been so bad to have him portraying a gay man?

hume · 05-13-2004, 11:14 PM

Steering it back to the topic at hand...
On why Ritchie was not seen more in the Revisited special...

I believe it is because Larry Mazzeo, a.k.a. Larry Matthews, has not been a professional actor since the Dick Van Dyke Show left the air in 1966. Unlike other child actors, Larry left acting behind and went to work instead in television production and in sales (I know Larry did a Nick at Nite promo with Dick, and yes, he did the DVD commentary, but I'm not aware of anything else). It's one thing to be cast as a young boy because you're cute and say a few lines, and quite another 40 years later and be called upon to work with two TV legends who have 12 acting Emmys between them and act on stage as their son. My own casting choice would have been to ask Jim Carrey to appear as Ritchie!

jon123 · 05-13-2004, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by algebra74
This may be a little out of place here, but I thought that the character Richie, not Larry Matthews was gay. I am pretty sure that I have seen one of Mary Tyler Moore's variety episodes where a Rob and Laura sketch had been done, in which Richie tells his parents. If so, I think that it would have been much better for Carl Reiner, eventhough he may not have had a part in the 1979 special, to keep the accuracy from the original series, as well as any reunions along the way. Would it really have been so bad to have him portraying a gay man?

The Rob and Laura sketch was part of Mary's failed variety show and was totally played for laughs, as most variety show sketches are. It should not be considered part of Rob and Laura's real life. Also, in that sketch, Mel called Rob to say that Alan Brady had died and asked Rob to write his eulogy. Since Alan is obviously not dead yet it would also not make sense to use anything that was in that sketch.

algebra74 · 05-14-2004, 05:25 PM

HAHA. I had forgotten about that one!

vze3t9q9 · 05-16-2004, 05:19 PM

Richie, gay, thats a new one!

Sitcom Sally · 05-23-2004, 03:31 PM

Ok, I'll say it...

Richie didn't appear with Rob and Laura because he's fat and bald and now looks more like their contemporary than their son.

And Mary, who right out of the gate made sure we saw that she's still as slim and perky as ever, just couldn't allow that...

pilotguy · 05-24-2004, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcom Sally
Ok, I'll say it...

Richie didn't appear with Rob and Laura because he's fat and bald and now looks more like their contemporary than their son.

And Mary, who right out of the gate made sure we saw that she's still as slim and perky as ever, just couldn't allow that...

I never considered that before, but it makes sense....and all this time I thought that my MOTHER just thought that about ME!

SawgrassSteve · 05-24-2004, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcom Sally
Ok, I'll say it...

Richie didn't appear with Rob and Laura because he's fat and bald and now looks more like their contemporary than their son.

And Mary, who right out of the gate made sure we saw that she's still as slim and perky as ever, just couldn't allow that...

Steve

Samme · 05-26-2004, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sitcom Sally
Ok, I'll say it...

Richie didn't appear with Rob and Laura because he's fat and bald and now looks more like their contemporary than their son.

And Mary, who right out of the gate made sure we saw that she's still as slim and perky as ever, just couldn't allow that...

Well, I gotta agree that's the reason. But I thought he did a good job and I'm glad he wasn't left out.
But, by the same token, would Laura
have gotten a facelift? I doubt it.

vanilla_waif · 05-26-2004, 08:35 PM

You are too funny Sitcom Sally

I'm sure that's not the reason why Larry's part was so small but I have to admit when I first saw the promo group pics for the reunion I was like "OMG Mary so doesn't look old enough to be his mom" I know her youthful/plasticy appearance has become a worn out subject around here but I don't think she stands out from the rest of the cast any more than during the series. She was by far the most attractive cast member back in the 60s (although I have to admit Dick was pretty cute too

) so why shouldn't she stand out as being the most attractive in the cast today??

hawaii five-o · 05-27-2004, 09:39 PM

Personally, I don't think Mary looks all that attractive today. She's got a bad facelift but the rest of her is old and wrinkled. Especially her neck and hands. And she's way too skinny. But she probably think she looks good.

Lolac · 05-28-2004, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
Personally, I don't think Mary looks all that attractive today. She's got a bad facelift but the rest of her is old and wrinkled. Especially her neck and hands. And she's way too skinny. But she probably think she looks good.

You must be under 40 years of age. Those of us over 40 tend to have a little more compassion about this sort of thing

, though I agree that Mary's facelift looks bad. Ahh well, there in a few years go I, (without the face lift!

)

Lolac

Sitcom Sally · 05-30-2004, 10:04 PM

...the rumors of MTM having multiple plastic surgeries date all the way back to the late '60s. I remember hearing it as a kid, and I'm, well... older now! Partially to blame were the gossip rags, which were a lot worse then than they are now. At least today they seem to aim for a grain of the truth.

But, where there's smoke...

05-13-2004, 12:59 AM	#1
jon123 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Feb 04, 2002 Location: Temecula Valley, CA Posts: 395	A thought on why Ritchie was not seen more on the reunion Ritchie's only scene was the opening phone call with Alan in the old house. It would have been nice at the end, or at some point, to see Rob and Laura visit Ritchie and his family at the old house instead of seeing them out of character. One thought occured to me why we didn't see any scenes with Ritchie together with Rob and Laura. Mary's real son was also named Ritchie and killed himself in 1980. Is it possible that Mary requested to not have any scenes together with TV son Ritchie because it would have been too painful due to her real life tragedy?
	Last edited by jon123; 05-13-2004 at 10:20 AM.

05-30-2004, 10:04 PM	#15
Sitcom Sally Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 25, 2002 Posts: 48	[COLOR=blue]Since we're already OT here,[/COLOR] ...the rumors of MTM having multiple plastic surgeries date all the way back to the late '60s. I remember hearing it as a kid, and I'm, well... older now! Partially to blame were the gossip rags, which were a lot worse then than they are now. At least today they seem to aim for a grain of the truth. But, where there's smoke...

05-13-2004, 10:43 AM	#2
Pentimento Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 16, 2004 Location: The Big Valley Posts: 606	I don't know if Mary had any final say -- or even any input at all -- on the script, but I just wanted to mention that she has never acknowledged her own son's death as being anything but accidental. In fact, a formal investigation by the L.A. Coroner's Office ultimately did lead to it being ruled an accident, but the circumstances indicated that it could just as likely have been a suicide. Either way, I could see her not wanting to do any sort of mother/son scenes with Ritchie.

05-13-2004, 09:16 PM	#3
algebra74 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 14, 2004 Posts: 337	This may be a little out of place here, but I thought that the character Richie, not Larry Matthews was gay. I am pretty sure that I have seen one of Mary Tyler Moore's variety episodes where a Rob and Laura sketch had been done, in which Richie tells his parents. If so, I think that it would have been much better for Carl Reiner, eventhough he may not have had a part in the 1979 special, to keep the accuracy from the original series, as well as any reunions along the way. Would it really have been so bad to have him portraying a gay man?

05-13-2004, 11:14 PM	#4
hume Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 24, 2002 Posts: 68	Steering it back to the topic at hand... On why Ritchie was not seen more in the Revisited special... I believe it is because Larry Mazzeo, a.k.a. Larry Matthews, has not been a professional actor since the Dick Van Dyke Show left the air in 1966. Unlike other child actors, Larry left acting behind and went to work instead in television production and in sales (I know Larry did a Nick at Nite promo with Dick, and yes, he did the DVD commentary, but I'm not aware of anything else). It's one thing to be cast as a young boy because you're cute and say a few lines, and quite another 40 years later and be called upon to work with two TV legends who have 12 acting Emmys between them and act on stage as their son. My own casting choice would have been to ask Jim Carrey to appear as Ritchie!

05-14-2004, 05:25 PM	#6
algebra74 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 14, 2004 Posts: 337	HAHA. I had forgotten about that one!

05-16-2004, 05:19 PM	#7
vze3t9q9 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 31, 2003 Location: ROCKCOVE Posts: 548	Richie, gay, thats a new one!

05-23-2004, 03:31 PM	#8
Sitcom Sally Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 25, 2002 Posts: 48	Ok, I'll say it... Richie didn't appear with Rob and Laura because he's fat and bald and now looks more like their contemporary than their son. And Mary, who right out of the gate made sure we saw that she's still as slim and perky as ever, just couldn't allow that...

05-26-2004, 08:35 PM	#12
vanilla_waif Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 17, 2004 Location: USA Posts: 34	You are too funny Sitcom Sally I'm sure that's not the reason why Larry's part was so small but I have to admit when I first saw the promo group pics for the reunion I was like "OMG Mary so doesn't look old enough to be his mom" I know her youthful/plasticy appearance has become a worn out subject around here but I don't think she stands out from the rest of the cast any more than during the series. She was by far the most attractive cast member back in the 60s (although I have to admit Dick was pretty cute too ) so why shouldn't she stand out as being the most attractive in the cast today??

05-27-2004, 09:39 PM	#13
hawaii five-o Book 'Em, Dano Senior Member Join Date: Jun 27, 2003 Location: At home, eating cereal straight out of the box Posts: 1,406	Personally, I don't think Mary looks all that attractive today. She's got a bad facelift but the rest of her is old and wrinkled. Especially her neck and hands. And she's way too skinny. But she probably think she looks good.