Do You Think NBC Should've Spun Off Kimberly Along With Mrs. Garrett??? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 02-12-2012, 09:42 PM

I mean wouldn't have made a lot more sense to have Kimberly at the very least recur on The Facts of Life with Mrs. G? She was going to Eastland at the time so having Kimberly appear would make a lot of sense to the original version of the show. Agree? Disagree?

ThomasE · 03-02-2012, 03:52 AM

They really didn't need to bring Kimberly to FOL full time but it would have been more real for me if they brought her over periodically for double duty since she was a student there and she was friends with the principal cast. Like the episode when Willis came to visit, Willis responds to Jo's question with "I have a sister. I know its like". I thought he should have said something like "With Kimberly being my sister, I know what it's like". I know it's a nitpic but that is my observation.

Jude The Obscure · 04-25-2012, 10:41 PM

They could have alternated--one week she would be on DS, the next week on FOL.

TVFactFan · 04-26-2012, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jude The Obscure

They could have alternated--one week she would be on DS, the next week on FOL.

That's what they did with Arnold and Tootie. Tootie would appear on DS one week and then Arnold would appear on FOL the following week

gidgetgrape · 04-26-2012, 08:53 PM

I wonder if being on "The Facts of Life" would have made a difference in Dana Plato's life. She needed the work and maybe it would have lead to more opportunities and a longer life.

TVFactFan · 04-26-2012, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gidgetgrape

I wonder if being on "The Facts of Life" would have made a difference in Dana Plato's life. She needed the work and maybe it would have lead to more opportunities and a longer life.

I think since they had their SET number of girls on FOL, it was no way for Kimberly to be added to the show

ThomasE · 04-30-2012, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I think since they had their SET number of girls on FOL, it was no way for Kimberly to be added to the show

But she could have popped in here and there. That would have made it even more realistic for me.

TVFactFan · 04-30-2012, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasE

But she could have popped in here and there. That would have made it even more realistic for me.

It was no way for her to pop in if she was attending the same school LOL

ThomasE · 04-30-2012, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

It was no way for her to pop in if she was attending the same school LOL

Uh, yeah there was. I'm talking about appearing on screen. She could have done that She went to the same school that her friends did. Her house keeper became her dietician. She could have been seen eating in the cafeteria. Hands down.

TVFactFan · 04-30-2012, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Uh, yeah there was. I'm talking about appearing on screen. She could have done that She went to the same school that her friends did. Her house keeper became her dietician. She could have been seen eating in the cafeteria. Hands down.

Tom if she was enrolled in Eastland on DS, then it was no way for her to guest star on FOL-lol Either she had to go to FOL with mrs. Garrett or not appear on there at all.

ThomasE · 04-30-2012, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Tom if she was enrolled in Eastland on DS, then it was no way for her to guest star on FOL-lol Either she had to go to FOL with mrs. Garrett or not appear on there at all.

Says who? Solomon, it sounds like you are giving selective logic to this issue. It makes sense to have her appear as she is a student there with her other friends. She appeared on episode one with the rest of the cast. Then Arnold and Willis appeared separately during season two. Kimberly could have made appearances. No doubt about that. Plus, her friends appeared sporadically on DS through season four. Both shows were filmed in the same studio as well. Yes, it was possible. The Huxtables sure did make appearances on A Different World while both Cosby and ADW were filmed in studios across the country.

Solomon, you're not debating this for the sake of pushing up a new, organic debate, are you?

TVFactFan · 04-30-2012, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Says who? Solomon, it sounds like you are giving selective logic to this issue. It makes sense to have her appear as she is a student there with her other friends. She appeared on episode one with the rest of the cast. Then Arnold and Willis appeared separately during season two. Kimberly could have made appearances. No doubt about that. Plus, her friends appeared sporadically on DS through season four. Both shows were filmed in the same studio as well. Yes, it was possible. The Huxtables sure did make appearances on A Different World while both Cosby and ADW were filmed in studios across the country.

Solomon, you're not debating this for the sake of pushing up a new, organic debate, are you?

How could she appear as a student without viewers wondering where she was the next episode? That's why i feel she and Mrs. garrett should have both went to FOL and that way it would have made more sense and then she could have made guest appearances on DS with the girls

ThomasE · 04-30-2012, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

How could she appear as a student without viewers wondering where she was the next episode? That's why i feel she and Mrs. garrett should have both went to FOL and that way it would have made more sense and then she could have made guest appearances on DS with the girls

Solomon, there are other characters that were students that did not appear on every episode but we saw them two times or a few more which was enough to show the viewers that they existed. The same argument goes for Kimberly. Besides, the season one girls popped in and out as well through season three. So, yes it could have happened. Kimberly did not have to be seen every episode but seeing here and there would have sufficed. There is no law against that.

DarkDante · 05-14-2012, 01:38 AM

I made this point on the FOL forum but I think FOL would've been a much better show if they centered the show on a cast of older girls instead of younger actresses like Kim Fields and Molly Ringwald.

I mentioned I would've assembled a cast of Lisa Whelchel, Julie Piekarski, Felice Schachter and possibly Mindy Cohn along with Charlotte Rae obviously and dispensed with the rest.

Judging from some of the cast photos from season one, there seemed to be a thought at least for awhile to align the three older castmates together (there are photos of Whelchel, Schachter and Piekarski together without the rest of the cast) and personally I think one of the biggest problems in season one is they had no clue as to whether they wanted to cater to the teen set (Whelchel and Piekarski were already getting coverage in the magazines due to their involvement in MMC) or base their show around younger actors perhaps hoping to foster another young star as DS did with Gary Coleman.

But to your question, while I would've liked to have seen Dana Plato spun off onto FOL there were just too many obstacles to make that realistically happen. First off it would've weakened the cast of DS considerably to lose both Rae and Plato within the span of one season. Plato was also essential to the Drummond/Jackson dynamic as Kimberly gave Arnold and Willis someone relative to their own age to play off of.

Also as we all know during the first season of FOL, the cast was already very top heavy and adding Plato to the mix and given the fact her character probably would've been cast as the lead would've made the already top heavy cast even more bloated.

DarkDante · 05-14-2012, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gidgetgrape

I wonder if being on "The Facts of Life" would have made a difference in Dana Plato's life. She needed the work and maybe it would have lead to more opportunities and a longer life.

I've often wondered this too. For me Plato would've been much better served as an actress to have been on FOL instead of DS. DS eventually became Gary Coleman's vehicle with everyone else being reduced to his supporting cast/foils.

As for whether it would've made a difference in her life? I don't know. From a professional standpoint as you mentioned, maybe it would've lead to more roles which would've in turn perhaps steered her away from her eventual path.

Beyond that it's impossible to say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

I think since they had their SET number of girls on FOL, it was no way for Kimberly to be added to the show

Well if Plato was added to the show as a regular from the start you'd have to assume the show would've been a vehicle for her along with Charlotte Rae. The rest of the girls would've been support cast.

Building the show around Dana Plato may have also necessitated the axing of some of the younger cast as the show would've been focused around girls Dana's age and their adventures. Given the fact that the producers cast girls of such a wide age range for FOL, I'm not sure that was a direction they ever considered.

02-12-2012, 09:42 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,108	Do You Think NBC Should've Spun Off Kimberly Along With Mrs. Garrett??? I mean wouldn't have made a lot more sense to have Kimberly at the very least recur on The Facts of Life with Mrs. G? She was going to Eastland at the time so having Kimberly appear would make a lot of sense to the original version of the show. Agree? Disagree?
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03-02-2012, 03:52 AM	#2
ThomasE Member Moderator Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2000 Location: New York, New York, U.S.A. Posts: 10,857	They really didn't need to bring Kimberly to FOL full time but it would have been more real for me if they brought her over periodically for double duty since she was a student there and she was friends with the principal cast. Like the episode when Willis came to visit, Willis responds to Jo's question with "I have a sister. I know its like". I thought he should have said something like "With Kimberly being my sister, I know what it's like". I know it's a nitpic but that is my observation.
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04-25-2012, 10:41 PM	#3
Jude The Obscure Retired Eternal Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 10, 2006 Posts: 7,519	They could have alternated--one week she would be on DS, the next week on FOL.

04-26-2012, 08:53 PM	#5
gidgetgrape Forever Gidget Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 20, 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 3,503	I wonder if being on "The Facts of Life" would have made a difference in Dana Plato's life. She needed the work and maybe it would have lead to more opportunities and a longer life.

05-14-2012, 01:38 AM	#14
DarkDante Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1,569	I made this point on the FOL forum but I think FOL would've been a much better show if they centered the show on a cast of older girls instead of younger actresses like Kim Fields and Molly Ringwald. I mentioned I would've assembled a cast of Lisa Whelchel, Julie Piekarski, Felice Schachter and possibly Mindy Cohn along with Charlotte Rae obviously and dispensed with the rest. Judging from some of the cast photos from season one, there seemed to be a thought at least for awhile to align the three older castmates together (there are photos of Whelchel, Schachter and Piekarski together without the rest of the cast) and personally I think one of the biggest problems in season one is they had no clue as to whether they wanted to cater to the teen set (Whelchel and Piekarski were already getting coverage in the magazines due to their involvement in MMC) or base their show around younger actors perhaps hoping to foster another young star as DS did with Gary Coleman. But to your question, while I would've liked to have seen Dana Plato spun off onto FOL there were just too many obstacles to make that realistically happen. First off it would've weakened the cast of DS considerably to lose both Rae and Plato within the span of one season. Plato was also essential to the Drummond/Jackson dynamic as Kimberly gave Arnold and Willis someone relative to their own age to play off of. Also as we all know during the first season of FOL, the cast was already very top heavy and adding Plato to the mix and given the fact her character probably would've been cast as the lead would've made the already top heavy cast even more bloated.