Dodie: Myrtle's owner - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

paul.austin · 08-13-2014, 02:58 PM

I think Dodie was 4 or 5? when Steve and Barbara married, but the scripts infantalised her. Bad haircut as well - it looks awful on Dawn Lyn.

Bonniegirl · 08-21-2014, 10:04 AM

Poor Dodie!!! She wasn't a pretty child, but she was cute in her own way!

Hazel Anyday · 08-21-2014, 06:23 PM

I think the show went afoul when Steve got married and suddenly all the kids got married as late teenagers too (except for Ernie, if the show had lasted one more season I'm sure Ernie would have been married off too). Chip and Rob were both way too young to be married.

As far as Dodie, we really need to give the kid a break. How many of us would love to have been filmed when we were 4 years old and then forever more be judged as less than perfect? I remember not liking the fact that Steve got married but Dodie was a cute kid, didn't look like the typical fake cute TV kid, which was a good thing. I'm just glad she wasn't given 30 year old smart aleck comebacks the way the kids of the '80's TV shows were.

paul.austin · 08-21-2014, 09:39 PM

Had the show run a few more years would Don Fedderson have done to Dodie what he did to Buffy from Family Affair - babified her too long and not let her grow up?

Who the hell cut Dodie's hair?

It looks awful on Dawn Lyn (or any girl or woman, for that matter)

biffbronson · 08-22-2014, 03:03 AM

When she first came on, no doubt one problem had to do with the M3S filming schedule. When she first appears in scenes with Fred MacMurray (fall 1969, Season 10), she's extremely young-looking and acting -- but by the time her other scenes (with Beverly Garland and Eleanor Audley) are shot later, she's slightly grown and the producers are forced to try to keep her looking as she did from the very start. Which may explain her hairstyle not evolving right away, and the too-short dresses.

It's been said that astute viewers who noticed Dawn's teeth coming in, for the first time were able to figure out that MacMurray's scenes were shot in advance. Apparently the secret was well-guarded through Season 9.

As we go into Seasons 11 and 12, more often she's wearing pants and has gone to a longer, more flattering hairstyle.

Dawn did look better yet in her later work on Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, and Wonder Woman. Actually by the time she did Wonder Woman she looked fine -- sadly that was about the end of her on-screen career. She's actually a pretty good-looking woman!

On shows like Cannon and Wonder Woman, she appeared with her brother Leif Garrett -- sort of like the next generation's John McIntyre & Jeannette Nolan, who often came as a package deal!

Bonniegirl · 08-29-2014, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul.austin

Had the show run a few more years would Don Fedderson have done to Dodie what he did to Buffy from Family Affair - babified her too long and not let her grow up?

Who the hell cut Dodie's hair?

It looks awful on Dawn Lyn (or any girl or woman, for that matter)

Hey it was the 1960's!!! I think all girls from my era would agree with me. I was born in 1962. Sometimes we did look goofy! I remember my bangs being cut WAY too short! And they had a thing back than, little girls with straight hair, OMG it was like a curse, most of the time they put it up in pigtails. But if there was an event (like a wedding or school pictures or something) my Mom would put my hair up in pink sponge curlers and my hair turned out goofy!!! It didn't curl really, it just was all poofy and all over the place!

My straight, little girl natural hair was so pretty, but Mom's INSISTED that we needed some curl to our hair and we came out looking goofy! Or like Dodie, some poor little girls had their hair cut funny!!!

paul.austin · 10-29-2014, 09:47 PM

Some sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show and Family Ties would have been better had they had a little girl instead of a little boy.

Of course some sitcom stars refused to have on-screen children in their shows (Bob Newhart as Bob Hartley. Newhart was at one point handed a storyline where the Hartleys had a child. Newhart's response? "i love the script... but who are you going to get to play Bob Hartley?")

biffbronson · 11-03-2014, 07:39 AM

One thing about the Dodie character is that she allowed for scripts whose plotlines wouldn't have been possible anymore with the sons, as even Ernie was now a young man -- clearly no longer just a kid.

Fears of sleeping alone in a new bedroom, schoolyard bullying, missing from home (just down to Katie & Rob's apartment), and wanting a "big sister" (Katie) all were all in the domain of a very young child.

Dodie helped fill the very wide age gap between Ernie and the triplets, as the series drew to a close before the 3 new boys had grown a whole lot -- compared with Dodie's stages.

By the final season, we still had 7 males (Steve, Charley, Chip, Ernie, and the Triplets) -- so having Dodie among the 4 females (Barbara, Katie, Polly, and Dodie) helped even things up a bit!

Michelle Garvey · 11-24-2014, 02:15 PM

If M3S had been ten years later, would we have seen a Very Special Episode where Dodie is captured by a child molester ala the Gordon Jump episode of "Diff'rent Strokes"?

Babalu · 01-18-2015, 03:46 PM

Dodie was a running joke at our house. She was so out of place and had a ridiculous name before ridiculous names became normal. We used to call her Dopey.

Bonniegirl · 01-18-2015, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Babalu

Dodie was a running joke at our house. She was so out of place and had a ridiculous name before ridiculous names became normal. We used to call her Dopey.

LOL !!

Yeah I know what you mean. Little girls were Suzy or Cindy back than! I think Dodie was short for Dorothy? It would have been cuter to call her Dotty than Dodie!

Michelle Garvey · 01-19-2015, 03:08 AM

At least with Dodie/Dorothy, you knew what sex/gender the character was. I hate the modern trend of boys names or masculine surnames on girls. Hoping our daughters will follow masculine ideals is not feminism. Never mind the ridiculous "She can be female later in life" - yeah, but she will never be a child again.

biffbronson · 03-05-2015, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonniegirl62

I remember my bangs being cut WAY too short!

My mom would trim my bangs the night before school photos, in the '70s. Of course, not a good result. But moms rightly didn't want their sons to look like Sam the sheepdog from Looney Tunes.

I remember the photographer bringing forward sections of the girls' hair, who had long hair. I later realized he was doing this to show it off, as otherwise it would just disappear behind their shoulders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonniegirl62

Or like Dodie, some poor little girls had their hair cut funny!!!

The girl on Lassie who had the goose (Timmy era), I think she was a member of the Wrather family, also had one of those pumpkin pie haircuts years earlier.

Bonniegirl · 03-05-2015, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffbronson

My mom would trim my bangs the night before school photos, in the '70s. Of course, not a good result. But moms rightly didn't want their sons to look like Sam the sheepdog from Looney Tunes.

I remember the photographer bringing forward sections of the girls' hair, who had long hair. I later realized he was doing this to show it off, as otherwise it would just disappear behind their shoulders.

The girl on Lassie who had the goose (Timmy era), I think she was a member of the Wrather family, also had one of those pumpkin pie haircuts years earlier.

First off!!! HELLO biffbronson !!!!

How are you?

Oh my gosh yes!! I remember that Lassie ep with that little girl! And I thought about that when I was watching. OMG look at that child's hair!

Typical little girl funny hair cut from the 50's 60's era !

How about Sally's hair , from Davey and Goliath!!

paul.austin · 07-13-2015, 02:38 PM

Poor Dodie. The unwanted step-child.

08-13-2014, 02:58 PM	#1
paul.austin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 22, 2012 Posts: 673	Dodie: Myrtle's owner I think Dodie was 4 or 5? when Steve and Barbara married, but the scripts infantalised her. Bad haircut as well - it looks awful on Dawn Lyn.

08-21-2014, 06:23 PM	#3
Hazel Anyday Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 12, 2002 Posts: 2,135	I think the show went afoul when Steve got married and suddenly all the kids got married as late teenagers too (except for Ernie, if the show had lasted one more season I'm sure Ernie would have been married off too). Chip and Rob were both way too young to be married. As far as Dodie, we really need to give the kid a break. How many of us would love to have been filmed when we were 4 years old and then forever more be judged as less than perfect? I remember not liking the fact that Steve got married but Dodie was a cute kid, didn't look like the typical fake cute TV kid, which was a good thing. I'm just glad she wasn't given 30 year old smart aleck comebacks the way the kids of the '80's TV shows were.
	__________________ Haaazeelll!!

08-22-2014, 03:03 AM	#5
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,493	When she first came on, no doubt one problem had to do with the M3S filming schedule. When she first appears in scenes with Fred MacMurray (fall 1969, Season 10), she's extremely young-looking and acting -- but by the time her other scenes (with Beverly Garland and Eleanor Audley) are shot later, she's slightly grown and the producers are forced to try to keep her looking as she did from the very start. Which may explain her hairstyle not evolving right away, and the too-short dresses. It's been said that astute viewers who noticed Dawn's teeth coming in, for the first time were able to figure out that MacMurray's scenes were shot in advance. Apparently the secret was well-guarded through Season 9. As we go into Seasons 11 and 12, more often she's wearing pants and has gone to a longer, more flattering hairstyle. Dawn did look better yet in her later work on Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, and Wonder Woman. Actually by the time she did Wonder Woman she looked fine -- sadly that was about the end of her on-screen career. She's actually a pretty good-looking woman! On shows like Cannon and Wonder Woman, she appeared with her brother Leif Garrett -- sort of like the next generation's John McIntyre & Jeannette Nolan, who often came as a package deal!
	__________________ In memory of lovely Erin Moran 1960-2017 ~ Missing you "For you are beautiful ~ And I have loved you dearly ~ More dearly than the spoken word can tell..." "What's the word?" (Paul Martin) ~~ "I don't want money for nothing." (Timmy Martin) -- Lassie ROCKS! WORD UP "It's just a dugout that my dad built... In case the reds* decide to push the button down..."* Last edited by biffbronson; 08-22-2014 at 03:25 AM.

01-18-2015, 03:46 PM	#10
Babalu Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 22, 2014 Posts: 4,779	Dodie was a running joke at our house. She was so out of place and had a ridiculous name before ridiculous names became normal. We used to call her Dopey.
	__________________ . I just nailed Mrs. Trumbull

08-21-2014, 10:04 AM	#2
Bonniegirl AKA Hazel Horvath Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 10, 2014 Posts: 65,744	Poor Dodie!!! She wasn't a pretty child, but she was cute in her own way!

08-21-2014, 09:39 PM	#4
paul.austin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 22, 2012 Posts: 673	Had the show run a few more years would Don Fedderson have done to Dodie what he did to Buffy from *Family Affair* - babified her too long and not let her grow up? Who the hell cut Dodie's hair? It looks awful on Dawn Lyn (or any girl or woman, for that matter)

10-29-2014, 09:47 PM	#7
paul.austin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 22, 2012 Posts: 673	Some sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show and Family Ties would have been better had they had a little girl instead of a little boy. Of course some sitcom stars refused to have on-screen children in their shows (Bob Newhart as Bob Hartley. Newhart was at one point handed a storyline where the Hartleys had a child. Newhart's response? "i love the script... but who are you going to get to play Bob Hartley?")

11-03-2014, 07:39 AM	#8
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,493	One thing about the Dodie character is that she allowed for scripts whose plotlines wouldn't have been possible anymore with the sons, as even Ernie was now a young man -- clearly no longer just a kid. Fears of sleeping alone in a new bedroom, schoolyard bullying, missing from home (just down to Katie & Rob's apartment), and wanting a "big sister" (Katie) all were all in the domain of a very young child. Dodie helped fill the very wide age gap between Ernie and the triplets, as the series drew to a close before the 3 new boys had grown a whole lot -- compared with Dodie's stages. By the final season, we still had 7 males (Steve, Charley, Chip, Ernie, and the Triplets) -- so having Dodie among the 4 females (Barbara, Katie, Polly, and Dodie) helped even things up a bit!

11-24-2014, 02:15 PM	#9
Michelle Garvey Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 03, 2014 Posts: 6	If M3S had been ten years later, would we have seen a Very Special Episode where Dodie is captured by a child molester ala the Gordon Jump episode of "Diff'rent Strokes"?

01-19-2015, 03:08 AM	#12
Michelle Garvey Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 03, 2014 Posts: 6	At least with Dodie/Dorothy, you knew what sex/gender the character was. I hate the modern trend of boys names or masculine surnames on girls. Hoping our daughters will follow masculine ideals is not feminism. Never mind the ridiculous "She can be female later in life" - yeah, but she will never be a child again.

07-13-2015, 02:38 PM	#15
paul.austin Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 22, 2012 Posts: 673	Poor Dodie. The unwanted step-child.