Mary Ann Mobley as Maggie

[WatcherofOldTV]

Just my take on Mary Ann Mobley as Maggie.

Great actress but absolutely not write for the part as Maggie. She was too robotic and did not have enough chemistry with the kids. Perhaps, she wasn't right for a comedy because there were scenes with Phil where she could really show her dramatic and loving side towards him.

She didn't seem to have a comedic bone in her body and just did not blend well with the show. Agree or disagree?

[stevea]

Originally Posted by WatcherofOldTV

Just my take on Mary Ann Mobley as Maggie.

Great actress but absolutely not write for the part as Maggie. She was too robotic and did not have enough chemistry with the kids. Perhaps, she wasn't right for a comedy because there were scenes with Phil where she could really show her dramatic and loving side towards him.

She didn't seem to have a comedic bone in her body and just did not blend well with the show. Agree or disagree?

Agree 100 percent. I really disliked the acting on the Sam kidnapped episode, although it was a good effort.

They had established Maggie and Sam as coming from the South, and Dixie Carter fit the part perfectly. So when Mary Ann Mobley read for it, I can't imagine why they picked her!

[TMC]

Originally Posted by stevea

Agree 100 percent. I really disliked the acting on the Sam kidnapped episode, although it was a good effort.

They had established Maggie and Sam as coming from the South, and Dixie Carter fit the part perfectly. So when Mary Ann Mobley read for it, I can't imagine why they picked her!

What's funny is that Mary Ann Mobley herself, is from the South (she's from Mississippi). I'm guessing that they picked Mary Ann Mobley because A) She had a slight, vague resemblance to Dixie Carter B) She was already from the South too C) She had worked w/ Conrad Bain before on a past episode of DS as Arnold's teacher and Philip's one-off love interest D) Mary Ann likely had a much softer personality than Dixie Carter, thus she would've have easily caused issues w/ Gary Coleman, who allegedly got Dixie fired.

[ThomasE]

I saw Mary Ann on a 1981 episode of "The Love Boat", recently. She was very good, acting wise and she was soooooo eye candy beautiful. I was like "Dang! That woman is cure/fine". So, I think with her being stiff as she was from time to time on DS was probably from having to deal with being in the shoes that another actress wore in playing an established character. I think she might have been nervous as well.

[TMC]

As I previously mentioned, Mary Ann Mobley had previously guest starred in I think, the second season as Arnold's teacher, Ms. Osbourne. Imagine had she returned sometime later as Ms. Osbourne (and therefore, have her marry Phillip instead of Maggie) instead of inheriting Dixie Carter's role in the last season? Then, you could've cut out the middle-man of Sam (it doesn't take a rocket science to realize that adding him in hindsight, was a major mistake) and avoided the dreaded "Other Darrin" scenario.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by WatcherofOldTV

Just my take on Mary Ann Mobley as Maggie.

Great actress but absolutely not write for the part as Maggie. She was too robotic and did not have enough chemistry with the kids. Perhaps, she wasn't right for a comedy because there were scenes with Phil where she could really show her dramatic and loving side towards him.

She didn't seem to have a comedic bone in her body and just did not blend well with the show. Agree or disagree?

The Dixie Carter for Mary Ann Mobley situation was kind of an '80s version of the Janet Huber for Daphne Maxwell-Reid on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The latter actresses were much blander and softer in personality than their predecessors.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by stevea

Agree 100 percent. I really disliked the acting on the Sam kidnapped episode, although it was a good effort.

They had established Maggie and Sam as coming from the South, and Dixie Carter fit the part perfectly. So when Mary Ann Mobley read for it, I can't imagine why they picked her!

Mary Ann I guess, was too melodramatic (in fairness, if your son was kidnap, how exactly are you logically supposed to act) and hammy in the "Sam's Missing" episode.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by TMC

What's funny is that Mary Ann Mobley herself, is from the South (she's from Mississippi). I'm guessing that they picked Mary Ann Mobley because A) She had a slight, vague resemblance to Dixie Carter B) She was already from the South too C) She had worked w/ Conrad Bain before on a past episode of DS as Arnold's teacher and Philip's one-off love interest D) Mary Ann likely had a much softer personality than Dixie Carter, thus she would've have easily caused issues w/ Gary Coleman, who allegedly got Dixie fired.

Ms. Carter was never fired. She was simply unavailable as she had already been cast as Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women.

[ThomasE]

Originally Posted by glickmam

Ms. Carter was never fired. She was simply unavailable as she had already been cast as Julia Sugarbaker on Desigining Women.

According to my convo with Shavar Ross back in late 2001, he stated that she was fired.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by glickmam

Ms. Carter was never fired. She was simply unavailable as she had already been cast as Julia Sugarbaker on Desigining Women.

I doubt that since there was almost a year and a half between the time of her last appearance on Diff'rent Strokes and the premiere of Designing Women.

[ThomasE]

Originally Posted by DJM77

I doubt that since there was almost a year and a half between the time of her last appearance on Diff'rent Strokes and the premiere of Designing Women.

Agreed. I always thought about that.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by WatcherofOldTV

Just my take on Mary Ann Mobley as Maggie.

Great actress but absolutely not write for the part as Maggie. She was too robotic and did not have enough chemistry with the kids. Perhaps, she wasn't right for a comedy because there were scenes with Phil where she could really show her dramatic and loving side towards him.

She didn't seem to have a comedic bone in her body and just did not blend well with the show. Agree or disagree?

Dixie Carter's Maggie had a certain edge, toughness and swagger about her that Mary Ann Mobley didn't. Mary Ann's Maggie was simply watered and non-existential (you could've practically gotten any actress for that role) down in comparison. I guess that Mary Ann was better at playing the more loving, maternal side than Dixie. But still, Dixie Carter tops Mary Ann in the charisma and screen presence department.