I wish they hadn't of had Julie's character leave her family - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

julietx · 05-11-2015, 10:48 AM

I know Mackenzie Phillips was back on drugs and couldn't continue, but it seems like they could have had a better ending for her character. I know Julie had problems, but I think running off and leaving her family, especially her child, was out of character. Julie wouldn't have done that. She said one time in an earlier episode that she could never get divorced because she just couldn't do that to her kids. And then she does even worse, she runs off and leaves her husband and child!! I don't see that as being consistent with her character. They could have had Max and Julie just move somewhere. And, if they didn't want to fire the actor who played Max, they could have had him appear in some way. There would have been a better way to do it. Actually, this show probably ran one season too long. Probably should have ended after season 8 or even season 7. It was starting to get bad even if Mackenzie had stayed.

Wawwie · 05-11-2015, 01:53 PM

I hate that Julie just abandoned her family. Julie was so overjoyed with the baby when she gave birth and then she just dumps her and the husband? Horrible! That was such a terrible ending for the character of Julie... so selfish and cruel.

Marvo301 · 05-11-2015, 02:25 PM

What other options did they have? Kill her off? Send her to Jail? I guess they chose the lesser of the evils!

Bonniegirl · 05-11-2015, 02:37 PM

I think that was a horrible way to have Julie leave the show! And poor Mackenzie Phillips, like she didn't have enough problems with her drug addiction. In order to be as bad as she was into it, she must have really had self esteem issues and was feeling bad enough! Than the writers had to even make her TV character bad! People associate the real actor or actress with their character , so she didn't need any more negativity.

I think they should have just had her leave the husband but take the baby with her. Nothing would have been that horrible about that! Or like Julietx posted , have her and Max move away! I'm thinking too the show should have just ended before that point. It ran it's course already!

Anna Karenina · 05-11-2015, 02:43 PM

I wonder if they thought of recasting instead of essentially ruining her character.

Anna Karenina · 05-11-2015, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I think that was a horrible way to have Julie leave the show! And poor Mackenzie Phillips, like she didn't have enough problems with her drug addiction. In order to be as bad as she was into it, she must have really had self esteem issues and was feeling bad enough! Than the writers had to even make her TV character bad! People associate the real actor or actress with their character , so she didn't need any more negativity.

I think they should have just had her leave the husband but take the baby with her. Nothing would have been that horrible about that! Or like Julietx posted , have her and Max move away! I'm thinking too the show should have just ended before that point. It ran it's course already!

Yes, it would have softened the character if she and Max broke up and they shared custody. That would have explained her absence and not made her a deadbeat mother.

JoshLarson24 · 05-11-2015, 02:52 PM

It's like when they killed off Nick in season 7. They could have handled that better. Why did they kill that dude off? There were so many other ways they could have handled that

Bonniegirl · 05-11-2015, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Karenina

Yes, it would have softened the character if she and Max broke up and they shared custody. That would have explained her absence and not made her a deadbeat mother.

Yeah, it would have been much better!

Anna I like your Lucy Avatar picture!

Anna Karenina · 05-11-2015, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

Yeah, it would have been much better!

Anna I like your Lucy Avatar picture!

Thanks, Bonniegirl! I was admiring your Blondie and Dagwood, avatar.

Anna Karenina · 05-11-2015, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshLarson24

It's like when they killed off Nick in season 7. They could have handled that better. Why did they kill that dude off? There were so many other ways they could have handled that

Absolutely! Couldn't Nick and Ann have broken up and remained friendly and the writers have Nick move away for a job opportunity out of the country. He could have offered to bring Alex with him and have Alex opt to finish his schooling here. He could have even lived nearby with his mother and visit the Romano/Coopers frequently.

No need to abruptly kill Nick off, seemed like a slap in the face to the actor. At least unlike Ginny, we knew what happened to him.

BTW, did Rifkin and Franklin get along? Rumor has it Bonnie has Mary Louise Wilson written out because she stole too many scenes.

Wawwie · 05-11-2015, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marvo301

What other options did they have? Kill her off? Send her to Jail? I guess they chose the lesser of the evils!

Even killing her off would have been better than having her abandon her family.

I think the best solution would have been for her to just leave Max and share custody of the baby. The fact that they had Julie abandon her baby was a hateful thing to do.

mets82 · 05-11-2015, 05:41 PM

Guys, color me surprised. I only watched up to season 9, episode 1, of the marathon so I didnt know that Julie left her family. Wow. I guess there was no other alternative. Unless, she was being blackmailed or kidnapped or something. I had no idea Julie did that. Plus, I had no idea about Nick either. I thought Nick was kind of pushy but thats me.

I will say the drugs had there effect on Mack. I watched the season 9, episode 1, and boy, she looked like a skeleton. Just sad.

Bonniegirl · 05-11-2015, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mets82

Guys, color me surprised. I only watched up to season 9, episode 1, of the marathon so I didnt know that Julie left her family. Wow. I guess there was no other alternative. Unless, she was being blackmailed or kidnapped or something. I had no idea Julie did that. Plus, I had no idea about Nick either. I thought Nick was kind of pushy but thats me.

I will say the drugs had there effect on Mack. I watched the season 9, episode 1, and boy, she looked like a skeleton. Just sad.

Yeah it's sad! Like I said before Mack was having so many problems in real life and to make it worse have her character leave the show in a very bad light too!

And to add insult to injury, Valerie Bertinelli was portrayed to be such a wholesome good girl ( as Barbara and in real life). Than she married Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen was one of the most popular bands back than. So everything was going great for her and Mack's life was spiraling way down the hill!

I mean don't get me wrong, Val deserved good things, I'm happy that her life was going good, but so sad that Mack's wasn't going good as well!

DJM77 · 05-11-2015, 06:44 PM

Considering that the producers had already fired Michael Lembeck once before because of Mackenzie's drug issues, maybe they figured that they would feel too guilt ridden to do that to him again or even too guilt ridden to reduce his role. Of course this is just speculation. Another possibility is that the producers were already thinking about the possibility of doing a 10th season and they were considering hiring a 4 year old to play little Annie in an attempt to boost ratings. Again, this is just speculation. Wawwie had a good idea about Max and Julie having joint custody. That's probably the route that the producers should have taken.

DJM77 · 05-11-2015, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Karenina

BTW, did Rifkin and Franklin get along?

I remember reading a review of his book and it said that Rifkin called Bonnie Franklin a bad actress.

05-11-2015, 10:48 AM	#1
julietx Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 03, 2015 Posts: 90	I wish they hadn't of had Julie's character leave her family I know Mackenzie Phillips was back on drugs and couldn't continue, but it seems like they could have had a better ending for her character. I know Julie had problems, but I think running off and leaving her family, especially her child, was out of character. Julie wouldn't have done that. She said one time in an earlier episode that she could never get divorced because she just couldn't do that to her kids. And then she does even worse, she runs off and leaves her husband and child!! I don't see that as being consistent with her character. They could have had Max and Julie just move somewhere. And, if they didn't want to fire the actor who played Max, they could have had him appear in some way. There would have been a better way to do it. Actually, this show probably ran one season too long. Probably should have ended after season 8 or even season 7. It was starting to get bad even if Mackenzie had stayed.

05-11-2015, 02:25 PM	#3
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,452	What other options did they have? Kill her off? Send her to Jail? I guess they chose the lesser of the evils!
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05-11-2015, 05:41 PM	#12
mets82 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Mar 14, 2011 Location: Connecticut Posts: 5,058	Guys, color me surprised. I only watched up to season 9, episode 1, of the marathon so I didnt know that Julie left her family. Wow. I guess there was no other alternative. Unless, she was being blackmailed or kidnapped or something. I had no idea Julie did that. Plus, I had no idea about Nick either. I thought Nick was kind of pushy but thats me. I will say the drugs had there effect on Mack. I watched the season 9, episode 1, and boy, she looked like a skeleton. Just sad.
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05-11-2015, 06:44 PM	#14
DJM77 Member Forum Veteran Join Date: May 15, 2001 Location: Missouri Posts: 5,559	Considering that the producers had already fired Michael Lembeck once before because of Mackenzie's drug issues, maybe they figured that they would feel too guilt ridden to do that to him again or even too guilt ridden to reduce his role. Of course this is just speculation. Another possibility is that the producers were already thinking about the possibility of doing a 10th season and they were considering hiring a 4 year old to play little Annie in an attempt to boost ratings. Again, this is just speculation. Wawwie had a good idea about Max and Julie having joint custody. That's probably the route that the producers should have taken.
	__________________ Marge: There are only 49 stars on that flag. Abe: I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missouri!

05-11-2015, 01:53 PM	#2
Wawwie Member Forum Star Join Date: Jul 26, 2006 Location: New York Posts: 14,376	I hate that Julie just abandoned her family. Julie was so overjoyed with the baby when she gave birth and then she just dumps her and the husband? Horrible! That was such a terrible ending for the character of Julie... so selfish and cruel.

05-11-2015, 02:37 PM	#4
Bonniegirl AKA Hazel Horvath Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 10, 2014 Posts: 65,576	I think that was a horrible way to have Julie leave the show! And poor Mackenzie Phillips, like she didn't have enough problems with her drug addiction. In order to be as bad as she was into it, she must have really had self esteem issues and was feeling bad enough! Than the writers had to even make her TV character bad! People associate the real actor or actress with their character , so she didn't need any more negativity. I think they should have just had her leave the husband but take the baby with her. Nothing would have been that horrible about that! Or like Julietx posted , have her and Max move away! I'm thinking too the show should have just ended before that point. It ran it's course already!

05-11-2015, 02:43 PM	#5
Anna Karenina Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Nov 09, 2006 Posts: 10,086	I wonder if they thought of recasting instead of essentially ruining her character.

05-11-2015, 02:52 PM	#7
JoshLarson24 Banned Banned!! Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 10, 2014 Location: California Posts: 382	It's like when they killed off Nick in season 7. They could have handled that better. Why did they kill that dude off? There were so many other ways they could have handled that