Molly Ringwald talks about being "let go" from FOL

[80schild.com]

http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-ha...-facts-of-life

[80schild.com]

Molly Ringwald answers the question "on the set of the facts of life, which actress was the biggest mean girl"

http://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-ha...eads-the-fifth

[Mr. Television]

Thanks for posting these. I've never heard Molly talking about The Facts of Life.

['80sSitcoms]

Whoa, thank you SO MUCH for sharing these links! I saw an article online from the mid-'80s where Molly mentioned her being let go from the show, but it's so great to hear her actually talk about it on camera. Very interesting...thanks again!

[JR1]

Nancy McKeon mentioned recently that Molly said she was replaced by NM- she gets a kick out of it.

[king of comedy]

I never knew she was on it.

[RetroGuy2000]

Awesome find, 80schild! I haven't seen or heard her talk about her stint on TFOL since a 1986 interview, so this is a rare find indeed. Great to have these videos of her talking about her time on the show.

And she didn't like Mindy Cohn... juicy!!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

And she didn't like Mindy Cohn... juicy!!

Well she didn't say she didn't like Mindy, she just named her as "the mean girl" (in Andy's words) because she said she found her intimidating. But yes, still, this is very juicy! And interesting since Molly was the professional and Mindy was the inexperienced newcomer. And good that she threw in there "But I've met her since then, and she's actually very nice" and remarked how all of them have grown since then.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Well she didn't say she didn't like Mindy, she just named her as "the mean girl" (in Andy's words) because she said she found her intimidating.

Well, Molly Ringwald thought Mindy Cohn was a "mean girl" and was intimidated by her. I wonder what was said between the two of them to make Molly feel intimidated? And did it happen during the first season, or when Molly was demoted to recurring character, and Mindy said something during the production of "The New Girl", which made Molly feel intimidated?

But yes, still, this is very juicy! And interesting since Molly was the professional and Mindy was the inexperienced newcomer.

Yes, that's odd. Why would Molly feel intimidated, when she was the one with the professional background, and Mindy had never acted a day in her life? Is it because Charlotte had insisted on having Mindy on the show? Charlotte's support might have caused any of the girls to feel a little intimidated: she was the star of the show. Without Charlotte, there simply was no show.

Or was it something else? The role of Natalie was hastily written in between "The Girls' School" (first aired May 1979) and "Rough Housing" (first aired August 1979). So "The Girls' School" was filmed sometime in spring 1979, with three older characters named Nancy, Sue Ann, and Blair, and four younger characters named Tootie, Jennifer, Laura and Molly. At some point, Jennifer and Laura were dumped. They didn't even have last names, and their first names were the same as their actresses, a sure sign that those characters hadn't been developed much. A tomboy, Cindy, was brought in to replace the cardboard "Jennifer" and "Laura" sketches.

Then before summer started, the producers and Charlotte visited Westlake, Charlotte insisted on bringing on Mindy, the character of Natalie was created, and soon there was a seventh girl, who required some of the lines.

We know there was line-counting in the first season. John Lawlor stated so in the E! documentary.

Was Molly intimidated in thinking that she, too, might be dropped in favor of this new girl? Ironically, if so, she was at least partially correct: if there had only been six girls in Season One, maybe Warren "I Can't Count" Littlefield would have been able to count to six, instead of believing there were "ten, twelve girls". With only six girls, the execs might not have overreacted as much. And once Molly was shuffled off to "Dorm B", the things she would have done (photography, journalism) were reassigned to Tootie and Natalie, so in some ways, she was replaced by Mindy Cohn... only it took a full season for it to happen. By the end of the first season, "our group" (Mrs. G's words) is together: Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Sue Ann. As they hug, Molly isn't even in the room. I bet that was intimidating!

And good that she threw in there "But I've met her since then, and she's actually very nice" and remarked how all of them have grown since then.

Quite nice of her to offer an olive branch to Mindy, after decades of secret hatred and bitter recriminations.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I wonder what was said between the two of them to make Molly feel intimidated? And did it happen during the first season, or when Molly was demoted to recurring character, and Mindy said something during the production of "The New Girl", which made Molly feel intimidated? Yes, that's odd. Why would Molly feel intimidated, when she was the one with the professional background, and Mindy had never acted a day in her life? Is it because Charlotte had insisted on having Mindy on the show? Charlotte's support might have caused any of the girls to feel a little intimidated: she was the star of the show. Without Charlotte, there simply was no show.

What I got from Molly's response was from her experience on season one. Her time on "The New Girl" was so brief and she didn't have any lines with Mindy, that I doubt she even had time to get "intimidated" by her then, haha.

Also, maybe nothing was said. Maybe it was just Mindy's presence and how she behaved. Mindy does have a large personality and can speak loudly if she wants to. Molly was a smaller girl, so maybe it was just size and presence. Or, perhaps, being the newcomer and with zero experience, maybe Mindy overexerted herself in trying to fit in on the set with her peers? Who knows, we'll have to ask Mindy.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

So "The Girls' School" was filmed sometime in spring 1979, with three older characters named Nancy, Sue Ann, and Blair, and four younger characters named Tootie, Jennifer, Laura and Molly. At some point, Jennifer and Laura were dumped. They didn't even have last names, and their first names were the same as their actresses, a sure sign that those characters hadn't been developed much. A tomboy, Cindy, was brought in to replace the cardboard "Jennifer" and "Laura" sketches.

Then before summer started, the producers and Charlotte visited Westlake, Charlotte insisted on bringing on Mindy, the character of Natalie was created, and soon there was a seventh girl, who required some of the lines.

This is a good point; perhaps Molly sensed this new girl "replaced" two girls, and was suddenly a force to be reckoned with? And we don't know what was said "backstage" among the girls. Maybe one day Molly came in for the beginning of season one and said "Where's Jennifer and Laura?" and one of the girls told her "They got rid of them. They hired a new girl to replace them both, and she's never done any acting before." If I were Molly that would certainly make me go "!"; of course this is all imagining, but who knows?

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

We know there was line-counting in the first season. John Lawlor stated so in the E! documentary.

Nope, Lisa Whelchel put that to rest in a documentary where she scoffingly says "There was no 'counting of the lines' or anything like that" with a "you sillies" smile on her face. Actually I'm kidding about your Lawlor statement not being true; I've always been amused at Lisa "claiming" she and the girls didn't count their lines. Of course Lisa wouldn't count her lines, she was the most-used actress on the show with largely the most lines and screen time of many episodes. She was "safe" and in the "star dressing room" so to speak. Mindy and Kim and Julie P. were very safe as well (or so, Julie P. thought!). But if I had been Molly, Julie A.H. or Felice, I would definitely have counted every line of mine when I got each new script.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

By the end of the first season, "our group" (Mrs. G's words) is together: Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Sue Ann. As they hug, Molly isn't even in the room. I bet that was intimidating!

But that was only a little over half the group; three of the to-be-axed girls were not in those scenes, Cindy, Nancy, and Molly. Now, if only Molly had been absent from that scene, I would have been really worried and intimidated...like, "Hey! What about me??" lol. But I always have thought that was a very interesting moment there; it really is "the group", just plugging in Nancy M. for Julie P., lol.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Quite nice of her to offer an olive branch to Mindy, after decades of secret hatred and bitter recriminations.

Good thing she "saved" herself at the end; she wouldn't want that intimidating Mindy on the war path.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

What I got from Molly's response was from her experience on season one. Her time on "The New Girl" was so brief and she didn't have any lines with Mindy, that I doubt she even had time to get "intimidated" by her then, haha.

Heh! Well, I think it's likely that whatever happened occurred during the first season, simply because, as you said, they didn't have much time to interact during season two.

However, I still wonder if it happened during season two. Molly's experience on season two was bad enough that she quit the show after just one "recurring" episode. It's likely that the small role and the fact that she would no longer be in the opening credits was enough to cause her to quit. But I wonder if there wasn't something more to it. A backstage tiff? Did Mindy get Molly's old dressing room? I guess we may never know, but it's fun to speculate, based on the tiny shreds we get in interviews.

Also, maybe nothing was said. Maybe it was just Mindy's presence and how she behaved. Mindy does have a large personality and can speak loudly if she wants to. Molly was a smaller girl, so maybe it was just size and presence. Or, perhaps, being the newcomer and with zero experience, maybe Mindy overexerted herself in trying to fit in on the set with her peers? Who knows, we'll have to ask Mindy.

I hope someone does eventually ask her... Of course, it's almost unheard of for the Core Four girls to talk about the Lost Girls... so the chances seem slim.

This is a good point; perhaps Molly sensed this new girl "replaced" two girls, and was suddenly a force to be reckoned with? And we don't know what was said "backstage" among the girls. Maybe one day Molly came in for the beginning of season one and said "Where's Jennifer and Laura?" and one of the girls told her "They got rid of them. They hired a new girl to replace them both, and she's never done any acting before." If I were Molly that would certainly make me go "!"; of course this is all imagining, but who knows?

Well, these theories are all we have to go on in the Mindy Cohn/Molly Ringwald celebrity spat!

Nope, Lisa Whelchel put that to rest in a documentary where she scoffingly says "There was no 'counting of the lines' or anything like that" with a "you sillies" smile on her face. Actually I'm kidding about your Lawlor statement not being true; I've always been amused at Lisa "claiming" she and the girls didn't count their lines. Of course Lisa wouldn't count her lines, she was the most-used actress on the show with largely the most lines and screen time of many episodes.

Exactly. Lisa never, ever had to count her lines. Not so for other actors on the show...

She was "safe" and in the "star dressing room" so to speak. Mindy and Kim and Julie P. were very safe as well (or so, Julie P. thought!). But if I had been Molly, Julie A.H. or Felice, I would definitely have counted every line of mine when I got each new script.

How could they not have kept track of the number of lines? Nancy was an important character in the backdoor pilot, and had a decent role in the first few episodes. But by the end of season one, Felice was lucky to get five lines per episode. And as you rightly pointed out a while back, Julie Anne is an important character in the first episode, but by "Adoption", late in the season, there's a long scene in the beginning where Julie Anne is in the classroom, but only get the brief line, "Adopted!?" while everyone else gets tons of lines.

In retrospect, it's clear to see the writers were already whittling down Felice and Julie Anne's parts by mid-season, to focus on a smaller group of girls, and Felice at least had started complaining to Al Burton and the other producers. She could see her character wasn't getting much airtime; likely, Julie Anne noticed as well. They had to have known they were no longer major parts of the show when they disappeared halfway through "Molly's Holiday". Molly never had a very large role outside of that episode, so it was probably a bigger shock to her when the cast was culled. Julie Pie was probably the most shocked to find out she had been cut: she had an important part throughout the first season, and her character never experienced reduced screen time. Then... BAM!

But that was only a little over half the group; three of the to-be-axed girls were not in those scenes, Cindy, Nancy, and Molly. Now, if only Molly had been absent from that scene, I would have been really worried and intimidated...like, "Hey! What about me??" lol. But I always have thought that was a very interesting moment there; it really is "the group", just plugging in Nancy M. for Julie P., lol.

Yes; as you correctly pointed out, that last scene sets up the next season, four girls and Mrs. G being "our group", according to Mrs. G., and earlier Nancy even being told she didn't get into "The Group" on camera!

One more thing about this Molly R interview: funny that she makes a big distinction between "getting fired" and "being let go": even the host rolls his eyes a little, as if to say, "really?" (And I say that as someone who is very pro-Lost Girls).

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

by "Adoption", late in the season, there's a long scene in the beginning where Julie Anne is in the classroom, but only get the brief line, "Adopted!?" while everyone else gets tons of lines.

You know what else? In what some could see as a "telling" detail, there is that nice long intimate scene with Natalie and her friends up in her room after she ran out of class, where they bond with her over her adoption---her friends, that is, except Cindy and Nancy. I hate that the writers left them out of this scene, because it makes Cindy and Nancy not look like good friends. All the rest of "the group" goes to Natalie's comfort, but not Nancy and Cindy.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Julie Pie was probably the most shocked to find out she had been cut: she had an important part throughout the first season, and her character never experienced reduced screen time. Then... BAM!

Yes! Even though Sue Ann is my least favorite of the Lost Girls, I feel really badly for Julie P. because her cut just came "out of nowhere" so it seemed to she and casual viewers. What a slap in the face!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Nancy even being told she didn't get into "The Group" on camera!

LOL true! Ouch Felice! (poor girl...)

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

One more thing about this Molly R interview: funny that she makes a big distinction between "getting fired" and "being let go": even the host rolls his eyes a little, as if to say, "really?" (And I say that as someone who is very pro-Lost Girls).

Well, I actually defend Molly on this, lol (Molly and '80sSitcoms versus Andy Cohen and RetroGuy2000, haha). "Firing" to me means you are at fault; you did something to cause your employer to fire you and lose your job. "Let Go" is gentler and shows that you were not at fault, but your employer had reasons for cutting you (job outsourcing, budget cuts, company downsizing, etc.). So I do "get" Molly there. After all she is in the public eye, she wouldn't want the public thinking she did something to get herself fired from a show.

Oh, and on another point, Molly says that the show was supposed to be pared down to be Blair, Natalie, Tootie, and Molly. BUT, one of the "Facts" documentaries clearly says that Julie Ann Haddock was the last one of the girls to be let go. It specifically gives this order of axing: Felice, Julie P., Molly, and Julie A. H. So, who is telling the truth? Molly or the documentary narrator? lol...hmmmm...

We just had Charlotte's memoirs released. You know what I would love? A "Facts" book written by the "Facts" girls, detailing the history of the show from all of their viewpoints in personalized passages. Heart has a book like this with passages alternating between ones written by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson individually, chronicling their experience through the years. I would LOVE to see a "Facts" book like this with each of the girls "taking the reins" with passages of their own to detail the chronological history of the show.

[cleverfun3000]

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

You know what else? In what some could see as a "telling" detail, there is that nice long intimate scene with Natalie and her friends up in her room after she ran out of class, where they bond with her over her adoption---her friends, that is, except Cindy and Nancy. I hate that the writers left them out of this scene, because it makes Cindy and Nancy not look like good friends. All the rest of "the group" goes to Natalie's comfort, but not Nancy and Cindy.

Yeah, it just doesn't seem quite in character of them to ignore a troubled classmate. Especially someone who was also a dorm-mate. (Then again, it's a little weird that they are apparently only taking classes with their dorm-mates, with girls of widely different ages all taking the same class... Wouldn't the older girls be in a higher level genealogy class? For that matter, what kind of school offers genealogy classes? I guess the same kind of school that serves only cinnamon buns with mystery meat... But I digress).

Back to your point, which is a good one: by leaving Nancy and Cindy out of that scene, it makes them seem like they didn't care about Natalie, which we know is not true. But I suspect by mid-season, the producers and network execs were doing anything they could to make it seem like there were fewer girls on the show.

Yes! Even though Sue Ann is my least favorite of the Lost Girls, I feel really badly for Julie P. because her cut just came "out of nowhere" so it seemed to she and casual viewers. What a slap in the face!

Sue Ann is my second-favorite of the Lost Girls (after Cindy); she was a good foil for Blair, and I suspect that if Brandon Tartikoff hadn't seen Nancy McKeon on a Hallmark commercial, she would have stayed on the show: the first season is very Blair/Sue Ann-heavy all the way through, and by the end of the season, they are best friends, despite their obviously different backgrounds. That dynamic was later used, to good effect, in the Blair/Jo friendship.

Well, I actually defend Molly on this, lol (Molly and '80sSitcoms versus Andy Cohen and RetroGuy2000, haha). "Firing" to me means you are at fault; you did something to cause your employer to fire you and lose your job. "Let Go" is gentler and shows that you were not at fault, but your employer had reasons for cutting you (job outsourcing, budget cuts, company downsizing, etc.). So I do "get" Molly there. After all she is in the public eye, she wouldn't want the public thinking she did something to get herself fired from a show.

Well, there are no-fault terminations, but you raise a good point.

Oh, and on another point, Molly says that the show was supposed to be pared down to be Blair, Natalie, Tootie, and Molly. BUT, one of the "Facts" documentaries clearly says that Julie Ann Haddock was the last one of the girls to be let go. It specifically gives this order of axing: Felice, Julie P., Molly, and Julie A. H. So, who is telling the truth? Molly or the documentary narrator? lol...hmmmm...

You are correct: there is a discrepancy in the firing order.

I suspect neither Julie Anne nor Molly were the last to be fired, although I suspect Molly was told otherwise.

First, as you say, one of the FOL documentaries ("The Facts of Life", aired on Biography channel) states outright that the Lost Girls were fired in this order: Felice, Julie Pie, Molly, and finally Julie Anne. But I suspect this is wrong for a number of reasons.

No one disputes that Felice was 'let go' first. But the girl who would remain (and then didn't remain) seems to be disputed in every source. The fantastic E! FOL documentary from 1999 interviewed many parties, and it stated that the girls were fired in this order: Felice, then the Julies, then Molly left to film The Tempest. Yet The Tempest wasn't released until August 1982, and filming would not have required Molly Ringwald to leave TFOL in order to film FOL episodes in November 1980 (and she herself now states that she hated being recurring, and only did one episode and then quit doing them). Molly herself admits that she was "let go".

I suspect that the producers of TFOL told Molly that she would still be on the show, and she only later learned that it would only be a recurring role, and it embarrassed her; as you know, in 1986, she stated she felt humiliated.

Geri Jewel has stated that the producers didn't level with her, either, during her stint on the show, and offered her only a small role on one episode (during season 5?), in order to get her to not accept the appearance. Geri felt like a semi-regular. A single appearance on the season felt like a demotion. Geri felt like it was a calculated move by the producers to get her to leave.

Watching the final episodes of season one leads me to believe that Julie Pie would have stayed on: there was only one Molly-centric episode, but tons of Sue Ann-heavy episodes. I suspect that The Facts of Life documentary that was shown on the Biography Channel simply confused Julie Anne Haddock and Julie Ann Piekarski (easy to do, considering their similar names). This isn't a knock on Julie Anne; I think she was the most talented of the Lost Girls.

I could be wrong. But nothing seems to support the assertion that Julie Anne or Molly were the last actresses 'let go': not newspaper articles from that era, not the way the final season one episodes were scripted (with Julie Anne and Felice barely visible), and the two documentaries conflict with each other and they also both conflict with what Molly herself says.

We just had Charlotte's memoirs released. You know what I would love? A "Facts" book written by the "Facts" girls, detailing the history of the show from all of their viewpoints in personalized passages. Heart has a book like this with passages alternating between ones written by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson individually, chronicling their experience through the years. I would LOVE to see a "Facts" book like this with each of the girls "taking the reins" with passages of their own to detail the chronological history of the show.

I would absolutely love this, too. It must now happen!

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by cleverfun3000

I wonder if Molly Ringwald and Kim Fields talked to each other after FOL?