Something I noticed once with writers & Chrissy's DUMB character

[Tiffy540]

Throughout the whole series shes a dumba$$ but I did notice in Roper's Car they tried to give her a smart idea and it comes off a little .....off-putting.

She says they could pay it off in monthly installments.


Anyone else notice anything else that they tried to make her "smart" ??

[visaman666]

Chrissie was quite mature and intelligent during the first season.

[Smartboy]

Originally Posted by Tiffy540

Throughout the whole series shes a dumba$$ but I did notice in Roper's Car they tried to give her a smart idea and it comes off a little .....off-putting.

She says they could pay it off in monthly installments.


Anyone else notice anything else that they tried to make her "smart" ??

In this event, Janet retaliated with "we have a hard enough time paying our 'rent' in monthly installments"! It was clear that she was trying to get Chrissy be realistic about the situation.

[JackJanetChrissy]

Originally Posted by Tiffy540

Throughout the whole series shes a dumba$$ but I did notice in Roper's Car they tried to give her a smart idea and it comes off a little .....off-putting.

She says they could pay it off in monthly installments.


Anyone else notice anything else that they tried to make her "smart" ??

She got more airheaded in season 3 but didn't get super-dumb until season 4.

In season 2 Chrissy was sometimes even the voice of reason, for example in "Strange Bedfellows" she reminds Janet that they shouldn't judge Jack because he had a girl stay over. Also in "Helen's Job" she's the one who makes the point that women's rights should include the right to choose to be a housewife. She also stands up to her own father ("Chrissy Come Home") and immediately sees what a scumbag Janet's old high school crush is while Jack totally misses it ("Janet's High School Sweetheart"). In early season 3 she's the one who wants to join the nude beach protest to stand up for other people's rights.

I can't imagine season 4 Chrissy saying or doing any of those things.

[Dianne3]

In general Chrissy was more intelligent in the earlier seasons, but here are a couple of opposite examples.

Season 2 quotes - (can't remember exact wording), "Roper can't raise the rent, it's like incest".
"It happening again, every time I check the paper everyone dies in alphabetical order."

Yet in a Season 4 episode where Jack & Chrissy think Janet has advertised for a father for a baby, Chrissy initially tells Jack that it is none of their business. I know later she changes her mind.

Also at the end of Season 4, it weren't for Chrissy would Jack have graduated from cooking school?

[JackJanetChrissy]

Originally Posted by Dianne3

In general Chrissy was more intelligent in the earlier seasons, but here are a couple of opposite examples.

Season 2 quotes - (can't remember exact wording), "Roper can't raise the rent, it's like incest".
"It happening again, every time I check the paper everyone dies in alphabetical order."

Yet in a Season 4 episode where Jack & Chrissy think Janet has advertised for a father for a baby, Chrissy initially tells Jack that it is none of their business. I know later she changes her mind.

Also at the end of Season 4, it weren't for Chrissy would Jack have graduated from cooking school?

Good points. I think in the few instances in Season 4 where Chrissy had flashes of "smartness" it was more an exception to the rule of her idiocy. In the earlier seasons the opposite was true---she had moments of airheadedness, but mostly her character still seemed grounded in reality, and she was much more of an adult. In season 4 she was almost child-like.

[redhillpb]

"It's happening again, every time I check the paper everyone dies in alphabetical order."

That is one of my favorite lines in the series. I used to say it when I would read the paper at the breakfast table and it got a laugh every time.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

Good points. I think in the few instances in Season 4 where Chrissy had flashes of "smartness" it was more an exception to the rule of her idiocy. In the earlier seasons the opposite was true---she had moments of airheadedness, but mostly her character still seemed grounded in reality, and she was much more of an adult. In season 4 she was almost child-like.

Of course, Chrissy's flanderization in the later seasons was most likely the writers' way of punishing Suzanne Somers for her professional misconduct off camera regarding her demands for a heavily increased salary and a 10% portion of the show's profits, and then staging a sit out when she did not get what she wanted.