Nina Branch (dorm girl #8) and Mr. Justin Branch

[RetroGuy2000]

In the backdoor pilot of the show, there are many girls who live at the Eastland dorm. However, by the time FOL truly begins, it seems as though the dorm only has seven students, as the other girls seen in the pilot are all gone.



However, in "Rough Housing" and "Like Mother, Like Daughter", we're given some small hints that there actually are other girls in that Eastland dorm: In "Rough Housing", we see two "new" girls go down the stairs, and in "Like Mother, Like Daughter", we're given the name of one girl who apparently lives in the dorm with Blair, Sue Ann, Molly, Cindy, Nancy, Tootie, and Natalie: Nina Branch.


As we've discussed in other threads, Nancy mentions Nina Branch. Nina does seem to live with the other girls because why else is her father hanging out in that dorm all during that episode? Blair, who should have been acquainted with Nina, because her father is an old friend of her mother's, never interacts with Nina, only her father.



This got me to thinking about why the producers never showed Nina (unless one of the girls we briefly see in "Rough Housing" is meant to be her). After all, we hear about Tumpy, and then later meet her, in "Dope". In that episode, we also meet Emily (First Season Emily, anyway) and Gail (Gail is the girl on the bed in Tumpy's room), so it's clear the writers wanted to provide the fictional continuity of other girls at Eastland.


What the writers should have done, though, is they should have named Emily "Nina". This would have done a number of things, including providing continuity between episodes, establishing a lasting connection between Nina and Blair (and explaining how Blair got into "The Group"), as well as connecting a name to a face. It would also have explained why we never hear of Nina after the first season: she was expelled for smoking pot.



It also would have provided a little more emotional impact: a student we've actually heard of before was expelled from Eastland, rather than a student we'd never heard of before, and never would again.

[Lorimar Television]

Idk if Nina lives in the dorm, I thought she was just another student

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Idk if Nina lives in the dorm, I thought she was just another student

That's what I thought, too, for many years. But then '80s pointed out several things: among them are these:


1. Nancy explains that Nina's father is there, but she doesn't say "Nina Branch", just "Nina", as if everyone in the dorm is familiar with who "Nina" is. If it was someone in another dorm, they'd say the first and last name, like Blair does when she's talking about "Tumpy and Kedgie Barksdale".


2. Mr. Branch spends the whole time in that dorm. If he was there to visit his daughter Nina, who lives in another dorm, what the heck was he doing hanging out in that dorm? The logical conclusion is that Nina lives in "our" dorm.



3. We actually see two more girls descend the dorm room staircase at the very beginning of "Rough Housing". (These are some of the same girls who are seen in the opening credits of Season One). If only seven girls live in the dorm, what are these two girls also doing in the dorm? They don't talk to anyone as they leave, so it's not as if they are visiting.


4. If only seven girls live in the dorm, why do they need a payphone? Why would they need their own kitchen?



5. If only seven girls live in the dorm, why do we see such a huge building? Harwood Court, the real dorm they show in the credits, houses 170 students. Having only seven students in that huge building would be a massive waste of space. Even an elite girls' school wouldn't populate such a huge dorm with only seven girls: it wouldn't be cost-effective.


6. The backdoor pilot shows many more students. While we don't see them after the pilot, we do see evidence of other students (#3).


For these and other reasons, it seems clear now that Nina was housed there in that dorm, likely with a number of other students. Maybe not 163 other students (as Eastland seemed smaller than that, and Eastland has other dorms), but not just seven others.

[Lorimar Television]

Good points Retro

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

and Gail (Gail is the girl on the bed in Tumpy's room)

Wait, what?? "Gail??" Did we know this?? lol...do you have a "Dope" script? She's not credited in the closing credits nor on IMDB.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

But then '80s pointed out several things:

Hey! I heard you guys talking about me!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Wait, what?? "Gail??" Did we know this?? lol...do you have a "Dope" script? She's not credited in the closing credits nor on IMDB.

Yes, the original script names the third girl in Tumpy's dorm room "Gail", and Blair even knows her, and calls her by name ("And look at Gail. She's lost the power of speech.") In the broadcast version, Blair just calls her "that girl", and she's a nameless extra.

Hey! I heard you guys talking about me!

Only commenting on how your astute observations led me to change my mind about how many girls lived in "our" dorm...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes, the original script names the third girl in Tumpy's dorm room "Gail", and Blair even knows her, and calls her by name ("And look at Gail. She's lost the power of speech.")

Ooo, nice...

Gail, Gail...you smoked dope 'n failed!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

In the broadcast version, Blair just calls her "that girl", and she's a nameless extra.

I don't think she even gets that---correct me if I'm wrong, but if memory serves, Blair says "And look at her---she's lost the power of speech!"

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Only commenting on how your astute observations led me to change my mind about how many girls lived in "our" dorm...

Hey, I didn't count 23 girls in the backdoor pilot for nothin'! "Too many girls! "

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Gail, Gail...you smoked dope 'n failed!

Haha! Definitely an easy name for the FOL limerick thread!

I don't think she even gets that---correct me if I'm wrong, but if memory serves, Blair says "And look at her---she's lost the power of speech!"

That's the line, exactly! Well done!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

That's the line, exactly! Well done!

Yay! I get a "Facts" gold star!

I tell you, these girls are in my soul

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Yay! I get a "Facts" gold star!

I tell you, these girls are in my soul

I know they are!

['80sSitcoms]

Hahaha! Wow, and it moves! Thanks!

Hey! You should design a "Facts" Gold Star™ with Mrs. Garrett's head in the middle, and the 4 Lost Girls' heads in the bases of 4 of the points, and---who for the 5th? Miss Mahoney? Señor Tiger? lol

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Hahaha! Wow, and it moves! Thanks!

Hey! You should design a "Facts" Gold Star™ with Mrs. Garrett's head in the middle, and the 4 Lost Girls' heads in the bases of 4 of the points, and---who for the 5th? Miss Mahoney? Señor Tiger? lol

I don't really have time to work on that now, but it does sound adorable!