Annoying characters: Shirley's parents / Ricky - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Wawwie · 01-25-2019, 01:27 PM

I hate the episodes with Shirley's parents on. They both are so annoying, especially the father. He is just way too goofy in a way that's not funny IMO. It's annoying.

Actually, the most annoying character came around in the fourth season. It was that obnoxious brat neighbor Ricky whose horrendous singing could peel the enamel off your teeth. Damn, that kid was super annoying. No wonder the series ended once that brat ruined a great show.

stevea · 01-29-2019, 08:42 PM

Hands down, Ricky! Rumor has it stocks rose in the earplug industry when he came on.

Whose idea was that? Who would bring in a kid who can't carry a tune and can hardly be understood?

They wisely tossed him after a few episodes, but the damage was done--he probably caused the series to be cancelled.

um · 01-31-2019, 07:33 AM

I think that Shirley's parents were annoying. They were always bickering with each other and you would want to slap them on the head and tell them to stop being so stubborn.

The Ricky character and how he was presented was out of place, especially in retrospect I would say.
However it surprises me how little is known by the so-called fans of the show. The two posts before mine ( the only ones on this topic so far) seems to indicate that you two are third generation fans and were not around when the show was originally on the air.
The show did not sink because Ricky was added. The show was already losing the popularity that it originally had and Danny was the main character who stirs things up and he was growing older. He was not a cute red-headed ten year old but was now in his teens and he was still being given the funny cute lines and roles in which he gets other people in trouble, or gets himself in a jam, or makes people older than him resent his money-wise antics etc, the show just Jumped - The - Shark, so the creators and producers attempted to bring in a new character and at the time there was such a TV culture in which children characters were popular and that was very evident with the popularity of The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch and even other shows that may have been recently or not -so-recently cancelled such as Family Affair, To Rome With Love, Andy of Maybury, etc, and the producers felt that they have to attract a younger audience so they brought in a new kid to sing on certain episodes rather than give Chris and Tracy more dialogue and make Chris replace "aging" Danny as the wise-mouthed kid of the family, but bringing Ricky in neither helped, nor actually ultimately-destroyed the show even though a lot of viewers thought the character and his singing was awful. The show was actually on its way to being eventually cancelled because it had run its course and the original audience of teenage females had grown up a few more years and were no longer into watching the show just to see David Cassidy, and the show had no where else to go plot wise since the plots were only re-hashes of what it had done before and furthermore the show was placed in the time slot that was and I think still is the proverbial "graveyard where TV shows go to die" which is the Friday nights time slot and for anyone who was alive at the time and paying enough attention, All In The Family was on on a different channel and there was no way that The Partridge Family could get more viewers than AITF and it was ironically an intentional move to have an ultimate excuse to end the show.

The Ricky character strangely seems to be in the same boat as Linda McCartney who is given the blame for breaking up the Beatles. The Ricky character seems to be blamed for destroying the Partridge Family as a TV show. (Ringo Starr himself once said that Linda McCartney nor Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles but it was time for the Beatles to break up).

Wawwie · 01-31-2019, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

there was a little fad for precocious kids then, including the Oliver kid from Brady Bunch

"Oliver" from The Brady Bunch was a gem compared to that awful brat "Ricky."

dakert · 01-31-2019, 11:32 AM

I was looking at the 73-74 saturday schedule and not only was PF up against AITF but also Emergency. I am surprised (but glad) it lasted a full season.

stevea · 01-31-2019, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wawwie

"Oliver" from The Brady Bunch was a gem compared to that awful brat "Ricky."

I really liked Um's analysis, also. I think Brady was done before Oliver was added, too. All those kids were growing fast, and Greg was graduating.

I didn't know PF was moved into the Saturday graveyard against AITF and Emergency. I remember that detailed analysis of ABCs Saturday troubles, which lasted for years.

One thing really noticeable in the fourth season was that horrible mid 70s kitchen redo.

um · 01-31-2019, 06:36 PM

Both The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family had the same kind of audience, teenage females . Of course some grandmothers might have liked the shows for their "clean" "Family oriented" styles, and of course the shows had a certain amount of unconventional fans such as males, especially from about 13 and up , but the two shows had practically simultaneously gotten popular and then came to the same point at the same time: Jumping the shark and no longer being the "fresh" new-age comedies for A generation of young Americans.
So both were slated to be taken off the air at the same point in time. It seemed that TV was moving on and the Bradys and Partridges were no longer what appealed to most of the TV-watching public. Of course I actually read that there were a lot of fans who were very displeased and who wrote to the TV stations and producers etc, but mostly these fan's tastes in TV programming was not taken seriously.

um · 01-31-2019, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wawwie

"Oliver" from The Brady Bunch was a gem compared to that awful brat "Ricky."

Ricky was not a brat (even though he may have been dislike-able to may viewers): Actually Danny was.

Wawwie · 01-31-2019, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by um

Ricky was not a brat (even though he may have been dislike-able to may viewers): Actually Danny was.

Danny was talented, Ricky was not.

um · 01-31-2019, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wawwie

Danny was talented, Ricky was not.

The character "Danny" ? (Of course the actor Danny Bonaduce who played Danny Partridge had no real musical talent and only pretended to play the guitar and sing like all the other cast members pretended to sing and play an instrument except for David Cassidy and Shirley Jones both of whom could really sing, and in David's case, could also play a guitar) .. The whole Partridge Family, the characters were supposed to be a talented musical family, but if we were supposed to pretend that Danny had talent , then we were supposed to also pretend that Ricky did too (and viewers have to make believe a lot with the show since the youngest son of the family transformed into a completely different looking kid after a season) . but even if "Danny had talent" he was still a brat. That is what was the basis and the essence of the character.
His rambunctious nature is what was supposed to get laughs.

Road Dog · 02-02-2019, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wawwie

I hate the episodes with Shirley's parents on. They both are so annoying, especially the father. He is just way too goofy in a way that's not funny IMO. It's annoying.
.

You're talking about the great Ray Bolger. He is one of the most beloved character actors of all time.

Wawwie · 02-02-2019, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Road Dog

You're talking about the great Ray Bolger. He is one of the most beloved character actors of all time.

I'm talking about the character, not the actor.

rcbrad · 02-02-2019, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by um

Ricky was not a brat (even though he may have been dislike-able to may viewers): Actually Danny was.

I do not remember him being a brat or really having much to do with the the show or each episode plot. Didn't he just pretty much sing and be "cute" at the end of the show a handful of times?

um · 02-02-2019, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcbrad

I do not remember him being a brat or really having much to do with the the show or each episode plot. Didn't he just pretty much sing and be "cute" at the end of the show a handful of times?

Actually, yes. He was just there to be really cute. It did not help the show but some people take it much more personal than that.

PhoenixAcres · 02-02-2019, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcbrad

I do not remember him being a brat or really having much to do with the the show or each episode plot. Didn't he just pretty much sing and be "cute" at the end of the show a handful of times?

Yeah I think outside of his first appearance he had nothing to do with the plot. He would somehow get into a scene and start singing while the rest of the cast put on forced smiles and pretended they weren't in pain.

01-25-2019, 01:27 PM	#1
Wawwie Member Forum Star Join Date: Jul 26, 2006 Location: New York Posts: 14,376	Annoying characters: Shirley's parents / Ricky I hate the episodes with Shirley's parents on. They both are so annoying, especially the father. He is just way too goofy in a way that's not funny IMO. It's annoying. Actually, the most annoying character came around in the fourth season. It was that obnoxious brat neighbor Ricky whose horrendous singing could peel the enamel off your teeth. Damn, that kid was super annoying. No wonder the series ended once that brat ruined a great show.

01-29-2019, 08:42 PM	#2
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,496	Hands down, Ricky! Rumor has it stocks rose in the earplug industry when he came on. Whose idea was that? Who would bring in a kid who can't carry a tune and can hardly be understood? They wisely tossed him after a few episodes, but the damage was done--he probably caused the series to be cancelled.

01-31-2019, 07:33 AM	#3
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 907	I think that Shirley's parents were annoying. They were always bickering with each other and you would want to slap them on the head and tell them to stop being so stubborn. The Ricky character and how he was presented was out of place, especially in retrospect I would say. However it surprises me how little is known by the so-called fans of the show. The two posts before mine ( the only ones on this topic so far) seems to indicate that you two are third generation fans and were not around when the show was originally on the air. The show did not sink because Ricky was added. The show was already losing the popularity that it originally had and Danny was the main character who stirs things up and he was growing older. He was not a cute red-headed ten year old but was now in his teens and he was still being given the funny cute lines and roles in which he gets other people in trouble, or gets himself in a jam, or makes people older than him resent his money-wise antics etc, the show just Jumped - The - Shark, so the creators and producers attempted to bring in a new character and at the time there was such a TV culture in which children characters were popular and that was very evident with the popularity of The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch and even other shows that may have been recently or not -so-recently cancelled such as Family Affair, To Rome With Love, Andy of Maybury, etc, and the producers felt that they have to attract a younger audience so they brought in a new kid to sing on certain episodes rather than give Chris and Tracy more dialogue and make Chris replace "aging" Danny as the wise-mouthed kid of the family, but bringing Ricky in neither helped, nor actually ultimately-destroyed the show even though a lot of viewers thought the character and his singing was awful. The show was actually on its way to being eventually cancelled because it had run its course and the original audience of teenage females had grown up a few more years and were no longer into watching the show just to see David Cassidy, and the show had no where else to go plot wise since the plots were only re-hashes of what it had done before and furthermore the show was placed in the time slot that was and I think still is the proverbial "graveyard where TV shows go to die" which is the Friday nights time slot and for anyone who was alive at the time and paying enough attention, All In The Family was on on a different channel and there was no way that The Partridge Family could get more viewers than AITF and it was ironically an intentional move to have an ultimate excuse to end the show. The Ricky character strangely seems to be in the same boat as Linda McCartney who is given the blame for breaking up the Beatles. The Ricky character seems to be blamed for destroying the Partridge Family as a TV show. (Ringo Starr himself once said that Linda McCartney nor Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles but it was time for the Beatles to break up).

01-31-2019, 11:32 AM	#5
dakert Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 10, 2007 Location: Altoona PA Posts: 3,411	I was looking at the 73-74 saturday schedule and not only was PF up against AITF but also Emergency. I am surprised (but glad) it lasted a full season.

01-31-2019, 06:36 PM	#7
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 907	Both The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family had the same kind of audience, teenage females . Of course some grandmothers might have liked the shows for their "clean" "Family oriented" styles, and of course the shows had a certain amount of unconventional fans such as males, especially from about 13 and up , but the two shows had practically simultaneously gotten popular and then came to the same point at the same time: Jumping the shark and no longer being the "fresh" new-age comedies for A generation of young Americans. So both were slated to be taken off the air at the same point in time. It seemed that TV was moving on and the Bradys and Partridges were no longer what appealed to most of the TV-watching public. Of course I actually read that there were a lot of fans who were very displeased and who wrote to the TV stations and producers etc, but mostly these fan's tastes in TV programming was not taken seriously.