1980 FOL promo mentions 4 girls name

[80s Dude]

This NBC promo for the 1980 first season summer reruns only names 4 girls. The 3 holder overs for season 2 (Blair, Tootie, and Natalie) plus Molly. This kind of supports Molly's contention that she survived the first round of cuts, only to be fired shortly afterward to be replaced by Nancy McKeon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb3ow0nLOMI

[DJM77]

Now I wanna see Here's Boomer.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by DJM77

Now I wanna see Here's Boomer.

It wasn't very good.

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It wasn't very good.

You saw it?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

You saw it?

Yes. I was very young, so I appreciated it then. But it was a Benji ripoff. clip here

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes. I was very young, so I appreciated it then. But it was a Benji ripoff. clip here

I'll watch this sometime next week. My binge watching of That Girl has to come first since it's expiring from Hulu.

As for the thread topic, I think that Molly's claim is likely true, but I also think that it's probably just a coincidence that the promo only mentioned those particular 4 girls.

[TV Guy]

The ad is for Friday March 14, 1980, so the show was still running new episodes for season 1. I wonder how far along they were in planning the second season’s creative direction when this ad was run. But the ad does seem to indicate which characters the network thought were working.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

The ad is for Friday March 14, 1980, so the show was still running new episodes for season 1. I wonder how far along they were in planning the second season’s creative direction when this ad was run. But the ad does seem to indicate which characters the network thought were working.

Yes. If this were firm evidence of Molly being bumped up to "fourth slot", we likely would have seen Molly's role increased throughout the end of the season. We didn't see that; instead, Julie Pie remained a top girl until the end of the season, with Molly only getting "Molly's Holiday" to shine.

(I hasten to add that I don't think Molly's being untruthful, only that someone either wasn't entirely truthful to her, or there were many opinions/ideas occurring as Season One was in production, and ultimately wrapped).

As you say, it's clear at this point that the network feels as though Blair, Tootie, Natalie, and Molly are working out well enough to promote them, but I don't believe any decision had been made, yet: newspaper reports were still mum, and the first report of the cull surprisingly had Felice making the cut. Felice! Felice, who hadn't had more than ten lines per episode since January!

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes. I was very young, so I appreciated it then. But it was a Benji ripoff. clip here

Boomer sounded like an Incredible Hulk rip off. Instead of having David Banner (Bil Bixby) wander from town to town to solve problems, this time it's Boomer. Just don't make Boomer angry.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Boomer sounded like an Incredible Hulk rip off. Instead of having David Banner (Bil Bixby) wander from town to town to solve problems, this time it's Boomer. Just don't make Boomer angry.

"You wouldn't like Boomer when he's angry..."

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yes. I was very young, so I appreciated it then. But it was a Benji ripoff. clip here

He's no Lassie, but I enjoyed the clip. I should watch a Benji movie one of these days.