1979-80 Episodes

[Hoagie78]

I recently broke out my DVD's and have been re-watching the first few episodes from 1979/80. I noticed a few posts here implied that the episode " Like Mother Like Daughter" had to be re-shot with a limited audience. Is that true and why ? I never really noticed after seeing it over the decades.

I also always wondered why Pamela Huntington who played Blair's mother was never brought back in the role ? She was a very popular commercial actress and model back in the day.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

I recently broke out my DVD's and have been re-watching the first few episodes from 1979/80. I noticed a few posts here implied that the episode " Like Mother Like Daughter" had to be re-shot with a limited audience. Is that true and why ? I never really noticed after seeing it over the decades.

Hey Hoagie!

Welcome back!

We don't know which episode was re-taped, but we're told, in the Cast Confessions documentary, that one S1 episode was re-taped. "Like Mother, Like Daughter" has some sort of issue with the audience being very quiet, so it FEELS like the obvious candidate. The production seems fine on the other episodes. This is just a theory until we know more.

I also always wondered why Pamela Huntington who played Blair's mother was never brought back in the role ? She was a very popular commercial actress and model back in the day.

We don't know, but she was filming Force: Five in 1981 and They Call Me Bruce in 1981 or 1982, so maybe there was a scheduling conflict. She clearly was in demand in that era.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

"Like Mother, Like Daughter" has some sort of issue with the audience being very quiet, so it FEELS like the obvious candidate.

Yes, the audience feels very empty. I always have the sense there are so many empty seats in there.

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

I also always wondered why Pamela Huntington who played Blair's mother was never brought back in the role ? She was a very popular commercial actress and model back in the day.

Well, I'm very glad she was not brought back or came back. I just do not buy her as Blair's mother at all. Marj Dusay's portrayal, now that is Blair's mother.

[80s Dude]

Like Mother and Daughter would also be a good candidate because it was the first episode after the Drummond family visited. The green young actresses probably were a little nervous about taping a show where they would be the focus. of the cameras and audience without the Different Strokes cast.

[Hoagie78]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Hey Hoagie!

Welcome back!

We don't know which episode was re-taped, but we're told, in the Cast Confessions documentary, that one S1 episode was re-taped. "Like Mother, Like Daughter" has some sort of issue with the audience being very quiet, so it FEELS like the obvious candidate. The production seems fine on the other episodes. This is just a theory until we know more.



We don't know, but she was filming Force: Five in 1981 and They Call Me Bruce in 1981 or 1982, so maybe there was a scheduling conflict. She clearly was in demand in that era.

Thanks for the reply. I noticed she stopped acting after about 1982 according to her imdb profile. She may have continued in commercials after that point. I remember reading that first season was rushed and kind of a mess. They were writing right up to the shooting days. Another thing I noticed that the staff on the first year tried to make things more sexual. They had the girls in short shorts, skimpy tops, doing cart wheels, physically fighting, alluding to lesbianism. In the opening credits for the 1980 episodes they had the girls wrestling with each other on the lawn while some pervert in a red shirt watches in the distance.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

Thanks for the reply. I noticed she stopped acting after about 1982 according to her imdb profile. She may have continued in commercials after that point.

I'm sure she was still doing commercials, and of course still modeling. I wonder what made her give up film and television acting, because it's clear she was in demand, at the time.

I remember reading that first season was rushed and kind of a mess. They were writing right up to the shooting days.

NBC was in such a mess that I honestly don't think they knew what they were doing half the time. They spent all this money on production, but didn't bother to remodel an existing set from another series, hired a bunch of older men to write for girls, then barely got any press photos before the series went on the air, then they yanked it off the air for six months, stuck on two other short-lived shows, then brought the show back with several changes, then...

Another thing I noticed that the staff on the first year tried to make things more sexual. They had the girls in short shorts, skimpy tops, doing cart wheels, physically fighting, alluding to lesbianism.

I honestly don't think the alluding to lesbianism was actually anything "sexual"; sure, it was controversial, for the time, but there was nothing inately sexual about the episode, any more than being straight is sexual. Your mileage may vary.

And the backflip wasn't sexual, either: it's not like Cindy was doing backflips in a skirt with no underwear. She was wearing typical athletic shorts; would we call it "sexual" if a 14-year-old boy did the same backflip on a show?

In the opening credits for the 1980 episodes they had the girls wrestling with each other on the lawn while some pervert in a red shirt watches in the distance.

well, that was mostly '80sSitcoms and I having fun, making fun of "Creepy Stranger".

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

Like Mother and Daughter would also be a good candidate because it was the first episode after the Drummond family visited. The green young actresses probably were a little nervous about taping a show where they would be the focus. of the cameras and audience without the Different Strokes cast.

It's possible that the girls being nervous caused the re-taping, but it's also possible that completely different factors caused the re-shoot. An undetected mechanical glitch in a camera, studio background noise (like the construction of another nearby set), bad lighting, or even confusing stage directions causing a cluttered set could have been the issue. We just don't know.

We do know the audio mics for some early episodes were not great, but the directors apparently chose to leave in some sketchy mic work. Check out "Running", for example; I think there's a major audio blooper in the scene when Sue Ann talks about giving up running to focus on her grades. That had nothing to do with actress inexperience, and everything to do with the audio crew or equipment issues no-one bothered to fix because things were rushed. Margie Peters says they had space to breathe on Season Two because of the actors' strike; it's clear there was no time to breathe during Season One.

[Hoagie78]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I'm sure she was still doing commercials, and of course still modeling. I wonder what made her give up film and television acting, because it's clear she was in demand, at the time.



NBC was in such a mess that I honestly don't think they knew what they were doing half the time. They spent all this money on production, but didn't bother to remodel an existing set from another series, hired a bunch of older men to write for girls, then barely got any press photos before the series went on the air, then they yanked it off the air for six months, stuck on two other short-lived shows, then brought the show back with several changes, then...

I honestly don't think the alluding to lesbianism was actually anything "sexual"; sure, it was controversial, for the time, but there was nothing inately sexual about the episode, any more than being straight is sexual. Your mileage may vary.

And the backflip wasn't sexual, either: it's not like Cindy was doing backflips in a skirt with no underwear. She was wearing typical athletic shorts; would we call it "sexual" if a 14-year-old boy did the same backflip on a show?


well, that was mostly '80sSitcoms and I having fun, making fun of "Creepy Stranger".

I recall in the Cast Confessions segment several people mentioned how some of those in charge the first year were trying to sex things up. Felice Shachter said she and the other girls could hear some of the production crew discussing stuff about them and it was way too adult. I wonder who the guy in the red shirt is in the opening credits ?

Yes, it was weird they pulled the show off after the first 4 shows and waited to put it back on in spring. Viewers were like what the ????

The lesbian episode was controversial for the time, since people have joked for years that stuff went on like that in all girl and boy schools.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

I recall in the Cast Confessions segment several people mentioned how some of those in charge the first year were trying to sex things up. Felice Shachter said she and the other girls could hear some of the production crew discussing stuff about them and it was way too adult.

Yeah, she mentioned that again in the recent Reelz documentary, too. I wish the production team had been more respectful, but I also know it was a simpler time when comments were more acceptable.

I wonder who the guy in the red shirt is in the opening credits ?

I suspect he was on the production crew, but it's possible he was some random bystander, like the old lady watching Mary Richards flinging her hat in the air with abandon, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show (she was interviewed decades later).

The lesbian episode was controversial for the time, since people have joked for years that stuff went on like that in all girl and boy schools.

Well, the "stuff like that" was just a girl saying "I love you!" to another girl (Julie Anne remembers Cindy saying it to Blair, but she actually said it to Sue Ann), and then Blair made a thoughtless series of remarks about it.

[Hoagie78]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Yeah, she mentioned that again in the recent Reelz documentary, too. I wish the production team had been more respectful, but I also know it was a simpler time when comments were more acceptable.



I suspect he was on the production crew, but it's possible he was some random bystander, like the old lady watching Mary Richards flinging her hat in the air with abandon, on the Mary Tyler Moore Show (she was interviewed decades later).



Well, the "stuff like that" was just a girl saying "I love you!" to another girl (Julie Anne remembers Cindy saying it to Blair, but she actually said it to Sue Ann), and then Blair made a thoughtless series of remarks about it.

It may have been just some guy from the production crew.

I know things were different back then (I was a kid growing up back then) with the girls having comments made about them. Today there would be lawsuits galore.

I always wondered when production of Facts picked back up after the first 4 shows. Did they just continue to film in late 79 and then they aired at a later date, or did they start filming again in January of 80 ? Miss Mahoney was cut by then

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

It may have been just some guy from the production crew.

I know things were different back then (I was a kid growing up back then) with the girls having comments made about them. Today there would be lawsuits galore.

I always wondered when production of Facts picked back up after the first 4 shows. Did they just continue to film in late 79 and then they aired at a later date, or did they start filming again in January of 80 ? Miss Mahoney was cut by then

The show went on hiaitus in late '79 and picked back up in early '80. I'll bump the FOL production guide thread so you can see the taping dates.

(and we all thought Miss Mahoney was "cut" all this time, but she asked to leave)

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Hoagie78

It may have been just some guy from the production crew.

I know things were different back then (I was a kid growing up back then) with the girls having comments made about them. Today there would be lawsuits galore.

I always wondered when production of Facts picked back up after the first 4 shows. Did they just continue to film in late 79 and then they aired at a later date, or did they start filming again in January of 80 ? Miss Mahoney was cut by then

There was a taping hiatus, with everyone (except Jenny O'Hara and the original grandfather clock) coming back in November; the fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes were taped in December, but didn't air for quite some time, due to other shows being on NBC's schedule. There's a Production Guide here with taping dates as well as air dates.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

The show went on hiaitus in late '79 and picked back up in early '80. )

Early '80 is too late; there were already three more episodes in the can before 1980 started.

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

We do know the audio mics for some early episodes were not great, but the directors apparently chose to leave in some sketchy mic work. Check out "Running", for example; I think there's a major audio blooper in the scene when Sue Ann talks about giving up running to focus on her grades.

What was this?

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

What was this?

It's about six minutes and 20 seconds into "Running". There's a very obvious mic problem just after Sue Ann says "Who's trying to hurt Eastland?" She then says, "I've already set the record and I don't feel like training again four hours every day." The first part of that sentence has a bad audio glitch that should have been re-shot because it echoes badly, but they left it in. That wasn't Julie Pie's fault.

If "Like Mother, Like Daughter" had several such audio glitches, it might cause the producers to re-tape scenes (or the entire episode, if many parts were affected), causing the production to re-tape after the studio audience had gone home. This is why I do suspect the episode re-taped was LMLD. Just a theory, but I was convinced by '80sSitcoms, who first mentioned the studio audience in LMLD sounds so very quiet, as if there are only a few people there.