Splat From The Past #784- Lydia Cornell

[TMC]

Tommy "Throwback" Kovac chats it up with the lovely Lydia Cornell, star of "Too Close for Comfort" and the 1982 cult Horror cult "Blood Tide". Totally radical!.

[MikeLutton]

all i see is darkness

[MA]

Originally Posted by MikeLutton

all i see is darkness

It’s an audio interview, that’s why.

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by MA

It’s an audio interview, that’s why.

Thanks for posting but who's going to sit through a 1 & a half hour audio interview??

[SitcomsHeydayfan]

Originally Posted by MikeLutton

all i see is darkness

When you'd rather see Lydia!

[TMC]

Tommy "Throwback" Kovac welcomes back Lydia Cornell, we discuss the 40th Anniversary of "Bloodtide" (1982), guest-starring on "Knight Rider" & "Quantum Leap", writing her memoir, a possible "Too Close for Comfort" reboot and more. Note: We recorded this yesterday on November 14th. Totally radical!.

[MikeLutton]

yes that would be nice does anyone here do too close for comfort fan fiction

[michelala]

Lydia is almost single handedly keeping this show alive thru her social media. She's always plugging the show and letting fans know when and where to watch/stream.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by michelala

Lydia is almost single handedly keeping this show alive thru her social media. She's always plugging the show and letting fans know when and where to watch/stream.

‘Too Close for Comfort’ star Lydia Cornell recalls overcoming alcoholism: ‘A river of tears just flowed’

Fox News: How did you get the role of Sara Rush in "Too Close for Comfort"?

Cornell: It’s the funniest thing. I took a bus for my audition and it was raining in LA, which was unheard of. I was wearing this tight, cheerleader sweater. I’m already late – an hour late. Secretary goes, "Sorry, they’re finished." I’m about to cry. [Creator] Arne Sultan comes out and he’s like "Hey, let her come in and read. She came all this way and she looks the part."

I’m sitting there with four men in the office and the casting director. There’s a line in the script that says "Sara gives her dad a raspberry." So I’m here picking up this imaginary raspberry and handing it to Arne. He goes, "What the hell are you giving me? What are you handing me?" I said, "I’m giving dad a raspberry." He goes, "Oh my God, she doesn’t know what giving a raspberry means?" They all laughed so hard, tears were coming out. Meanwhile, I was turning red and shaking. So they all did it together and yell "It’s a Bronx cheer!" Then they went, "She’s perfect for the part." It was a total fluke. They wanted me to come in the following morning.

Fox News: What surprised you the most about co-star Ted Knight?

Cornell: He was very strict like a dad. But I was so in awe of him because he was already an icon at this point. But he was also so funny. … We would do funny things on set. We all did. We all played with each other, like put a plastic frog in someone’s food. Innocent things.

On "The Merv Griffith Show," the whole cast was celebrating the 100th episode or something. They bring up [co-star] Deborah [Van Valkenburgh] and Merv said, "What’s Ted really like?" Deb, who’s so nervous, blurts out, "He’s kind of a kinky dad." Merv goes, "What?" Then they go to a commercial break. Merv then asks, "What did Deb mean by kinky?" Me, also being so terrified, went, "Well, he likes to lift up our blouses and pop our bra straps every now and then." [laughs]

I was just trying to be funny. I thought it was cute, like when you make a funny joke. And we all joked all the time on set. Ted never did anything serious like that. He was adorable, he was fun. We just loved playing good pranks on each other. He’s the last person you would ever accuse of anything terrible.

I remember glancing at Ted. It looked like the blood completely drained from his face. The whole room was dead silent. And Ted’s wife was sitting at the front row of the audience. Later, Deborah and I spent the night together and cried. We didn't know what could happen to us. The next day we were just shaking in his dressing room, waiting for him. When he finally came in, we said, "We were so sorry. We love you. Please forgive us." He walked around like he was mad, but then just broke out laughing. He goes, "That’s OK, they cut it out of the show."

Fox News: Do you remember the last time you saw Ted Knight before he passed away in 1986?

Cornell: Yes, we made up. We had some problems with each other. I was so new to the industry and he had been around forever. So we had kind of a falling out over that. But in the end, we were fine. I cried so hard at his funeral. We were all together, relying on each other for comfort. But I just couldn’t stop crying. We really loved him and he was like a father figure to us — a real father.

He could be strict. He could be difficult to deal with on set. He was old school when it came to his work. He would get frustrated when my whole face would take up a cover of some big tabloid. … But ABC forced me to be in these bikini posters and sequined bathing suits as a way to promote the show. So I promoted the show in bikinis. Ted got offended when I would get that kind of attention. But that’s how it worked to promote a show — cheesecake just worked.

Fox News: What do you think was the secret behind the show’s success?

Cornell: I think we all just had undeniable chemistry. We were truly funny. And we just loved each other. There’s a reason people are still fans of the show and it comes down to chemistry. What you saw was the real deal.