Do you consider DS "The Slumber Party" the 14th episode of Season 1.

[80s Dude]

Do you consider the Slumber Party the honorary 14th episode of Season 1, even though it's a Different Strokes episode?

[RetroGuy2000]

The honorary 14th, yes.

[Lorimar Television]

Interesting, I guess technically. I'd consider Girls School the first ep more so though since it takes place at East(lake)

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Lorimar Television

Interesting, I guess technically. I'd consider Girls School the first ep more so though since it takes place at East(lake)

Interesting. I always consider that "episode zero".

[Lorimar Television]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Interesting. I always consider that "episode zero".

Haha well yes zero works I guess

[80s Dude]

The Girls School is like a totally different universe. The name of the school is different, 5 of the characters are there, but they are nothing like what they became in the series.

[FOL-FAN-ITA]

I consider TGS something like The Facts of Life Demo

As 80s said, things were different. The name of the school, the characters, Mrs. Garrett was still a housekeeper, Natalie was absent...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

The Girls School is like a totally different universe. The name of the school is different, 5 of the characters are there, but they are nothing like what they became in the series.

They are somewhat how they are in the series. Molly Parker has the first of her "speed monologues" she has written for her in season 1. And Blair's snobbishness is there. And Tootie is, well, the baby, lol. And Nancy actually was a character here, until she was "de-characterized" for season 1, sadly (until invisible Roger "shows up" to help, lol).

Originally Posted by 80s Dude

As 80s said, things were different. The name of the school, the characters, Mrs. Garrett was still a housekeeper, Natalie was absent...

More notably*, Cindy was absent!

*(since she's my favorite )

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

They are somewhat how they are in the series. Molly Parker has the first of her "speed monologues" she has written for her in season 1. And Blair's snobbishness is there. And Tootie is, well, the baby, lol. And Nancy actually was a character here, until she was "de-characterized" for season 1, sadly (until invisible Roger "shows up" to help, lol).




More notably*, Cindy was absent!

*(since she's my favorite )

From the Reelz documentary, it sounded like Julie Anne tried for for Sue Ann (a country bumpkin) and then they decided to make a character based on Julie Anne's athleticism and tomboy tendencies.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

They are somewhat how they are in the series. Molly Parker has the first of her "speed monologues" she has written for her in season 1. And Blair's snobbishness is there. And Tootie is, well, the baby, lol. And Nancy actually was a character here, until she was "de-characterized" for season 1, sadly (until invisible Roger "shows up" to help, lol).

Nice list, '80s! I agree and would only add the following:

5. There are still clashes between Blair and Sue Ann; they kept that.
6. Nancy is still interested in acting; we see her involved in the school play as late as Season Three.
7. Tootie is the one constantly getting into trouble, a theme throughout Season One.
8. Sue Ann's insecurity seems to be there from the very beginning.
9. They kept yellow as the primary color for the athletic uniforms.
10. They kept the set.

...So it wasn't really a different universe, but several important tweaks (slight name change of the school, slight change to the uniforms, fleshing out some of the characters, "letting go" of Jennifer and Laura and replacing them with Natalie and Cindy, replacing the crazy headmaster and adding a teacher, and reducing the number of girls from dozens to "ten, twelve" ).

We actually can see the evolution between the pilot and the series just by looking at the script, with the addition, and apparent hasty removal, of Miss Bruner. The "seeds" of Miss Mahoney were already there, although we never saw her on camera. She hadn't yet blossomed into camera-hood.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Nice list, '80s! I agree and would only add the following:

5. There are still clashes between Blair and Sue Ann; they kept that.
6. Nancy is still interested in acting; we see her involved in the school play as late as Season Three.
7. Tootie is the one constantly getting into trouble, a theme throughout Season One.
8. Sue Ann's insecurity seems to be there from the very beginning.
9. They kept yellow as the primary color for the athletic uniforms.
10. They kept the set.

...So it wasn't really a different universe, but several important tweaks (slight name change of the school, slight change to the uniforms, fleshing out some of the characters, "letting go" of Jennifer and Laura and replacing them with Natalie and Cindy, replacing the crazy headmaster and adding a teacher, and reducing the number of girls from dozens to "ten, twelve" ).

We actually can see the evolution between the pilot and the series just by looking at the script, with the addition, and apparent hasty removal, of Miss Bruner. The "seeds" of Miss Mahoney were already there, although we never saw her on camera. She hadn't yet blossomed into camera-hood.

Good analysis!

But I feel we can't say they "replaced" Jennifer and Laura with Cindy and Natalie. According to Eve Brandstein, there were only 5 core girls: Nancy, Blair, Sue Ann, Molly, and Tootie. So going by that, maybe they just thought they'd give a couple of other girls in this ridiculously over-crowded dorm a few lines for more "realism"? (after all, they didn't even bother to create character names for these two "extra girls").

We also can't say "dozens", as there are 23 girls. But that is minus 1 away from 2 dozen, so you're VERRRRRRRRRRRY close.

Miss Mahoney would appreciate your seed analogy as we know she teaches science as part of her curriculum.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Good analysis!

But I feel we can't say they "replaced" Jennifer and Laura with Cindy and Natalie. According to Eve Brandstein, there were only 5 core girls: Nancy, Blair, Sue Ann, Molly, and Tootie. So going by that, maybe they just thought they'd give a couple of other girls in this ridiculously over-crowded dorm a few lines for more "realism"? (after all, they didn't even bother to create character names for these two "extra girls").

I absolutely see what you're saying, but we do actually see these "lost-est girls" credited in the GS script; they're more than just extras. They're incorporated into the credits of both the script and the closing credits. So whether or not they were intended to stay, they did get removed and in some ways replaced by two other, much more complex characters.

It's the same conversation we could have about Jo "replacing" the Lost Girls: you can take the position that Jo replaced all four of them, or she only replaced Cindy and Sue Ann, because she didn't really have the attributes of Molly or Nancy. Or you can take the position that no-one could replace the Lost Girls, because they have a special place in the Golden Years of Eastland. All of these can be argued, but there's no 100% right or wrong answer: it's personal interpretation.

We also can't say "dozens", as there are 23 girls. But that is minus 1 away from 2 dozen, so you're VERRRRRRRRRRRY close.

Miss Mahoney would appreciate your seed analogy as we know she teaches science as part of her curriculum.

I almost used the term "burgeoning", but at the last minute thought of Cindy's father's flower analogy.

[RetroGuy2000]

I thought of two more important things they kept:

11. The basic premise that Mrs. Garrett would have to fight an always-wrong headmaster for supervision of her charges
12. Crossovers between DS and FOL

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I absolutely see what you're saying, but we do actually see these "lost-est girls" credited in the GS script; they're more than just extras. They're incorporated into the credits of both the script and the closing credits. So whether or not they were intended to stay, they did get removed and in some ways replaced by two other, much more complex characters.

I didn't say they were actual "extras" (since they speak), I said they were "extra girls". I know they're in the closing credits because that's where we see the "unbelievable coincidence" that their characters' names are their actual real life names, lol. My point was just that I don't think we can say Cindy and Natalie "replaced" them in the sense of main characters, as there were only 5 to begin with; Cin and Nat were added on. But I do see the "romance" in wanting to do think of it that way, lol, since it's "2 girls" and "2 girls".

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It's the same conversation we could have about Jo "replacing" the Lost Girls: you can take the position that Jo replaced all four of them, or she only replaced Cindy and Sue Ann, because she didn't really have the attributes of Molly or Nancy.

Though Jo did have strong divorce/daddy issues like Molly.

And she spoke on a phone, like Nancy.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I almost used the term "burgeoning", but at the last minute thought of Cindy's father's flower analogy.

I love Cindy's dad! I wish we could have met him!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

I didn't say they were actual "extras" (since they speak), I said they were "extra girls". I know they're in the closing credits because that's where we see the "unbelievable coincidence" that their characters' names are their actual real life names, lol. My point was just that I don't think we can say Cindy and Natalie "replaced" them in the sense of main characters, as there were only 5 to begin with; Cin and Nat were added on. But I do see the "romance" in wanting to do think of it that way, lol, since it's "2 girls" and "2 girls".

I totally see what you are saying, as well.

Though Jo did have strong divorce/daddy issues like Molly.

And she spoke on a phone, like Nancy.

That last one feels like a stretch. Might as well say she had a boyfriend, like Nancy.

I love Cindy's dad! I wish we could have met him!

Yeah, it's really a shame they didn't explore that. Maybe if NBC hadn't wasted its efforts on doomed series between September and March, we would have gotten a full 22-24-episode order of FOL for Season One, and then we could have met Cindy's dad and step-mom; Sue Ann's mom, dad, and Tiger; Molly's mom and brother; Nancy's mom and dad; and Natalie's sister (with actual lines!) and brother.