"Happy" Warren Littlefield Day! (10/12)

['80sSitcoms]

Today is October the 12th, otherwise known as "10/12", International Warren Littlefield Day. For whatever that day is worth. Which isn't much, if you ask "Facts" or "Mama's Family" fans.

[RetroGuy2000]

Ahahahahahahaha!

.....ahahahahahaha!



That's hilarious!

['80sSitcoms]

[opus]

I don't get it. (I get that some FOL fans felt he may have ruined things, I don't get the October 12th, 10/12 part).

['80sSitcoms]

Warren is infamous for incorrectly stating in a Facts of Life documentary that season 1 was a disaster because you had these "10, 12 girls" overcrowding the show. There were 7 girls. His gross overestimation was getting near double the actual number.

And I mentioned MF as well because in the cast round table reunion on the DVD bonus features they talk about how out of touch and ignorant the suits were about things, and Dorothy Lyman specifically calls him out with disdain ("Warren Li-ttle-field"), and the others agree.

[RetroGuy2000]

Yeah, you can see Warren Littlefield's exaggeration a little after the 17-minute mark in this video.

[icecream]

While I wish Sue Ann would have been kept longer, the core cast of 5 from seasons 2-7 was great, and Jo was an excellent addition. I prefer Jo to any of the season 1 girls who weren't kept except for Sue Ann. Good riddance to Molly, and while Nancy was nice to look at she was barely used. Some fans act like season 1 was the only good one. But if that overall season 1 cast was kept, FOL would have been lucky to even reach 4 seasons.

[icecream]

Also, while there only 7 girls, season 1 still had an overall cast of 10 adding Mrs. Garrett, Mr. Bradley, and that other useless female teacher. So maybe his terminology was wrong, but FOL still had an overall cast of 10 regulars.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by icecream

While I wish Sue Ann would have been kept longer, the core cast of 5 from seasons 2-7 was great, and Jo was an excellent addition. I prefer Jo to any of the season 1 girls who weren't kept except for Sue Ann. Good riddance to Molly, and while Nancy was nice to look at she was barely used.

It's definitely true that Nancy was barely used. After the backdoor pilot, she was lucky to get ten lines per episode, and sometimes, it was only seven. But what if the lines had been more even? What if Felice had been allowed to keep her idea about calling Baryshnikov, instead of those lines being given to Lisa, while Felice stands there? What if Nancy had been the girl trying to save Chestnut in the stables, in Flash Flood? We might have seen Felice shine, instead of her just being "girl on the phone".

Some fans act like season 1 was the only good one. But if that overall season 1 cast was kept, FOL would have been lucky to even reach 4 seasons.

We'll never know now. Head of the Class made five seasons with 42, 51 students. (Okay, that's me "Littlefielding things up" in honor of this very special holiday).

Also, while there only 7 girls, season 1 still had an overall cast of 10 adding Mrs. Garrett, Mr. Bradley, and that other useless female teacher. So maybe his terminology was wrong, but FOL still had an overall cast of 10 regulars.

True, but not ten girls. And definitely not twelve, either. Unless you count guest actresses... but then you might as well say Season 2-4 had ten, twelve girls, too.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It's definitely true that Nancy was barely used. After the backdoor pilot, she was lucky to get ten lines per episode, and sometimes, it was only seven.

And sometimes it was even less!

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

We'll never know now. Head of the Class made five seasons with 42, 51 students. (Okay, that's me "Littlefielding things up" in honor of this very special holiday).

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

True, but not ten girls.

Yes, he specifically (and foolishly) says Mrs. Garrett had 10, 12 girls---at the exact same time they're showing a photo with all 7 of her girls.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

And sometimes it was even less!

Yep. In "Rough Housing", Nancy has just four lines, "Overachieving": five lines, "Emily Dickinson": four lines, "The Facts of Love": three lines, and "Dope": six lines.*

Tootie even gets most of the lines about Nancy not making it into "The Group" in "Dope". Then Mrs. Garrett leads Nancy out to the pasture to put a flower in her hair, and later Mrs. Garrett gets together with Blair, Sue Ann, Tootie, and Natalie to give the girls in "our group" a big hug. End of season!

Yes, he specifically (and foolishly) says Mrs. Garrett had 10, 12 girls---at the exact same time they're showing a photo with all 7 of her girls.

Yeah, the voiceover on the image makes no sense.

*That's fifty, ninety percent of the shows that season.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

And I mentioned MF as well because in the cast round table reunion on the DVD bonus features they talk about how out of touch and ignorant the suits were about things, and Dorothy Lyman specifically calls him out with disdain ("Warren Li-ttle-field"), and the others agree.

Does Dorothy Lyman go into any details about Warren Littlefield? Or is it more of a "they just didn't get it"-type thing specifically naming WL?

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Does Dorothy Lyman go into any details about Warren Littlefield? Or is it more of a "they just didn't get it"-type thing specifically naming WL?

The latter. Everyone agrees very affirmatively, so you get a feeling of "Yup, him, mm-hmm" from them.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by icecream

that other useless female teacher.

But was Miss Mahoney really useless? In "Overachieving", Mrs. Garrett has to confide in Blair and Sue Ann about Tootie's dad wanting her to stay away from Tootie. But it would have been a lot more realistic for Mrs. Garrett to confide in Miss Mahoney, and then have the girls overhear the problem. Here we have Mrs. Garrett being unprofessional, almost (in a way) validating what Mr. Ramsey is saying about her.

Without Mrs. Garrett confiding in an adult friend, Mrs. Garrett now has to confide in Howard the Cook (she does so in "Gossip"), or just tells the girls things she shouldn't tell them. Mrs. Garrett's world is now reduced to just four girls, since her sons are rarely seen. We won't get those meaningful cups of coffee with other faculty/staff members, we won't get those scenes where Mrs. Garrett vents her frustrations to a fellow adult, and we won't get Miss Mahoney explaining the history of Eastland anymore. The prestige of Eastland is thus diminished, and we'll rarely see its classrooms anymore.

You make a great point about them barely using Nancy; it is so odd that after "IQ", they gave her nothing to do. But there's no reason they couldn't have thrown her a line now and then. Nancy for sure should have gotten the Baryshnikov bit, especially since it was Felice's suggestion, and it was on the phone!

As you say, Sue Ann was a strong character. There were so many episodes where having Sue Ann around really could have balanced the scripts a bit more: alternatives to abortion, respect for teachers and authority figures, and believable episodes where conservative characters talk about God, or at least family values, morals, or religion. When we lost Sue Ann, the show lost the ability to cover a wider range of opinions on many serious topics. Jo suddenly has to suddenly become religious in "Best Sister". No-one talks about the morality of abortion in "The Source". And everyone agrees banning books is a terrible idea in "Read No Evil". We lost an important voice with the silencing of Sue Ann.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

The latter. Everyone agrees very affirmatively, so you get a feeling of "Yup, him, mm-hmm" from them.