Cynthia Pepper (Jean Pearson on My Three Sons)

[bliss]

Why was the girl-next-door and Mike's high school girlfriend dropped after the first season. I enjoyed her chemistry with Mike and the Douglas clan.

[Kasey]

Originally Posted by bliss

Why was the girl-next-door and Mike's high school girlfriend dropped after the first season. I enjoyed her chemistry with Mike and the Douglas clan.

Actually I found her quite boring. I am glad they got rid of her. In fact, I found most of S1 dull. Things picked up in S2 but S3-5 are my favorites of the B&W era, although "Air Derby" from S2 is my favorite episode. I think most of my favorites from the Bub era revolve around Robbie. They seem funnier like when he gets his picture taken with that popular girl and pretends they are a couple.

[bliss]

Originally Posted by Kasey

Actually I found her quite boring. I am glad they got rid of her. In fact, I found most of S1 dull. Things picked up in S2 but S3-5 are my favorites of the B&W era, although "Air Derby" from S2 is my favorite episode. I think most of my favorites from the Bub era revolve around Robbie. They seem funnier like when he gets his picture taken with that popular girl and pretends they are a couple.

I'll have to watch season 2 to see if the show improved. So far I do like season 1 but it's amusing and kind of amazing how the Steve Douglas scenes were filmed and tacked on to episodes filmed months later. So the same guest stars in certain episodes returned for more filming?!?!?!?!

Wished season 3-5 were released on DVD. My memory is fuzzy since I haven't seen those episodes in question for years.

[biffbronson]

Yes -- guest stars did return later for more filming of the scenes where Steve (Fred MacMurray) is not involved.

The production people took photos of the guests so that when they returned to finish their filming, they had handy reference -- so that the wardrobe and hair could be set to match their earlier work.

If you watch carefully, though, you can occasionally spot discrepancies. Watch "Robbie and the Slave Girl" for example and you will see that in Irene Tsu's scenes without Fred, her hair is significantly longer.

Of course, for regular cast, there could be some discrepancies as well. It's been claimed that later on when Dawn Lyn came on as Dodie, viewers noticed the difference as her teeth were coming in.

Anyway, I recall reading that the boys were given weekly haircuts to keep their appearance the same within a season. But there was some major growing goin' on at times in the off-season periods. When Stan Livingston came back for the last couple of seasons, he had gone to a much longer style. Barry went to a feathered cut in Season 12.

I was thinking about how Wm. Demarest almost always appeared in the home set wearing a light blue shirt with dark pants. The repetition likely simplified things to match his scenes with and without Fred. Another thing was how Barbara (Beverly Garland) almost always wore her hair pulled back. I wonder if that made slight changes in length less noticeable?

[bliss]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Yes -- guest stars did return later for more filming of the scenes where Steve (Fred MacMurray) is not involved.

The production people took photos of the guests so that when they returned to finish their filming, they had handy reference -- so that the wardrobe and hair could be set to match their earlier work.

If you watch carefully, though, you can occasionally spot discrepancies. Watch "Robbie and the Slave Girl" for example and you will see that in Irene Tsu's scenes without Fred, her hair is significantly longer.

Of course, for regular cast, there could be some discrepancies as well. It's been claimed that later on when Dawn Lyn came on as Dodie, viewers noticed the difference as her teeth were coming in.

Anyway, I recall reading that the boys were given weekly haircuts to keep their appearance the same within a season. But there was some major growing goin' on at times in the off-season periods. When Stan Livingston came back for the last couple of seasons, he had gone to a much longer style. Barry went to a feathered cut in Season 12.

I was thinking about how Wm. Demarest almost always appeared in the home set wearing a light blue shirt with dark pants. The repetition likely simplified things to match his scenes with and without Fred. Another thing was how Barbara (Beverly Garland) almost always wore her hair pulled back. I wonder if that made slight changes in length less noticeable?

Thank you Biff for this bit of trivia on My Three Sons. I never knew the intricate details of filming these episodes. I'm sure it was the same with the sitcom Family Affair as well with Brian Keith being busy doing a lot of film projects at that time.

[missy's pop pop]

Originally Posted by bliss

Why was the girl-next-door and Mike's high school girlfriend dropped after the first season. I enjoyed her chemistry with Mike and the Douglas clan.

So, apparently, did ABC. Cynthia Pepper disappeared after the 1960-61 season to star in her own sitcom, called "Margie." She was the title character, a high school kid who was growing up in the Roaring '20s. The show used clever touches like silent-movie cards that said such things as "Please Pay Attention" or "The Plot Thickens."

The plot really thickened--nay, curdled--when ABC put her on Thursday nights at 9:30/8:30 Central against a new sitcom starring Shirley Booth as a bossy, loudmouthed maid. "Hazel" knocked "Margie" off the air before the end of the 1961-62 season....

[Cincy Guy]

Originally Posted by bliss

Why was the girl-next-door and Mike's high school girlfriend dropped after the first season. I enjoyed her chemistry with Mike and the Douglas clan.

It was because Cynthia Pepper who played the role of "Jean" got her own show called "Margie" for the 1961-62 TV season. In fact, it was on the ABC-TV Network on Thursdays that season airing right after My Three Sons.

[bliss]

Originally Posted by missy's pop pop

So, apparently, did ABC. Cynthia Pepper disappeared after the 1960-61 season to star in her own sitcom, called "Margie." She was the title character, a high school kid who was growing up in the Roaring '20s. The show used clever touches like silent-movie cards that said such things as "Please Pay Attention" or "The Plot Thickens."

The plot really thickened--nay, curdled--when ABC put her on Thursday nights at 9:30/8:30 Central against a new sitcom starring Shirley Booth as a bossy, loudmouthed maid. "Hazel" knocked "Margie" off the air before the end of the 1961-62 season....

I see on imdb that she did make one last appearance on a later My 3 sons episode. At least her character had closure instead of viewers scratching their heads wondering whatever happened to.....

[bliss]

Originally Posted by Cincy Guy

It was because Cynthia Pepper who played the role of "Jean" got her own show called "Margie" for the 1961-62 TV season. In fact, it was on the ABC-TV Network on Thursdays that season airing right after My Three Sons.

At least Cynthia was so good she got her own sitcom. She did have great presence onscreen when I saw her on my DVD set so it was kind of shocking to me when her character wasn't mentioned again on My Three Sons. If she never left I would've thought her character been engaged to Mike instead of Sally.

[Cincy Guy]

In the series' story, the next-door Pearson family moved away; thus Jean went with them. Being a Cynthia Pepper fan, I've always wished it was she (Jean) who Mike (Tim Considine) married. There is an on-line photo which is apparently from that first season showing "Jean" and "Mike" in a restaurant. They made a cute couple.

[gidgetgrape]

Cynthia mentions her departure from My Three Sons in this interview.

Sam: You are probably best known for doing character parts on television.

Cynthia: Yeah: I usually played the girl next door when I was younger.

Sam: Your first real break-out was on My Three Sons. The series was shot out of order a lot in order to fit Fred MacMurray’s schedule. Did you ever work directly with Fred?

Cynthia: Oh yeah, I was in a couple of scenes with him, but he wasn’t on set a lot. We’d shoot scenes where we’d be talking to a broom of something. He was a very nice man. He brought his own lunch to the set every day. That’s why he was one of the richest men in Hollywood at that time.

Sam: Why did you leave My Three Sons?

Cynthia: I got Margie.

Source: http://popcultureaddict.com/interviews/cynthiapepper/