Did Kate ever die on the show? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

CJMD03 · 09-09-2023, 12:09 AM

Or was she always “offscreen” and “out of town.”

just1paul · 09-09-2023, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJMD03

Or was she always “offscreen” and “out of town.”

Kate Bradley just wasn't mentioned after Bea Benaderet died.

biffbronson · 09-09-2023, 06:05 AM

There was at least one mention on PJ of "Mom" having passed away, after some time had passed following Bea's death.

i29u · 09-09-2023, 03:52 PM

I don't think they actually said Kate had died, but they referred to her in the past tense.

In a similar way, in the earlier Season 4 episode It's Not Easy To Be A Mother, they mentioned that Smiley Burnette's character was no longer there, without specifically saying he had died (Burnette had died a few months earlier).

CJMD03 · 09-21-2023, 09:07 PM

I’m assuming that Kate obviously died between the fifth and sixth seasons offscreen.

i29u · 09-23-2023, 02:10 AM

Well, I actually looked at parts of some later PJ episodes, and while Kate was referred to in the past tense, it was never implied that she was dead, or gone for good- and in one episode, it was actually said she was coming back! The quotes from the episodes are verbatim.

In the episode "By The Book," S06 EP26, after one of the musical numbers with everyone gathered around the piano singing, with Billie Jo playing the piano. Sam Drucker says: "It just ain't the same without Kate. Oh, no offense, Billie Jo , but she used to play good and loud to cover up our mistakes." Billie Jo replied: "Well, she'll be back soon." Was the episode filmed early in the season, while Bea was still alive, and then held back for later? It doesn't look like it was- judging from Bobbie Jo's hairdo (shorter in early Season 6, longer in late Season 6), it appears to have been filmed late in the season, after Bea died. Now S5 EP16 "All That Buzzes Ain't Bees," was indeed filmed early in the season, and held back for later (you can tell because Billie Jo has short hair instead of long hair, and Betty Jo appears on the credits with her TV sisters instead of with Steve).

In S07 EP1 "Make Room For Baby," Steve objected to the baby being taught to swim- at such a young age- in the water tower, and Billie Jo reassures him, "Mother taught all of us to swim before we could walk," to which Bobbie Jo adds, "and in the same old water tower, too" (a previous Sitcoms Online poster said you have to see this to appreciate just how well (Bobbie Jo) communicates between the lines, and the poster also said (Bobbie Jo says this in) a sad voice, (her) eyes moving down as she says it.)

Incidentally, regarding the absence of Charley in S05 EP2 "It's Not Easy To Be A Mother, Floyd is standing just outside the train with Kate and Billie Jo. As Billie Jo boards the train, Floyd calls, "All aboard!" Kate asks, quizzically, "Floyd, why do you do that?" A puzzled Floyd interjects, "Huh?" and Kate explains, "Call all aboard. You know you're gonna go up there and run the engine yourself. " Floyd explains to Kate, with a sad look on his face, "I know, but 'til I get there, I can pretend that Charley's still at the throttle waiting for me. You see, uh..." and before Floyd can think of the right words to finish the sentence, Kate says, "I see, " in a sad, hushed tone of voice.

CJMD03 · 09-23-2023, 03:22 AM

Thanks for that info.

biffbronson · 10-01-2023, 04:48 PM

i29u, did you look at Season 7 in its entirety?

While Bea was still living but off the series near the very end of her life, there were mentions of when Kate will "get back" from being "gone." However, in SEASON 7, a past tense mention of "Mom" is making it clear that she has died, and at no time in Season 7 is there any talk of her coming back. Once I confirm which episode I will post when and what was said, though quite brief.

Ask yourself, would the writers include lines talking about "when [she] gets back" following Bea's death? There were no claims afterward Kate would return. Bea died in October 1968. Scripts written for Season 7, fall 1969-spring '70, were after Bea's death.

Road Dog · 10-04-2023, 10:24 AM

Linda Kaye Henning said in an interview that the cast and crew were never told how sick Bea Benaderet really was. And Bea was very secretive about her condition. The cast and crew were told that Bea was having trouble with her lungs and was taking time off to get breathing treatments. They were never told she had lung cancer. Linda said that she only found about Bea's condition from Bea's son (Jack Bannon) a few days before she died.

Bea's husband, Eugene Twombly, was devastated by her death. He died of a massive heart attack on the day of Bea's funeral.

i29u · 10-04-2023, 03:04 PM

No, I did not look at the entirety of Season 7, but I think I recorded all the episodes from Me TV (but finding a lot of them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack! Maybe I'll just rewatch them if and when they run again on Me TV). In addition, I do have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the series copied to my computer- some copied back before I could get Me TV, and also a bunch of episodes that Me TV skipped over several years ago. Does anyone know of any other episodes- after the birth of the baby- where Kate was mentioned?
I seem to remember- and I could be wrong- another poster in another thread said that Season 6 was expected to be the final season, but then at the last minute the series was unexpectedly renewed. If that is correct, then there are several possibilities regarding the Season 6 episode I mentioned:
either
(a) the episode was filmed before Bea died
or
(b) the episode was written before Bea died, but filmed after, and for some reason the line wasn't changed, perhaps for the same reasons listed in (c) below.
or
(c) the episode was written and filmed after Bea died, but they wanted to end the series on a happy note, because they were near the end of the season, and might have thought there probably wouldn't be a Season 7.

Obviously, when season 7 started, certain things had apparently changed (Kate was no longer said to be coming back, and Betty Jo was no longer pregnant- see "Tune In Next Year," the episode just before "By The Book"- Betty Jo's pregnancy might have been another attempt to end the series on a happy note).

TV Guy · 04-23-2024, 04:05 PM

“By the Book,” the last episode of season 6, was definitely held from earlier in the season from before Bea died. She is still in the opening credits, and June Lockhart is nowhere to be found.

I do believe there’s an episode in the last season where the hotel is in jeopardy (perhaps “Spare That Cottage”) where Uncle Joe refers to the possibility of “the girls” losing the hotel. Not Kate, but “the girls.” That to me is an indication that Kate has passed away and that the girls inherited the hotel.

TMC · 04-11-2026, 11:20 PM

I'm starting to wonder what exactly the first prime-time American network television series was to openly acknowledge a main character's death (instead of pretending that they're always out of town and what not) after the actor/actress themselves, died in real life. It had to have at the very least, been in the 1970s as (off the top of my head) Chico and the Man and Barney Miller in some shape or form, acknowledged Freddie Prinze and Jack Soo's real life deaths.

09-09-2023, 12:09 AM	#1
CJMD03 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 18, 2018 Posts: 412	Did Kate ever die on the show? Or was she always “offscreen” and “out of town.”

09-09-2023, 03:52 PM	#4
i29u Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2004 Posts: 237	I don't think they actually said Kate had died, but they referred to her in the past tense. In a similar way, in the earlier Season 4 episode It's Not Easy To Be A Mother, they mentioned that Smiley Burnette's character was no longer there, without specifically saying he had died (Burnette had died a few months earlier).
	Last edited by i29u; 09-09-2023 at 03:53 PM. Reason: Phrasing

09-23-2023, 02:10 AM	#6
i29u Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2004 Posts: 237	Well, I actually looked at parts of some later PJ episodes, and while Kate was referred to in the past tense, it was never implied that she was dead, or gone for good- and in one episode, it was actually said she was coming back! The quotes from the episodes are verbatim. In the episode "By The Book," S06 EP26, after one of the musical numbers with everyone gathered around the piano singing, with Billie Jo playing the piano. Sam Drucker says: "It just ain't the same without Kate. Oh, no offense, Billie Jo , but she used to play good and loud to cover up our mistakes." Billie Jo replied: "Well, she'll be back soon." Was the episode filmed early in the season, while Bea was still alive, and then held back for later? It doesn't look like it was- judging from Bobbie Jo's hairdo (shorter in early Season 6, longer in late Season 6), it appears to have been filmed late in the season, after Bea died. Now S5 EP16 "All That Buzzes Ain't Bees," was indeed filmed early in the season, and held back for later (you can tell because Billie Jo has short hair instead of long hair, and Betty Jo appears on the credits with her TV sisters instead of with Steve). In S07 EP1 "Make Room For Baby," Steve objected to the baby being taught to swim- at such a young age- in the water tower, and Billie Jo reassures him, "Mother taught all of us to swim before we could walk," to which Bobbie Jo adds, "and in the same old water tower, too" (a previous Sitcoms Online poster said you have to see this to appreciate just how well (Bobbie Jo) communicates between the lines, and the poster also said (Bobbie Jo says this in) a sad voice, (her) eyes moving down as she says it.) Incidentally, regarding the absence of Charley in S05 EP2 "It's Not Easy To Be A Mother, Floyd is standing just outside the train with Kate and Billie Jo. As Billie Jo boards the train, Floyd calls, "All aboard!" Kate asks, quizzically, "Floyd, why do you do that?" A puzzled Floyd interjects, "Huh?" and Kate explains, "Call all aboard. You know you're gonna go up there and run the engine yourself. " Floyd explains to Kate, with a sad look on his face, "I know, but 'til I get there, I can pretend that Charley's still at the throttle waiting for me. You see, uh..." and before Floyd can think of the right words to finish the sentence, Kate says, "I see, " in a sad, hushed tone of voice.
	Last edited by i29u; 09-23-2023 at 02:26 AM. Reason: adding info

10-04-2023, 03:04 PM	#10
i29u Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 05, 2004 Posts: 237	No, I did not look at the entirety of Season 7, but I think I recorded all the episodes from Me TV (but finding a lot of them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack! Maybe I'll just rewatch them if and when they run again on Me TV). In addition, I do have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the series copied to my computer- some copied back before I could get Me TV, and also a bunch of episodes that Me TV skipped over several years ago. Does anyone know of any other episodes- after the birth of the baby- where Kate was mentioned? I seem to remember- and I could be wrong- another poster in another thread said that Season 6 was expected to be the final season, but then at the last minute the series was unexpectedly renewed. If that is correct, then there are several possibilities regarding the Season 6 episode I mentioned: either (a) the episode was filmed before Bea died or (b) the episode was written before Bea died, but filmed after, and for some reason the line wasn't changed, perhaps for the same reasons listed in (c) below. or (c) the episode was written and filmed after Bea died, but they wanted to end the series on a happy note, because they were near the end of the season, and might have thought there probably wouldn't be a Season 7. Obviously, when season 7 started, certain things had apparently changed (Kate was no longer said to be coming back, and Betty Jo was no longer pregnant- see "Tune In Next Year," the episode just before "By The Book"- Betty Jo's pregnancy might have been another attempt to end the series on a happy note).
	Last edited by i29u; 10-04-2023 at 03:35 PM. Reason: adding info

09-09-2023, 06:05 AM	#3
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,297	There was at least one mention on PJ of "Mom" having passed away, after some time had passed following Bea's death.

09-21-2023, 09:07 PM	#5
CJMD03 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 18, 2018 Posts: 412	I’m assuming that Kate obviously died between the fifth and sixth seasons offscreen.

09-23-2023, 03:22 AM	#7
CJMD03 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 18, 2018 Posts: 412	Thanks for that info.

10-01-2023, 04:48 PM	#8
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,297	i29u, did you look at Season 7 in its entirety? While Bea was still living but off the series near the very end of her life, there were mentions of when Kate will "get back" from being "gone." However, in SEASON 7, a past tense mention of "Mom" is making it clear that she has died, and at no time in Season 7 is there any talk of her coming back. Once I confirm which episode I will post when and what was said, though quite brief. Ask yourself, would the writers include lines talking about "when [she] gets back" following Bea's death? There were no claims afterward Kate would return. Bea died in October 1968. Scripts written for Season 7, fall 1969-spring '70, were after Bea's death.

10-04-2023, 10:24 AM	#9
Road Dog Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 30, 2004 Posts: 94	Linda Kaye Henning said in an interview that the cast and crew were never told how sick Bea Benaderet really was. And Bea was very secretive about her condition. The cast and crew were told that Bea was having trouble with her lungs and was taking time off to get breathing treatments. They were never told she had lung cancer. Linda said that she only found about Bea's condition from Bea's son (Jack Bannon) a few days before she died. Bea's husband, Eugene Twombly, was devastated by her death. He died of a massive heart attack on the day of Bea's funeral.

04-23-2024, 04:05 PM	#11
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	“By the Book,” the last episode of season 6, was definitely held from earlier in the season from before Bea died. She is still in the opening credits, and June Lockhart is nowhere to be found. I do believe there’s an episode in the last season where the hotel is in jeopardy (perhaps “Spare That Cottage”) where Uncle Joe refers to the possibility of “the girls” losing the hotel. Not Kate, but “the girls.” That to me is an indication that Kate has passed away and that the girls inherited the hotel.

04-11-2026, 11:20 PM	#12
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,744	I'm starting to wonder what exactly the first prime-time American network television series was to openly acknowledge a main character's death (instead of pretending that they're always out of town and what not) after the actor/actress themselves, died in real life. It had to have at the very least, been in the 1970s as (off the top of my head) Chico and the Man and Barney Miller in some shape or form, acknowledged Freddie Prinze and Jack Soo's real life deaths.