ReddFoxx

Sheryl Lee Ralph got a couple of seasons of "It's A Living" under her belt before she had a flop with "New Attitude" with Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and Morris Day. Sheryl would sometimes use the babyish voice she used for Deena Jones in "Dreamgirls" and it came off silly. Her fellow "Dreamgirls" alumni Loretta Devine had a flop with "Sugar and Spice" that used the similar level headed/impulsive sister format as "New Attitude".

It was an odd match, but Debbie did good some good lines as Jackie. When Tiffany and her friend were trying to go somewhere in some tight dresses Jackie said they looked like they were going dancing with Senator Packwood which for some reason had me in stitches.

Shanice is more willing to go back and forth with Leslie, whereas June is more calm and takes the high road. As we saw in the hospital Shanice had no problem arguing with Leslie. June pretty much just looked at Leslie like she's insane and kept it moving.

*face palm* "Fame" always escapes me for some reason. I had been thinking about Debbie Allen and the only TV shows for her that came to mind were "In The House" and "Grey's Anatomy".

Valerie Bertinelli had a couple of flops with "Sydney" and "Cafe Americain" that were both leading ventures for her. She joined "Touched By An Angel" for the last two seasons and later landed "Hot In Cleveland". Food Network gave her a lot of work for nearly a decade. No one from Good Times had another television hit. Esther Rolle's only attempt at another sitcom was the failed "Singer and Sons" with Harold Gould. John Amos did "704 Hauser" which was a rework of "All In The Family" that Norman Lear was inspired to create by the rise of right-wing talk radio. John played a Democrat with a conservative son who had a White girlfriend. Jimmie Walker did a failed syndicated adaptation of the film "Bustin' Loose".

I remember Fran most for the episode where Thelma burnt up her dress and replaced it with one full of tucks. Rue must have felt so embarrassed to deliver the line "look at my seat, it's all bunched up and pointy".

It's possible there was some spite, but it would have been pretty silly on the producers part since Mama's Family was off a full two years before syndication revived it and Rue was starting the second season of The Golden Girls by then. Rue was asked about Mama's Family in an interview and she sort of waved off the question in a "don't remind me" sort of way. A check is a check, but from a creative standpoint Fran was such a pathetic, whiny character that Rue probably was not happy with playing.

Debbie Reynolds was definitely tested as a possible replacement in the episode where Dorothy tried to remarry Stan. But the way Debbie played Truby she almost rivaled Blanche more so than a replacement for Dorothy. There was no replacing Arthur or Dorothy anyway. Back to actors having misses, just before "The Golden Girls" Bea had a terrible flop with "Amanda's" which was an adaptation of "Fawlty Towers". Oddly enough, Betty White did a failed pilot for show that was the first attempt to adapt that show. "Amanda's" flopped but managed to produce one episode than "Fawlty Towers" although only 10 aired. Not much a flex though since US sitcoms were expected to last longer than that.

When Anita told Bill and Hayley to politely scram, Hayley looked at her like "I wish I could give you some this poison too, bitch" lol.

Harriet: Oh my gracious. I cannot see what Miss Beadle would see in that great big, uncouth varmint but I suppose some women have limited options. Nels: Now see here, Harriet. It is none of Mr. Edwards and Miss Beadle want to see each other. Harriet: It is too my business! She is suppose to set an example for the children. Do you want Nellie to grow up and marry a stray like Isaiah Edwards?

Alexis slapping him like it would stop the heart attack will never not be funny.

I did not know that one lol. From what I can tell he was a nice man with a good sense of humor. He was spoken of very highly at the reunion

Bill mentioning Hayley's teas and Tomas mentioning he like espresso might be breadcrumbs. Picture it: Hayley poisons the wrong cup or Tomas grabs the wrong cup. Later on, Kat gets theatrical in bed again, Tomas has a fatal heart attack and Kat blames herself. But let me stop writing.

Tomas has the potential to be a casualty of Hayley's plan should be accidentally stumble upon something or if he ends up mixing up drinks with Bill or something like that.

Landon and Anderson were the only real problem and everyone else was calm. Landon would drink heavily on set and the writers once had to change a fight scene because Anderson threatened to actually hit Arngrim.

Tomas is about to use Kat to help his image and Kat will easily be roped into it. Bill is pressed and it serves him right. He looked semi pathetic trying to talk to Dani about Winterfest.

Karen Grassle talks about that in her book. From what I know Landon was often drunk on set (he'd show up like that) and tried to limited Karen's role when she asked for a raise, which she deserved because she did a lot of good work on the show. At the Little House 50th Anniversary she did her panel and didn't put a single ounce of shade into anything about Landon when he was mentioned, so she is very classy. Speaking of Little House drama, the problem amongst the younger actors was Melissa Sue Anderson who shoved Melissa Gilbert off of a wagon and called Alison Arngrim stupid.

If Urich doesn't hold the record then he probably he is very close to it because that is a lot of shows. Carol Burnett is another successful icon who tried and failed with ventures after her big hit. "Carol & Company" was an comedy anthology series that lasted 33 episodes. After that failed, Burnett went for a revival of the "The Carol Burnett Show" but it didn't catch on.

Cicely Tyson was a master of television movies, but only was a regular on two series, the acclaimed but short lived "East Side West Side" and the one season "Sweet Justice" with Melissa Gilbert. That was Gilbert's second attempt at another series post "Little House" after a flop sitcom on Fox called "Stand By Your Man". Robert Urich had an interesting trend of his biggest success being two to three season shows, "S.W.A.T", "Vega$" and "Spenser: For Hire". He had plenty of flops, including the "Bewitched" spinoff "Tabitha, a "Love Boat" revival on UPN and his final TV series role was in "Emeril".

It took awhile to move forward, but it was indeed clear what the team was setting groundwork for. What will be interesting to see is if Ted feels some type of way about seeing Leslie with Marcel.

It seems like this show is more driven toward relationships than anything else, at least initially. The first couple of months almost all about developing each character and the relationships between them. It also seems like MVJ tried to go against the trends of the other soaps by not have a big corporation on the canvas. Corporations aren't a bad thing on soaps, but they often end up being a crutch for writers who don't know what to do with the characters.

Kim must have been in between jobs and in need of a check to do that. It is listed before "Santa Barbara" on her filmography so I'm assuming she was in need. But at least it was a one time job, Pernell Roberts was narrating the mess for all of the episodes.

Michael J. Fox found success after "Family Ties" with "Spin City". Of course he had to leave that for health reasons. Demond Wilson did "Baby...I'm Back!" post Sanford and Son. It got decent ratings, but was apparently canceled because Norman Lear wanted another season of "Good Times". Unlike a lot of shows that feature acts from massive hits, Wilson had a supporting cast that was fairly decent (Denise Nicholas and Helen Martin). A few years later he started in "The New Odd Couple" with Ron Glass, but a writers strike forced the show to recycle episodes from the original series and it was canceled because it didn't find an audience even after original scripts were written. Pernell Roberts had a good run of seven years with "Trapper John MD" years after he left "Bonanza". "Nurse" was very short lived, but it did net Michael Learned a fourth Emmy after three others for "The Waltons".

Someone else that comes to mind with hit and miss is Delta Burke. She had a self-titled sitcom with "Delta" that didn't last and later on "Women Of The House" where she revived Suzanne Sugarbaker after patching things up with the Bloodworths. Redd Foxx tried to revive Fred Sanford with "Sanford" and then had the very short lived "Redd Foxx Show". "The Royal Family" might have gone somewhere had he not passed away because I believe it did get attention because he worked so well with Della Reese, who much like LaWanda Page had the chops to match him and not be dwarfed, Jackie was added to the show to try and save it but to no.avail. Jackee bounced back with "Sister, Sister" and is one of the only successful primetime stars who came back to daytime.

That sounds accurate. "227" came on the air so quickly that it had to have been at least in the planning stages while Marla was still on "The Jeffersons". Marla is one of the more shrewd actresses out there because she was right back on "The Jeffersons" when "Checking In" didn't last so I assume she had a strong contract.