IKR, lol? I shouldn't laugh, because Cam McCulloch was a legendary sound mixer/recordist who had worked on so many classic shows, including "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and pretty much all the MTM sitcoms. But there's something so "Remember WENN" (points to anyone who remembers THAT show!) about a sound guy who's elderly and hard of hearing.
I think it was either Tommy Krasker or Jackson Upperco who said (in their blog post about "Life with Lucy") that Gale Gordon actually looked more vibrant on camera in "Life with Lucy" - despite being near eighty at the time and not having worked regularly since "Here's Lucy" ended in '74 - than Lucy, who looked so frail to the point where audience members would actually gasp whenever she engaged in another pratfall. I also think I read somewhere that he still had a terrific memory, never once flubbing a line during tapings. So, you know, it doesn't surprise me a bit that he would ask to be paid for 22 episodes, regardless of the actual order; because, IMO, he had more than earned it.
IIRC, Marla Gibbs, who had been hesitant to do "Checking In," would not sign off unless the producers promised (in writing) that she could return to "The Jeffersons," should "Checking In" not get renewed. As much as she likely wanted her own series, she also knew what she and everyone else involved were jeopardizing by spinning off Florence...and she was right, lol.
Similarly, Norman Fell made ABC and the producers of "Three's Company" promise that he and Audra Lindley could return if "The Ropers" wasn't picked up for another season. In his case, however, it didn't work out that way.
Fell theorized that ABC deliberately waited to cancel "The Ropers" until they were no longer obliged contractually to honor their part of the deal. Otherwise, he maintained, they would've had to write back the Ropers into "Three's Company" - which would've been tough to do, I think, since Don Knotts had proven to be a big hit as Mr. Furley.
Maybe. Of course, we'll never know, since only one (Jaclyn Smith) made it all the way to the end. (I guess she wasn't as dumb as we all thought, lol). On the other hand, I think "Charlie's Angels" would've run about five seasons, regardless of whether all three had stuck with it. Personally, as much as I still love the show, I think there were only so many ways you could have gotten Jaclyn and Farrah (or Cheryl) to go undercover as bikini models before you started repeating yourself, lol.
To this day, I feel sorry for Delta Burke, whom the press, and especially the tabloids, vilified and turned the public against, even though she clearly was the victim. That's why, as badly as I felt for Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and how Les Moonves had basically black-balled her at CBS, I also think she had it coming, because there's no doubt in my mind over how she and her husband had hurt Delta on the DW set.
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Khan ·
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