Family (1976-1980)

[amybrickwallace]

I loved the Lawrence home in Pasadena. The kitchen was probably my favorite room.

[SoapDope]

I loved that house too. I never can figure out what style it is. It has some colonial aspects. 

[amybrickwallace]

Here's a recent photo I found of Gary Frank, now a grandpa:

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[SoapDope]

 

Thanks for sharing. I looked high and low for a picture of what he looks like now and never could find one. Kristy McNichol was a recluse for quite a while, but she has started turning up at fan events and doing a few interviews here and there. 

[amybrickwallace]

You're welcome. Gary and his wife, Carroll Newman (one of Family's producers) recently celebrated 41 years of marriage. 

 

The most recent thing I saw Kristy McNichol in was the Love Boat Reunion. The main cast and a plethora of its guest stars (including, of course, Charo) gathered for the 50th anniversary of Princess Cruises in 2014. Here is Kristy with Rich Little and Lee Meriwether:

 

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Edited November 4, 2017 by amybrickwallace

[All My Shadows]

Gary Frank looks good, as far as we can see into that photo at least. I think he was dreamy as hell on the show, and Willie, for all his faults, was such a nice guy.

I get so happy when I see things from Kristy. She's earned the happiness she has now, that's for sure.

[amybrickwallace]

Agreed. I remember how big news it was in the early 1990s when Kristy had to leave Empty Nest. I'm glad it was in the pre-social media era; she had enough to deal with then. I was so happy to see her at the Love Boat Reunion. She looks GREAT in those photos.

[SoapDope]

I saw the Love Boat Reunion too and she seemed to be at peace. She also does fan conventions now and signs autographs. There are videos of her from those on youtube. Speaking of Family, I recently watched the David Jacobs interview at the Archive of American Television and he talks about writing for Family. It was his first big job. He said while working on that he was approached by Lorimar to do Pilot script and he came up with Dallas in December 1977. He then talks about on his break from Family having to go to Dallas in the middle of a bad winter in February 1978 and being in a flea bag motel doing rewrites on a daily basis to make things come together and going to the set. He said he had written the Dallas script to take place in warm weather, but didn't have time to change everything to adapt the unexpected snow. Which explains Bobby and Pam in the open convertible. He said his favorite episode of the mini series was The Barbecue.He felt episode two Lucy's Lesson was a mess. 

[amybrickwallace]

What did people think of the addition of Quinn Cummings?

[vetsoapfan]

 

"Jumping the shark now...UGH!"

 

Along with the astonishingly good Family miniature set he produced, the same artist has pictures and videos of many other TV-themed sets on his blog. Happy Days, I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, Friends, even Y&R are there.

 

Willie was very cute, but truth be told, I always had the hots for bad boy Jeff Maitland.

 

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[amybrickwallace]

Nancy and Jeff could never completely get each other out of their respective systems, right? I never saw the end of the series, but did they ever reunite for good?

[vetsoapfan]

 

No, Nancy took forever to agree to a reconciliation but before their remarriage, she realized that she just could not go through with it, and they broke up for good.

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for clarifying that. Good. Jeff and Nancy (at least Meredith's Nancy) were toxic together. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Nancy was such a pill, and so neurotic, she drove me up the wall. It got to the point where I sympathized more with Jeff than with her. I used to love it when Kate (who always had Nancy's number) would tear her a new one.

[Soaplovers]

I never sympthasize with someone that cheats on a spouse..no matter how neurotic the spouse is.  

 

What was the actual reason for the change in the actress that played Nancy?  It was like the character changed 100 percent with the change in actresses