12 hours ago, Khan said:

 

Reading this reminds me of Cathy Martin on "St. Elsewhere."  I don't recall if that character ever received a proper exit after being raped by Dr. Peter White and ending up in the psychiatric ward for awhile.

 

Cathy was shown a few times afterward - working in the hospital, and becoming close to BJ (the Kavi Raz character who by that time had been put on recurring and was being phased out). Her last appearance was a cameo in the season 4 finale which was mostly about the absurdity of Fiscus trying to open some bricked-up door. She walked by him, looking gorgeous and acting flirtatious, like the old days. 

 

Not much of an exit, but at least she made it out alive, I guess.

 

Cathy is one of my favorite TV characters of all time. I wish that her scene after her second rape was still on Youtube - the one where Shirley (guilt-ridden because she had previously belittled Cathy for claiming to be raped because she was sure Cathy had "asked for it") visited her, and she said something like, "Don't worry. No one can ever hurt Cathy again," leading Shirley to collapse into sobs (and leading her to gun down Pete, whom she mistakenly thought had returned to raping women). The scene gives me chills in a way only St. Elsewhere can. 

8 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

 

She kind of vanished without any sort of explanation.  I think she came back to put her life back together and was phased out shortly thereafter.  Most of the female characters on that show had crappy fates.

 

Indeed. It's still amazing to me that by season 4 they had either lost every female character, or turned them just about unwatchable (Helen Rosenthal). Quite a feat. The only positive of this is it meant a steady rise through the ranks for Lucy Papandrao and Jackie Wade.

8 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

Scott Scanlon on Beverly Hills, 90210. OBVIOUSLY the character did not belong anymore (and never really did), but they did him wrong. As much as I disliked The Gang's insta-woes over his death, the thing I hate the most is how the whole thing was basically a vehicle for David, who promptly never cared about Scott again after that episode. The whole thing just makes me so uncomfortable to even think about, and I honestly would have just preferred them write him out with a quick "Scott moved over the summer" line.

 

David still felt guilty/sad for Scott all the way until the end of season 3 at least.

9 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

Poor sweet and goofy Scott didn't deserve the the tragic fate that befell him. Your right Scott Scanlon died so David could be one of the gang. I would've preferred him leaving too. Maybe coming back years later for a guest spot.

 

Even better, Scott could have returned years later (and with a different actor in the part), when the show's storylines were much soapier; and he could have made a play for Donna.

10 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

Scott Scanlon on Beverly Hills, 90210. OBVIOUSLY the character did not belong anymore (and never really did), but they did him wrong. As much as I disliked The Gang's insta-woes over his death, the thing I hate the most is how the whole thing was basically a vehicle for David, who promptly never cared about Scott again after that episode. The whole thing just makes me so uncomfortable to even think about, and I honestly would have just preferred them write him out with a quick "Scott moved over the summer" line.

 

I kind of recall that Scott's younger sister showed up for an arc in a later season.. and she was affected by what happend to Scott.. and David felt brotherly toward her.. but she got a crush on him.. and Donna was jealous.

ADA Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) got a HORRIBLE (and out-of-character) exit from SVU last week. It was Raul Esparza's decision to leave, but after the writers have neutered and watered-down the once cocky and flashy Barba, I can understand why. Still, what a waste of a dynamic actor and character. At least they didn't kill Barba off, but he'll never be a prosecutor again.

Oh and speaking of SVU, Stabler literally got NO exit

On 2/13/2018 at 10:10 PM, Khan said:

 

Frankly, unless he missed having a regular paycheck, I don't see why.  I mean, the writing for the first season was atrocious.  In a way, I feel like the producers did him (and Jenny O'Hara, Molly Ringwald, and the other girls) a tremendous favor by trimming the cast.

I'll go ahead and add "Mama's Family"'s Buzz and Sonja Harper to the list.  When the series was picked up for first-run syndication, Vinton's kids were briefly mentioned -- Thelma said, simply, that they had "moved away" -- and then never heard from or mentioned again.  Not even during the penultimate and final seasons, when Vint and Naomi conceived little Tiffany Thelma.

I tottaly forgot about his kids.  I remember how odd it was that they didn't get a mention.  I also wonder why Carol Burnett/Eunice didnt make any appearances afterwords.

On 2/13/2018 at 10:10 PM, Khan said:

 

 

I'll go ahead and add "Mama's Family"'s Buzz and Sonja Harper to the list.  When the series was picked up for first-run syndication, Vinton's kids were briefly mentioned -- Thelma said, simply, that they had "moved away" -- and then never heard from or mentioned again.  Not even during the penultimate and final seasons, when Vint and Naomi conceived little Tiffany Thelma.

In the complete MF DVD release Vicki said that after being cancelled by NBC and then picked up for syndication.....the writers felt that Sonja and Buzz weren't interesting enough to be on the show. They were looking for the hunk quota with a little bit of goofiness...that's where Bubba came in. They wanted to change up the show a bit after being canned by NBC. So little to no mention of them was present when the show began airing in syndication.

53 minutes ago, allmc2008 said:

 I also wonder why Carol Burnett/Eunice didnt make any appearances afterwords.

In the same interview I mentioned above..... Vicki said she had a falling out with Carol. Carol became bitter after her divorce and felt betrayed by Vicki because she had moved on with the MF reboot with her ex running the show and without her. She felt that Vicki was choosing sides when that wasn't the case.

Edited February 15, 20187 yr by Soapsuds

3 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

ADA Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) got a HORRIBLE (and out-of-character) exit from SVU last week. It was Raul Esparza's decision to leave, but after the writers have neutered and watered-down the once cocky and flashy Barba, I can understand why. Still, what a waste of a dynamic actor and character. At least they didn't kill Barba off, but he'll never be a prosecutor again.

 

Wait, what?  He LEFT SVU?  Well, [!@#$%^&*].  There goes my last reason to watch.

2 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

In the complete MF DVD release Vicki said that after being cancelled by NBC and then picked up for syndication.....the writers felt that Sonja and Buzz weren't interesting enough to be on the show. They were looking for the hunk quota with a little bit of goofiness...that's where Bubba came in. They wanted to change up the show a bit after being canned by NBC. So little to no mention of them was present when the show began airing in syndication.

 

Well, I can't say that I blame 'em.  Buzz and Sonja's creation were CLEARLY a network mandate.  In their minds, they probably thought the two would draw the teen audiences.

 

I, too, had heard about the reasons why Carol Burnett never participated in the syndicated episodes.  But, you know, watching those episodes, I don't ever feel like the show is lacking something without her.  Say what you will about the writing, but I think they had a pretty tight ensemble with Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer and Allan Kayser.

Plus Eunice was annoying and better in small doses lol

21 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Wait, what?  He LEFT SVU?  Well, [!@#$%^&*].  There goes my last reason to watch.

 

Well, I can't say that I blame 'em.  Buzz and Sonja's creation were CLEARLY a network mandate.  In their minds, they probably thought the two would draw the teen audiences.

 

I, too, had heard about the reasons why Carol Burnett never participated in the syndicated episodes.  But, you know, watching those episodes, I don't ever feel like the show is lacking something without her.  Say what you will about the writing, but I think they had a pretty tight ensemble with Vicki Lawrence, Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer and Allan Kayser.

Yeah, Vicki mentioned that the writers hardly wrote for Buzz and Sonja and sometimes she forgot they were even on the show.

 

Yes, it was a nice cast with the addition of Beverly Archer as the new neighbor.  I thought Allan Kayser's Bubba was a better fit than Eric Brown's Buzz too.

10 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Plus Eunice was annoying and better in small doses lol

I was surprised she didn't return for Bubba's graduation. But after what Vicki said it made sense. The episode was actually better without Eunice in it. It showed what an unfit and uncarrying mother she really was by not showing up to his graduation and why Bubba was such a misfit when he first moved in with Mama.

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by Soapsuds

2 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Yeah, Vicki mentioned that the writers hardly wrote for Buzz and Sonja and sometimes she forgot they were even on the show.

 

And poor Rue McClanahan.  They did her no favors either.  Even if "The Golden Girls" hadn't been on-the-air, I doubt she would've been willing to return as Aunt Fran.

I tended to prefer Fran, Buzz and Sonja mostly because I thought it made the writers work harder on the comedy. Bubba and Iola meant that the syndicated version leaned heavily toward caricature and one-note material, which made a lot of the episodes less compelling or funny to me. Not even getting into what they did to Vint and Naomi.

12 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

And poor Rue McClanahan.  They did her no favors either.  Even if "The Golden Girls" hadn't been on-the-air, I doubt she would've been willing to return as Aunt Fran.

Vicki said both Rue and Betty were written off because of The Golden Girls. Vicki said she wanted them to continue on her show but it wasn't possible so they wrote Aunt Fran's death. I think Betty appeared in one or two episodes in syndication.

9 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I tended to prefer Fran, Buzz and Sonja mostly because I thought it made the writers work harder on the comedy. Bubba and Iola meant that the syndicated version leaned heavily toward caricature and one-note material, which made a lot of the episodes less compelling or funny to me. Not even getting into what they did to Vint and Naomi.

I thought the syndicated version resembled more of Mama's Family from the original Carol Burnett Show than the NBC version. I found the NBC version rather dull/dark and not as funny. JMO of course.

 

And I never cared for Sonja. I could take Buzz but he wasn't used at all.

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by Soapsuds

11 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I tended to prefer Fran, Buzz and Sonja mostly because I thought it made the writers work harder on the comedy. Bubba and Iola meant that the syndicated version leaned heavily toward caricature and one-note material, which made a lot of the episodes less compelling or funny to me.

 

"Mama's Family" itself was caricature and one-note.  I mean, come on: whether it's on the network or it's in syndication, it's still Vicki Lawrence cracking wise for thirty minutes, while running around in Ret Turner's "old lady ensemble" of blue wig, cheap pearls, and waaaay too much padding.  The show was never going to be Witt/Thomas/Harris.  Ergo, with each episode, you go in knowing what to expect.

Edited February 16, 20187 yr by Khan