Eugene, Victoria Barkley's youngest son on The Big Valley. He appeared sporadically during the first season and then vanished into thin air, never to be seen or heard of again. In later years, his very existence was erased from the show's canon, when Victoria would refer to her "three sons" Jarrod, Nick, and Heath (and Heath was not even her kid).

 

Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days. Poof! Disappeared, erased from existence.

How about Carl Dixon on Good Times?

9 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

How about Carl Dixon on Good Times?

 

YAAAAAAAAAS.

 

I could understand Esther Rolle's reluctance to bringing him back, but it DID create a sort of quandary for the writers.  I mean, they couldn't say Florida and Carl had divorced, because Florida, as a Christian, would NEVER have entertained the concept.  And they couldn't say Carl had died offscreen, because Florida had been a widow already, and becoming a widow for the SECOND time would have made her look like a black widow (no pun intended).  So, how else could they have accommodated Rolle by simply pretending he was never on the show?  (Except, that presented its own problems whenever they referenced something that occurred while Florida was "away.")

It's a shame, because Carl could have been a successful addition under different circumstances. Moses Gunn was certainly a capable actor, and I thought he played well off Esther Rolle. It's yet another example of how badly mismanaged the show really was after its first couple of years.

Edited February 22, 20187 yr by amybrickwallace

Awww, the Terri Alden hate is killin me y'all.   I think she was the strongest actress of the roommates.  I still well up whenever I catch her welcome party episode when Jack and Larry cruelly prank her before Jack turns the seltzer on himself.  The pain in her eyes and voice.  Also in the finale when she's crying as they're about to part.  It's hard to tell where Terri starts and Priscilla ends.

I cheered Jack & Larry on during that episode lol

Terri had a great introduction but no follow through.  Having her be sarcastic, bursting Jack's balloon, etc...would have been refreshing.  Oddly having Terri change the dynamic of the show and turned Janet from the calm, practical voice of reason into a ditzy neurotic mess.  I liked janet season 1 through 4 the best....chrissy season 1 through 3...and the ropers over furley.

 

 

See I like Janet better than the others(except Cindy), and they did this to make Terri shine, another reason I can't stand her

Still, it was all better than Three's a Crowd.

The very best of Three's Company, what the show was truly meant to be, rests in the Roper years, without a doubt. I love Don Knotts, and I love Ralph Furley, but it just wasn't the same. Chrissy was a ditz, but she wasn't dumb. Janet was intelligent, but she had shades of insecurity. The last few years, I've often had it play out in my head what the show would have been like had it been a drama instead of a sitcom. A cool, calm, sexy nighttime soap about three attractive roommates in southern California in the late 70s, their relationship and career drama, etc. The actual show had that coolness about it in those years, but the later years were mostly cartoon.

I like to think about Alice as a drama, too, more akin to the original film.

Alice was on for way too long. At least Jolene added some much needed energy in its last seasons.

29 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

Alice was on for way too long. At least Jolene added some much needed energy in its last seasons.

 

Bringing in Jolene and marrying Vera off made me enjoy the last years of the show, but I think other parts of the show had definitely had their day. 

I'd say about three seasons too long. It never really sank too unbearably low depths, but it got tired. CBS's hands were really tied, though. After M*A*S*H, One Day at a Time, and Archie Bunker's Place left the air in 1983 and 1984, Alice and The Jeffersons were literally the only hit sitcoms they had. They finally felt safe enough to dump them once Newhart and Kate & Allie picked up steam. Even then, the latter two became their only hit sitcoms for a season before Designing Women made its debut, and then it was just the three of them until Murphy Brown.

I never realized just how dire CBS's sitcom game got in the 80s. Of all of the comedies they aired from 1985-1989, only four of them are truly memorable. What a difference a decade made...

And now there are very few sitcoms I

on the networks that are memorable.

 

I think bringing Jolene in kept Alice going longer because she brought a different energy to the show, plus making get a less ditzy and marrying her also helped the show.  the main character of Alice was stagnant..and I think Linda Lavin knew this hence why Alice appeared less in some episodes..and came on occasionally as Vera's eccentric landlady. 

 

I think belle on Alice got a crappy exit as well as the following two characters on Ellen.

 

Holly and Anita (the two female friends on the first season when the show was called these friends of mine). 

 

 

3 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

I'd say about three seasons too long. It never really sank too unbearably low depths, but it got tired. CBS's hands were really tied, though. After M*A*S*H, One Day at a Time, and Archie Bunker's Place left the air in 1983 and 1984, Alice and The Jeffersons were literally the only hit sitcoms they had. They finally felt safe enough to dump them once Newhart and Kate & Allie picked up steam. Even then, the latter two became their only hit sitcoms for a season before Designing Women made its debut, and then it was just the three of them until Murphy Brown.

I never realized just how dire CBS's sitcom game got in the 80s. Of all of the comedies they aired from 1985-1989, only four of them are truly memorable. What a difference a decade made...

 

 

Everyone's sitcom game was dire around that time. Several entertainment magazines did articles on the Death of the Sitcom from 82-84. It was actually The Cosby Show that revived the format.

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

 

 

I think belle on Alice got a crappy exit as well as the following two characters on Ellen.

 

Holly and Anita (the two female friends on the first season when the show was called these friends of mine). 

 

 

 

 

I loved Holly from Anything But Love, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis, prior to her appearance on These Friends of Mine. And of course Anita would go on to play Janice on Friends.

 

Edited February 25, 20187 yr by cct