Behind-the-Scenes Feuds & Drama: TV’s Most Dysfunctional Sets

[te.]

Lots'o'tea about Charmed in this:

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[dragonflies]

She was full of herself IMO. I read she even celebrated when he died. I've never looked at her in the same light since. 

[Khan]

Recently, I watched an episode of "Dark Side of Comedy" on VICE that featured the BTS issues at "Family Matters."  Specifically, it covered the troubles that Jaimee Foxworth (a.k.a. "Judy Winslow") and her mother encountered with TPTB as Jaimee's role on the show was reduced and then erased altogether.  It broke my heart to hear their story.

The thing is, those producers were used to ignoring or dropping characters from shows.  (See: Chuck Cunningham).  But they didn't understand that FM wasn't just another show, especially not to African-Americans.  I don't think they understood why viewers and even cast members like Jo Marie Payton (OG Harriette Winslow) would be upset about a little black girl who is simply forgotten by her own family members with no explanation whatsoever.

At the very least, they could have explained on-air that Judy went to live with extended relatives out-of-town so she could attend a private school or something.

Edited January 5, 2024 by Khan

[Khan]

Depending on what you read or who you talk to, the rest of the FM cast either welcomed Jaleel/Urkel, as his addition lifted the show's ratings; or they resented him, because he took the focus away from the others (and from Jaimee Foxworth/Judy in particular) and allowed the show's producers to take what had been a fairly grounded family show and turn it into a very broad and silly one.

JW himself has talked in the past about how Reginald VelJohnson and Jo Marie Payton took him to task for agreeing to play "Myrtle Urkel," saying that it reinforced stereotypes about putting black men in women's clothes as a way of emasculating them and making them less threatening to white audiences.  If what he said is true, then the people to take up the issue with were the producers, not a 12-13 year old kid.

[kalbir]

@Khan Thank you for the info re Family Matters. I have read/heard about some backstage drama in recent years re JW vs. RVJ/JMP.

Edited January 5, 2024 by kalbir

[DRW50]

Mindy Cohn drops a bomb.

Mindy Cohn Says 'Greedy' Facts of Life Co-Star Sabotaged TV Reboot (hollywoodreporter.com)

[Vee]

That's a shame, though I dunno how well any revival would've done after the recent streaming crash vs. maybe 5-10 years ago when it was all the rage. She says you can suss out the castmember checking who she's still tight with on IG, but she still follows all the other girls AFAIK and I can't see any of them in any recent posts (I also didn't know she was on Palm Royale, good for her).

Edited July 24, 2024 by Vee

[DRW50]

Some who looked mentioned that she has not been as active with Kim Fields since 2022, but was with Nancy and Lisa more recently.

I agree it wouldn't have done well. Even seemingly well-received reboots like the new Saved by the Bell only ran two seasons. I'm just sorry that greed destroyed longtime friendships.

It seems like everybody was on Palm Royale. 

[Khan]

Tootie, no!

[John]

I am thinking its Blair. 

Luke and Shannen re-connected when she was diagnosed with Cancer. His death was the reason she did BH90210. She wanted to celebrate Luke. 

[Khan]

Nah, I can't see Lisa Whelchel being that greedy.  I think she knows Blair (and she) would be nothing without the other "girls," and that a Blair-centric spinoff would be DOA before the first episode even begins.

If anything, I think she and Nancy McKeon are the ones who can't get past the betrayal.  (Mindy Cohn appears to be fine either way).

Of course, we all could be wrong and it turns out to be Nancy, lol.

The thing is, if someone were to do an FOL reboot/revival series that followed the ladies' lives today, what would it even be about?  Would you have them move back in with each other and do some weird FOL/"Golden Girls" mashup?  Would the show be all about their running Eastland today, with Blair as headmistress, Natalie as journalism advisor, Tootie as the drama teacher and Jo teaching history or English or some crap?  To me, that latter idea smacks too much of "AfterM*A*S*H," lol.

I say, go back to the beginning (well, back to season two) and do a pure reboot set in the present, with a new Edna Garrett, a new Blair, a new Jo and so on.

Edited July 25, 2024 by Khan

[Vee]

It sounds like it's Lisa to me from other people's snooping, but that could be my own bias. Lisa and her evangelical family got up to some wild shít in the public eye in the 2000s.

Edited July 25, 2024 by Vee

[DRW50]

There was so much going around about Lisa and her views at that time I am still surprised she managed a semi-comeback, but she handled her Survivor run very smartly. 

She now hosts Collector Call, and she does a decent job, so she's the main one I actually see of any of the four these days. Maybe that could have given her a bit of an ego. Not sure.

In another thread I posted an interview with Mindy - I think she mentioned Nancy and Kim, but I can't remember if she mentioned Lisa.

I could see them having each of them with a daughter and they meet up at a new Eastland. Maybe Jo, Blair, Tootie and Natalie just show up a few times a season.

[soapfan770]

Always felt bad for Nancy McKeon’s adult career just never taking off. She had that hit Can’t Buy Me Love show in the 90’s and successful crossover with the Nanny but for whatever reason CBS cancelled it despite being a top 30 show one of the very few hits they had at time. 
 

I’m sorry but the rest of it sounds so washed up and fan fiction. These ladies are now in their late 50’s and 60’s and still clinging onto and fighting over something that happened 40 years ago.

Lisa Welchel is about as irrelevant as Phillip McKeon is at this point in time

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Edited July 25, 2024 by soapfan770

[Khan]

If it was Lisa Whelchel - and I won't say it couldn't have been Lisa - then she is one stupid lady. 

Blair Warner worked as a character because you had Tootie, Natalie and especially Jo there to serve as contrasts.  The bulk of Blair's humor came from her "stuck-up rich girl" sensibilities clashing with their relatively more down-to-earth ones.  Take that away, set Blair off in her own little world and you have a character and a show that would get very irritating and fast.

Frankly, I'm surprised Kim Fields went along at all with the others' plans to reboot/revive the show, given how hard she has tried over the years to distance herself from the character of Tootie.  She must've needed the money desperately, lol.

I think the closest Nancy McKeon ever came to having success outside of FOL was on "The Division," the police drama series that aired for several seasons on Lifetime and also starred Jon Hamm and Taraji P. Henson.  Aside from that series and her TV movies, however, it does seem as if she never could escape from Jo's shadow.

They wouldn't need to have a daughter each, though, since Eastland went co-ed at the end of the old series.