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Eight Is Enough

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Paul Raven Grand Master

Paul Raven

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Eight is Enough really fell off in the ratings in its final season. It was 12th in 79/80 but the following season the premiere ranked 12th and it didn't reappear in the Top 20 all season.

Viewers preferred Real People on NBC and Eight was shunted off to Sat @8, replacing another former Wed winner Charlie's Angels.

Greatest American Hero replaced it on Wed late in the 80-81 season.

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There have been conflicting stories as to it's cancellation. Lee Rich said he and the rest at Lorimar got fed up with the out of control cast members drug and personal issues. I say the ratings really sealed the deal and ABC killed it by moving it around. Dick Van Patten said he was ready to go back to work on Season 6 when he read the cancellation in the newspaper.

That last season was a mess. The 1980 strike really caused some problems with the series. The trademark background music was replaced by cheesy crap for several episodes before it was brought back after the strike. They added Ralph Macchio to a already bloated cast and put a lot of focus on him when other characters were barely written for (like Elizabeth). 

It would have been interesting to see where the show went if it had lasted as long as Dallas and Knots Landing. The writers could have re-focused the series as straight drama when the show entered the 80's primetime soap era. 

 

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........I could see that.

I have never read the book the show was based on, but some people have stated that the real family had some disturbing stuff happen to them. One of the daughters was raped and had an abortion which went against the Catholic church. Another one of the daughters had mental health issues and was hospitalized.

I guess the writers could have went back to the source material to get some heavy stuff if they chose to make it more dramatic. Heck...the real lives of the actors would be a gold mine of material to work with. 

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Aames motivation for acting was making sure that awful 70's do was blow dried to perfection and that the tube sock in his pants was in place. He also thought of himself as a serious musician. 

1979:

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DRW50 Grand Master

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I still remember how startled I was to see Grant Goodeve show up on Twin Peaks The Return, for one scene, with fellow TV legend Peggy Lipton. By that point I thought he was only doing "family" or Christian TV (his scene was perfectly wholesome...the show was not). It was about as disorienting as Gavin Macleod showing up on Oz. At least Grant, unlike Gavin, did not quickly go on to blast modern TV's immorality and profanity.

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DRW50 Grand Master

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He played a bishop who had to deal with Rita Moreno (who played a nun who had been tempted into lust). I have to assume he did not know anything about the show beyond his script, because later that year he gave an interview blasting TV these days for profanity and depravity and what have you.

I always looked closely at the opening credits of The Return because literally anybody could show up. If Charo had shown up I might have just nodded. Still, it was a jolt. 

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Sometimes an actor might not object to the content of the show if the part they're playing doesn't cross those lines.  It sounded like he was playing a business man that was sort of dating Norma while they were partners in a franchise.

While the show was off the rails... that part of the show he was acting in was the light/purity of the show. 

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It seems like I had heard about him going on a rant about something, now I know it was after this appearance. Willie Aames went religious, then when he met his current wife in person after he had corresponded with her for decades that he let it slip she spent the night in his cabin on the cruise ship he was working on. That is supposed to be a no no, but I guess he felt that does not apply to him.

LOL at Charo. When she would appear on Love Boat I was hoping she would fall overboard never to be seen again. 

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