24 minutes ago, danfling said:

Diane Kay (Nancy Bradford) was in an episode (possibly the pilot episode) of the ABC series Once a Hero.  I think that Dusty Kay (television writer and producer who created the series) was her brother.  I am not sure that they were brother and sister, so, if anyone knows for certain, I would love to know.

She was also in the pilot (a few years earlier) of Flamingo Road (produced by the same company that produced Eight Is Enough - Lorimar).   Her character died in the pilot.

I have no idea if that is her brother, but it could be with the last name Kay. Diane was also in the pilot " Cass Malloy" starring Caroline McWilliams. Someone said the pilot actually aired once during the summer of 1982. A few years later they did it again with Suzanne Somers as the lead and it became " She's The Sheriff" that ran 1987-1989. 

Diane would have been good as a regular on a soap. She pretty much stopped acting by the 90's. She was closest to Lani O'Grady who played Mary and was devastated when she died. She keeps a framed photo of her in her house.

 

ABC piloted a spinoff based around David flying the coup and becoming a photographer travelling the country.

Did any of that come up in the series?

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

ABC piloted a spinoff based around David flying the coup and becoming a photographer travelling the country.

Did any of that come up in the series?

Yes. At the end of season 3 there was a boring 2 part episode titled : Marriage and Other Flights Of Fancy" where he breaks up with Janet and takes off. At the beginning of season 4 he returns and tries to win Janet back. She is engaged to a guy named Reed (Played by Terry Lester). She and David marry in a double wedding with Susan and Merle.   

A spin-off centered around Grant Goodeve?  Ugh, not smart, Lorimar, not smart at all, lol.

9 hours ago, SoapDope said:

They never really used the garage. They should have converted that into a guest house where Janet & David lived or Merle & Susan.

They did! Susan lived there with the baby during the last season while Merle was on the road.

3 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

They did! Susan lived there with the baby during the last season while Merle was on the road.

I forgot all about that. It's been a while since I watched season 5. That season was a bit of a mess and the show started falling apart. Mary pretty much faded into the background due to Lani's real life issues. The addition of Jeremy was pointless.

I enjoyed the addition of Jeremy.    He had starred in Mad Magazine's Up the Academy just before he was hired as Jeremy on Eight Is Enough.

2 hours ago, danfling said:

I enjoyed the addition of Jeremy.    He had starred in Mad Magazine's Up the Academy just before he was hired as Jeremy on Eight Is Enough.

The problem I had with the addition of Jeremy was they barely wrote for Elizabeth. They also quickly broke up David and Janet when they didn't know how to write for them. Most of their scenes was them at each others throats.  

 

For many years Susan Richardson has had a hard time in her life. Several weeks ago I ran across this recent video. Supposedly this is Susan now.

 

Edited February 25, 20241 yr by SoapDope

 Original Eight Is Enough Bumpers with commercials from 1979. I wish DVD releases would leave these in. 

 

"Hey, Mom, what did you do to the french fries?"

CUT TO:

"Mom arrested in bizarre family murder plot - news at eleven!"

On 2/2/2024 at 11:27 PM, SoapDope said:

Yes as the kids got older it presented problems. They tried to keep many of them all under one roof, but it still didn't help with storylines. I have read Buckley could be difficult and a perfectionist. She would take forever to complete a scene. She also handed out a book about acting to cast members, which many took offense to especially Willie Aames. 

He probably should have read a few pages.

2 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

He probably should have read a few pages.

😂

I wonder if that book is still available for Carson Boatman?

1 hour ago, Khan said:

"Hey, Mom, what did you do to the french fries?"

CUT TO:

"Mom arrested in bizarre family murder plot - news at eleven!"

Old school 70's Boomer Mom's took no crap from their Gen X offspring.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

He probably should have read a few pages.

🤣