Let's continue our discussion about the lives, loves, and latent lesbians of the Lawrence family of Pasadena.
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Let's continue our discussion about the lives, loves, and latent lesbians of the Lawrence family of Pasadena.
All five seasons, now streaming on Tubi.
by Anonymous | reply 600 | January 29, 2024 1:29 AM |
ME - SAW - DAW
by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 19, 2021 2:47 PM |
Kate and her menopausal hot flash face welcome you.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 19, 2021 2:59 PM |
Nancy is not a very likable character IMO. She is just so selfish! And a really shitty big sister to Buddy. The episode where Buddy is freaking out about going to an older kids make-out party with TJ is a perfect example. Even big bro Willie understands Buddy's reluctance to jump into big girl sexual stuff (or worse, be pushed into it at the party) and tells Nancy to talk to her. Nancy acts like she has absolutely no clue what the problem is and is no help at all. What the fuck do you think the issue might be for your 14 y/o sister who just started going steady, Nancy? Don't get me wrong, I love MBB, but Nancy was a selfish asshole. It's season 3 episode 3 "The First Time".
by Anonymous | reply 4 | August 19, 2021 3:57 PM |
R4, that was the whole point of the character of Nancy. She was a selfish and self-absorbed from episode ONE.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 19, 2021 4:05 PM |
Nancy was the daddy's girl princess, she had no time for other women, especially her mother.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 19, 2021 6:17 PM |
Never got this show?????
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 19, 2021 6:20 PM |
See if this link gets you a recent pic of Gary Frank.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 19, 2021 6:30 PM |
This entire "family" looks like they are on Prozac.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 20, 2021 2:54 AM |
[quote]Nancy was the daddy's girl princess, she had no time for other women, especially her mother.
I've known a lot of women like this, as R6 aptly described: "no time for other women."
One is my sister, another is an older mentor. Both daddy's girls.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 20, 2021 2:56 AM |
First born are usually daddies girl. Last born is the baby and middle is Jan.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 20, 2021 3:05 AM |
Sada was in Juno (1959). Photo is too small for me to pick her out.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | August 20, 2021 3:06 AM |
Okay, okay, I’ve been ragging on Kate… but she is nice in this scene.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | August 20, 2021 3:38 AM |
Nice? She's devastating, as is the writing. "You are going to be...you are. Get my grandson, I need a baby to hold."
And you can tell how moved Baxter Birney is as well.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 20, 2021 4:59 AM |
I find the recent photos posted of the cast to be triggering. I got physically ill after looking at them. I guess it reminds me of my own mortality. How can the rest of you be so matter of fact about it? It's somehow easier to deal with Sada and James being dead than it is to see how much Kristy and Gary have aged.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 20, 2021 5:16 AM |
[quote]R17 Nice? She's devastating, as is the writing.
Well, I wouldn’t quite go THAT far.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 20, 2021 5:32 AM |
R18 I don’t think they look that bad. Meredith Baxter Lesbian has a pretty hard face today, but I’ve seen worse. Frank and McNichol and have been out of Hollywood for decades and most likely haven’t had any work done. They’re just aging and seriously have no fucks left to give.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | August 20, 2021 1:15 PM |
I think Frank would look 100% better if the top of his head didn’t look so flat. I think McNichol looked fine.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | August 20, 2021 5:04 PM |
R18 Strongly suggest you throw out all school annuals, erase all photos of yourself and duck whenever you see a camera pointing your way. Otherwise you're going to be spending your life in falling into deep depression whenever you catch a glimpse of your younger self.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 20, 2021 5:21 PM |
R21 Willie's hair looked like a candy corn-shaped frizzy helmet.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | August 20, 2021 5:45 PM |
R16, I make fun of Sada as much as the next person, but that is some very well-done acting, both technically sound and emotionally invested. Girl's got chops!
by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 20, 2021 6:45 PM |
Audrey is a pain in the ass.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | August 20, 2021 7:23 PM |
Watching the episode where Willie marries a doomed Brooke Adams. Adams' mother is played by DL favorite Priscilla Pointer (Amy Irving's real life and on-screen mother in Carrie.) Harold Gould (Rhoda's pop) played the father.
Pointer was quite a striking looking older lady. I wonder why her career wasn't bigger.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | August 21, 2021 3:14 AM |
R18 that's life duder. I mean, whaddya gonna do? Frankly, they don't look THAT bad
by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 21, 2021 3:16 AM |
That's *Tony Award winning* Sada Thompson to you bums.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 21, 2021 3:22 AM |
R26 Joan Crawford had her blackballed.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 21, 2021 1:25 PM |
What a fug family.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | August 21, 2021 1:28 PM |
I just watched what might be termed Family's "jump the shark" episode. It occurs late in Season 3.
Kate waks up from a horrible nightmare in which she's hit a small blond boy with her car. The dream is very upsetting to her and, unlike other nightmares she's had in the past, she can't shake this one. She wanders around in a daze, becoming increasingly more upset and not sleeping, while everyone around her tries to convince her that it wasn't a dream, it was a precognitive episode. Little things from the dream start to come true. (Kate has an accident with her own car, and the loaner she gets is red, the same color as the car in her dream.) It all culminates with Buddy being bitten by a possibly rabid raccoon that she's bought as a pet (don't ask) and Kate is forced to drive Buddy to the hospital in the dreaded red car at night because no one else is home and a cab will take too long.
On the way home, Kate starts to freak out because the same classical tune in her dream is playing on the radio and the streets look familiar. She jams on her brakes in front of a stop sign, nearly sending poor Buddy into the windshield, breaks down in a panic, and roughly two minutes later, a little blond boy runs out into the night street (at about 11pm) to catch his errant toy ball.
Kate tells Buddy that the boy is exactly the same one from her dream. Buddy says- How did you know to stop?! as though Kate had saved this kid's life, and I'm thinking- if you'd just kept driving instead of stopping and playing a scene with each other, by the time the kid had run out into the street, you'd have been four blocks away.
A really stupid, sloppy, ridiculous episode and I'm surprised an actress of Sada's intelligence (and from what I hear, force) would have accepted it.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 22, 2021 8:18 PM |
I really enjoyed the series but yes, Nancy was such a BITCH!
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 22, 2021 8:28 PM |
In the episode where Buddy is thinking about losing her virginity she tries to talk to Nancy about it. Nancy cuts her off, saying the conversation is inappropriate. What a cunt! That what big sisters are for, answering questions you're too embarrassed to ask your mom.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 22, 2021 8:45 PM |
I actually like the episodes where Nancy isn't part of the stories at all. The end of Season 3 there's a whole string of them, but I would say she maybe showed up in 2/3 of the Season 3 episodes at best.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 22, 2021 8:51 PM |
Let’s fill up the first thread first.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 22, 2021 8:55 PM |
[quote]Pointer was quite a striking looking older lady. I wonder why her career wasn't bigger.
Her career was very big. She did a ton of work over many years... but she was never "striking looking".
by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 22, 2021 9:00 PM |
I'm guessing they needed an actor more full time than Willie Aames was able to give them in Season 4, so they gave Buddy a new boyfriend, but I think they should have just recast the role instead of creating a brand new boyfriend who is already pressuring Buddy to fuck in his first appearance. We have no idea how long they've been together and it feels like she should be able to just tell him to get lost because we haven't seen any investment in him from her. Or they could have waited a few episodes before broaching the topic so we could feel her dilemma better.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 22, 2021 9:57 PM |
The more I see of Willie in the series, the more I want that era of Willie inside me quite deeply.
I bet his bedroom smelled of sweat socks and sweaty nuts.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | August 22, 2021 11:56 PM |
Last time I remember seeing Gary Frank was on Star Trek in the late 90s.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 23, 2021 12:09 AM |
I think Gary has aged as well or better than John Rubinstein
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 23, 2021 12:10 AM |
Isn't Rubinstein older?
by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 23, 2021 12:13 AM |
By 4 years.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 23, 2021 12:28 AM |
Instead of the "Fortysomething" spinoff they should have Willie's kids start a new era of Family. Aunt Buddy and her girlfriend can come visit once a season.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | August 23, 2021 12:30 AM |
[quote]R33 In the episode where Buddy is thinking about losing her virginity she tries to talk to Nancy about it. Nancy cuts her off, saying the conversation is inappropriate. What a cunt!
She reacts the same way in the episode where Buddy’s squatting over a mirror, trying to master putting in a tampon.
Nancy is having NONE of it!
by Anonymous | reply 45 | August 23, 2021 12:30 AM |
[quote]Aunt Buddy and her girlfriend can come visit once a season.
And Aunt Nancy can come by when she's in a lesbonic mood and lord her superior lesbonic experiences over little Buddy and her little lesbian girlfriend with the little tiny vagina....
by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 23, 2021 12:37 AM |
I don't mind quinn cummings as much as i thought i would. they write well for her and she can handle the dialogue, as well as hold her own with Sada.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | August 23, 2021 12:47 AM |
Buddy's rival for Leif Garrett's cock was none other than Miss Lisa Whelchel, who was willing to give it up when Buddy was not.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 23, 2021 12:53 AM |
[quote]I don't mind quinn cummings as much as i thought i would. they write well for her and she can handle the dialogue, as well as hold her own with Sada.
I really like the scene where Kate and Annie were having coffee:
Kate: Would you like some sugar, Annie?
Annie: No thanks, and I have to say I admire the way you hide your disappointment in your children, Kate. That Nancy is just exhausting!
by Anonymous | reply 49 | August 23, 2021 12:55 AM |
I'm watching an episode now with Annie Potts playing a washed up rock star who attempted suicide sharing a hospital room with Kate. It's fascinating. I've never heard of staying in the hospital for two nights just to get a physical, but that's what she and Doug are doing. Also, Charlotte Rae is playing a busybody nurse, and Annie Potts has absolutely no tits whatsoever. Flat as a pancake.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | August 23, 2021 1:04 AM |
I'm sick of Doug's distractions.
It's time for Howard Stone to come over and lick my snatch!
by Anonymous | reply 51 | August 23, 2021 4:06 AM |
I never knew Kristy was part Lebanese (and no, this is not a lesbian joke).
by Anonymous | reply 52 | August 23, 2021 4:14 AM |
Everybody talks about how it was weird that Willie Aames and Leif Garrett would be drooling over Buddy, but has anyone considered that every season had as a plot point Doug either having or contemplating an affair, because he was constantly being hit on by women? That didn't exactly seem likely.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | August 23, 2021 11:38 AM |
Willie and his friend Zeke should have been up in Willie's bedroom giving each other handyjays.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | August 24, 2021 3:03 PM |
I'm watching an episode where Buddy is trying out for the cheerleading squad. She said she would be the first freshman on the squad if she made the cut. How could she be a freshman if she's 16?
Also, cheerleaders aren't lesbians.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | August 24, 2021 4:43 PM |
[quote]Also, cheerleaders aren't lesbians.
Oh, really?
by Anonymous | reply 56 | August 24, 2021 10:54 PM |
Nancy is intolerable.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | August 26, 2021 3:57 PM |
I agree that Nancy is the "weak link" of the Lawrence family. First, she's under-utilized during the entire series (disappears for many episodes in a row). Second, her character is irrational and rash (too much of a drama queen). Third, Meredith is too old and too old looking to play a character who supposedly married at age 19 and had a child right away (she was 29 during season 2, Kristy McNichol was 14). I wish the show had had a Lawrence child between Willie (who also looks late 20s) and Buddy, such as a 17-year-old daughter about to start university, a sexual relationship or two, a new part-time job, etc.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | August 26, 2021 4:26 PM |
All it takes is sun damage and a butch cut to be a lesbian
by Anonymous | reply 59 | August 26, 2021 4:27 PM |
[quote] I wish the show had had a Lawrence child between Willie (who also looks late 20s) and Buddy, such as a 17-year-old daughter about to start university, a sexual relationship or two, a new part-time job, etc.
They did, but I died in that accident! (The one never described in specifics.)
by Anonymous | reply 60 | August 26, 2021 4:29 PM |
Oh, yeah, I forgot that dead Timmy was born just before Buddy. His gravestone showed 1961-1971. Still, too huge a gap between Willie and Buddy...and Nancy too old! Also, why weren't Annie's biological relatives ever mentioned? They never contacted her or visited her. She didn't have biological grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.?
by Anonymous | reply 61 | August 26, 2021 4:35 PM |
Actually I just watched the episode where they were kind of forced to adopt her (they agreed to be her godparents and...forgot?). She had a rich business woman aunt who didn't want the responsibility of raising her, so she foisted her on the Lawrences.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | August 26, 2021 5:52 PM |
R26- I really liked her as Rebecca Wentworth on Dallas.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | August 26, 2021 6:36 PM |
Annie, quickie adoption. The Lawrences meet Annie, adopt her, and Annie adjusts to life with the family/Pasadena ALL WITHIN ONE HOUR-LONG EPISODE!!!
by Anonymous | reply 64 | August 26, 2021 6:40 PM |
She doesn't quite adjust in one hour. There are episodes after the first one where she's having issues fitting in and missing her family and running away.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | August 26, 2021 8:56 PM |
I barely wanted my own spawn, and now a smart aleck brat is ruining my quiet time?
Fuck THAT noise. Mama needs a Milltown and a fifth of vodka.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | August 26, 2021 9:14 PM |
Annie never called Doug and Kate "Dad" and "Mom". That would've been nice, you know!
by Anonymous | reply 67 | August 26, 2021 9:21 PM |
R60 Timmy's death was pretty well described. Doug was going to take Willie fishing. Then Buddy demanded to go, and if Buddy was going Timmy had to go to.
The boat tipped over, and Doug was saving Buddy. Meanwhile, Timmy got trapped under some tree roots, Doug and Willie were unable to get to him on time, and he drown.
A terrible, traumatic awful scene. In fact, it's had to imagine the family being so we'll adjusted only 4 or so years after the incident, which is when the series begins
by Anonymous | reply 68 | August 26, 2021 9:58 PM |
Buck never would have saved Buddy.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | August 26, 2021 10:19 PM |
R68 I don't remember that episode - not saying you're not correct, just didn't remember it.
In the first episode she says that she birthed 3 children - and then later in that first season the Timmy business is briefly explained in the episode where Nancy baptizes the baby. So I think they added that plot twist in after the pilot was shot.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | August 27, 2021 1:39 AM |
R70 I I believe the final episode of season one, Jeff asks Willie exactly what happened. He tells him.
And yeah the pilot was shot almost a year before episode two. They decided to add the tragedy, and also soften the mother character. I think the pilot was shot in the real house, and all subsequent episodes were a sound stage recreation.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | August 27, 2021 4:42 AM |
R71, I always felt that episode ended on a strange note with Lisa hot saucing Buddy after she swore at her.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | August 27, 2021 5:51 PM |
i’m watching a fabulous episode called Disco Queen where Kristy gets submerged into the Pasadena disco scene. She goes to a local club with Priscilla Lopez from A Chorus Line and meets the local disco heartthrob, played by the guy who played Double J in Saturday Night Fever. Of course, Kristy is in a satin vest/pants combo and looks like Mercedes McCambridge in Johnny Guitar.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | August 27, 2021 5:56 PM |
I noticed in earlier episodes, some of the adults marvel a bit at how mature or wise Buddy can be. In a way that seems natural.
But then when McNichol was probably getting really famous....in later seasons, there's a few episodes where the adults are almost like worshipping Buddy. "I wish I was you, Buddy!" sort of shit. And McNichol just sits there with a dumb smirk.
I don't have a lot of quibbles with this show, am loving it, but a few of these moments are noticeable now. It's almost like they had a formula of "Let's have a Buddy Is Wise Beyond Her Years moment, which we insert every five or six episodes."
by Anonymous | reply 75 | August 27, 2021 6:00 PM |
I just watched an episode where Kate got super puritanical about Willie fucking her duet partner (played by Shelley Long). She was totally in the wrong, but they let her get away with it.
Also, Audrey Pfeiffer is a massive cunt.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | August 27, 2021 6:02 PM |
Willie was a cougar chaser before cougars had a name.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | August 27, 2021 6:05 PM |
Willie got way too much trim for his rather spindly body and nightmare coiffure.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | August 27, 2021 6:06 PM |
It was his 10 x 7 that the cougars couldn't resist.
You know those twinks with concave chests always unzip and THWACK, the python pops out.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | August 27, 2021 6:12 PM |
R76- Audrey was SO average. Buddy was always going to Audrey's ostensibly to do homework or hang out. But we know the real reason Buddy was at Audrey's so often- to LICK HER PUSSY.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | August 27, 2021 7:37 PM |
Did Lisa Whelchel even get one line of dialogue?
by Anonymous | reply 81 | August 27, 2021 11:58 PM |
She had a few later in the episode.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | August 28, 2021 2:15 AM |
It seemed like this was the time for uptight white family dramas, also Ordinary People and Interiors. Also houses painted entirely white inside. And boring, preppy clothes, and mousey hair. Like Ralph Lauren was directing America for a while.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | August 28, 2021 4:32 PM |
Buddy and I liked the pole AND the hole.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | August 28, 2021 6:30 PM |
So Blair actually lost her virginity first?
by Anonymous | reply 85 | August 29, 2021 12:15 AM |
[quote]She had a few later in the episode.
"Buddy, you can't lick my twat anymore; my parents are sending me to the Eastland School for Girls."
by Anonymous | reply 86 | August 29, 2021 12:00 PM |
Excuse me. EXCUSE ME.
*hair toss*
No one has mentioned me or my perfect son Timmy in at least 30 replies. WHAT ABOUT ME?
by Anonymous | reply 87 | August 29, 2021 1:34 PM |
The mom is gross and fat. Is she gay, a dyke?
by Anonymous | reply 88 | August 30, 2021 4:56 PM |
I never got into this show. I thought it was depressing and the mom was cold and icy to me and the first time I saw Kristy, I was a young teen, I said "she's a lesbian". My mom thought I was being too judgy and said "she's just a tomboy". I was right and Mom now admits it. Takes a homo to know one.
by Anonymous | reply 89 | August 30, 2021 5:06 PM |
[quote]The mom is gross and fat. Is she gay, a dyke?
These are the kind of perceptive insights we need on this thread.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | August 30, 2021 5:36 PM |
R88 I'd defend Kate but she already smacked the shit out of you and kicked you into next week.
She'll cut a bitch.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | August 30, 2021 6:12 PM |
Kate always had a look on her face like she knew better than you, and you were wasting her time, and were a no-account, shiftless punk who was up to no good. I suspect people who loved this how had moms who looks like that.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | August 30, 2021 6:32 PM |
*looked
by Anonymous | reply 93 | August 30, 2021 6:32 PM |
R30
The family was normal-looking, which is why those of us who grew up with it feel ok with our average looks.
Your generation, OTOH, can never measure up to the air-brushed perfection that is media these days. I feel bad for you.
by Anonymous | reply 94 | August 30, 2021 6:43 PM |
Standing ovation for R94
by Anonymous | reply 95 | August 30, 2021 6:43 PM |
[quote]Kate always had a look on her face like she knew better than you, and you were wasting her time, and were a no-account, shiftless punk who was up to no good.
Given those three kids of hers, can you blame her?
by Anonymous | reply 96 | August 30, 2021 6:46 PM |
R96 Yeah, I can blame her, she raised them. And do you really think when she was a kid, she was likely much better than them? That's what I can't stand about her smug superiority. It's easy to be that way when you've learned more of life's lessons. The writers had a bias against the kids, anyway.
R94 The ones I feel bad for today are actors. Average looking actors with talent used to get more jobs! Producers looking for good actors in those days. Looks were important (relatively) but today it's ALL about looks, and unusually good looks. There are still shows with "nerds" and average looking people but invariably they play misfits, not regular people.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | August 30, 2021 7:03 PM |
I loved the episode in which the Family went backpacking on the Savage-Lundy Trail in 109° weather and cooked themselves, even baby Timmy. A Very Special Episode, indeed!
by Anonymous | reply 98 | August 30, 2021 7:35 PM |
I remember shooting that episode with Lisa Whelchel like it was yesterday. Lisa kept claiming she was a "method actress" so she actually fucked Leif! Not sure how she justified fucking half the camera crew. She kept wandering around asking who had coke and finally a set designer hooked up up.
None of us could believe it; we were all disgusted by her whoring and coking. Even Sada was all "Yeah, REAL CHRISTIAN, LISA!"
by Anonymous | reply 99 | August 30, 2021 8:03 PM |
[quote] Given those three kids of hers, can you blame her?
FOUR KIDS, YOU CUNT!
by Anonymous | reply 100 | August 30, 2021 9:48 PM |
I birthed FOUR kids, you little demon seed! You're the fifth - the oddball.
And I rue the day we ever agreed to take you in!
by Anonymous | reply 101 | August 30, 2021 9:50 PM |
R94- The men on the show including Willie had slim, natural bodies, which was the norm in the 1970's. Today every guy is either FAT or MUSCULAR or both
by Anonymous | reply 102 | August 30, 2021 11:54 PM |
Just watched the ep where Nancy and Jeff divorce. Nancy had a date with some hairy, hot DILFy professor. Get that good D, Nancy!
by Anonymous | reply 103 | August 30, 2021 11:58 PM |
[quote]Just watched the ep where Nancy and Jeff divorce. Nancy had a date with some hairy, hot DILFy professor. Get that good D, Nancy!
These kids today!
by Anonymous | reply 104 | August 31, 2021 12:02 AM |
Tommy Lee Jones appeared as a construction worker who had a one night stand with Nancy.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | August 31, 2021 12:04 AM |
I'm watching an episode from Season 4 where Willie and some ballerina "meet cute" and he gets involved in her drama, as the Lawrences are always wont to do. It's really poorly written, Willie's schtick with women has really gotten old and tiresome by this point, and Stephanie Zimbalist, as the ballerina, is so strident and awful that I don't buy for a minute Willie, even with all his neurotic tendencies, would waste more than five minutes on her when she's nothing but a massive cunt to him. I'm thinking of skipping the 2nd half.
by Anonymous | reply 106 | August 31, 2021 1:29 AM |
My favorite episode was a two-parter. When Willie married Brooke Adams and she died from some disease. I think it was leukemia. Very sad. Great acting from Gary Frank, especially his breakdown scene at the beach.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | August 31, 2021 1:38 AM |
The things that seem very fresh and bracing in the first three or so seasons become a little bit of self parody toward the end. As all shows eventually do.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | August 31, 2021 1:43 AM |
The mile of dick my character had - including my ex real life allegedly abusive husband, David Birney - was lost on me. There was some quality cock!
Apologies to all.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | August 31, 2021 3:30 AM |
David Birney was good looking in the 1970's.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | August 31, 2021 3:37 AM |
I think "Ballerina" is the worst episode in the series, R106. I've never been able to get through it.
The producers were clearly burnt out at that point.
A new team took over for season 5, and it's an improvement.
by Anonymous | reply 111 | August 31, 2021 3:52 AM |
Yeah, it was really terrible, R106. I made it through, but I had one eye on it while doing something else.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | August 31, 2021 4:42 AM |
Has anyone mentioned me lately?
by Anonymous | reply 113 | August 31, 2021 1:29 PM |
Just realized said hot DILFy professor was David Hedison.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | August 31, 2021 5:00 PM |
r114 Who had something in common with Whitney Blake ... and whose daughter is married to Jodie Foster.
by Anonymous | reply 115 | August 31, 2021 5:08 PM |
Yes, he was Jodie's father-in-law!
by Anonymous | reply 116 | August 31, 2021 8:09 PM |
Willie had bad taste in women and would do anything for some snatch.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | September 1, 2021 3:10 AM |
I've watched a few more episodes and I think I've been cured of my attraction to Willie.
What a FUCKING ASSHOLE!
by Anonymous | reply 118 | September 2, 2021 10:45 PM |
Which episodes made you feel that way, R118?
by Anonymous | reply 119 | September 3, 2021 7:15 AM |
I've watched a few at the beginning of Season 2 and it's just Willie being a brat.
Willie wants two women. The way he treats the girl with her own business is just....ugh.
Willie wants to make a film of everyone (ha, this is so outdated now)
He'd be a big do me queen in bed, I can just tell.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | September 3, 2021 4:45 PM |
I just watched the episode with David Birney as the school child psychologist (cringe) and Nancy's boyfriend with a dark secret. When he was a 19 year old camp counselor he initiated a relationship with a THIRTEEN year old girl. He didn't get jail time and said with a lot of therapy he was "cured" from having those feelings anymore. Uh-huh. Everything about this story line is so fucking creepy to watch now. He became a child psychologist to help children with tough problems like his. (A pedophile who wants to help children not be pedophiles? Sure, that makes sense.) David Birney was cute though, even for being a tiny pipsqueak of a man. And you could definitely see the chemistry between him and MBB. She couldn't keep her hands off of him.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | September 3, 2021 5:32 PM |
Especially creepy knowing how abusive he was to her.
by Anonymous | reply 122 | September 3, 2021 6:12 PM |
So she says.
by Anonymous | reply 123 | September 3, 2021 6:24 PM |
Well, at least we know now that Sada Thompson and Ed Asner are not the same person… 😆
by Anonymous | reply 124 | September 3, 2021 6:26 PM |
R124 NOOOOOOOOO you didn't!
by Anonymous | reply 125 | September 3, 2021 6:33 PM |
I always thought he looked more like her brother than her husband.
by Anonymous | reply 127 | September 4, 2021 3:58 AM |
She talks about Family and Sada around the seven minute or so mark.
by Anonymous | reply 128 | September 4, 2021 4:29 AM |
And once again, I'm bawling my eyes out. RIP, Sada.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | September 4, 2021 4:57 AM |
I'm watching an episode with Steve Guttenberg where he hassles our Sada on her first day of teaching school. I've always loathed Guttenberg and this episode is really irritating.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | September 4, 2021 6:14 AM |
I've just started and I'm only on the episode with Timmy the Usurper's christening. I can't believe how old Sada Thompson and James Broderick look for 49 (they were both born in 1927). Were the characters supposed to be older or is this just another example of everyone looking ancient on old tv shows?
by Anonymous | reply 131 | September 4, 2021 7:29 AM |
In the pilot, Kate is 46.
She and Doug are supposed to be the same age.
People looked old as hell in their 40s back then. I blame smoking.
by Anonymous | reply 132 | September 4, 2021 7:40 AM |
[quote]I can't believe how old Sada Thompson and James Broderick look for 49 (they were both born in 1927). Were the characters supposed to be older or is this just another example of everyone looking ancient on old tv shows?
My parents were born in 1928 and 1926 and they looked younger in 1976 (or 1986) than those two did in 1976.
by Anonymous | reply 133 | September 4, 2021 7:41 AM |
Thanks, R132. It hadn't even crossed my mind that she could have been playing younger.
Now I'm sitting here trying to picture her with a Real Housewives makeover and him without the long eyebrows and sideburns, or the side part that starts two inches above his ear.
by Anonymous | reply 134 | September 4, 2021 7:57 AM |
The lighting on Sada often seemed to change and become dark and almost ominous. Didn't help her look younger.
by Anonymous | reply 135 | September 4, 2021 8:04 AM |
Fat people look older.
by Anonymous | reply 136 | September 4, 2021 8:06 AM |
Poor Kristy . To be in the closet and famous took a toll on her mental health.
by Anonymous | reply 137 | September 4, 2021 8:15 AM |
Willie was hot
by Anonymous | reply 138 | September 4, 2021 8:16 AM |
James Broderick died only a couple of years after Family was cancelled, so it's not terribly surprising that he didn't look great during its run.
I also think people of that generation, born in the '20s, had it really rough, and that probably aged them prematurely. Their childhood was during the Great Depression with its attendant poverty (poor nutrition and economic insecurity during the formative years), then their young adulthood was consumed by the privations of WWII and the rationing and shortages that continued for years afterwards. Finally, there was the heavy smoking and drinking that were part of daily life for most American adults in the '50s and '60s.
Looked at that way, it's kind of amazing any of them managed to make it into the '70s!
by Anonymous | reply 139 | September 4, 2021 9:06 AM |
Buddy, on Timmy's tragic future as a child of divorce:
"It's serious. I heard that boys who grow up without fathers can become homosexuals."
by Anonymous | reply 140 | September 4, 2021 9:29 AM |
[quote]Finally, there was the heavy smoking and drinking that were part of daily life for most American adults in the '50s and '60s.
Oh, come on. "Heavy smoking and drinking"? Many people did smoke, but most American adults were not heavy smokers, or heavy drinkers. My parents smoked, but moderately, and they only drank socially. I'd say that was true of most people. And people rarely did drugs, unlike in the 70s and 80s, or even today.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | September 4, 2021 10:22 AM |
R141 Everyplace then reeked of smoke.
But no, most Americans were not heavy smokers. If a carton a day is your definition of a heavy smoker.
by Anonymous | reply 142 | September 4, 2021 11:08 AM |
R141 In 1963, annual cigarette consumption per capita in the US was around 4,300. And of course, not everyone smoked (around 70% of men and 30% of women did), so the ones who did were smoking roughly 7,000+ cigarettes per year, or 2+ packs a day. I think that's considered heavy use by today's standards.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | September 4, 2021 2:01 PM |
The 50 year olds I knew in the 70s looked just like Sada and James Broderick.
Now the women all try hard to look 25 and the men do, too.
by Anonymous | reply 144 | September 4, 2021 2:23 PM |
R163 I didn't realize Family aired in 1963. And nobody's yet defended the remark about everybody being heavy drinkers.
by Anonymous | reply 145 | September 4, 2021 3:10 PM |
r145 can see into both the future AND the past!
by Anonymous | reply 146 | September 4, 2021 4:42 PM |
My brain was confusing the awesome FAMILY theme song with this haunting, beautiful theme song.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | September 4, 2021 7:53 PM |
Very observant! By the composer Jerry Goldsmith, who produced music for a vast number of movies and TV shows.
by Anonymous | reply 148 | September 4, 2021 9:09 PM |
lolol
by Anonymous | reply 149 | September 4, 2021 10:03 PM |
In the clip R26 provided, MBB gets 'Family' and 'Family Ties' confused at first. Was she a little drunk? And that show seems like a parody on SNL, but it's not. Who exactly is Don Boxer?
by Anonymous | reply 150 | September 5, 2021 12:40 AM |
She seemed not all together there in that clip, it's actually sad.
by Anonymous | reply 151 | September 5, 2021 1:23 AM |
i thought she seemed like a pretty good sport, being bombarded by two complete ninnies.
by Anonymous | reply 152 | September 5, 2021 4:21 AM |
Was Nancy a recurring role on Family?
I've seen bits of the first three seasons and it seems like she's in maybe every other or sometimes every third episode.
by Anonymous | reply 153 | September 5, 2021 4:30 AM |
I have read that MBB took the role because she wanted to work, but was raising young children and liked that she wouldn't be committed every week.
by Anonymous | reply 154 | September 5, 2021 4:46 AM |
R138- He was ONLY hot by the last season in 1980, when he cut his hair and grew a beard.
by Anonymous | reply 155 | September 5, 2021 4:49 AM |
I saw Doug Lawrence out at that rest stop on the interstate.
He had his hands full!
by Anonymous | reply 156 | September 6, 2021 12:11 AM |
Gary had sexual appeal
by Anonymous | reply 157 | September 6, 2021 12:22 AM |
I wanted Gary/Willie inside me quite deeply.
by Anonymous | reply 158 | September 6, 2021 12:29 AM |
I was never attracted to Gary Frank in any way. Not even as an actor.
by Anonymous | reply 159 | September 6, 2021 3:26 PM |
R159 = Kristy McNichol
by Anonymous | reply 160 | September 6, 2021 5:40 PM |
Wow, is it really that unusual not to be attracted to a boring fug like Gary Frank?
by Anonymous | reply 161 | September 6, 2021 5:44 PM |
Nobody’s mentioned the episode where Kate was a member of the jury in a courtroom case? And of course during the verdict discussion she had her own opinions. That, to me, was a quintessential Kate episode.
by Anonymous | reply 162 | September 6, 2021 6:04 PM |
R162, I always get that episode confused with the Designing Women episode where Julia serves on a jury and yells at some woman about her 'June Allyson bladder pads.'
by Anonymous | reply 163 | September 6, 2021 7:21 PM |
They never seem to show the episode where Kate admits her secret fetish for BBC.
by Anonymous | reply 164 | September 6, 2021 10:47 PM |
"And of course during the verdict discussion she had her own opinions. That, to me, was a quintessential Kate episode.
Of course it is. Because she demonstrates rational and intelligent thinking. Which is what one would expect from one of the best-written and played series in television history.
by Anonymous | reply 165 | September 7, 2021 12:10 AM |
[quote] Which is what one would expect from one of the best-written and played series in television history.
MARY!
by Anonymous | reply 166 | September 7, 2021 12:13 AM |
R162 just watched that and it was so dramatic....unusual for FAMILY.
I read the credits at the end and one of the skateboard bitches was none other than Laura of Luke and Laura herself, Genie Francis.
by Anonymous | reply 167 | September 7, 2021 2:44 AM |
r167, I recognized her without even reading the credits, though I did confirm.
by Anonymous | reply 168 | September 7, 2021 3:25 AM |
Well, Willie Aames was in it too but I didn't recognize those young faces, I guess!
by Anonymous | reply 169 | September 7, 2021 3:28 AM |
I thought he looked like a sleazeball.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | September 7, 2021 5:42 PM |
I'm in the middle of Season 5 and the verdict is in- Nancy was an all around cunt.
by Anonymous | reply 172 | September 7, 2021 5:44 PM |
R172- Nancy was a WASPP- a White Anglo Saxon Protestant Princess.
by Anonymous | reply 173 | September 7, 2021 5:57 PM |
Nancy apparently took Kate's car one morning and left her a note instructing Kate to return her library books and pick up some suntan lotion for her.
What a spoiled little bitch!
by Anonymous | reply 174 | September 7, 2021 6:08 PM |
R174- I watched that episode in July. She's LAZY too.
by Anonymous | reply 175 | September 7, 2021 6:11 PM |
Real pretty hair, though.
by Anonymous | reply 176 | September 7, 2021 6:26 PM |
Where is Elaine Heilveil?
by Anonymous | reply 177 | September 7, 2021 6:29 PM |
And Cassie Yates?
by Anonymous | reply 178 | September 7, 2021 6:35 PM |
The season four episode MAGIC with Annie Potts sharing a hospital room with Kate is a hoot. Annie smoking in every scene. In the hospital! Times have changed.
by Anonymous | reply 179 | September 7, 2021 6:40 PM |
What about the episode where Kate, who is just sick of everything and everyone, gets trapped in some condo overnight? With an overdue preggo who of course has to choose that moment to shoot out her baby.
It sure makes Kate reevaluate and appreciate Family life, once and for all!
by Anonymous | reply 180 | September 7, 2021 6:47 PM |
The preggo was played by real life loon Kim Darby, and her character could give Nancy a run for her money in the cunt race.
by Anonymous | reply 181 | September 7, 2021 7:11 PM |
[quote] Where is Elaine Heilveil?
Playing Yente in a community theater production of Fiddler, if she's lucky.
by Anonymous | reply 182 | September 7, 2021 7:13 PM |
R189 an R181- You people keep saying PREGGO which reminds me of that Tomato sauce Prego.
by Anonymous | reply 183 | September 7, 2021 7:23 PM |
Ugh, Jeff is back for an episode in Season 5. Loathe him.
by Anonymous | reply 184 | September 7, 2021 7:40 PM |
Does anyone think they replaced Elayne Heilveil with MBB because they realized that nobody would buy someone who looked like Heilveil getting away with acting as spoiled and entitled as Nancy does?
by Anonymous | reply 185 | September 7, 2021 7:56 PM |
R184 I hated Jeff the character but for a minute in that first episode with MBB he looked extremely fuckable.
His dialogue was so retro, though.
"I was in your bed, and you need a man there, baby!" Or something like that.
And it was MBB - apparently, she needed a man like a fish needed a bicycle!
by Anonymous | reply 186 | September 7, 2021 9:28 PM |
Elaine Heilveil was too Jewish looking to play Nancy!
by Anonymous | reply 187 | September 8, 2021 12:19 AM |
One of the library books Nancy told her mother to return was Jill Johnston's "Lesbian Nation": Kate looked at the cover and pursed her lips, then Buddy said, "Don't return that one, I haven't finished it yet."
by Anonymous | reply 188 | September 8, 2021 12:24 AM |
R188- I bet Kristy had the MAJOR HOTS for MBB on the set of the show.
by Anonymous | reply 189 | September 8, 2021 2:54 AM |
Season 5 and the horrendous maid Mrs. Hanley is back, being played by yet ANOTHER actress and confounding me once more as to why Kate is putting up with such an incompetent cunt of a housekeeper.
by Anonymous | reply 190 | September 8, 2021 9:21 AM |
Kristy probably crushed hard on Dominique Dunne when she guest starred on season 5
by Anonymous | reply 191 | September 8, 2021 10:28 AM |
There's so much foreshadowing. Buddy just started her bakery job and sang happy birthday to Chrissie Evert apropos of nothing.
The ass ruffles must have done it.
by Anonymous | reply 192 | September 8, 2021 10:57 AM |
R190. You've obviously never had a housekeeper. It's hard to find good help. And the replacement might well be worse.
by Anonymous | reply 193 | September 8, 2021 3:06 PM |
R190 , R193 plus having an incompetent maid gives something to talk about when she gets together with her other cunty white-lady friends. "You just can't get good help these days." Then sighing as she lifts her third Stinger.
by Anonymous | reply 194 | September 8, 2021 3:17 PM |
R194 And of course in return the helpers get together on their day off and talk about you.
by Anonymous | reply 195 | September 8, 2021 4:42 PM |
I laughed when Kate told someone to go fuck themselves over the phone.
by Anonymous | reply 196 | September 8, 2021 4:53 PM |
The show needed an Adam Chandler type villain to mess with the characters lives.
If only for an episode.
by Anonymous | reply 197 | September 8, 2021 5:27 PM |
Nancy, you ignorant slut!
by Anonymous | reply 198 | September 8, 2021 5:48 PM |
Kate, slut-shaming Nancy: "Timmy One would never let his professor fuck him on the first date!"
Nancy silently shows Kate photo of beard-y professor.
Kate: "Well second date then. You're still a WHORE, Nancy!"
by Anonymous | reply 199 | September 8, 2021 6:06 PM |
[quote] You've obviously never had a housekeeper. It's hard to find good help. And the replacement might well be worse.
I actually have had several. I fire them regularly if they don't do things as I like. I finally found someone I liked, who did a good enough job, but I had to train her. And I can't tell you how many times she accidentally broke something. But she was a hard worker and a sweet lady. I haven't had her back since Covid started, which bums me out, but I look forward to seeing her again soon.
by Anonymous | reply 200 | September 8, 2021 6:19 PM |
R200=Faye Dunaway
by Anonymous | reply 201 | September 8, 2021 7:38 PM |
Now it's the episode where we learn Friedrich von Trapp was the father of Selina's baby.
by Anonymous | reply 202 | September 8, 2021 9:07 PM |
[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]
by Anonymous | reply 203 | September 8, 2021 9:15 PM |
Oh, I see Kate's passive-aggressive ghost is posting here in the form of R202 and R203. It's S-A-L-I-N-A, you salmon-lipped cunt.
If by chance it was an accident, which I know it wasn't, just remember the salinity of the tears I cried over your damaged son.
by Anonymous | reply 204 | September 8, 2021 9:37 PM |
R204 In my house we called you "Sluttina," dear. You were a mess who bewitched my poor Willie.
It's a blessing you fucked it up all on your own and I didn't need to intercede - THAT time, anyway.
No, you can't have my son, or my house, or my life. Bye, Sluttina.
by Anonymous | reply 205 | September 8, 2021 9:41 PM |
[quote]No, you can't have my son, or my house, or my life.
Please! If Lifetime movies had been around then I would have had all three as well as your husband, definitely both daughters, and you as well. Just admit that you flicked your dusty bean to my hot bod when I turned to porn in order to support the daughter your good-for-nothing son promised to take care of, Kate; the son who didn't die of gross negligence, that is.
I'm sorry that your frustration has only grown in death.
by Anonymous | reply 207 | September 8, 2021 10:13 PM |
No one wants to ride the town bicycle, Skanlina.
Buh bye now.
by Anonymous | reply 208 | September 8, 2021 10:18 PM |
I have two complaints about these people: I am re-watching season 2 and I can’t get over what I call “Kate’s Grubby Kitchen Cabinets”. All of her kitchen cabinets have dirty and greasy stains, especially around the knobs. Did anybody ever clean those? And Willie is totally gross, he has freakishly long fingernails for a straight man.
by Anonymous | reply 209 | September 9, 2021 2:08 AM |
If no one ever bothered to clean Willie’s greasy, filthy, stained knob, why would you expect special treatment for the cabinets?
by Anonymous | reply 210 | September 9, 2021 3:00 AM |
I seriously wonder about the people here who think Willy/Gary Frank is hot. Mental illness is such a problem in our world today.
by Anonymous | reply 211 | September 9, 2021 4:08 AM |
R211- as I said earlier in this thread by 1980 he was finally attractive. He cut his hair . He looked well groomed.
by Anonymous | reply 212 | September 9, 2021 12:25 PM |
It bugged me that here was a prosperous Upper middle class family and Kate and Doug drove those CRAPPY Ford Mavericks. I'm not suggesting they be Vulgar like Jeff's parents and drive a Rolls Royce but maybe a nice Oldsmobile or Buick.
by Anonymous | reply 213 | September 9, 2021 12:27 PM |
Willie looked a lot like the teenage/early 20s boys in my neighborhood in the late 70s, and yes, they were hot.
He does have the voice of an older/old man, though.
by Anonymous | reply 214 | September 9, 2021 12:54 PM |
Elaine is suddenly in several episodes.
Does she secretly want to eat Kate's snatch or something?
by Anonymous | reply 215 | September 9, 2021 1:36 PM |
This is one of the things that bugged me about Family the most- their cavalier way of recasting. I just watched an episode from Season 5 where Elaine comes back into the picture and has a major role. They recast the part with an actress named Louise Latham. I don't always remember names, but I definitely remember faces, so when I saw this broad, and they kept talking about what good friends she and Kate had been, I had no idea who they were talking about. They did this a lot- with Kate's friends, with the maid, with Buddy's friends, with Annie's friends... and then they would also bring back actors who had played significant roles but have them play brand new characters.
by Anonymous | reply 216 | September 9, 2021 4:35 PM |
Well, I'll give Nancy credit, she knows how to pick the good dick.
A young Tommy Lee Jones? Leap on that dick, henny!
by Anonymous | reply 217 | September 9, 2021 7:42 PM |
Put the backdrop back on the bed , Loretta.
by Anonymous | reply 218 | September 9, 2021 10:32 PM |
Annie herself played a different character in an earlier episode (prior to adoption).
by Anonymous | reply 219 | September 10, 2021 12:28 AM |
R213, I am guessing the car thing was to virtue signal the Lawrences as being of the genteel middle class. Doug had a small law practice, not a partner in some swanky LA Law type of firm which was why he drove that Maverick. Kate had the Pinto Squire wagon, and remember people were driving smaller cars then due to the gas shortages of the 70s. Willy had an old Mustang convertible. Nancy drove a BMW, and then later a Mercedes which must have been in her settlement from Jeff. It was needed to drop baby Timmy off at the McMartin Preschool, to go law school herself, and then to tool around Pasadena trolling for hot straight cock.
by Anonymous | reply 220 | September 10, 2021 12:50 AM |
There were always discussions about money on the show and not overextending one's budget, so they weren't THAT well off, middle-class genteel or not.
by Anonymous | reply 221 | September 10, 2021 12:55 AM |
Salina, darling, do you have change for a 20?
Since you're a whore I figured you have to make change for your johns and all, so......
by Anonymous | reply 222 | September 10, 2021 2:08 AM |
The older kids didn't have to pay rent when they lived in the guest house 🏠
by Anonymous | reply 223 | September 10, 2021 2:31 AM |
Did u guys see the episode “ When the Bough Breaks?” It’s in 5th season guest starring Dominique Dunne
by Anonymous | reply 224 | September 10, 2021 5:04 AM |
R220 and R213 those are simply stupid assumptions. The reason the Lawrences drove a Pinto and Mustang was because it was an Aaron Spelling production and he had a deal with Ford. Why do you think Sabrina drove a Pinto and Kelly drove a Mustang on CA?
by Anonymous | reply 225 | September 10, 2021 5:13 AM |
R225, interesting
by Anonymous | reply 226 | September 10, 2021 5:28 AM |
Dana Hill is bullying Annie on what seems to be the penultimate episode but was aired out of order. In this episode, Buddy is still waiting to hear from colleges, but in the prior episode, she had already gotten acceptance letters and was freaking out about leaving home.
by Anonymous | reply 227 | September 10, 2021 6:09 AM |
R225 Given the cars were seen so often they practically qualified as supporting players, I always assumed there was a special deal of some sort with Ford.
by Anonymous | reply 228 | September 10, 2021 9:30 AM |
What makes anyone think they're "upper" middle class, because the father is a lawyer? They're middle class.
by Anonymous | reply 229 | September 10, 2021 11:59 AM |
Apparently a lot of season 5 was made and aired out of order. They really disrespected the show at the end.
by Anonymous | reply 230 | September 10, 2021 12:52 PM |
R229 Because they were living in a UMC home in an UMC area.
by Anonymous | reply 231 | September 10, 2021 2:56 PM |
I'm Nancy Lawrence's vagina.
Even with four lanes, traffic is backed up for miles!
by Anonymous | reply 232 | September 10, 2021 3:18 PM |
That may be your view of yourself, Nancy/R232. But it's not the one I hold.
You're mine. I resent your low opinion of yourself.
by Anonymous | reply 233 | September 10, 2021 4:26 PM |
Something something something butter my biscuits.
Mmm! Biscuits!
by Anonymous | reply 234 | September 10, 2021 4:29 PM |
R221- They were affluent enough to have a maid.
by Anonymous | reply 235 | September 10, 2021 4:38 PM |
A shitty maid who seemed to be there once a week.
by Anonymous | reply 236 | September 10, 2021 6:03 PM |
Wasn't she a cleaning lady? My mother is lower middle-class and has a cleaning lady.
by Anonymous | reply 237 | September 10, 2021 7:19 PM |
I just finished Season 5. I thought the final episode was somewhat meh. Hardly a fitting end for such a beloved family. I shall miss The Lawrences. Well, maybe not Nancy.
by Anonymous | reply 238 | September 10, 2021 7:20 PM |
R237- If your mother is lower middle class and has a cleaning woman she is living pretty HIGH ON THE HOG.
by Anonymous | reply 239 | September 10, 2021 7:23 PM |
The Lawrences were Upper middle class as were the Brady Bunch- not only did they have a maid , she was a LIVE IN maid.
by Anonymous | reply 240 | September 10, 2021 7:24 PM |
You do kind of wonder how Doug and Kate were able to support all those kids on a small time lawyer's salary alone. On the one hand, they didn't have mortgage payments because the house was left to Doug. On the other hand, they were basically supporting two adult children along with their minor daughter and grandson. Once Nancy moved out, Annie took her place. They didn't have to pay for college for Willie, but they definitely paid for Nancy's college and likely her law school tuition.
Then Kate went back to school, so that was another tuition. And her salary as a high school teacher couldn't have kicked in all that much, especially with Buddy about to leave for college.
by Anonymous | reply 241 | September 10, 2021 7:29 PM |
[R229] Because they were living in a UMC home in an UMC area.
R231 Yeah, you're right, I just looked up the house. The neighborhood is definitely an upscale Pasadena neighborhood -- though the house is one of the smallest in the neighborhood, and the show toned the whole thing down a bit. This looks more like the Beverly Hills neighborhood of the Walshes on BH90210. If anyone wants to look it up, it's 1230 Milan Ave in South Pasadena.
by Anonymous | reply 242 | September 10, 2021 7:38 PM |
Just watched the ep with Doug's sister and I will cut a bitch who tries to come after Kate Lawrence!
by Anonymous | reply 243 | September 10, 2021 7:56 PM |
[quote]The neighborhood is definitely an upscale Pasadena neighborhood -
Pasadena and South Pasadena are different cities.
by Anonymous | reply 244 | September 10, 2021 9:27 PM |
South Pasadena is where the 'not rich rich' folks and some of the actual poors live. Yes a pretty nice house and grounds, and as R241 mentioned, was given to them by Doug's father. They certainly are not a flashy family, the cars were an indicator. Kate was not exactly wearing couture, but they didn't want for much, tickets to the opera, nice food, and the weekly cleaning lady. Nancy might have been living rent free in the guest house, but surely had child support for little Timmy as well as some kind of short term alimony from Jeff Maitland. John Rubenstein, who played Jeff, wrote the score for about a dozen episodes of the show..
by Anonymous | reply 245 | September 10, 2021 9:55 PM |
Correct me if I'm wrong, but they actually lived in Pasadena, but the house for which exterior shots were used was in South Pasadena, which is irrelevant to the story. It could have been in Kansas or on a studio backlot.
by Anonymous | reply 246 | September 10, 2021 11:25 PM |
This town's not big enough for the two of us, Kate!
by Anonymous | reply 247 | September 11, 2021 12:03 AM |
The Lawrence house is valued at nearly $5 million today. Is that upper-middle or just plain rich?
by Anonymous | reply 248 | September 11, 2021 12:10 AM |
Annie sounded like she swallowed a sock.
by Anonymous | reply 249 | September 11, 2021 1:34 AM |
[quote]This is one of the things that bugged me about Family the most- their cavalier way of recasting
I just saw the episode where Buddy's friend Laura who moved to Detroit comes back as an alcoholic. But instead of being played by Kim Richards as she was originally Laura was played by some other actress who I don't even know. Was I disappointed!
by Anonymous | reply 250 | September 11, 2021 4:05 AM |
R250- The Golden Girls was TERRIBLE about this. No show was worse about changing the actors/actresses who played a character than GG.
by Anonymous | reply 251 | September 11, 2021 1:06 PM |
As others have pointed out- Doug's father was played by at least THREE actors and Mrs. Hanley was played by THREE or FOUR actresses.
HURTIN- especially about Doug's father.
by Anonymous | reply 252 | September 11, 2021 1:07 PM |
[quote] Just watched the ep with Doug's sister and I will cut a bitch who tries to come after Kate Lawrence!
When she read Kate for filth and called her the "farmer's daughter" I was like NO BITCH NO!
by Anonymous | reply 253 | September 11, 2021 1:09 PM |
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sada Thompson was a poor man's Maureen Stapleton.
by Anonymous | reply 254 | September 11, 2021 3:37 PM |
Love me some Sada. Don't nobody talk bad about Miss Sada!
by Anonymous | reply 255 | September 11, 2021 7:01 PM |
r55, are you talking about the Sada Massa kissed?
by Anonymous | reply 256 | September 11, 2021 7:30 PM |
One critic said the show should be subtitled "Mrs. Stoneface tries to get an expression." Sada really did have a face made for the theater but since she didn't move it much, it was more TV/film technique.
by Anonymous | reply 257 | September 11, 2021 7:35 PM |
R257 I'd love to see that review!
I mean, especially since you've shared it here a few times now
by Anonymous | reply 258 | September 11, 2021 7:50 PM |
I feel like Doug's father would have been a natural addition to the cast in the 5th season, moving back to Pasadena, living in that hotel. He could have made appearances the way Nancy did, and if would have given Henry Fonda a nice gig towards the end of his life, and a shot in the arm to the series. Fonda was wonderful in his guest shot, and he clearly had a ton of chemistry with all the cast.
by Anonymous | reply 259 | September 11, 2021 8:47 PM |
Hard to imagine Fonda agreeing to a regular role on an hour-long TV series given his stature and age. He was no Fyvush Finkel.
by Anonymous | reply 260 | September 11, 2021 9:08 PM |
That's why I said recurring. MBB did fewer than half the episodes of the final season, and in some of those she was maybe in one scene.
by Anonymous | reply 261 | September 11, 2021 9:13 PM |
A few years before, Fonda starred in his own (flop) TV show (and a decade before that he starred in another short-lived program), so I don't think recurring status on a prestigious show like Family would have been beneath him.
by Anonymous | reply 262 | September 11, 2021 9:33 PM |
Please. He was in The Swarm, The Visitor and Tentacles. NOTHING was beneath him.
by Anonymous | reply 263 | September 11, 2021 9:38 PM |
Happy 59th birthday to Kristy McNichol today! (Sept.11)
by Anonymous | reply 264 | September 12, 2021 5:10 AM |
"That may be your view of yourself, Nancy/[R232]. But it's not the one I hold. You're mine. I resent your low opinion of yourself."
Just reading that has me tearing up....
by Anonymous | reply 265 | September 12, 2021 12:16 PM |
The Smith Family was a terrible show. The Deputy. Fonda's other show, didn't require him to be in the show every week. He played the marshal, not the deputy, and was only in about a third of the episodes, sometimes for only a brief scene or two.
by Anonymous | reply 266 | September 12, 2021 1:32 PM |
Kristy became friends with Dominique Dunne after Dunne guest starred on last season . She was very upset when Dunne was murdered . Dominique said that Kristy was her favorite actress of her generation.
by Anonymous | reply 267 | September 12, 2021 3:47 PM |
Turns out there's a whole crew of people devoted to turning out floor plans of TV show houses. Anyone come across one for Family?
by Anonymous | reply 268 | September 12, 2021 4:15 PM |
[]quote]Please. He was in The Swarm, The Visitor and Tentacles. NOTHING was beneath him.
Let's not forget his memorable series of commercials for GAF. Here he is with Jodie Foster.
by Anonymous | reply 269 | September 12, 2021 4:20 PM |
R267 Link please, or it's total BS
by Anonymous | reply 270 | September 12, 2021 7:24 PM |
Tizzylish!
by Anonymous | reply 271 | September 13, 2021 2:10 PM |
Interesting. "Tizzy Lish" isn't just a cutesy nickname. It's from an old radio show.
One of the writers must have heard this name or the show.
by Anonymous | reply 272 | September 13, 2021 2:12 PM |
I just saw the episode where Willy's boss Nora gives him a promotion out of sexual interest. I was positive that Nora was a young Joan Collins, she had those wide set eyes and same manner of speaking. But it turned out to be Samantha Eggar.
by Anonymous | reply 273 | September 13, 2021 11:38 PM |
Would all these woman in real life be so hot for Willie? He's pretty plain looking and his personality leaves a lot to be desired.
by Anonymous | reply 274 | September 13, 2021 11:53 PM |
No way. Willie was gross. He looked like he didn't bathe and he had terrible hair and a chicken chest.
by Anonymous | reply 275 | September 13, 2021 11:58 PM |
[quote]I just saw the episode where Willy's boss Nora gives him a promotion out of sexual interest. I was positive that Nora was a young Joan Collins, she had those wide set eyes and same manner of speaking.
By the time "Family" was on the air, Joan Collins' days of being "young" were already far behind her.
by Anonymous | reply 276 | September 14, 2021 12:08 AM |
So were Samantha Eggar's
by Anonymous | reply 277 | September 14, 2021 12:34 AM |
R275: And gross, long finger nails. He never wore a belt and had a flat ass.
by Anonymous | reply 278 | September 14, 2021 1:34 AM |
Willie was a cougar cub before "cougars" were officially a thing.
by Anonymous | reply 279 | September 14, 2021 2:36 AM |
Why single out Willie? Nearly the entire cast of characters had relationships that were, shall we say, "unlikely."
Buddy had Leif Garrett and Willie Aames hot for her bod.
Doug had a rival lawyer (Linda Lavin) hounding him for sex.
Even Kate attracted Michael J. Fox who was maybe 20 and looked 12!
Nancy was the only one whose romantic escapades seemed plausible.
by Anonymous | reply 280 | September 14, 2021 7:36 AM |
Don't forget Annie, who had the middle school's quarterback after her (even though he looked more like a bleach blond surfer) even though six episodes later it was established that she was a nerd and an outcast who everyone in her school hated and made fun of.
by Anonymous | reply 281 | September 14, 2021 7:40 AM |
I thought Willie dropped out of college, but he's 17.
Is he a HS dropout? I'm in the episode where he's thinking of taking on Selina and her unborn child. This house is going to be full of babies and young people if Kate and Doug don't put their foot down now!
by Anonymous | reply 282 | September 14, 2021 2:18 PM |
R278
That's another thing. Most people have flat asses, unless you live in Brazil, and this is something we accepted in the 70s.
Unrealistic expectations=unhappiness.
by Anonymous | reply 283 | September 14, 2021 2:37 PM |
Yes, Willie dropped out of high school at age 16.
by Anonymous | reply 284 | September 14, 2021 5:03 PM |
Willie dropped out of high school and he still confuses Pasadena with South Pasadena.
by Anonymous | reply 285 | September 14, 2021 11:38 PM |
Little Willie, Willie won't leave home
But you can't push Willie 'round, Willie won't go
by Anonymous | reply 286 | September 15, 2021 7:40 AM |
What foxy lady *wouldn't* fall like a ton of bricks for a frizzy-haired high school dropout and perpetual snacker who still lives with his parents?
by Anonymous | reply 287 | September 15, 2021 9:09 AM |
Just finished “Best Friends” from season 2. Nancy hooks up with her high school sweetheart, who she jilted by marrying Jeff, but he turns out to be a speed freak. They try to rekindle the relationship but it doesn’t work. Buddy and her lesbian friend Audrey are still bumping pussies on their Friday night sleepovers. And Nancy’s kid Timmy still looks retarded.
by Anonymous | reply 288 | September 15, 2021 11:52 PM |
Why didn't Kate get her teeth whitened?
They're really atrocious in some of the close-ups—almost hillbilly grade.
Was tooth whitening not possible in 1977?
by Anonymous | reply 289 | September 16, 2021 8:39 AM |
Teeth whitening wasn’t a thing until the nineties. Most actors had tobacco stained teeth through the eighties.
by Anonymous | reply 290 | September 16, 2021 10:11 AM |
[quote]Most actors had tobacco stained teeth through the eighties.
Coffee also stains teeth. But people also just have natural tooth coloring that isn't blazing white. People weren't obsessed about freakishly white teeth then. Shaming people about their natural tooth color is another way commercial interests have gotten people to spend millions on something they don't need.
by Anonymous | reply 291 | September 16, 2021 12:28 PM |
R291 Exactly. Most people have teeth that match their complexion as well. The bright white teeth always stand out to me as not normal. Friends actually did a funny episode where Ross overdid it and they glowed in the dark.
by Anonymous | reply 292 | September 16, 2021 12:57 PM |
I just watched the episode where 30 year old Nancy steals and fucks Buddy's 21 year old crush. She doesn't even feel particularly bad about it. It's AJ from Simon and Simon! Nancy really is an asshole.
by Anonymous | reply 293 | September 16, 2021 7:44 PM |
Nancy couldn't resist shitting where she ate.
She also dated a writing mentor of Willie's (played by studly David Selby) and complicated things between them.
by Anonymous | reply 294 | September 16, 2021 7:56 PM |
Sheesh, I didn't remember that old Nance couldn't put that thing away for even five minutes.
by Anonymous | reply 295 | September 16, 2021 8:11 PM |
She needed a man in her bed, baby!
by Anonymous | reply 296 | September 16, 2021 8:20 PM |
Nancy was a real cunt.
by Anonymous | reply 297 | September 16, 2021 8:43 PM |
When Nancy was born and the doctor spanked her, she batted her eyes at him and said "at least buy me a drink first, big boy".
by Anonymous | reply 298 | September 16, 2021 9:25 PM |
Ha ha 😂
by Anonymous | reply 299 | September 17, 2021 12:26 AM |
Remember the episode when Kate was pregnant with the post-menopausal fetus and the family went to Red Lobster for dinner and she had miscarriage after eating the hush puppies ?
by Anonymous | reply 300 | September 17, 2021 1:19 AM |
[quote]I just saw the episode where Buddy's friend Laura who moved to Detroit comes back as an alcoholic. But instead of being played by Kim Richards as she was originally Laura was played by some other actress who I don't even know. Was I disappointed!
As someone upthread pointed out, they didn't even try to keep the same actors for characters who were only seen a few times. But what can you expect with three different Nancys?
by Anonymous | reply 301 | September 17, 2021 1:23 AM |
So nice to see Jameson Parker mentioned above. Not only very handsome, but very charming to boot. Coincidentally, I just saw him yesterday in THE BELL JAR (available on YT), a relic from the 70s, in which he is not only a loving boyfriend to our neurotic leading lady, but strips down in a carefully lit nude scene (but his dimpled buttocks get their day in the sun).
by Anonymous | reply 303 | September 17, 2021 3:49 AM |
[quote] She needed a man in her bed, baby!
She went from cock slut to stinkfish only!
by Anonymous | reply 304 | September 17, 2021 11:04 PM |
Me Saw-Dah, you - Saw-Dah, us - Saw-Dah, them - Saw-Dah
by Anonymous | reply 305 | September 17, 2021 11:08 PM |
[quote]where 30 year old Nancy steals and fucks Buddy's 21 year old crush. She doesn't even feel particularly bad about it.
That was an episode of "One Day A Time," where Julie slut-steals, BJ and The Bear from Barbara and Fried Egg Titties points out, if Barbara really had him, she wouldn't have lost him.
by Anonymous | reply 306 | September 17, 2021 11:11 PM |
R304, is a flaming F He resents women
by Anonymous | reply 307 | September 17, 2021 11:11 PM |
[quote]No way. Willie was gross. He looked like he didn't bathe and he had terrible hair and a chicken chest.
That describes Lindsey Buckingham as well.
by Anonymous | reply 308 | September 17, 2021 11:14 PM |
R307 doesn't recognize long running DL jokes, and eats huge piles of shit.
by Anonymous | reply 309 | September 17, 2021 11:15 PM |
Pasadena is for people who say, "I Have the AIDS."
South Pasadena is for people who say "I Have AIDS."
by Anonymous | reply 310 | September 17, 2021 11:22 PM |
R310, did Kate say that Buddy in the last episode or am I misremembering?
by Anonymous | reply 311 | September 17, 2021 11:31 PM |
Sada was supposed to be "Irene Lorenzo" on "All In The Family," but Carroll O'Connor was side fucking Betty Garrett so that was that,
by Anonymous | reply 312 | September 17, 2021 11:48 PM |
[quote]Kristy became friends with Dominique Dunne after Dunne guest starred on last season
Friends? Yeah I just bet she was friendly with her.
by Anonymous | reply 313 | September 17, 2021 11:49 PM |
R13, said Kristy was her favorite actress 🤔
by Anonymous | reply 314 | September 18, 2021 12:00 AM |
Dominique said
by Anonymous | reply 315 | September 18, 2021 12:00 AM |
[quote] That describes Lindsey Buckingham as well.
Not since Tusk, hon.
by Anonymous | reply 316 | September 18, 2021 2:07 AM |
r316
He still looks like he hasn't bathed since then.
by Anonymous | reply 317 | September 18, 2021 2:18 PM |
I don't know why but I consider Nancy a boring character and Meredith a terrible actress. She made it on her looks, and those seem dated, as well.
by Anonymous | reply 318 | September 18, 2021 5:02 PM |
*And her mom's and stepdad's connections, probably.
by Anonymous | reply 319 | September 18, 2021 5:04 PM |
I think she got better with age R318. But I do know what you mean, there are times where she just kind of has a blank stare at a pivotal moment and you wonder if she's a crap actress or is it just Nancy being her typical self centered asshole self?
by Anonymous | reply 320 | September 18, 2021 7:08 PM |
I think she got better with age [R318].
R320 Not in comedy. She was funny as a stick on Family Ties. And never able to throw away a line.
by Anonymous | reply 321 | September 18, 2021 7:56 PM |
[quote] She was funny as a stick on Family Ties.
she wasn't even as funny as a rock. she was on par with Tina Yothers.
by Anonymous | reply 322 | September 18, 2021 8:04 PM |
R322 And in whose universe was Meredith Baxter-Birney an aging hippie?
by Anonymous | reply 323 | September 18, 2021 8:20 PM |
R320 You weren't supposed to like Nancy. And in that sense MBB played her exactly right.
by Anonymous | reply 324 | September 18, 2021 8:23 PM |
Elyse Keaton was funny when she did that commercial with Sir Penguin.
by Anonymous | reply 325 | September 18, 2021 8:57 PM |
[quote]You weren't supposed to like Nancy. And in that sense MBB played her exactly right.
I didn't like MBB in anything, though. At least she was consistent.
by Anonymous | reply 326 | September 18, 2021 9:06 PM |
I thought MBB was good on Family Ties. I watched a few episodes recently after not having seen it in years and I still find it funny. The scene where Elyse is giddy with excitement upon learning she's pregnant and sends an object flying across the room which narrowly misses Skippy's head is hilarious.
But she does seem rather affectless on Family.
by Anonymous | reply 327 | September 18, 2021 10:03 PM |
Me Saw Dah
by Anonymous | reply 328 | September 19, 2021 2:09 PM |
[quote] Me Saw Dah
Fuck Off Ah
by Anonymous | reply 329 | September 19, 2021 2:15 PM |
[quote]I thought MBB was good on Family Ties. I watched a few episodes recently after not having seen it in years and I still find it funny. The scene where Elyse is giddy with excitement upon learning she's pregnant and sends an object flying across the room which narrowly misses Skippy's head
I don't think she was essentially a comedienne. Her battles with the show for reducing her screen time in favor of MJF's are well known. Yet she couldn't have generated interest or laughs, herself, on that show, sufficient to make it a hit without the presence of MJF. Lucille Ball or Mary Tyler Moore she ain't.
by Anonymous | reply 330 | September 19, 2021 2:20 PM |
MBB is the OG Betty Broderick though.
by Anonymous | reply 331 | September 19, 2021 2:31 PM |
I enjoyed Family Ties while growing up, but revisiting it as an adult...nah.
by Anonymous | reply 332 | September 19, 2021 2:31 PM |
[quote] Michael Gross was oddly hot, though.
Meredith's TV husbands - John Rubinstein and Michael Gross - were both kinda hot in a dorky way in their day. Both had weird hair, though.
by Anonymous | reply 333 | September 19, 2021 2:35 PM |
r329
You - Saw Dah
by Anonymous | reply 334 | September 19, 2021 2:36 PM |
R333 Didn't I read somewhere he and MBB were born on the exact same day (same year)?
by Anonymous | reply 335 | September 19, 2021 2:57 PM |
I met her MMB in early 2000’s in Studio City . She was super nice and approachable.
by Anonymous | reply 336 | September 19, 2021 3:14 PM |
R333 and let's not forget hot hairy but unfortunately creepy pedi Stephen Collins as Dan Broderick.
by Anonymous | reply 337 | September 19, 2021 4:03 PM |
MBB/MB had some kind of beef with Wendy Williams
There was a whole big thread here about it which involved a block of frozen soup that Meredith liked. 👍
by Anonymous | reply 338 | September 19, 2021 4:13 PM |
R338 Thanks for that fascinating story.
by Anonymous | reply 339 | September 19, 2021 4:17 PM |
r335 I don't know. Did you?
by Anonymous | reply 340 | September 19, 2021 5:38 PM |
The thread with Meredith and that talentless piece of shit Wendy W
by Anonymous | reply 341 | September 19, 2021 5:40 PM |
Just saw an episode that had two, two, TWO high octane guest stars!
Julie the Cruise Director was Willie's love interest
and
Tovah Feldshuh (!) was Kate's illegitimate daughter....or was she?
by Anonymous | reply 342 | September 21, 2021 1:43 AM |
The whole thing with Elaine's daughter was a bit weird. Clearly they didn't think out the timelines well.
Kate and Elaine talked about it being 20 years ago, but both Sada and Priscilla Morrill were 50, and Priscilla LOOKED 60. Their characters weren't really all that much younger, maybe 5 years. so they should have at least had the daughter be 25 or older.
by Anonymous | reply 343 | September 21, 2021 5:58 PM |
Vulva Toadstool was on Family?
by Anonymous | reply 344 | September 24, 2021 6:25 PM |
R344 and she was pretty terrible. She overacted. Badly.
by Anonymous | reply 345 | September 24, 2021 6:54 PM |
Nancy was a ratchet ho!
When she was entertaining a marriage proposal from the hot bearded professor, she ditched him to ride the dick of a random construction worker played by Tommy Lee Jones, leaving Kate and Doug to babysit Timmy into the wee hours.
Tacky bitch!
by Anonymous | reply 346 | September 27, 2021 6:55 AM |
Tommy Lee looked hot as fuck in that episode. I'd want to ride that ride, too.
by Anonymous | reply 347 | September 27, 2021 2:04 PM |
Michael J Fox tried to hook up with Sada in one episode.
by Anonymous | reply 348 | September 29, 2021 5:00 PM |
r347=Al Gore
by Anonymous | reply 349 | September 29, 2021 5:40 PM |
I would think r348 was kidding if I hadn't seen the episode myself.
by Anonymous | reply 350 | September 29, 2021 10:58 PM |
Their chemistry was undeniable. Doug’s face says it all.
by Anonymous | reply 351 | September 29, 2021 11:21 PM |
MJ Fox deserved an Emmy
by Anonymous | reply 352 | September 30, 2021 12:00 AM |
"Michael J Fox tried to hook up with Sada in one episode."
And it is charming. Their penultimate scene is hilarious and wonderfully written.
by Anonymous | reply 353 | October 1, 2021 1:26 AM |
I'm afraid to see this Sada/MJF thing. I'll never be able to stop laughing
by Anonymous | reply 354 | October 1, 2021 7:16 PM |
Joseph Bottoms was hot AF in his episode as a sociopathic ex-friend of Willie's who charms Buddy into unwittingly helping him steal from the Lawrences.
by Anonymous | reply 356 | October 1, 2021 7:25 PM |
R356 love me some Joseph. He showed some great naked ass in one of DL fave Tanya Roberts soft core porn films from 1991 Inner Sanctum.
by Anonymous | reply 357 | October 1, 2021 11:14 PM |
It's poignant to watch the episodes where Kate and Doug are celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary and looking forward to many more, and when they're celebrating Kate's 49th birthday and Doug is pledging to love her at 79 and 109, while in reality, James Broderick would be dead in four years, at age 55.
by Anonymous | reply 358 | October 2, 2021 7:53 AM |
Had Sada ever received sodomy?
by Anonymous | reply 359 | October 2, 2021 8:04 AM |
Kate was an early anal MILF. The clues are everywhere throughout the series.
by Anonymous | reply 360 | October 2, 2021 8:07 AM |
Shirley Knight might have been a better choice for Kate.
She would have brought more warmth. And she would have been believable as the mother of blond Willie and Nancy.
I wonder if she was considered. Shirley in 1977:
by Anonymous | reply 361 | October 2, 2021 8:13 AM |
Nancy wasn't blonde when the show was being cast, though.
by Anonymous | reply 362 | October 2, 2021 12:30 PM |
261 Probably not, since she was only 11 years older than Meredith Baxter.
by Anonymous | reply 363 | October 2, 2021 12:55 PM |
--and 14 years older than Gary Frank.
by Anonymous | reply 364 | October 2, 2021 12:59 PM |
Meredith is only 14 years older than Michael J. Fox.
by Anonymous | reply 365 | October 2, 2021 1:03 PM |
There's no evidence Shirley Knight was ever considered for the role, and she was too young for it anyway, so I don't even get why it matters. Everyone would have said she and Meredith looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. Meredith's own mother, Whitney Blake, was 10 years older than Shirley Knight.
by Anonymous | reply 366 | October 2, 2021 1:25 PM |
R366 totally agree. I love Knight, but Thompson brought a steely take to the role instead of the usual warm loving mother tripe found on countless other shows.
by Anonymous | reply 367 | October 2, 2021 1:53 PM |
Meredith was not Nancy when they cast the role of Kate; she replaced Elayne Heilveil after the first season of six episodes. They wouldn't have cast the mother based on Meredith's age or looks, but on Elayne's, and Sada and Elayne did resemble one another.
by Anonymous | reply 368 | October 2, 2021 1:54 PM |
A decade in Woman Years is significant time.
by Anonymous | reply 369 | October 2, 2021 2:31 PM |
Sada looked a bit younger in season one when she had longer hair. In Season 2 she said "Fuck all y'all bitches" and cut her hair shorter.
by Anonymous | reply 370 | October 2, 2021 6:38 PM |
You can tell Aaron Spelling produced this show just by the fact that he fired Elayne Heilvill and replaced her with hot piece, MBB.
by Anonymous | reply 371 | October 2, 2021 8:51 PM |
[quote] Meredith Baxter Birney
Qui etait cette cunt?
by Anonymous | reply 372 | October 2, 2021 9:07 PM |
It was Fred Silverman who wanted Elayne gone. And he was right; she sucked.
It seems like the producers realized it too. In the first season, Nancy was barely evident after the pilot.
by Anonymous | reply 373 | October 2, 2021 9:14 PM |
Elayne wasn't dreadful but she didn't stand out. The dramatic tension was much stronger with MBB than it was originally.
by Anonymous | reply 374 | October 2, 2021 9:47 PM |
There were two episodes that had a supernatural theme, that I recall: the one with David Birney as a psychic (or is he?!?) and the one with Kate having a terrifying precognitive dream (or is it?!?). If I recall correctly, Birney turned out to be phony but the dream was real.
Both episodes weren't so much bad as misplaced. The Lawrence world was usually a very realistic one for the era, so to suddenly seriously present ESP, etc. as being real felt false to the premise of the show. They felt more like Fantasy Island episodes than like Family.
by Anonymous | reply 375 | October 3, 2021 2:31 PM |
R375 I thought it fit because that era of the 70s had so much of that sort of self-help awareness, or people trying to explore other layers of consciousness. It felt very 70s in a way that would just seem very limited in terms of appeal (e.g. new age) today. Back then the hip suburban key party types would read Asimov or Eckardt Tolle (or whoever it was like that) before drunkenness and fucking.
by Anonymous | reply 376 | October 3, 2021 7:56 PM |
David Birney only played a headmaster who was dating Nancy. He was accused of sexual molestation by one of his students in revenge for him breaking up with her mother. He never played a psychic on Family, nor do I believe there was ever an episode with such a storyline.
by Anonymous | reply 377 | October 3, 2021 8:39 PM |
There was an episode with that storyline.
It was David Dukes who played the psychic.
by Anonymous | reply 378 | October 3, 2021 8:52 PM |
My bad. Got my Davids confused.
by Anonymous | reply 379 | October 3, 2021 9:58 PM |
And the preternaturally sexy David Dukes was superb in the heartbreaking episode, as was Sada.
by Anonymous | reply 380 | October 4, 2021 2:25 AM |
I love MBBs dyke makeover with the haircut, sun damage, and suit with big butterfly collar.
by Anonymous | reply 381 | October 4, 2021 3:35 AM |
The show is unclear on Doug's legal specialty.
Isn't it initially established he's a tax lawyer? In one episode, he agrees to represent the mother of Buddy's friend Audrey in her divorce, despite having "little experience in that area."
But two melodramatic episodes hinge on Doug's previous divorce cases: One where the actress whose divorce he handled comes back to hop on his cock, and one where a man who blames Doug for the loss of his visitation rights stalks the Lawrences and provokes a shootout in the living room (!).
by Anonymous | reply 382 | October 4, 2021 6:16 AM |
There was also an episode where he did patent law. (The one with Linda Lavin.)
by Anonymous | reply 383 | October 4, 2021 6:27 AM |
R383, was that the episode where Lavin went to court over the rights to the lyrics of the theme song to the tv series Alice. And the whole case hinged on whether scatting counted as lyrics or melody?
by Anonymous | reply 384 | October 4, 2021 3:45 PM |
I've been wanting to thank OP for starting these threads. I watched the whole show from start to finish over the past month or so, and it was such a comfort to me during a really rough patch in my life. Cheers, OP.
by Anonymous | reply 385 | October 4, 2021 6:37 PM |
R384 I SO wanted to be cast as the judge in that episode and have that cunt Linda sent to a really rough women's prison for a long time!
by Anonymous | reply 386 | October 4, 2021 6:39 PM |
"I watched the whole show from start to finish over the past month or so, and it was such a comfort to me during a really rough patch in my life"
You echo my sentiments wholeheartedly, r385. Thank you for expressing them in such a lovely way.
by Anonymous | reply 387 | October 4, 2021 7:20 PM |
Wasn't there a B plot in one episode where Kate kept referring to her debilitating case of piles and Willie told her to call them what they really were: hemorrhoids, and Kate just walked right out of the kitchen without saying a word.
by Anonymous | reply 388 | October 4, 2021 7:26 PM |
r368
Even at that age, Kristy had caneface
by Anonymous | reply 389 | October 4, 2021 7:42 PM |
[quote]Shirley Knight might have been a better choice for Kate.
I would been much better of a choice
by Anonymous | reply 390 | October 4, 2021 7:43 PM |
[quote]who charms Buddy into unwittingly helping him steal from the Lawrences.
Didn't Jo do the same thing with Tootie and Natalie when buying Mrs G a blouse?
by Anonymous | reply 391 | October 4, 2021 7:43 PM |
Reading the recently published Elaine Stritch biography, I was surprised to discover that Sada Thompson was considered for the role of Joanne in Company before they decided on Elaine.
by Anonymous | reply 392 | October 4, 2021 7:49 PM |
[quote] I was surprised to discover that Sada Thompson was considered for the role of Joanne in Company before they decided on Elaine.
I would have fucked her if I'd played Bobby!
by Anonymous | reply 393 | October 4, 2021 7:58 PM |
Bitchy Kate strikes again: early episode in season 4 where Nancy is FINALLY moving out of the guest house. She gets into an argument with Doug and Kate and tells them: “Save the For Rent section in tomorrow’s paper so I can find an apartment”. Kate, cold as ice, replies, “I’ll save the entire newspaper so you wrap all of your China!”. Snap, Kate reads that ingrate daughter to filth once again.
by Anonymous | reply 394 | October 5, 2021 1:01 AM |
I'm convinced that Lil Buddy became a bulldyke because Kate gave her the nickname "LezzyTish".
What in this world!!!!!!???? Who would call (an already masculine young gal) a LezzyTish??
That BITCH, Sada Thompson, that's who!
by Anonymous | reply 395 | October 5, 2021 1:11 AM |
Kristy was super cute . She has a soft demeanor. Not a butch
by Anonymous | reply 396 | October 5, 2021 1:22 AM |
She called her TizzyLish, you dope.
by Anonymous | reply 397 | October 5, 2021 3:20 AM |
It's interesting how Kristy's sexuality was called into question by the Helen Cunt character during the Blair Brown episode. Apparently the writers knew Kristy was a dyke before she did.
by Anonymous | reply 398 | October 5, 2021 4:14 AM |
R398, Kristy was traumatized over it . Poor thing
by Anonymous | reply 399 | October 5, 2021 5:54 AM |
And Helen knows a lesbian when she sees one!
by Anonymous | reply 400 | October 5, 2021 9:41 AM |
Sada Thompson's short haircut in seasons 4 and 5 did her no favors.
The longer poofy hair of the first seasons drew attention away from her multiple chins and ever-increasing girth.
by Anonymous | reply 401 | October 5, 2021 10:12 AM |
Not to mention those 1950s matronly dresses they always put her in.
by Anonymous | reply 402 | October 5, 2021 1:36 PM |
We’re Kristy, MBB, and sada all fucking?
by Anonymous | reply 403 | October 5, 2021 2:44 PM |
No. Lesbians aren't as slutty as gay men.
by Anonymous | reply 404 | October 5, 2021 2:47 PM |
[quote]Kristy was super cute . She has a soft demeanor. Not a butch
No, even then she had caneface
by Anonymous | reply 405 | October 6, 2021 5:23 PM |
What’s caneface, exactly?
by Anonymous | reply 406 | October 6, 2021 5:44 PM |
Caneface = Ann B Davis or Meredith Baxter-Lesbian (but only after she turned lez)
Canevoice = Jodie Foster and Helen Hunt (both say yesh)
by Anonymous | reply 407 | October 6, 2021 9:00 PM |
Yeah but why is it called Caneface?
by Anonymous | reply 408 | October 7, 2021 4:22 AM |
Because this is DL, where every lesbian is assigned a cane, a key carabiner, a rescue pit bull, and a pair of Oakleys upon coming out.
by Anonymous | reply 409 | October 7, 2021 5:42 AM |
Don't forget the Subaru and the nutloaf, R409.
by Anonymous | reply 410 | October 7, 2021 1:29 PM |
R394 Kate Lawrence is a fucking legend.
Read that ungrateful bitch for filth, Kate!
by Anonymous | reply 411 | October 7, 2021 5:40 PM |
Did you guys see the episode “when the bough breaks?” I believe it’s the fifth season . It’s where mom Is pregnant and contemplating an abortion. Dominique Dunne plays a friend of Buddy’s who tries to seduce Willie? Dominique was great in this . So alluring
by Anonymous | reply 412 | October 7, 2021 5:50 PM |
I think Dominique has been mentioned approximately 987,463,245,173,853 times, so yes, we're well aware Ms. Dunne was in an episode.
by Anonymous | reply 413 | October 7, 2021 6:09 PM |
Was it before or after Dominique's death?
by Anonymous | reply 414 | October 7, 2021 8:36 PM |
R414, 2 years before
by Anonymous | reply 415 | October 8, 2021 1:05 AM |
us - saw - dah
by Anonymous | reply 416 | October 11, 2021 6:29 PM |
Are we really saying goodbye to the Family thread after two editions?
Sada it ain't so!
by Anonymous | reply 417 | October 17, 2021 6:52 PM |
R401- It distracted one from her ever increasing PLUMPISHNESS.
by Anonymous | reply 418 | October 17, 2021 6:59 PM |
I've just finished the first season on Tubi. I think I re-watched some of it on YouTube many years ago. I'd forgotten how much I liked it and the main reason was Sada Thompson. She's a great combination of snarky, sarcastic, funny and loving. I'm just about to start the episodes with MBB. Can't wait to see her scowling bitchiness.
by Anonymous | reply 419 | October 17, 2021 9:18 PM |
Kate invited her husband's former sidepiece to dinner. Who does that?
by Anonymous | reply 420 | October 24, 2021 11:53 PM |
Family is a lesbian cult favorite.
by Anonymous | reply 421 | October 24, 2021 11:56 PM |
I want someone to lick my Tizzy-Lish!!!!
by Anonymous | reply 422 | October 25, 2021 12:17 AM |
I'm watching season 2, episode 2, "Such Sweet Sorrow." The one where Salina Magee comes back in town to stir up Willie's loins.
When Salina shows up at the house, Kate is wearing a totally sheer shirt and you can see her white bra straps/girdle underneath!
Is this some sort of error introduced by HD upscaling? Or was this acceptable fashion for matrons in 1976? I thought the camisole under a sheer shirt thing didn't happen until the '90s.
Or was Kate a horny exhibitionist MILF seeking kink?
by Anonymous | reply 423 | October 25, 2021 8:23 AM |
Why is there no picture of Timmy #1 prominently displayed on the piano? I guess it would get in the way of the opening credits but I can't imagine a family would relegate a dead child to the background like that.
by Anonymous | reply 424 | October 25, 2021 8:46 AM |
Timmy didn't like piano music.
by Anonymous | reply 425 | October 25, 2021 12:05 PM |
Just finished season 3. It was a strong finish, with the final two episodes being about Kate locked in a battle of wills with professor William Daniels and then Dinah Manoff as an artistic free spirit who Buddy treats like shit because staying friends with her could threaten her popularity. Interesting to see them together pre-Empty Nest.
Extra bonus: No Nancy in either episode.
by Anonymous | reply 426 | October 25, 2021 12:56 PM |
Life goes on. And so do we. Just how we do it is no mystery.
by Anonymous | reply 427 | October 25, 2021 3:10 PM |
R422 hon, no one has SEEN your Tizzy Lish for years!
Doug needs a woman like ME!
by Anonymous | reply 428 | October 25, 2021 5:01 PM |
Damn, if that baker chick who Willie drops in r423's episode doesn't look like young Joan Crawford in BABY JANE!
by Anonymous | reply 429 | October 26, 2021 1:45 AM |
This was an intelligent show but I found it boring, or on the boring side. Recently watched an episode because of this thread and didn't change my mind. My family had a much better sense of humor, and were livelier. We had fun, and my parents were warmer. I can't picture Sada taking the kids to an amusement park when they were younger, or being a Cub Scout den mother, or something. She's so dour. Parents like Sada, who I knew as a child (parents of friends) were usually drinkers. And thought they were better than everybody.
by Anonymous | reply 430 | October 26, 2021 1:57 PM |
Watching Family was like watching paint dry.
by Anonymous | reply 431 | October 26, 2021 2:14 PM |
Sada was a very accomplished stage actress. Her resume is impressive.
by Anonymous | reply 432 | October 26, 2021 2:24 PM |
Nancy yelling at the poor cute young man that likes her.
Whatta man hating cunt!
by Anonymous | reply 433 | November 2, 2021 12:01 AM |
I do have to LOL at Meredith's story in her book at how awkward she was during her first scenes.
James Broderick pointed up to the rafters and said, "That's where we keep all the old Nancys."
by Anonymous | reply 434 | November 2, 2021 10:11 PM |
Well, R430, perhaps you should create a show about your amusing amusement park attending family then. Do tell us how lively and cheerful your mother was being a den mother for a bunch of prepubescent closeted gay boys. And how she was so cheerful, driving her clan all over creation in her station wagon without the thought of a Manhattan or four awaiting her as a reward at the end of her day?
Please, please tell THAT story, dear.
by Anonymous | reply 435 | November 3, 2021 2:29 AM |
[quote] Please, please tell THAT story, dear.
"Oh no! All my dresses have shrunk AGAIN!"
by Anonymous | reply 436 | November 3, 2021 3:33 PM |
[quote] I do have to LOL at Meredith's story in her book at how awkward she was during her first scenes. James Broderick pointed up to the rafters and said, "That's where we keep all the old Nancys."
I don't get it.
by Anonymous | reply 437 | November 4, 2021 2:50 PM |
A more appropriate end to the show would have been for the family to die of carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty furnace at Christmas time.
by Anonymous | reply 438 | November 4, 2021 3:58 PM |
[quote]I do have to LOL at Meredith's story in her book at how awkward she was during her first scenes. James Broderick pointed up to the rafters and said, "That's where we keep all the old Nancys."
[quote]I don't get it.
Meredith was a replacement for the first actress who played Nancy.
by Anonymous | reply 439 | November 4, 2021 5:21 PM |
R439, I believe there was also a second actress before MBB whose episodes never aired.
by Anonymous | reply 440 | November 4, 2021 6:03 PM |
]quote]Meredith was a replacement for the first actress who played Nancy.
Yeah I know., The part I didn't get was why he said they kept them in the rafters. Or why that would make her any less nervous. Sorry. lol
by Anonymous | reply 441 | November 4, 2021 9:51 PM |
R441 The rafters thing was a joke. The notion that they were unseen, but nearby in case they were needed. If it WAS a tactic to make her at ease, it wasn't the best way to do it.
Tom Bosley used to make a similar joke on the set of Happy Days. If the attic was ever mentioned, he'd adlib "Lemme know if you see Chuck up there!" And of course they'd have to take the scene again. For those who don't know, Chuck was the eldest son in the first two seasons. He was played by two different actors, and by season three he was gone.
by Anonymous | reply 442 | November 8, 2021 6:33 AM |
Just watched the lez episode.
Quite a roster. Joyce Van Patten as the Anita Bryant. Helen Hunt as her daughter. And Blair Brown as the lez teacher!
by Anonymous | reply 443 | November 29, 2021 3:52 AM |
Joyce and Helen are total CUNTS in the lez ep! And Kate pretty much knew Blair wanted to scissor with Buddy, but needed to wait till she was more or less legal age.
by Anonymous | reply 444 | December 1, 2021 3:45 PM |
I actually was a little disappointed in how they worded some of this - the episode with Hot Zeke coming out was better done.
However I am guessing this was also an attempt to do the story of the Briggs Initiative or whatever that was in CA to ban gay teachers.
I thought they were going to imply Buddy was or could possible eventually be a lez stronger than they did.
by Anonymous | reply 445 | December 1, 2021 3:52 PM |
[quote] The rafters thing was a joke. The notion that they were unseen, but nearby in case they were needed. If it WAS a tactic to make her at ease, it wasn't the best way to do it.
Well, not quite. It was more "this role has already claimed a few victims." And she ended up being fine, of course, but actors do have a bit of gallows humor about them, as I'm sure James Broderick did.
by Anonymous | reply 446 | December 1, 2021 3:55 PM |
Is there a Christmas episode on Tubi? If so, can you please tell me the season and episode.
by Anonymous | reply 447 | December 1, 2021 4:25 PM |
R447 I think it's season 2 but am not sure. One of the Christmas episodes features Doug's father, I think.
by Anonymous | reply 448 | December 1, 2021 4:33 PM |
R448, Thanks.
by Anonymous | reply 449 | December 1, 2021 4:41 PM |
There's also a Christmas ep where Baby Timmy is near death. Nancy has to take a break from fucking inappropriate men in order to stay by his side. There are some comparisons to the Christ Child.
In maybe the final season, Willy wants to do his own thing by going to Mexico with whatever girlfriend he has at the time. Doug is furious!!
by Anonymous | reply 450 | December 1, 2021 5:07 PM |
I just watched “Disco Queen” from season 4. Buddy gets involved with an older woman, played by Priscilla Lopez (from the original A Chorus Line), by staying out all night in a 21+ Disco. Doug and Kate are furious.
by Anonymous | reply 451 | December 3, 2021 12:21 PM |
Rewatching episodes on Tubi this holiday time. It's comforting.
by Anonymous | reply 452 | December 29, 2021 8:48 AM |
I just saw that R450. I mean I love going back and watching repeats but this was like the 4th episode in a row that just BUMMED ME THE FUCK OUT.
Although the dude that plays Timmy's dad looked maybe the hottest I'd ever seen him look in this ep. Minus the fro, of course. When he cries I just want to comfort him. In my mouth.
by Anonymous | reply 453 | January 24, 2022 8:05 PM |
I’’m watching the disco episode right now and feeling nostalgic. This show still gives me the feels even after all these years. Quinn Cummings was a nice addition to the cast. It could have been another ‘Cousin Oliver’ situation but she really jelled with the rest of the cast.
by Anonymous | reply 454 | March 17, 2022 1:10 PM |
Kristy mcnichol making lesbianism into a disability for well over 40 years
by Anonymous | reply 455 | March 17, 2022 1:31 PM |
Slight tangent: Quinn is on Twitter and she's hilarious. One of my favorite accounts there.
by Anonymous | reply 456 | March 17, 2022 1:37 PM |
The mother was the coldest fish of any tv mom....I hated her
by Anonymous | reply 457 | March 17, 2022 1:38 PM |
R457 HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH THE REPUTATION OF OUR BELOVED KATE LAWRENCE!!!!
She was no cold fish. I mean, she could be a little hangry from time to time, but.....
by Anonymous | reply 458 | March 17, 2022 1:45 PM |
My mom was a bit of a cold fish but I never doubted for one second that she loved me and would do anything for me. So, for me, the character is very real and relatable.
by Anonymous | reply 459 | March 17, 2022 1:46 PM |
R48 ironic, given that Lisa refused to appear in the FOL episode where 20 year old Natalie finally, at long last, has sexy time with Snake.
by Anonymous | reply 460 | March 17, 2022 5:37 PM |
R459 Amen.
by Anonymous | reply 461 | March 17, 2022 7:23 PM |
There's a thin line between Kate Lawrence and Beth Jarrett
by Anonymous | reply 462 | March 17, 2022 7:47 PM |
To remind everyone: SaDAH spoke her lines as if she were wearing a crown.
by Anonymous | reply 463 | March 17, 2022 7:51 PM |
Did someone say THIN and Kate Lawrence in the same sentence?
by Anonymous | reply 464 | March 17, 2022 11:14 PM |
It's so interesting to me how many people say Kate is cold. She really isn't. She's quite passionate about the well being and morality of her children. She cares, but she's flawed, like we all are.
Kate Lawrence is, quietly, one of the best, most realized characters in television history.
by Anonymous | reply 465 | March 18, 2022 1:51 AM |
[quote] Kate Lawrence is, quietly, one of the best, most realized characters in television history.
MARY!
by Anonymous | reply 466 | March 18, 2022 4:07 AM |
How old are all of you who think Kate is a cold fish?
In certain eras, parents and children didn't expect parents to be their kids' best friends. Parents were disciplinarians whose jobs were to raise kids right.
You can't blame Kate for being angsty and somewhat reserved. She had one dead kid, one high-school dropout, a flighty slut, and a budding dyke. For a woman of her era and station, she was a fuckup as a mother. As an acting choice, it made sense that Kate constantly held her softer side in check.
But she broke her back for those brats: She let Willie and Nancy live at home after their failures to launch, cooked for the lot of them, ran all over town doing Nancy's errands, babysat at the drop of a hat, was always there with supportive words of wisdom, etc. etc.
by Anonymous | reply 467 | March 18, 2022 8:51 AM |
As an 8-13 year old when the show aired, I remember feeling sorry for Buddy that she had a dumpy, chubby, plain old woman for a mom. I never actually watched the show back then, just saw the previews etc. When I watched the whole series as an adult last year I was very pleasantly surprised at how wonderful Kate really was. She was a really good mother and good person in general. Sada deserved a much better wardrobe and hairstyle on the show. Cramming her into those outdated and unflattering Leave It To Beaver style dresses was bullshit. Nobody was still wearing that crap except grandmothers in the late 70s.
by Anonymous | reply 468 | March 18, 2022 12:38 PM |
R468, to be fair, Sada herself said she was very uncomfortable when she was doing tests for Charlie's Angels as Kate Jackson's replacement that she was not comfortable at all wearing twin sets, jeans and pumps, so she might have been the one who insisted on the frumpier wardrobe.
by Anonymous | reply 469 | March 19, 2022 12:34 AM |
Sada does it all here. This should have landed her in a Hall of Fame somewhere.
by Anonymous | reply 470 | March 19, 2022 2:12 PM |
"Kate Lawrence is, quietly, one of the best, most realized characters in television history."
Bless you, r465 and r 470. I'm crying now.
by Anonymous | reply 471 | March 20, 2022 1:02 AM |
"Melt me down to butter your biscuits."
"You are going to be...you are..."
I'm crying harder now. Such fabulous writing and playing.
by Anonymous | reply 472 | March 20, 2022 1:07 AM |
R471 R472 A hug for you.
A well deserved MARY! too, but a hug all the same.
by Anonymous | reply 473 | March 20, 2022 1:38 AM |
R471 thank you. Someone MARY!'d me for that comment, and I really didn't understand why. I think Kate Lawrence is a classic character. Like Archie Bunker, or Diane Chambers, or Tony Soprano. A television character who seemed l like she could actually be a real person you knew in life.
by Anonymous | reply 474 | March 20, 2022 1:47 AM |
Hey Kate, remember that time you took Buddy to volleyball camp in Big Bear? I bomba-de-BOMPED Doug all weekend. In your bed!
by Anonymous | reply 475 | March 21, 2022 8:29 PM |
I remember feeling bad for the dad when the show aired - like, he had to come home to [italic]that?[/italic]
I was used to seeing glamorous actresses on TV.
by Anonymous | reply 476 | April 4, 2022 5:45 AM |
How was Sada the star of Family and winner of both Tony and Emmy when she lacks even the rudimentary tool kit of an actress. There's no warmth, vulnerability, charm, glamour, humor, truth, or depth.
by Anonymous | reply 477 | April 4, 2022 6:27 AM |
Sada is also not believable as a heterosexual.
by Anonymous | reply 478 | April 4, 2022 6:27 AM |
This show is all about awkward silences. Sada is the worst. Was Willy adopted from the east coast? (I like when he yells, rowr). Kristy McNichol is the only thing approaching a natural or nice performance.
by Anonymous | reply 479 | April 5, 2022 12:09 AM |
"Family" aired in the midst of my ugly duckling adolescence, complete with rage-aholic father and alcoholic mother. To me the Lawrence family were everything I wished my family had been.
by Anonymous | reply 480 | April 5, 2022 12:17 AM |
Sa-DAH's Sabrina Duncan would never have driven a Pinto, she would have taken the bus everywhere R469.
by Anonymous | reply 481 | April 5, 2022 12:42 AM |
Nobody ever called her Katie.
by Anonymous | reply 482 | April 5, 2022 12:43 AM |
Kristy McNichol's haircut in the OP's photo is a thing of wonder.
by Anonymous | reply 483 | April 5, 2022 12:59 AM |
Meredith Baxter Birney can get a haircut, bleach, and a red skin tan but she's just in kabuki drag and she's hardly a dyke. She's mindfucked is what she is. She never had anything. She was pretty then she wasn't that. Gary, Kristy, and the dad carried the show on their backs. Mostly Kristy.
by Anonymous | reply 484 | April 5, 2022 10:48 AM |
I see the fucking weirdo Dominique Dunne obsessee has found his way to this thread.
by Anonymous | reply 485 | April 6, 2022 1:28 PM |
I’m wish the Family cast had tried a comeback variety show, like the Brady Bunch did.
Sada singing on top of a piano, eric.
by Anonymous | reply 486 | April 6, 2022 1:41 PM |
^^ ETC.
by Anonymous | reply 487 | April 6, 2022 1:43 PM |
A dramatic episode of Family NEXT on all ABC stations.
by Anonymous | reply 488 | April 6, 2022 2:05 PM |
I don't think Willy is weird with his sister. He's demonstrative and affectionate and would have likely taken to a little brother the same way, he just ended up with this tomboy. They have a positive relationship.
by Anonymous | reply 489 | April 6, 2022 8:28 PM |
[quote]I’m wish the Family cast had tried a comeback variety show, like the Brady Bunch did.
Puhleeze, R486. She would have just made them do a remake of Our Town.
by Anonymous | reply 490 | April 7, 2022 2:21 AM |
Penny Fuller really hammed it up in that episode, R488.
Miss Sada was fearsome in getting that drunk away from Nancy and her grandson!
by Anonymous | reply 491 | April 8, 2022 12:03 AM |
It appears the show has been removed from Tubi
SOB!
by Anonymous | reply 492 | April 16, 2022 9:41 PM |
The show is still on Tubi, R492. All five seasons.
by Anonymous | reply 493 | April 18, 2022 10:21 PM |
Family is airing on Me TV Plus: 1 episode per day, M - F, 6am PST. They're currently in season 4.
by Anonymous | reply 495 | June 8, 2022 12:10 PM |
Just watched A Friend of the Family. Joseph Bottoms was so fucking hot in this episode. Square jaw and wavy hair that made Willie look like a meerkat by comparison.
by Anonymous | reply 496 | October 5, 2022 11:58 PM |
DECADES is having a Family marathon this weekend. In this episode, The Family has to deal with Aunt Emily being a falling down drunk and Tizzie Lish decides to help an elderly neighbor even though the neighbor doesn't want any help.
by Anonymous | reply 497 | January 15, 2023 2:28 AM |
I was just thinking about that episode today, R497!
I was working on my taxes and wondered if I will end up like that old lady, pocketing cans of tuna and requiring a mother like Kate to give her version of Buddy a talk about moral relativism on the way home from the grocery store.
by Anonymous | reply 498 | January 15, 2023 2:56 AM |
Doesn’t drunk Aunt Emily drive a Pinto into a dumpster in this one?
by Anonymous | reply 499 | January 15, 2023 3:19 AM |
Yes, R499. And Sada Thompson was also seen running down the driveway!
by Anonymous | reply 500 | January 15, 2023 3:44 AM |
Kate ran down the driveway and all but yelled MARY!
by Anonymous | reply 501 | January 15, 2023 3:55 AM |
R499 she backed into some trashcans at the end of the driveway.
by Anonymous | reply 502 | January 15, 2023 4:07 AM |
I just watched the episode where William Daniels played her prisspot, woman hating music professor and she almost drops out of class.
by Anonymous | reply 503 | January 15, 2023 4:10 AM |
I recently watched the episode where Buddy's beloved English teacher is a lesbian. Everyone finds out, and a Karen tries to drive her out of the school. But not before Buddy is accused of doing the lez-lez with her!
The teacher is played by a thin and young Blair Brown, and the episode's pretty well written for the time.
Kate ends up saving the day for this formative academic influence on Buddy who is never heard from or referred to again!
by Anonymous | reply 504 | January 15, 2023 4:29 AM |
R504- The KAREN who drives her out of the school was also a FRAU and a CUNT
by Anonymous | reply 505 | January 15, 2023 1:09 PM |
Wow, the Lawrences were drunk magnets. In "Childhood's End" Buddy's beady-eyed friend Laura has come for a visit and is a drunk too. Right now she's filling an empty Fresh 'N Nice mouthwash bottle with Scotch but not before she slams about a pint of Vodka in the middle of the night after all The Family has gone to bed.
by Anonymous | reply 506 | January 15, 2023 2:13 PM |
[quote]DECADES is having a Family marathon this weekend.
We prefer to call it "the weekend binge," OP.
by Anonymous | reply 507 | January 15, 2023 3:25 PM |
Viewing Alert! Kristy McNichol rarity on TCM today at 6:15 pm ET:
Just the Way You Are (1984) with Michael Ontkean. It sounds like every Hallmark holiday movie. No wonder I've never heard of it.
"A young woman self-conscious about the brace on her leg goes on a concert tour in the French Alps and spurs a brilliant idea. Masquerading as an injured skier, she not only finds love in the arms of a handsome photographer, but her true self as well. "
by Anonymous | reply 508 | January 15, 2023 3:36 PM |
Okay so I am the only person I know who is into this show. I bought season 1 on dvd (1&2 maybe?) but then nothing. I was so sad. And the only place to talk about Family ended up being here…with Family! Ha!
Now I found this thread and was so excited to hear about all the seasons now steaming on Tubi (thank you, OP!) that I texted a few people immediately and turned on the tv to start streaming…and there is Buddy! And Willie Aames on a 10-speed! Does this mean Family is in the same universe as Charles in Charge?
Also I must share one little nugget from a previous DL thread about this weird drama - the poster watched a scene in HD where you could see the grime and fingerprints on the white painted doorframe in the kitchen. I was fucking delighted and it confirmed how this website is filled with my people. Also now I can’t watch any show from before the 90s without looking for shit like that.
(Tangent!) My St. Elsewhere rewatch has been a T R I P How many random rapes can a hospital have for two years without someone notifying the authorities? More like St. Rapes-here, am I right? Christ, I sound like Ehrlich
by Anonymous | reply 509 | January 15, 2023 4:42 PM |
Yeah R509 but Terence Knox was the rapist and he was fucking gorgeous.
by Anonymous | reply 510 | January 15, 2023 5:01 PM |
God could you even imagine that heifer Kate lumbering onstage for the reunion? Dressed in her sensible shoes and frowning?
by Anonymous | reply 511 | January 15, 2023 5:13 PM |
Meredith Baxter Nutloaf has NO chemistry with that kid who plays her son.
by Anonymous | reply 512 | January 15, 2023 5:22 PM |
Please look up the definition of “penultimate.”
by Anonymous | reply 513 | January 15, 2023 6:02 PM |
r509 There's another completely full (600 replies) thread on "Family" that was just recently closed.
by Anonymous | reply 514 | January 15, 2023 6:06 PM |
The one where Willie's friend comes out as gay is a good one.
And also, the guy playing him was fucking hot. In my fantasy he went on to appear in William Higgins or Falcon movies....
by Anonymous | reply 515 | January 15, 2023 6:55 PM |
R515- In MY fantasy David Bradford/Grant Goodeve from Eight Is Enough went on to do GAY porno.
by Anonymous | reply 516 | January 15, 2023 7:25 PM |
R511- I must correct you. She was not a Heifer she was just merely
Plumpish
by Anonymous | reply 517 | January 15, 2023 8:32 PM |
Ooh! A Fear of Shadows is about to start!
[quote]A recurring nightmare of running over a small boy with her car haunts Kate. Meanwhile, Buddy takes in a pet raccoon.
by Anonymous | reply 518 | January 15, 2023 11:02 PM |
Someone posted in one of these threads an excerpt from Meredith Baxter Lesbian's book where she describes Sada returning to set after a summer break and shrieking at the top of her voice that her costumes had SHRUNK!
by Anonymous | reply 519 | January 16, 2023 12:28 AM |
Meredith and Kristy lapped up each others pussies in a daisy chain lesbian leg lock.
by Anonymous | reply 520 | January 16, 2023 12:40 AM |
Well, seeing as though Kristy was a minor and Meredith was a married woman, I would suspect NOT.
by Anonymous | reply 521 | January 16, 2023 12:42 AM |
She was really pretty in ca. 1972 and her husband ( I know he turned out to be a real creep) was handsome in 1972. I had a crush/attraction on him when I watched the show Bridget Loves Bernie in 1972.
by Anonymous | reply 522 | January 16, 2023 3:14 AM |
Family has been removed from Tubi!
This must not stand!
Email Tubi and tell them we won't tolerate this injustice!
by Anonymous | reply 523 | August 12, 2023 3:27 AM |
Damn. But they removed it before and I fell out of the habit of watching. I only got up to mid season 3. Still have not seen any episodes with the young Quinn Cummings.
by Anonymous | reply 524 | August 12, 2023 3:30 AM |
It's still on MeTV+ every morning.
by Anonymous | reply 525 | August 12, 2023 3:41 AM |
Which no one has
by Anonymous | reply 526 | August 12, 2023 3:42 AM |
[quote] Also I must share one little nugget from a previous DL thread about this weird drama - the poster watched a scene in HD where you could see the grime and fingerprints on the white painted doorframe in the kitchen. I was fucking delighted and it confirmed how this website is filled with my people.
R509 I think that was me.
by Anonymous | reply 527 | August 12, 2023 3:46 AM |
Kate as a juror made for a quintessenntial Family episode. Except I don’t think she got to call Buddy “ Tizzy Lish” in this one.
by Anonymous | reply 529 | August 12, 2023 4:14 AM |
R529 That was the last one I watched. A two parter, even!
by Anonymous | reply 530 | August 12, 2023 4:16 AM |
We watched most of what was on TV in those days but I was in college during a lot of the run of Family and only saw it in reruns, I guess. My mom liked it but I found it sort of stuffy. Sara Thompson *and* James Broderick both drove me up the wall. Very good actors but not loaded with charisma (at least not Sada) and the were so proper and uptight.
by Anonymous | reply 531 | August 12, 2023 4:40 PM |
*they
by Anonymous | reply 532 | August 12, 2023 4:45 PM |
Husband and I are going to be in Pasadena in a couple of weeks and we’re going to walk by this house, huge fans of the show and we’ve always wanted to see the exterior.
by Anonymous | reply 533 | August 12, 2023 5:40 PM |
I'd love to see a crossover episode where Kate and Julia Sugarbaker are jury members who have to be sequestered together. Do you think Kate used June Allyson bladder pads?
by Anonymous | reply 534 | August 12, 2023 8:06 PM |
[quote]Kate looked at the cover and pursed her lips
Pursing her lips was Kate's go-to expression, R188.
by Anonymous | reply 535 | August 12, 2023 10:06 PM |
Kate Lawrence walked so that Karen Fairgate McKenzie could run.
by Anonymous | reply 536 | August 13, 2023 1:52 AM |
r535 It's why she always looked constipated.
by Anonymous | reply 537 | August 13, 2023 3:53 AM |
I think she also ate a lot of cheese.
by Anonymous | reply 538 | August 15, 2023 2:22 AM |
Well wasn't that a B-plot in one of the episodes? Kate having piles and not wanting to bring it up in front of the cleaning lady...
by Anonymous | reply 539 | August 15, 2023 4:45 AM |
All right, R538/R539, commenting is your privilege. But do you hear me saying you're disgraceful?
by Anonymous | reply 540 | August 15, 2023 4:48 AM |
I emailed Tubi to complain, and one of their customer service people wrote back within a day. With a form response, but oh well.
[quote]Although we make every effort to license TV shows and movies, the process is complicated and can take time. While we can't guarantee that we'll be able to add this particular title to our lineup, we will certainly take your request into consideration as we continue to evaluate and update our content offerings.
How much could Sony really be charging Tubi to stream a 50-year-old series? The bad-quality bootlegged episodes on YouTube have hundreds of comments; there's an audience for it.
by Anonymous | reply 541 | August 15, 2023 4:52 AM |
I'd comment on this thread, but I'm so busy disapproving of my disappointing daughter Nancy I can't spare the time
by Anonymous | reply 542 | August 15, 2023 4:58 AM |
Wait until you find out when you’re in assisted living years later that she’s a lez.
by Anonymous | reply 543 | August 16, 2023 11:55 PM |
Good God. I just watched the episode where a 14 year old boy (played by Michael J. Fox) has a crush on Kate. More than a crush actually—he wanted to MARRY her.
I think my eyes rolled out of my head watching this episode.
by Anonymous | reply 544 | August 17, 2023 1:07 AM |
Now watching this show again after 40 or 50 years because of this thread. It’s a good show but like I remembered, a little like that Woody Allen movie where he did an homage to Ingmar Bergman.
by Anonymous | reply 545 | January 11, 2024 1:01 AM |
Buddy was a little vulgarian!
by Anonymous | reply 546 | January 11, 2024 1:24 AM |
Not that James Broderick was very attractive but I always wondered what he (or anyone) saw, as the character, in Sada Thompson. If her plain, chubby looks had only been leavened with a more sparkling personality, instead of her antiseptic grumpiness.
by Anonymous | reply 547 | January 12, 2024 3:48 PM |
Sorry for replying to myself but I have watched many episodes now and have gained a real appreciation for Sada Thompson, and for Kristy, who wasn't perhaps the greatest actress but really did listen and react like a human being, and was super cute. About the only things that still bother me about the show are Willy's very nasal twang and Nancy's occasional mumbling.
by Anonymous | reply 548 | January 25, 2024 4:12 PM |
Quinn Cummings was the downfall of the series. Who could deal with something like her in your family?
She was in a tv movie playing Patty duke’s daughter. She made her babysitter (Stephanie Zimbalist) wast to kill her.
by Anonymous | reply 549 | January 25, 2024 4:32 PM |
It upset me when Kate defended the teen-molesting teacher to Buddy and lectured Buddy about being judgmental.
by Anonymous | reply 550 | January 25, 2024 6:54 PM |
Damn Tubi for taking this off. : (
by Anonymous | reply 551 | January 25, 2024 6:57 PM |
I had missed this episode, until now. But it was just weird that this teacher (cute and good actor Cliff De Young) is allowed to resign after it comes out he had a sexual relationship with a female student. Buddy rightly wants nothing more to do with the creep, but Kate points out no one is perfect and he's a good teacher and inspired Buddy as a student, and that sometimes good people do bad things.
Since Buddy had been spending time alone with the creep in his apartment on a school assignment (where they danced to romantic old records, unbeknownst to Kate), Kate's reaction was odd. Then Buddy goes to his classroom as he's packing up, and gives him a kiss on the cheek, remarking that she doesn't know it's that's appropriate or not. Nobody calls the cops on him and he's allowed to go away quietly. Possibly to repeat his behavior.
by Anonymous | reply 552 | January 25, 2024 7:13 PM |
*if that's appropriate or not.
by Anonymous | reply 553 | January 25, 2024 7:18 PM |
That was definitely a weirdness of the 70s that would never be allowed today.
by Anonymous | reply 554 | January 25, 2024 9:00 PM |
Loved how slowly, slowly Sada Thompson would walk into the house during the opening credits.
Was surprised they allowed that busted up fence in the shot of the house as well.
by Anonymous | reply 555 | January 25, 2024 9:08 PM |
This morning I watched an episode from season 5 where Willie’s old writing teacher came back to Pasadena to teach and Willie wanted the hunky teacher to critique his film script draft. Of course Nancy shoved her vagina at the teacher and they started dating, that is until hunky teacher told Willie the script sucked and that he, Willie, had no writing talent. How on earth did Kate and Doug cope with these adult loser children?!
by Anonymous | reply 556 | January 25, 2024 9:08 PM |
The pilot is very good. Buddy is tiny as it was filmed so much earlier. But I wish the show had followed through with the father as a cheater. In the pilot, it sounds very clear that the father had an affair in the past. Then, in maybe season two when the "other woman" appears, it's been downgraded to having been not much more than a flirtation. That was a soft pedaling of what was an interesting and compelling twist.
Guess they figured by that point that NOBODY cheats on Kate.
by Anonymous | reply 557 | January 25, 2024 9:11 PM |
Hmm....I remember the mistress came back to town and it was clear they HAD fucked.
Then Doug almost fucked Linda Lavin, too.
He was kind of a hot daddy. Anything had to be better than Kate's boring old snatch.
by Anonymous | reply 558 | January 25, 2024 9:13 PM |
Yeah, it was clear they fucked.
And the actress made it clear she wanted to bounce on Doug's cock again. She practically humped his leg.
by Anonymous | reply 559 | January 25, 2024 9:17 PM |
R559: what a cunt that Maggie Calder was. Showing up after all those years in a play at the Pasadena Playhouse all the while running after Doug like he was some stud. Kate was having none of it.
by Anonymous | reply 560 | January 25, 2024 9:21 PM |
Maggie Calder! That was her name.
It was all very "Deidre Chambers! What a surprise!"
by Anonymous | reply 561 | January 26, 2024 12:06 AM |
The first Nancy was f****** laughable
by Anonymous | reply 562 | January 26, 2024 1:13 AM |
R557 You may be right (?) but I don't remember that - I don't remember it having been downgraded. (Played by Pat "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" Crowley, btw).
R556 Weird - I watched this one yesterday, on YouTube. The teacher was played by David Selby ("Falcon Crest"). What surprised me is how tiny and frail Willie looked next to him.
by Anonymous | reply 563 | January 26, 2024 1:20 PM |
Willie's hair was a tragedy. But still, I would have blown him and his gay friend too. No need for crusty socks in that bedroom when I'm around....
And who wouldn't want to fuck prime era David Selby? Rawr
by Anonymous | reply 564 | January 26, 2024 1:37 PM |
I was watching an episode yesterday where James Lawrence says to Willie, "You're a minor". In California, this would be someone under the age of 18. This wasn't even in the first season. Gary Frank was born in 1950 and the show ran from 1976-1980. He didn't really look like a minor in that episode.
by Anonymous | reply 566 | January 26, 2024 2:22 PM |
James Lawrence? Doug Lawrence was the dad, played by James Broderick.
Willie was a minor for the first few seasons - Gary obviously wasn't, but the character of Willie was.
by Anonymous | reply 567 | January 26, 2024 3:39 PM |
R567 Oh excuuuuuuuuuse me. His secretary called him Mr. Douglas.
by Anonymous | reply 568 | January 26, 2024 3:47 PM |
Tonight I'm watching another only-in-the-'70s episode, where Willie is promoted from gofer to staff photographer at an ad agency run by a horny cougar played by Samantha Eggar.
She blatantly sexually harasses him at work and keeps trying to fuck him, and he keeps dodging her. Ultimately, she fires him because he won't pound her pussy, but it's a totally amicable parting, both acting like that was a completely valid reason for dismissal.
by Anonymous | reply 569 | January 27, 2024 5:54 AM |
R569 I watched that and none of that even occurred to me. I’m old.
I watched one tonight where Blair Brown plays a lesbian teacher of Buddy. Joyce van Patten plays a teacher who wants to get her fired. Seems she had a relationship with a student in San Francisco. The Lawrences have her to dinner (Blair) and she explains herself. The student was a college student (not hers) 22 years old. Kate and Doug decide to defend her.
But then Kate talks to buddy and has a few lines saying she’s not condoning the teacher’s lifestyle. It kind of ruined everything. But I suppose to was imposed by the network.
by Anonymous | reply 570 | January 27, 2024 8:49 AM |
*I meant Joyce Van Patten played a parent.
by Anonymous | reply 571 | January 27, 2024 8:50 AM |
Despite his hair I always kinda thought Willie was hot.
When John Davenport came along he was like an 80s version of Willie....nerdy with curly hair but man, once his pants were open.....
by Anonymous | reply 572 | January 27, 2024 1:34 PM |
I was 17 when this show started. Willie didn’t seem like he was my age, and I never really liked older guys. Plus he was that thin, curly-headed Pippin type, like Jeff. I did like Willie Aames, and a couple of other Buddy boyfriends.
by Anonymous | reply 573 | January 27, 2024 4:24 PM |
Unfortunately, this show is nowhere to be found on any streaming services.
by Anonymous | reply 574 | January 27, 2024 4:46 PM |
R574 Yes, we know.
I blame that harlot Maggie Calder.
by Anonymous | reply 575 | January 27, 2024 5:45 PM |
Many episodes are on YouTube last time I checked.
by Anonymous | reply 576 | January 27, 2024 6:00 PM |
R574 No, but it’s on YouTube.
by Anonymous | reply 577 | January 27, 2024 8:49 PM |
Sada didn’t get any heat for wearing dresses with heeled pumps all day long.
by Anonymous | reply 578 | January 28, 2024 1:33 AM |
My problem with Family is now everyone knows what an evil cunt Sada Thompson was, it ruins it for me.
by Anonymous | reply 579 | January 28, 2024 1:40 AM |
R579 I never heard she was, so I guess it’s not ruined for me.
by Anonymous | reply 580 | January 28, 2024 3:10 AM |
She wasn't a cunt. She was a fat whore and in denial about it, but never cunty. Just hangry.
by Anonymous | reply 581 | January 28, 2024 3:12 AM |
Didn’t Meredith write in her book that Sada was cold to her?
by Anonymous | reply 582 | January 28, 2024 3:45 AM |
If you look up "matronly" in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Kate Lawrence.
by Anonymous | reply 583 | January 28, 2024 3:53 AM |
One big happy ... well, you know.
At least until they dumped Original Recipe Nancy.
by Anonymous | reply 584 | January 28, 2024 3:56 AM |
Meredith wrote how Sada would shriek when her wardrobe shrunk......and yell at the costumers, instead of taking the blame for getting fatter
by Anonymous | reply 585 | January 28, 2024 3:56 AM |
Sada was by no means a cunt. According to Meredith, she didn't shout at the costumers, she said, "I can't believe all my dresses have shrunk again!"
It was mean for Meredith to poke fun at Sada's weight like that.
by Anonymous | reply 586 | January 28, 2024 4:08 AM |
R586 In other words, Sada was making a joke?
by Anonymous | reply 587 | January 28, 2024 4:12 AM |
Will there be a part 3 of this thread? Have we appreciated Doug and Kate enough?
Drooled over Willie's bulge enough?
Made fun of that hussy Nancy enough?
Do we need another thread to discuss Tizzylish?
by Anonymous | reply 590 | January 29, 2024 12:09 AM |
Bitch would smoke and drink coffee at the same time!
by Anonymous | reply 591 | January 29, 2024 12:10 AM |
Meredith was so fucking gorgeous. Too bad she didn't get a spin in the opening credits.
by Anonymous | reply 592 | January 29, 2024 12:11 AM |
Created a part 3.
I started the first discussion thread after a pandemic-era rewatch and am glad that so many of you found, and continue to find, refuge in the Lawrence household.
by Anonymous | reply 593 | January 29, 2024 12:20 AM |
Tizzylish!
by Anonymous | reply 594 | January 29, 2024 1:21 AM |
Nancy!
by Anonymous | reply 595 | January 29, 2024 1:28 AM |
Willie!
by Anonymous | reply 596 | January 29, 2024 1:28 AM |
Willie's hot gay friend!
by Anonymous | reply 597 | January 29, 2024 1:28 AM |
Elaine Hogan!
by Anonymous | reply 598 | January 29, 2024 1:29 AM |
Annie Laurie!
by Anonymous | reply 599 | January 29, 2024 1:29 AM |
SHRIEEEEKKKKKK!!!
by Anonymous | reply 600 | January 29, 2024 1:29 AM |
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