The Eight is Enough kids really turned out poorly

You're only thinking of the ones we hear about (Willie Aames, Adam Rich, and Susan Richardson). The others are fine.

5 out of 8 ain't bad.

Dick really never grieved and married the first CUNT that came his way. I say DICK!

Try 4 out of 8. You forgot Lani O'Grady who went crazy and died of a drug overdose in 2001.

Still better numbers than those damned Drummond bastards!

(Here's the obit of the "real" mother with some news what WHET the kids. It was a rather odd marriage...)

Joan Braden, 77; mother who inspired 'Eight Is Enough'

By Eric Pace

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

September 2, 1999

Joan Braden, a former State Department official who was a hostess and friend to high-ranking Washington figures and whose eight children inspired the ABC television series "Eight Is Enough," died Monday in Alexandria, Va. She was 77.

The cause was a heart attack, The Associated Press reported. Mrs. Braden collapsed at Sutton Place Gourmet, a food store, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Mrs. Braden's husband of more than 50 years, Tom Braden, was owner and publisher from 1954 to 1966 of the former Oceanside Blade-Tribune.

That paper later became the North County Blade-Citizen and merged in 1995 with the Escondido Times Advocate, creating the North County Times.

After selling the newspaper in 1966, Tom Braden ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of California. The Bradens then moved to the Washington area.

For two years beginning in 1976, Mrs. Braden was the State Department's coordinator of consumer affairs and special assistant to the undersecretary for economic affairs. She also had been an aide to Nelson A. Rockefeller and had worked in political campaigns for John and Robert Kennedy.

The 1975 book "Eight Is Enough," by her husband, Tom Braden, tells of their family of eight children. In 1977 the book was adapted as the ABC series, starring Dick Van Patten, which was broadcast by the network until 1981.

In the book, Braden, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate from 1968 to 1986, described his wife's personality: "She's blithe. That's what it is about her, and that is why she is so everlastingly cheerful."

By 1976, when Mrs. Braden took up her State Department posts, her friends included Vice President Rockefeller, Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and many other powerful figures who would assemble at the Bradens' large yellow clapboard house in Chevy Chase, Md., a Washington suburb.

According to those who dined there, the food was simple but good, and the furniture pleasant and necessarily childproof. There were always flowers and candles and, if the weather was right, a fireplace ablaze. But it was not those things that made Mrs. Braden's dinner parties special, and her invitations a status symbol.

Rather, it was said in Washington, the main magnet was Mrs. Braden herself, a slight woman (5 feet 5 inches tall, admittedly too thin at 103 pounds) with short auburn hair and a wide smile -- blithe, as her husband said, and everlastingly cheerful.

Mrs. Braden herself wrote a book, "Just Enough Rope: An Intimate Memoir" (1989). Writing in The New York Times Book Review, Maureen Dowd said, "Joan Braden has taken a lot of heat for this book, which has been criticized as a vapid kiss-and-sell by a Washington society hostess with the capital's most notorious 'open' marriage."

"The title refers to the amount of freedom the author has received from her husband," Dowd wrote. "Washington insiders, however, sniff that it also alludes to the fact that she has hanged herself with this 'intimate memoir.' "

"This reviewer does not take such a harsh view," Dowd continued, adding that, after all, how can a book be all bad that features "a shower scene with Nelson Rockefeller, a bedroom scene with Bobby Kennedy, a toe-tingling lunch with Kirk Douglas and an account of Frank Sinatra singing 'High Hopes' without his toupee?"

Mrs. Braden was born Joan Ridley in Indianapolis and was reared in the nearby town of Anderson and in Washington. She received a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University and worked in the Pentagon during World War II.

Continued:

From 1946 to 1951, she was an assistant to Rockefeller, who was then in the middle of a succession of federal posts he filled before becoming governor of New York in 1959. She went on to be a special assistant for public relations to Oveta Culp Hobby, the Eisenhower administration's secretary of health, education and welfare.

Later she and her husband moved to California, where Tom Braden -- with the assistance of a $100,000 loan from Rockefeller, whom he had known for years -- bought the Blade-Tribune.

Tom Braden sold it in 1966 to South Coast Newspapers for $1.6 million.

Besides her husband, Mrs. Braden's survivors include daughters, Mary Poole of Alexandria, Joan Ridder of Denver, Susan Zarker of Takoma Park, Md., and Nancy and Elizabeth Braden, both of Denver; sons, David of Taiwan, and Nicholas, of Alexandria; and 12 grandchildren. One of the Bradens' sons, Tom, died in 1994.

The real father also sounds more interesting than the smiley guy in the TV show.

They will always blame the mother!

Wow, she had a longtime affair with Rbt McNamara and Nelson Rockefeller.%0D %0D She was NOT attractive

I'm a born-again Christian and an ordained minister! I'm fine!

OK, maybe not fine. I got into alcohol and drugs, they foreclosed on my house, my wife left me, I declared bankruptcy, and I became homeless. I tried to commit suicide by slitting my own throat after drinking Jack Daniels and taking pills. But then I became a financial advisor! And a minister! Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!

And now I'm work for Oceania Cruises as the assistant cruise director!

I'm fine! Really! I'd hit rock bottom and now I'm back on top! I've never felt better!

Really!

He looks as gay as the day is long in the photo at R10.

Too much liquor and sun ravages Irish faces...

Willie Aames had deliciously pert nipples when shirtless on Eight Is Enough. My pre-puberty eyes would be wide open when he'd take his shirt off. One of my first boy crushes.

She looked like a man.

I'm sure that suited Tom just fine, R15.

The one who died of cancer.

Buckley's toxic behavior destroys everyone. The original Bombalurina and Bustopher Jones were also victims to her horridness.

If you spend more than ten minutes with Buckley, she will find a way to bring up that she was younger than Lani O'Grady, "who was playing my stepdaughter!"

Betty was a cocaine fiend.

I loved the story that crazy Susan Richardson told about being kidnapped in Korea.

Eight is TOO MANY!

Poor Lani O'Grady -- she died right after 9/11.

There's a magic in the early morning we've found

When the sunrise smiles on everything around

It's a portrait of the happiness that we feel

and always will

Eight is enough to fill our lives with love

Oh we're lucky we can share this beautiful stage

So many find the world an empty place

Anyone who asks to stand alone is always

standing still

And eight is enough to fill our lives with love

Oh love makes all the difference now

And one that really shows

Just look at everyone of us

See how it overflows

We spend our days like bright and shiny new dimes

If we're ever puzzled by the changing times

There's a plate of homemade wishes

On the kitchen window sill

And eight is enough to fill our lives with love

More than enough to fill our lives with love

What R24 said.

Picture at R10 looks like creatures from "They Live"

I love Willie's laugh in this video.

Susan Richardson today:

[quote]She is living in Wagontown, Pennsylvania where it is reported that she is a caretaker at a retirement home. In her spare time she makes walking sticks for Veterans and the disabled.

Well... bless her heart (said sincerely). I hope she's happy.

I sometimes wonder why celebrities who leave or are forced out of the business settle where they do. "Wagontown, Pennsylvania"? Why there?

One of my favorite DL threads of all time was an Eight is Enough thread. It was titled with one of the lyrics of the theme song as sung by Liza.

"There'sh a plate of homemade (something about balls)

On the kitchen window shill"

One of the biggest campfests of all time was the reunion movie when the kids were coming back to celebrate Tom's 50th birthday, and half the kids had to be in their 40s at the time. Not to mention that one of the sisters (and not the lone pretty one) was a famous international actress.

They did a few of those reunion specials didn't they? They must have gotten good ratings.

There is a plate of HOMEMADE SHITBALLSH on the KITCHEN WINDOW SHILL!!!

It wouldn't have been "the pretty one", R30, because she wasn't an actress. There was another daughter (character) who was an aspiring actress from day one of the show airing.

r19, not sure about Lani O'Grady, but Betty Buckley was 6 months younger than Laurie Walters.

The curse got Dianne Kay too. Here she talks about beating kidney cancer

For real--did Lani O'Grady get eaten by her dog?

Is Adam Rich gay?

Grant Goodeve. sighs remembering. Liked Willie Aames too. Except for them I preferred Sisters as a show to 8 is Enough.

Connie Needham (Elizabeth)

Thank you to the posters with the updates on Dianne and Connie. I'm glad both women are doing better now. They're both still beautiful.

Any photos of Grant Goodeve's feets?

[quote]Any photos of Grant Goodeve's feets?

Is your Google broken?

Adam Rich is definetly not gay and he is hung!

Lani was rumored to have been nibbled on by her cats

Dianne Kay and Lani were GFS for yrs than just remained good friends or ? after dianne got married to a MUCH older man

read this interview with Dianne Kay on Lani and hollywood

more EIE gossip DL let's have fun again

Funny, how horrible the casting was for a family. No one remotely looked like they were related to anyone else. Maybe Grant and Connie - but no one else.

Dianne Kay looked like Diana hyland the mom who was superb on the show!

Did Adam Rich ever do that layout for Playgirl? That was the rumor a few years ago.

The "teenagers" on Eight is Enough all looked like they were pushing 30.

Thanks for that, r46. For some reason I read all of Dianne's answers with Francine Smith's voice in my head (the mom from "American Dad.")

Eight is Enough was such a fucking shit show Mark Hamill crashed his car to get out of his contract.

Susan Richardson said that doing EIE ruined her life and was such a miserable set once Ms Buckley came aboard.

Dianne Kay is still goregous!

I watched this show religiously in 1977. It was my family's first year of cable, and I was also watching Fellini's 'Casanova' and Woody Allen's 'Annie Hall' repeatedly--and taking notes. I'm a Camelot baby born in DC, lived there until I was nine, and visited annually thereafter (most notably in 1977). If I'd only known my homies were this cool!

I always preferred the original orchestral theme music with that nice oboe solo.

Dianne Kay is the sweetest!

more EIE gossip please!

1Betty Buckely shook Adam Rich so severly he turned white during a scene. 2. Lani and dianne Kay were more than friends. 3. the ENTIRE cast was doing drugs of some kind. 4. Dianne Kay got really gaunt and thin and deliberatly made herself ugly no one knows why. Betty screamed at susan richardson "you can't act"

He couldn't find anyone to drive him to his first nose job, so Dianne Kay drove MJ to the hospital and then home again.

Adam Rich was annoying as fuck playing the ubiquitous precocious kid and he started that whole "Hollywood bowl" haircut trend that still lingers to this day.

Grant Goodeve ended up playing a gay boyfriend for Steven on "Dynasty" before finding religion and going all jesuschristy on the 700 Club (like Willie Aames.) %0D %0D Oh, and poor Mark Hamill did NOT age well. %0D %0D

r61 what?

tons of coke on that set. Lani o'grady often was so loaded on downers she could not remember her lines. LAURIe WALTters was a stuck up pretentious bitch.

R64 -- Dianne Kay took Michael Jackson to the hospital when he had his first nose job because no one in his family would take him.

She was interviewed the night after he died and told the story to Inside Edition(?)

you mean back in the 80's? WOW!! How did dianne know MJ?

[quote]How did dianne know MJ?

I don't know -- she didn't say. Maybe he was an EIE fan and got to know her then, or maybe they were neighbors in Encino

Oh you know what r68 Dick Van patten at the time lived next store to the Jackson's and dianne was close to Dick. Makes sense. I wish I could find that link

[quote]you mean back in the 80's? WOW!! How did dianne know MJ?%0D %0D Obviously using her to get to Nicholas.%0D %0D

Lani O'Grady's tits, in case anyone cares (NSFW):

Remember the Adam Tich Murder Scam?

A PR stunt thought up by the pretentious Dave Eggers and his 'might' magazine pals.

It's also in his fiction-nonfiction "A Heartbreaking Work of (yada yada)."

"lived next store"

Really, R69? Are you that stupid?

I was stoned leave me alone r73. Dianne Kay is making a comeback!

C'mon R73 -- he could of been kiddding

Love you both, R74 and R75! (Assuming that "could of" was intentional. Oh, hell, even if it wasn't.)

I'm being kind because it's Adam Rich Day. Somewhere.

Willie and grant used to hang out at eachother's houses till late at night getting loaded.

Betty loved to torment sweet, naive Dianne kay

Betty loves to torment, period. Especially if she's jealous of/threatened by someone.

r28, Wagontown, PA is right near Coatesville, PA, where Susan Richardson is from - and admits it. Most don't.

r79 or wants their pussy or dick!

in an episode in the second season where dianne's character is in a bathing suit, betty stares at her so intensly that I noticed it and got jealous of her staring! also, in the same episode, betty's character consoles Dianne by hugging her and putting her hand threw her hair, and dianne looked like she loathed her. Now I do know from a set insider that Dianne and Lani were super close and rumored to be lovers

.

I know r83 the thought of dianne and lani eatin eachother out is too much to comprehend

Here are some comments about the 2010 cast reunion on the Today Show, where Dianne Kay joined the rest of the partial cast via satellite and was not treated well by Meredith.

Dianne kay is still very pretty to this day

No offense to Willie Aames (an old teenage crush of mine) but who would hire someone with his track record as a financial adviser?

Is he being paid by some loan-sharking outfit to talk people into consolidating their debts or something?

I'll tell you why Dianne still looks so good, even though it appears she's had no work done whatsoever: Her skin is pale. Try to find a photo of her in which she is tanned. You won't. It's that simple: Stay out of the sun.

r88 I believe you are right and niceness. dianne is one of the sweetest people in the world

More gossip people! come on let's get back to DL glory

Dianne said that Lani's death was devestating to her because they were so close. Dianne also was diagnosed with kidney cancer the same yr as Lani died and Lani died 10 days after 9/11

So is Betty a lez or not? I've also heard she was the prototypical cougar, preferring to fuck men 20-30 years her junior. Doesn't matter to me in the slightest, I still love me some Betty Lynn.%0D

r92 Bi

Sunday Morning bump

I liked Elizabeth the best, followed by David, Mary, and Dianne Kay's character. The red-haired tomboy who married the baseball player was fun, but only in small doses. Couldn't get behind the actress, or Abby, and the father was a schmoe..

I want this show on DVD!!

The show is coming out on DVD on April 17th!

'What cha staring at buddy? Move it along, nothing to see here!"

The DVD is coming out but we should all know by now that our memories of the show are far better than the actual episodes

It was a weird show. The father always acted like a fascist, and would get furious if any of the daughters did anything against his very rigid sense of morality. Almost all the stories seemed to center, though, on the boys or Laurie Walters (who may have been pretentious, but she was the ONLY one of the daughters who could act).

I always felt sorry for Elizabeth who had the least defined personality of any of the children. But even she got more of a part than the girl who played David's forgettable wife (you probably forgot he had one).

Betty Buckley clearly did not like being on the show. She radiated discomfort, and you could tell the children loathed her and she loathed them. I heard that when she refused to do the reunion and they got poor Mary Frann (who looked just like Betty Buckley) the other actors were overjoyed because they loathed Bcukley so much.

Elizabeth was the cute one. I thought she was beautiful with the long flowing hair.

Don't forget Ralph Macchio, he was like their kid. And Joanie was older than Abbey in real life

Remember when Dick Van Patten was on a radio show (Howard Stern?) and Susan Richardson called in asking for money?

I really hate R99.

"I heard that when she refused to do the reunion"

Betty didn't refuse to do the reunion. She was filming FRANTIC with Harrison Ford and couldn't get the time off.

I watched the first two episodes from the DVD. The second episode was much better than the first, in large part because Mark Hamill was horrible as David. He looked like a drowned rat too. I had forgotten just how huge the cars were back then.

Betty Buckley is one of the worst actors and singers alive, and she has a nasty personality, it's a wonder she had any career at all.

Family Feud Eight is Enough vs General Hospital

The writers would find any excuse to have Grant Goodeve and Willie Ames take their shirts off.

Remember when David and Tommy called Nicholas a peewee and Nicholas got revenge by locking them in a walk in meat freezer. And Tommy said, "What will we do." And David said, "First let's take our shirts off."

And Eight Wasn't Enough because they had to add Jeremy.

Adam Rich was a midget and he was constantly trying to look up the girl's skirts. This caused much friction on the set.

To make matters worse, Lani O'Grady was always throwing it in everyone else's face that she was the sister to Don Grady from My Three Sons.

Betty Buckley joined the cast and the mediocre ratings skyrocketed and she started acting like a diva. Of course ABC put up with her as she was the key to the ratings success.

Just eight?

Fucking slackers.

Betty Buckley was scary in "The Happening."

[quote]Betty Buckley was scary in "The Happening."

She was even more scary in Carrie

I longed to get fucked by Grant Goodeve in his cool VW bus. He had it goin' on.

Does anyone remember the 1979 Susan Richardson ABC tv musical special? I think she sang Oh Daddy by Fleetwood Mac while walking the Santa Monica Pier with Dick Van Patten and she also did Helter Skelter in front of the gate of the old Sharon Tate house on Cielo Drive. She also went roller skating with Adam Rich and I think the musical guest was The Doobie Brothers??? God it was so weird.

I want to know why the soooooo so very hot Grayson McCouch dated Buckley? That was one of the oddest pairings. It's literally up there with Jacko and Lisa Marie for me. Well not quite up there, but sorta in the territory.

My favorite episode is the one where the gay grandfather from the Waltons steals their christmas presents. In the same episode,Tommy finally accepts Abby as his stepmother. In their scnes together, Betty looked like she wanted to ravage Willie.

I saw one of those entertainment documentaries about the show and the creator looked like he was just off a farm in Iowa.

Maybe that is why they set the series in Sacramento...

They had a spin off caused "Thirty two is an outrage."

It had an opening theme of

...And thirty two is an outrage, it fills my heart with hate."

r113, they gave Susan a TV special? She was so homely, with those widely spaced eyes and that beak-like nose. And I hated her hairdo.

R113 "Does anyone remember the 1979 Susan Richardson ABC tv musical special? I think she sang Oh Daddy by Fleetwood Mac" I don't remember that, but I would love to see it.

Susan wasn't as attractive as Dianne or Connie, but she wasn't homely.

What are you trying to say R119?

LOL R120

Susan Richardson was quite a hot property in the later stages of EIE after her real life pregnancy was written into the show. They married her character off to 'Merle the Pearl' and then numerous storylines involving Susan and the birth of her twins. It's also probably what killed the show.

Remember when Merle took his shirt off and then David took his shirt off, then Tommy took his shirt off and then Jeremy took his shirt off.

And then Nicholas started to take his shirt off and thank God they cut to a commercial.

[quote]oes anyone remember the 1979 Susan Richardson ABC tv musical special?

Wow your memory is so good, you recall things that never happened.

I forgot...did the Susan Richardson musical special come before or after the retrospective special hosted by an obviously drunk Lucille Ball?

In the 70s, TV was still odd and fun

Wilie Aames seems to have turned his life around.

After his longtime marriage broke up, he's found a new girlfriend, lost a lot of the weight he gained, and is working for a cruise line. I'm happy for him. His girlfriend is at the link.

The character Willie played became a journalist and died in a Denver road accident.

About half the real life kids never married.

I have to say he looks good in that photo. Even with gray hair, he looks ten years younger than he did when he did Fit Club.

R124 is wrong. Immeditely following Susan's special, the Phyllis Elizabeth Davis Songs for My Father special aired on ABC, with special guest star Sammy Davis Jr. I remember the two of them dueting to Supertramp's Take The Long Road home song, and then cracking each other up saying "I really don't look like you!"

R127, I thought Willie was in insurance. Connie runs a dance studio and still does some acting. Dianne is acting as well.

R113, that wasn't Susan Richardson's special, it was a Helen Lawson Special Event. The show was "Eight Is Enough, but I'll Take Ten!" It was a musical episode of the Eight is Enough series, with Helen playing the family matriarch. Susan's character wanted to run away to Broadway, but Nana Helen dissuades her with stories of the casting couch and loosing wigs in toilets.

Joan ruined them long before I came along.

I'm not taking the blame for that.

Korea! I was held hostage by Koreans in Korea!

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I'll try ANYTHING once.

Brian Patrick Clark is married to former gymnast Kathy Johnson. She looks close to 100. Clark shouldn't be bashing anyone since he's fucking a woman who looks like a corpse.

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Why did they call her Abby? Her name was actually Sandra Sue Abbott. They should of called her Sandy.

Damn, that video of Kathy Johnson is not suitable for anyone.

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[quote]Betty was after Dianne's pussy

Everyone in the world under 75 was after Dianne...

Not me. My love and passion for Diana Hyland was so strong that I never noticed anyone else from that set. I still mourn that woman.

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"Why did they call her Abby? Her name was actually Sandra Sue Abbott." R141 - You answered your question. People called her Abby because Abbott was her last name. Maybe she was in a class with a couple other Sandras.

I thought Connie was the prettiest.

Brian Patrick Clarke was involved in the OJ thing - he saw OJ speeding away from the murder scene if I am remembering correctly.

Poor Kathy Johnson. I always rooted for her. The 1980 team trials, she was leading and then lost to Tracee Talaveera, who was to BE the Mary Lou of her time if the US had been able to go to Moscow. Seeing Johnson at 24 competing with those midgets was very strange. I read a book on young athletes where Kathy talked about not getting her period until she was in early 20's because of the crazy training schedules.

I worked on a TV show with Betty Buckley in the mid-90's and she was a 'life sucker'. She demanded everyone's complete attention by singing and talking loudly constantly. She's the kind of person who comments loudly on every situation happening around her. We always had to have her somewhere else on set because she could barely keep quiet when we rolled.

And yes, she was high maintenance, but she took the time to learn crew member names and was surprisingly polite. It was a tough shoot with a lot of nights, the hair/make-up people probably had the worst time with her. She was disgruntled, but not as bad as some actors.

And through it all, she was professional-came to set on time, did what we asked, knew her lines, hit her marks. It's amazing how many folks can't even do that.

Kathy's great, she's always been. She never led the 1980 Olympic trials and came in a solid second to Talavera, who btw, just lost her son in a drowning. Kathy always believed in the sport, which is good. Her former coach, Don Peters, was just found to have slept with a number of his gymnasts. I wonder if Kathy was one of them.

She and Brian became total bores. They'd come to events and tell everyone their times in marathons and triathalons.

Damn, my Google search of Grant Goodeve's feets on the interweb has proved fruitless thus far.

You never hear about Lani O'Grady anymore, do you?

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Laurie Walters looked too Jewish to be the child of Dick Van Patten and Diana Hyland.

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Why would actors be responsible for how their child co stars turned out decades after their show left the air?

There's a magic in the tragic, which is us

Our first mom's dead but what's the fuss

We have Jeremy and Abbey and Merle and others too

Eight wasn't enough to fill our lives with love

Oh we spend our time counting nickels and dimes

If we're ever puzzled by the change in time

It's spring forward, fall back, on the kitchen window still

It's Eight O'Clock Coffee it fills our life with love

Grant Goodeve singing "Eight is Enough" -

Goodeve's trunks barely contain him -

Bravo R158

Love the parade of beefcake in swim trunks, R160. Thank you!

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Did Revolta hook up with Grant when he came to visit his soulmate Diana on the set?

can you just imagine what the muffs of those fugly girls must have looked like in the 70s? It must have been a hair-pie bonanza every time the director yelled cut.

for real, i had 2 favorite episodes (VERY SPECIAL EPISODES): 1. When the new girl in town Sylvia gets raped. 2. When there is a rapist in a blue van picking up young girls in town who are hitching. I think the episode was called, 'Diary of a Teen Hitcher,' with a very important message at the end from Lani O'Grady.

That article at r138 is very revealing. Skiing, tossed salads, riding bareback...sounds like he was desperate for a coke-fueled male orgy!

Do you think Grant Goodeve and Merle the Pearl used to tongue kiss?

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Dianne Kay was in the Flamingo Road pilot.

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Didn't they all die in a grease fire?

Dianne is still very attractive

Did Dick and Betty get along? If they didn't, you'd never know it from their scenes together. They seened to enjoy working with one another.

I wonder how Adam Rich is doing? He's in his 40s now.

Remember when they had the episode where Tom had his 50th birthday. Then three years later he had his 50th birthday again.

Then they had a TV movie where Tom had his 50th birthday.

Then they had another TV reunion about a wedding which occurred on Tom's 50th birthday again?

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Tom having his 50th birthday during the reunion made no sense cause the older "kids" were 30 plus.

[quote]Adam is sober now! thank God

Now, yeah but how will he be in the morning

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I'm surprised that the cast stuck around as long as they did.

Because they had so many other offers

NOT

Merle the Pearl was hot. I used to touch myself and tingle.

Connie Needham (Elizabeth) participated in a dance contest for a cancer charity - she's a cancer survivor.

Looks good and dances great.

And I got such shit about my 'screw up' nephew Jeremy.

Whom I might add did VERY well.

Ralph did well, despite the Cousin Oliverness of his character.

The real-life couple EiE is based on reek of Illuminati involvement. CREEPY.

I wish Merle, Tommy, David and that kid that looked like Chachi would've had a gay orgy.

I saw reruns of EiE at some point and it was like TFOL -- it plays far better in memory.

I worked in wardrobe for EIE during the last few seasons and the producers wanted Brian (Merle) to wear tight-fitted clothes to lure in more female fans to watch the show. He also had no problem being nude in front of the crew and cast. He has a very furry ass.

Hot!

R189 - Did they pressure the girls to lose weight?

Yes, they wanted all the girls to be thin.

Oh please divulge more!! What did you think of Dianne Kay and the other girls??

r189, was Lani O'grady a les?

R189 - Which of the girls had the most trouble with their weight? Which were feuding? Any catfights?

Betty Buckley is to blame, no?

[quote]Do you think Grant Goodeve and Merle the Pearl used to tongue kiss?

they did in my wet-dreams.

R196 Abby's always to blame.

EiE vs Love Boat on the feud!

R195 Susan had the most weight trouble. She gained during her pregnancy and had not lost the weight. The producers threatened to fire her. Betty didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things with the other cast, especially Susan Richardson. One time I remember her going into primal scream rage and throwing her script at Susan. Most of the cast got along there were just some tense moments on the set. Dick had fired off at Betty one time for being too controlling. The fact that some of these people were doing major drugs didn't help. There was a lot of pressure coming from the studio execs on all productions and we were all merely puppets.

I knew someone who worked on the Jenny Jones show in the 90s. They did an EIE reunion show and Lani O'Grady passed out drunk in the dressing room. When they finally revived her and started walking her to the set, she stopped anyone she could, telling them that she needed a job and could they help her. During the taping she barely spoke at all.

R189 did you ever get to see any of the girls with their tits out?

R202 I personally haven't seen their tits, but one of the stylists had told me that Lani and Betty would both have their hair done with their tops off. Lani occasionally liked to sunbathe topless on the studio lot with some of the other girls.

Connie Needham (Elizabeth) won first place in Dancing for the cause (cancer charity). Picture at the link. She looks gorgeous.

Willie's a sexy daddy now that he's slimmed down.

I can picture Lani and Betty sneaking away, R203

R189 I keep hearing rumors about Lani O'Grady muff-diving with Dianne Kay. Is there any truth to this?

Considering that Betty Buckley was younger than all the kids but Nicholas, it's no wonder she had troubles on the set.

Betty Buckley was younger than Laurie Walters who played the second eldest daughter, but only buy a couple months.

R207 I don't know what Lani's sexual orientation was. She and Dianne were good friends.

I always thought the girl who played Joanie, the second oldest sister who wanted to be an actress, was the prettiest of all the girls.

It's hard to believe Susan Richardson and Dianne Kay are 60. Laurie Walter is 65. Where do the years go?

Was Dianne one of the girls who was sunbathing with Lani in the nude?

R211 - That would be Laurie. I don't think she was the second most attractive (Dianne, Connie, and Susan were more attractive), but she did have talent.

Laurie and Betty were both extremely jealous of Dianne Kay. Not only was she known as "the pretty one", but she also got the role in "1941." This may not have happened had she not been alma mater to the same high school as Spielberg, and a lot of what happens in this business is luck. Betty was constantly butting in as "director", which the cast did not like, especially Dick. She never understood that television is not like stage. Dianne was very sensitive and there were a couple times I remember when Betty laid into her and made her cry. Lani was always there to console Dianne, and I think from that they became good friends. Laurie had a difficult time as well. She was a lovely person, but at times could be a bit controlling as well. She took her work very seriously and had very little patience for some of the antics of the younger cast. As far as I know she, as well as Connie and Dianne, were not heavily reliant upon drugs to get through the work day. As far as Dianne and Lani are concerned. I don't know if there was anything more going on than friendship. They did have a definite bond with each other, but a lot of women do. I don't recall Dianne ever joining Lani on her sunbathing expeditions of the lot. I'm pretty sure it was just Lani, Betty, Willie and Adam. Lani was a sweetheart and I miss her dearly.

Also want to add, Laurie was a favorite among the producers of the show, but not so much the viewing public. Fred Silverman really liked her and wanted to develop her character more, but I think the audience for the show was a lot younger so this wouldn't have helped the ratings. Laurie received the least amount of fan mail from viewers, as Willie and Adam had gotten the most.

Here's Betty in a 1975 commercial for the U.S. Postal Service, of all things. It's not on Youtube. Fast forward to 26:30 if you're interested.

Betty Buckley being a bitch? I can totally see it.

I wonder if that's what she did to Dianne Kay.

It's a new day for those good ol' dreams

One by one by one they're coming true

It's a new for for those good ol' dreams

All my life I dreamed of you

Mary Bradford hits on Laurie Partridge.

Lani had a nice figure in that clip, R221, and I love the long hair, but Susan Dey was beautiful!

The movie is Cage without a key.

trolldar r189, it is talking to it self!!!

Good catch R224

Ooooh lez love is nasty.

There's a magic in the condoms we found

We picked right up off the ground

They were full of holes but who cares

Now we have a bunch of kids

And eight is enough, 'cause we also got AIDS

Oh we spend our lives begging people for dimes

If we're ever puzzled by the change in time

It's spring forward and fall back

On the kitchen window sill

And eight is enough it fills our lives with la-of

Grant Goodeve-loved him shirtless-tanned and he had beautiful hard nipples. Loved him in Northern Exposure years later and he was still hot. At the time, I thought that Grant and Willie Aames should make out in the-Eight is Enough slash fiction version.

Grant was good on NE. He's aged well.

Grant Goodeve is one of those genetically gifted people. At age 60 he still looks great. Full head of hair and same muscular body. Facial wrinkles from California sun but still handsome and the same great smile. He hosts a travel television show, "Northwest Backroads", broadcast from Seattle. He likes to show off his body when they visit spas for the show.

I liked it when they had Tommy, Grant, Merle and the Karate Kid all take their shirts off. But then Nicholas would come into the scene and ruin it.

My Mom always called me on Saturday nites, but she always waited until EIE was over with.....LOL

Does Grant have any relatives also in the business?

Grant Goodeve played Steven's lover on Dynasty

Huh

Willie Aames had spectacular pecs!

I never liked "Eight Is Enough." It was easily one of the worst shows of its time (1977-1981). Badly written and badly acted. Horrid stuff.

Another show that plays better in memory.

R237 & R238 - True. I liked the show when I was a kid back in the late-seventies, but I saw it again for the first time in decades recently and it was just awful. It definitely was better in my memory. I didn't remember all the bad acting. LOL.

More Willie.

Poor Lani...

I hope Connie Needham is doing well. The last time I saw her on TV was at a reunion where she had to wear a wig because of chemotherapy.

Connie is doing very well. Go back a few pages. There are links of her dancing for charity. She won, and looks fabulous.

Dianne Kay is doing great too thank God

Tommy was hot in his Bibleman suit. LOL.

I still remember an episode where Tommy (Willie Aames) - who was underage - was trying to get beer delivered. He was in brother David's apartment with his (also underage) friend. The scheme was that the delivery man would come with the beer, and Tommy would pretend to be his friend's father in the shower. He would yell from the shower to the delivery guy that it was OK to drop off the beer. Meanwhile, all I could think of was Tommy in the shower... Tommy in the shower... I was probably nine years old.

Pervert.

I remember that episode too R245

Anyone ever met or worked with Dianne Kay? I heard she is so nice!

WORST. TV SHOW. EVER.

I agree R247 - She looks great too!

Dianne is a hottie

Second season on DVD

[189] you are full of shit...busted by troll-dar!!!!

sorry, Reply Fail R189 You are full of shit, etc...

Susan Richardson is living in a trailer, just like Joanie from "Happy Days"!

Poor Susan.

r189

R252 Answering my own questions to keep the thread ongoing, yes, but not full of shit.

This thread has more interesting gossip

Remember when David, Merle, Willie and the Karate Kid were shirtless?

I can't believe I forgot about Merl the Pearl. Especially since he was probably one of the very first guys I jerked off to.

Merle the Pearl and Elizabeth were both in Fame.

Betty was too busy focusing on her own stage career, besides the fact that they weren't her kids.

Dianne Kay was so hot!!!

Grant goodeve was sex on a stick back then

Eight is Enough on Family Feud

and

and

Don't blame me, I was younger than all my step children.

First appearance of Betty at about 2:10 in the clip.

Dianne and Lani were lovers

Don Grady blames the white establishment for making him and his sister change their names to conform to the Hollywood WASP set.

Oh we spend the day collecting nickels and dimes

If we're ever puzzled by the change in time

It's spring forward, fall fack

And a kitchen window still

And eight is enough to fill out lives with love

Connie Needham (when she was Connie Newton) was in a commercial with Charlene Tilton shortly before EiE.

Those Family Feud video clips confirm to me that I did have good taste back then with my crush on Willie Aames, who was indeed super cute back in the day.

Intro of Merle the Pearl

Any other BTS

I hated everyone of those fucking kids.

[quote]And eight is enough to fill out lives with love

Then why did they adopt the Karate Kid. And why wasn't it changed to Nine is enough, or ten is enough when the psycho one married to Merle got pregnant?

r275

That's creepy, he looks like he wants to molest Nicholas.

It was an ok show, but it was no James at 15.

[quote]Grant goodeve was sex on a stick back then

He filled out a blue Speedo when he was on [italic]Murder She Wrote[/italic] as Jessica Fletcher just stood nonchalantly and kept up a conversation.

Those poor, poor dears.

The oldest one on the show was insane, Don Grady really distanced himself till she killed herself then he felt guilty about it and made up some cover story.

I liked the episode where all the hunky men had no shirts on but they made the dad and Nicholas wear one.

The producers and writers knew their shit back them

david, merle, tommy and the karate kid = hunks

do you think Betty lusted after Dianne?

Remember how the dad turned 50 years old three times in the series?

I guess they don't have calendars.

The book is nothing like the show.

I agree, both Connie Needham and Grant Goodeve look fantastic!

"Remember how the dad turned 50 years old three times in the series?"

I had three different middle names during the run of I Love Lucy. I guess they didn't have paper back then to write down character notes.

Any updates or recent pics of Dianne kay?

No matter how much DL changes, we still have our Dianne Kay troll!

Connie was underused.

I enjoy the show back when I was a teenager and enjoy the reruns today. Eight Is Enough was a great family show. They should have more shows on TV today like it. I applaud all the actors and actresses for a job well done!

It was a good show, not a great one, but a good one.

That show proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what a truly extraordinary actress Betty Buckley is. She really made us believe she was capable of affection and caring for anyone other than her batshit self.

Betty Buckley was a great actor as well as the other cast. They put on a fantastic show, much better than the shows of today. They were a tv family that stuck together. I thought they were cool. Long live the Bradfords!

Betty was not a great actor.

r-297 = The girls on the show who never amounted to anything.

I don't think any of them were particularly good. Maybe Grant. Definitively not Willie or Lani. Connie was underused. Dianne was gorgeous, but did not stand out acting wise.

When they did the special with the dad's 50th birthday party, the oldest daughter in real life was almost 50 herself!

dIANNE actually had great comic timing

Next On Eight Is Enough - David shows off the bod for the gay fans.

Laurie Walters was a few months older than Betty Buckley. She would tout absurd story ideas for Joanie, on a show that aired in the family viewing hour including lesbiansim (joanie's crush on Abby) and Joanie doing a nude photo layout for a men's magazine. The writers hated writing for her.

"Joanie doing a nude photo layout for a men's magazine" LOL!

Season 3 opener

Joannie had a huge schnoz. Susan was so homely looking. Mary was a gym teacher waiting to happen. Nicholas looked like Paddington Bear.

So in short, Four was Enough.

Susan was not bad looking. Connie was cute. Nancy was gorgeous.

I thought there was a storyline about Joanie playing a nude scene in a Hair-like play. And there was also the time when Dick Van Patton took Nicholas to swim at the YMCA. Dick hadn't realized the Y had gone coed and he and little Nick walked into the pool area naked not realizing there were women out there.

bump for batshit Betty Lynn

R308 - Didn't Tom wind up reviewing Joanie's play?

Betty Buckley named her donkey after Rosie O'Donnell.

This show was horrible. Even back in the day I couldn't watch it.. The acting was horrible and the story lines were stupid.

Remember when Nicholas ran away to San Diego and was picked up by a child molester and the family was worried, but in the end the chester said, "Have you looked at that kid? Are you saying I couldn't do any better?"

Then Nicholas cried that he was losing a friend.

[quote]Should we blame Dick or Betty (the aloof stepmother)

Why? Its not like they were responsible for raising them. That's like saying the actors who played Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are to blame for Judy Garland becoming a junkie. Besides, weren't most of "kids" adults at the time?

In that clip at r311 Betty Lynn's snack cake moistens speaking of Willie Ames.

It was Diana Hyland's fault. After all losing her made John Travolta give up women and turn gay.

r315

Don't click on that spam link.

r317 the link is to an interview with Betty Buckley.

BTW she looks about 80 years old.

No it's the guy trying to spam more hits for his piss poor excuse for a YouTube channel. DO NOT CLICK.

Its a fucking interview with Betty Fucking Buckley on YouTube, Einstein.

[quote]Its a fucking interview with Betty Fucking Buckley on YouTube, Einstein

And it (and Betty) is delightful. Never seen it before so thanks to whoever posted it. Love the old girl.

Betty Lynn is starting to look like Gaye Gayerson, liver spots and all.

Merle the Pearl was so strong

1987 People

"Making peace with the past is especially important to three cast members. In contrast to the happy ending concocted in the Bradford household, Aames, Lani O'Grady and Susan Richardson have lived through some dark and painful years. Only recently has Aames, 28, kicked a dependency on drugs and alcohol and ended a seven-year estrangement from his parents. The father of a 6-year-old boy, Aames married in March for the second time. Co-starring in the syndicated TV series Charles in Charge, he also fronts his own eponymous rock band, which plays at theme parks and state fairs.

O'Grady, 32, who played Mary, underwent treatment for Valium abuse. "I was addicted the last two years of the show," she says. "It was brought on by the pressure of the series." For two years O'Grady lived in Hawaii working as a gofer on a diving boat. She now runs a TV commercial workshop in North Hollywood. O'Grady says she's drug free today, but still seems sensitive and guarded. She claims she recently made three commercials, but for some mysterious reason can't mention the product names.

Even more enigmatic and fragile is Richardson, 35, who played Susan and who recently made tabloid news with a bizarre hostage tale. According to her account, Richardson was held against her will in South Korea by American filmmakers who—instead of making the movie they'd hired her for—took away her passport, cut off her hair and forced her to live in a small village from last October to this March. Her story has yet to be fully explained. The divorced mother of a 7-year-old girl, Richardson now lives on a Pennsylvania farm. She says she's semiretiring from show business after this sequel to do missionary work."

Connie Needham pic circa 1983

That's photo is even before Hillary started running for president.

Poor Lani -- she died right after 9/11 so I don't recall her death getting much airtime.

Susan Richardson was so odd-looking. And for some reason Dick Van Patten got on my nerves - he and his family seemed to be on every network.

I remember an episode when Heather Locklear came to get Ralph Macchio for a date. She was bouncy like Farrah in a track suit and told Ralph they were going to jog to the theater!

Gregory Harrison beats Willie Aames in the obstacle course on BOTNS.

Sad news.

Please comb your comb-over to the left in loving memory of DVP.

Several of the girls hated me because I had bigger titties than them.

Grant and Willie made my boy bits tingle.

Adam: when I put the plate of homemade cookies on the kitchen window sill, I didn't intend for you to eat ALL of them, you fat fuck!

My comeback!

I love that back in 1987, People magazine used to throw shade at its interview subjects, based on R324. I might read it today if they still did that instead of sucking Kardashian dick.

Diana Hyland turned John Travolta gay

The Eight is Enough crew would surely win the overacting award, if it existed: Dick, Susan, and Joanie were the top offenders.

And Abby (Sandra Sue Abbot) played by Betty Buckley was the worst of the worst.

She acted with her cheekbones

R334, the line is "Plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen window sill."

Cookies would make more sense, though.

I think I tuned into this show only to avoid doing my (high school) homework.

I was shocked each September at Nicholas's lack of growth.

And Tommy always looked like he had bad breath.

This thread is strange and enjoyable. One of my sixth grade teachers was Dianne Kay's stepmother. Our class was starstruck to know that Grant Goodeve was hot and Adam Rich was a bit of a fugly moppet. Also the kids didn't look at all related! I remember one episode where the dad defended having 8 kids to an overpopulation zealot by saying perhaps one of his kids would come up with solution to overpopulation. Umm.... Stop having too many kids??

Betty Buckley was a cunt extraordinaire

It was one of my favorite shows growing up.

The thing that sucked the most about this show was that none of the kids had a personality apart from his/her age order in the family.

The Brady Bunch was kind of similar that way, apart from Jan's jealousy of Marcia.

I remember two or three of the episodes were good, in like 1979.

Also the Christmas episode where Tommy finds a letter written by his late mom (before her demise, obvs) made me bawl!!

Whatever happened to Adam Rich? It must be thirty years since he hit the news about being a druggie.

Let us list the reasons child stars go bad:

1. Don't have the opportunity to have a normal childhood; lack of social skills as an adult 2. "Peak too soon" phenomenon 3. Possible exploitation by parents 4. Possible sexual abuse 5. Being short for one's age is an advantage for a child actor but not necessarily for an adult. continue....

[quote] remember an episode when Heather Locklear came to get Ralph Macchio for a date. She was bouncy like Farrah in a track suit and told Ralph they were going to jog to the theater!

This is so offensively goddamn cute. I need a stream or a clip of this. Episode?

Do you think Willie Aames liked being on Charlies in Charge?

R348 Not working with Chachi

Why is someone posting and going to awaken the Susan Richardson troll?

One of the SO CALLED kids from Eight Is Enough is now 74 YEARS OLD !

Laurie Walters

She is just 6 months older than Betty Buckley R351

Thanks for keeping this thread alive. I'm good and I love you all.

I'm pretty sure Susan Richardson is dead and her family is keeping quiet about it. Last report I saw she was practically on death's doorstep, and that was 5 years ago.

Latest "where are they now"

Dick Van Patten really cared about and loved the actors who played his kids. I know he helped out both Adam Rich and Willie Aames when they were having problems.

Laurie Walters and Lani O'Grady have both exposed their breasts in movies prior to Eight is Enough.

This article from 30 years ago details how Van Patten helped Adam Rich.

Has Dianne Kay every bared her breasts?

Dianne has never bared her bosoms onscreen.

Has Betty Buckley bared her beaver?

I read in another Eight is Enough thread here on DL that Lani, Susan R and Joan Prather (or was it Jennifer Darling?) used to sunbathe topless on the studio lot.

R354 Perhaps you are right!

She lived to tell the Enquirer about her near death experience. I like Susan a lot. She’s good people.

Lany O Grady played Mary Bradford. The family lesbian.

Poor Lani. I believe she was gay and deep in closet and she used booze and pills to calm her anxiety. She was a very sensitive and kind person.

Yes r366

Adam rich seems to be doing good .

Omg America’s sweetheart died and came back from the dead?!

Who r369?