Rick Schroeder & Tony O'Dell On Flying Trapeze - Circus of the Stars

I always thought Tony O'Dell was so hot.

Wow! Ricky was just starting to muscle up (no pedo here, thank you), I never heard of Tony O"Dell or Lauri Handler, but I see they were both on 'Gimme a Break', which I never watched. There's actually a trapeze school conducted in a public park about a mile from my home, where I sometimes stop and watch college kids practice different trapeze moves.

Ricky was a beautiful child and grew into a handsome young man. Now... Not so much. Isn't he a right wing nut these days?

This reminds me: anyone watching Sad Battle of the Network Has-Beens tonight?

R2 Tony O'Dell was better known for "Head of the Class."

[quote] Tony O'Dell was better known for "Head of the Class."

He was known for "Head of the Class"

I was just thinking of Circus of the Stars and decided to see if there was a thread about it. I guess this is a good as any.

It went off the air when I was 14, and I had stopped watching by then, but when I was a pre-teen I lived for it. Correct me if I'm wrong, R4, but I don't recall the actors who participated in Circus of the Stars or Battle of the Network Stars being has-beens. Weren't they on top TV programs, and even some film stars participated. I recall Whoopi participating on Circus the same year she won her Oscar and one year after GHOST was the #1 movie at the box office.

Tony O'Dell looks uber gay there.

Antenna TV is supposed to start showing Head of the Class sometime later this year. It's rarely been shown in syndication.

Always thought it was strange how television has a strange fascination with shaving men's pits. Never got that, especially if they are younger. Is there something I not getting?

I made out with Tony O'Dell once soon after Head of the Class ended.

How was it, R10?

R10 with his mouth or anus?

He pinged for me the moment I first saw him on the show...but I could be wrong.

[quote]Tony O'Dell was better known for "Head of the Class."

He was known for GIVING head to the class.

[quote] Both men shaved their armpits for this performance!

[quote] Always thought it was strange how television has a strange fascination with shaving men's pits. Never got that, especially if they are younger. Is there something I not getting?

How old was Ricky Schroder there? Maybe he just didn't have any armpit hair at that point? Tony O'Dell is definitely shaved though.

R15, Ricky was 15 in 1985.

You failed to mention that Bea Arthur is the host. You're slipping, DL.

[quote] I never heard of Tony O"Dell or Lauri Handler, but I see they were both on 'Gimme a Break', which I never watched.

Only Lauri was on [italic]Gimme A Break![/italic], where she landed Jonathan Silverman.

Tony is gay, yes.

Americans don't want to see hairy teenagers. Even the guy from Gossip Girl had to shave his body before he was allowed to appear on camera.

Which one, R20?

I wonder if Jason Bateman used to lick Ricky's hairless armpits before he fucked him.

Penn off camera

Penn on camera

Tony O'Dell more recently:

OMG! What the hell happened to his looks? This is not the guy I kissed over 20 years agp. I pretty much look the same as I did then but good God, that poor man.

[quote]You failed to mention that Bea Arthur is the host.

I'll bet SHE didn't shave her armpits.

[italic]Silver Spoons[/italic] was about half as funny as [italic]The Golden Girls[/italic] but the men were twice as hot.

[quote] Silver Spoons was about half as funny as The Golden Girls but the men were twice as hot.

Does that include Bea?

R2, Tony O'Dell was never on Gimme A Break! But his Karate Kid co-star William Zabka guest starred once.

Bea said Give Me A Break! not Gimme A Break!

And I had both Chief Kanisky and his father so there!

O'Dell is smelling an entire Toll House factory in that clip.

O'Dell played the babe-like geek who defeated the berserk robots in Roger Corman's "Chopping Mall," which is still a hoot.

All it needed was Helen Reddy to sing this:

Chopping Mall had some nice male eye candy. Much better than the women. That is the highlight of Tony's career besides HOTC.

His acting career really died after HOTC. He only did a very occasional guest spots afterwards. I guess he found a way to stay in show biz by becoming a dialog/acting coach and doing voiceover work.

Dan pervo Schneider didn't pull strings to get him work on Nickelodeon?

[quote] Both men shaved their armpits for this performance!

So did beloved tranny and "Tootsie"-eyeframes enthusiast, Miss Laurie Hendler!

Except that for Ricky it probably took about three seconds per arm.

Tony O'Dell was very handsome, and he actually funny sometimes on "Head of the Class" (when they let him be), but he was fatally short--only 5'7".

[quote] but he was fatally short--only 5'7".

Fatal? We're the thetans not released?

Julie is a cunt.

[quote] "Tootsie"-eyeframes enthusiast, Miss Laurie Hendler!

Tootsie stole it from her.

Tony has worked as an acting coach on some Disney shows. Not sure if Schneider had anything to do with it or not.

Several HOTC cast members moved behind the scenes along withTony, D. Schneider, Brian Robbins became producers and that one that played Janice became a casting director (and a major bitch according to a poster on here).

There was talk of HOTC reboot on Netflix a year or two ago with Simone becoming teacher at the school she used to attend. I'm guessing it never off the ground. Khrystyne Haje (Simone) had breast cancer recently too, so maybe that played a part in it not getting off the ground.

lol R38!

KNOTS LANDING's Pat Peterson also appeared on COTS doing a trapeze act. He was rocking his tights!

Oh, and he left his armpits au natural.

[quote] I wonder if Jason Bateman used to lick Ricky's hairless armpits...

Bateman and Schroder are about the same age - Jason is a year and a few months older. Even though R22 's comment is in jest, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a little adolescent comparing and sharing that went on between them.

Jason's last moment on the show (episode 02x15, "St. Louis Blues") involved them awkwardly hugging.

Why awkwardly?

They spend the whole last scene trying to say goodbye and still not do anything gay-seeming, but at the very end they can't resist it anymore. To tell you the truth, I almost cried.

Every time I hear Tony O'Dell's name, I picture Sylvia Miles screaming "ODELL! ODELL!" at James Mason in "Evil Under the Sun."

No appreciation for Michael Fairgate's package? 😕

R52 I think of ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS, my very first chapter book as a kid.

[quote]but he was fatally short--only 5'7".

Yeah he was too short

[quote]Jason's last moment on the show (episode 02x15, "St. Louis Blues") involved them awkwardly hugging.

According to tabloids after they grew up, it was mentioned that Schroeder felt like Bateman was stealing the limelight from him. So they got rid of him. They picked another kid who didn’t shine as a sidekick, the kid who became Carlton Banks. I recall Schroeder during talk show interviews as a young adult around the same time, and he claimed he “didn’t remember much,” of those years. It made me think the jealousy thing was valid. My friend met him during the silver spoons years. He was a brat according to my friend. And also that he needed a smack in the head. He had two women sitting on either side of him, telling him how wonderful he was.

[quote]This is not the guy I kissed over 20 years agp. I pretty much look the same as I did then

Anybody who has seen any of the "Silver Spoon" episodes that Bateman was in knows that Bateman was a scene stealer. He still was on "Valerie/Hogan Family." Anyway, I've have read that it was MamaBear Schroder who wanted him out of there. The another story was that MamaBear caught the scene stealer and her little star doing boy things together in Ricky's dressing room.

Considering [italic]Diff'rent Strokes[/italic] was done by the same studio, he's lucky he didn't end up like any of them.

No luck. Ricky just had decent parents.

[quote]They picked another kid who didn’t shine as a sidekick, the kid who became Carlton Banks.

Norman Lear, who was on the sidelines fighting the Moral Majority and seemed mainly during this period to have been involved more with movies, emergency script doctoring on [italic]The Facts of Life[/italic], and a few flop shows like [italic]Palmerstown USA[/italic] and [italic]AKA Pablo[/italic], saw Alfonzo Ribiero in [italic]The Tap Dance Kid[/italic] and that Pepsi Commercial and put him on the show; IIRC Savion Glover took his place on Broadway. By that time Freddy had pushed out J.T. (who couldn't possibly be str8 if he found Ricky attractive in drag), and then they both got pushed out for Billy Jacoby (he was also Blanche's grandson on [italic]Golden Girls[/italic], making Dorothy's Burl Ives joke in the Big Daddy make sense if you remember that "Silver and Gold" song from [italic]Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer[/italic]). The last season was in syndication, so to compensate for a reduced budget, Franklyn Seales got reduced to recurring status and alternated with [italic]Amen[/italic] and did that until he was too sick to work, and Alfonzo only got pushed down.

And if that isn't enough, one of the writers, Steve Pritzker, also wrote for [italic]The Mary Tyler Moore Show[/italic], including the episode "Some of My Best Friends Are Rhoda," where Rhoda wears a tracksuit.

Pat Peterson was bulging nicely in his trapeze leotard in that clip. Did he ever do anything other than KNOT'S??

He did other acting roles before KNOTS, but not after.

R63 how come?

From what I’ve read he didn’t want to act anymore.

I think O'Dell looks pretty good. He was no spring chicken when he was on "Head of the Class" despite playing a high school student. He already had played Lindsay Blaisdel's bf in the first season of "Dynasty" which was several years earlier. And he's totally gay, I have a friend who went on a date with him in the 90s.

He was the best looking guy on "Head of the Class" but it was never really acknowledged and they never played it up, he was just very preppy. I think even the producers could tell that his sexual chemistry with the women was almost nil. Even Arvid dated.

[quote]Anybody who has seen any of the "Silver Spoon" episodes that Bateman was in knows that Bateman was a scene stealer. He still was on "Valerie/Hogan Family." Anyway, I've have read that it was MamaBear Schroder who wanted him out of there. The another story was that MamaBear caught the scene stealer and her little star doing boy things together in Ricky's dressing room.

He was a scene stealer. I loved him in a short lived sitcom after S.S.. All he did was shout on the Hogans. One of them was on a talk show not many years ago, saying they’d often spied on the woman in Silver Spoons when she did wardrobe changes. They’d climbed up above the set to do it. Bateman didn’t have a demanding academic life. Their parents sole rule for acting was that they (he and Justine) maintain their school grades. This pissed off his sister, as she had an A average, while Jason was a C student. Damn, I can’t believe I remembered all this useless trivia.

He always had a weird sexual vibe on "Silver Spoons" and "It's Your Move" that made it uncomfortable to watch. Like he would be lusting after the ladies on the show but not really. This went away by Valerie or he grew into it, and it wasn't odd to watch by then.

Dereck of "Silver Spoons" was just a poor Eddie Haskell cloan, so if Ricky Schroeder was jealous, it didn't take much. But then again, for a show about Ricky his character was a weak link.

[quote]Ricky was a beautiful child and grew into a handsome young man. Now... Not so much. Isn't he a right wing nut these days?

Not really. He did speak at a Republican Convention back in the day, but I remember reading an interview with him when he moved the family to Spain a few years ago, and he said he doesn't affiliate with any political party.

Found it:

[quote]CBS: You have been an ongoing supporter of the Republican Party. Why does this political party speak to you?

[quote]RS: “You know the older I get, the more tolerant I have become. Today, I don’t align myself with any party; I take things issue by issue. I am a patriot to the core.”

It was strange to see he and his wife split a little while back after almost 25 years of marriage. She seems to like to pimp their kids out in a way that he doesn't.

R66 I always thought Brian Robbins was supposed to be the stud on Head of the Class.

Ricky Schroeder's skinny-dipping scene in James Michener's Texas was pretty hot.

If Rick can't take his clothes off in movies, then the terrorists have won.

[quote] a few flop shows like Palmerstown USA

I remember that show. I thought the Dad was oddly attractive.

[quote]Dereck of "Silver Spoons" was just a poor Eddie Haskell cloan,

I don't remember Eddie Haskell trying to pass Wally Cleaver off as a girl, nor do I remember Ken Osmond doing much of anything outside of [italic]Leave it to Beaver[/italic].

[quote]so if Ricky Schroeder was jealous, it didn't take much. But then again, for a show about Ricky his character was a weak link.

He was basically the Peter Brady of his own show (in real life they were both 12 when their respective shows started and 17 when they ended), yet he didn't seem as jealous of Alfonzo Ribiero being able to dance and sing better than he ever could.

More of Rick ' s good side.

He wasn't jealous because Rick knew his audience wouldn't like coffee when they could have cream.

[quote]I don't remember Eddie Haskell trying to pass Wally Cleaver off as a girl, nor do I remember Ken Osmond doing much of anything outside of Leave it to Beaver.

No one said he did, what's the point? The point was that Dereck WAS a weak cloan of Eddie Haskell.

Whatever the actor who portrayed either character did or did not do has absolutely nothing to do with the validity of the statement.

r71

He had no lips and besides he was Fatalie's man on the Facts of Life.

Rick's ass protege, Mark-Paul

R71 I used to think Brian Robbins was attractive before his mouth really started to bother me. Something unpleasant and simian-like about his lower jaw which was very evident in the movie CHUD 2. On the show he was supposed to be Krystyne Haje's love interest, but she was dating Tony O'Dell in real life.

[quote] He wasn't jealous because Rick knew his audience wouldn't like coffee when they could have cream.

Or you could just have both.

[quote] Rick's ass protege, Mark-Paul

To the untrained eye, that polyester could almost pass for silk.

Lol at r71’s pic, especially Howard Hesseman’s cock resting on that guy’s shoulder.

I could totally picture Hesseman hanging out at The Gauntlet or Cuffs or any other elderbar wearing a pair of crotchless leather chaps.

I wonder If Tony grabbed Ricky's ankles or vise versa when riding the trapeze.

Oh, you silly little r85........

If chaps weren't crotchless, then they'd just be leather pants.

R88 I know, but adding "crotchless" gives better a better visual.

Lycra, leather, and 80s sitcoms all in a single thread.

Don't ever change, DL.

[quote] [Jason Bateman] always had a weird sexual vibe on "Silver Spoons" and "It's Your Move" that made it uncomfortable to watch.

In a Hollywood where CMBYN is a potential Oscar contender, the point is kind of moot.