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Let’s Be Kate and Allie

I’m the bad feelings caused by Jane Curtin’s well-deserved Emmys.

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by Anonymousreply 337June 6, 2021 3:42 PM

I'm Jane Curtin's tongue.....fastest in a sitcom since Ann Sothern.

by Anonymousreply 1July 10, 2020 1:50 AM

I’m grown up Chip, nude.

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by Anonymousreply 2July 10, 2020 1:54 AM

I’m the high-larious madcap adventure that illustrates the humiliating fall from grace wives experience when they are discarded.

by Anonymousreply 3July 10, 2020 1:59 AM

Every one of the kids is gay, right?

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by Anonymousreply 4July 10, 2020 2:01 AM

How were they able to afford a FOUR bedroom place in Manhattan

by Anonymousreply 5July 10, 2020 2:04 AM

I am Jane, the ignorant slut.

by Anonymousreply 6July 10, 2020 2:05 AM

R5 you know it’s not real right?

by Anonymousreply 7July 10, 2020 2:07 AM

R7 Like on Friends - how could they find a rent controlled apartment

by Anonymousreply 8July 10, 2020 2:08 AM

I'm the episode with guest Lindsay Wagner that was going to be a spinoff but didn't get picked up.

by Anonymousreply 9July 10, 2020 2:19 AM

I'm Wendie Malick, playing the wife of Jane Curtin's ex in an early role

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by Anonymousreply 10July 10, 2020 2:20 AM

I loved "Kate & Allie" back in the day and would love to see reruns of it now. Unfortunately, it's one of those shows that seemed to just disappear after its original network run was over.

by Anonymousreply 11July 10, 2020 2:20 AM

I’m Ari Meyers as ‘Emma’, I’m sexier than Allison Smith as ‘Jennie’.

by Anonymousreply 12July 10, 2020 2:27 AM

I've seen it rerun very sporadically over the years, r11, but you're right that it's mostly disappeared. I bought the complete series on DVD years ago. It's an official release but the quality is very hit and miss. There's probably not enough demand for a remastered release.

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by Anonymousreply 13July 10, 2020 2:31 AM

What was the rent on that apartment?

by Anonymousreply 14July 10, 2020 2:35 AM

I’m Jessica Lange, who costarred with the gals in a movie but wouldn’t stoop to appearing on television.

by Anonymousreply 15July 10, 2020 2:39 AM

it was mentioned to be a brownstone, but maybe they didn’t rent the whole thing. I know there was an upstairs but I thought the characters stepped down to enter the apartment. That tells me they had the ground floor and the parlor floor, and then the other two floors were accessed by the main stoop which everyone associated with the brownstones. Wasn’t Jane Curtin’s character a doctor’s wife from Connecticut? They sounded well-off.

by Anonymousreply 16July 10, 2020 2:39 AM

I’m Susan St. James, the star of the fucking show, and I’m just now being mentioned? Fuck all of you.

by Anonymousreply 17July 10, 2020 2:41 AM

I'm the piano that plays over the opening of every episode when Kate and Allie are waxing philosophic about life.

by Anonymousreply 18July 10, 2020 2:43 AM

I waiting for this pedestrian show to end. The next program up is “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” Finally, a tv program I could relate to.

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by Anonymousreply 19July 10, 2020 2:45 AM

I'm Broad City, and I have Kate and Allie in my veins.

by Anonymousreply 20July 10, 2020 2:46 AM

[quote] . Wasn’t Jane Curtin’s character a doctor’s wife from Connecticut? They sounded well-off.

Kate was the one that held the lease, Allie paid Kate rent

by Anonymousreply 21July 10, 2020 2:50 AM

The layout made no sense. The main set (kitchen/living room) was at garden apartment level, with stairs leading to the parlor floor, which had four bedrooms. Or was it five? Did the two girls share?

But it was a standard NYC brownstone with two additional floors. So I guess in this building, the main entrance (parlor floor door) opened onto a tiny space containing only a staircase to the upper floors, since the parlor floor was blocked off for these bedrooms?

It was a cool set, but it was for the wrong show considering the space needed.

by Anonymousreply 22July 10, 2020 2:54 AM

For R19:

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by Anonymousreply 23July 10, 2020 2:55 AM

I'm the dead hamster on Alley's poultry in the refrigerator.

by Anonymousreply 24July 10, 2020 2:56 AM

^ OOps, meant Allie's poultry.

by Anonymousreply 25July 10, 2020 2:56 AM

I’m the Monday night lineup of Kate and Allie, Newhart, and Cagney and Lacey.

by Anonymousreply 26July 10, 2020 2:58 AM

Which was Kate and which was Allie?

Also, I thought they were lesbians.

by Anonymousreply 27July 10, 2020 3:03 AM

R27, Kate was the fun mom and Allie was the funny mom.

by Anonymousreply 28July 10, 2020 3:06 AM

I'm the other CBS shows also on Monday nights: Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Newhart, Designing Women, My Sister Sam, Cagney and Lacey.

by Anonymousreply 29July 10, 2020 3:06 AM

R22 - TV sets often don’t actually completely “work” in reality. I’ve never seen K & A, but older originally single family homes, especially urban row houses / NYC brownstones were very adaptable through the years to multiple tenants or other uses without a lot of renovation because they were designed with rooms and circulation spaces that were often interconnected in more than one way, but always could be closed off with doors. Room also weren’t as “purpose built” as they are in modern homes so they were very adaptable. Here’s a great book about the subject:

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by Anonymousreply 30July 10, 2020 3:09 AM

I’m the many, many tampons bought every month.

by Anonymousreply 31July 10, 2020 3:10 AM

I’m the pre-credit Unmarried Woman convo that was ripped off from Private Benjamin.

by Anonymousreply 32July 10, 2020 3:15 AM

I'm the episode about homelessness when Allie was stranded uptown because she had no money for a cab or the subway and the audience was asked to ignore the fact that she could've just walked her ass home in an hour and a half.

by Anonymousreply 33July 10, 2020 3:16 AM

I’m the wish this gayling had that Jane Curtin and Susan St. James would swap roles with Tyne Daley and Sharon Gless for an episode.

by Anonymousreply 34July 10, 2020 3:16 AM

Let’s be a pathetic fruit

by Anonymousreply 35July 10, 2020 3:25 AM

I’m Bob Randall, the head writer of Kate & Allie, and author of The Fan made into a delicious movie starring Lauren Bacall.

by Anonymousreply 36July 10, 2020 3:26 AM

I'm the only real comic timing on the entire set. I belong to Jane Curtin.

by Anonymousreply 37July 10, 2020 3:53 AM

I'm Chip's chipmunk cheeks, which looked adorable when the show started out and he was four foot ten, but look really nightmarish by the end of the show's run when he's 6'3".

by Anonymousreply 38July 10, 2020 3:56 AM

I'm Sam Freed who plays Allie's second husband in the show's final (awful) seasons. You bitches may know me better as Mr. Barrie Youngfellow.

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by Anonymousreply 39July 10, 2020 4:13 AM

I'm the famous movie actress living with the former boxing champion.

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by Anonymousreply 40July 10, 2020 4:32 AM

I’m Chip’s crusty sock which he uses to beat off every night as he secretly watches the girls undress.

by Anonymousreply 41July 10, 2020 4:33 AM

Kate got the apartment in the 60s when Greenwich Village was a dump. Flashbacks show Kate as a hippie and Allie as a suburban mom. Which was real life.

by Anonymousreply 42July 10, 2020 4:54 AM

r38

That growth certainly made him grotesque.

by Anonymousreply 43July 10, 2020 4:56 AM

I'm the woman pissed off because Susan got my mail all the time and wouldn't forward it on

by Anonymousreply 44July 10, 2020 4:58 AM

I'm Kate's daughter who moved to Cleveland with Drew, Oswald and some other guy.

by Anonymousreply 45July 10, 2020 4:59 AM

I’m Allison Smith — I thought Kate & Allie would be to me what Square Pegs was to SJP and I would go on to do bigger and better things. Instead I got canned from The West Wing.

by Anonymousreply 46July 10, 2020 5:47 AM

I remember the Emmy controversy. Curtin said thanks to St. James because you can't do it with a trained poodle.

St. James did an interview where she said she was hurt by the joke and that she would have said the show should be one word kateandallie because they were such a team.

Curtin didn't show up to the ceremony the next year where she won again.

by Anonymousreply 47July 10, 2020 6:04 AM

Oh and in later years Curtin would still be nominated and St. James wouldn't.

by Anonymousreply 48July 10, 2020 6:05 AM

Hey! America’s treasure Jane Curtain is not dead.

And, the other one is not dead either.

by Anonymousreply 49July 10, 2020 6:50 AM

We were shite.

by Anonymousreply 50July 10, 2020 7:14 AM

How could they afford curtains that matched the wallpaper?

by Anonymousreply 51July 10, 2020 7:17 AM

Loved the series. Wish it would show up on reruns. Seems like a natural for Logo.

by Anonymousreply 52July 10, 2020 2:10 PM

I'm the best line of the series, spoken by Kate when asked to move with Allie and her soon-to-be new husband: "I'm a New Yorker, Bob. The only thing I like about New Jersey is their view of Manhattan."

by Anonymousreply 53July 10, 2020 2:13 PM

Poor Susan. I think her heart broke permanently when her son died.

by Anonymousreply 54July 10, 2020 2:20 PM

I'm the closing shot of Kate and Allie saying "goodnight" and clearly going into separate bedrooms so the audience knows they aren't lesbians.

by Anonymousreply 55July 10, 2020 2:39 PM

one of my favorite openings had the pair walking and musing on all the cultural advantages of NYC. Allie says “Sunday in New York is wonderful! You can go the museum, wander a bookstore, pop into a gallery, walk through the park, attend a lecture... so what are you going to do today Kate?”

“Wash my hair and watch TV.”

by Anonymousreply 56July 10, 2020 2:48 PM

Allie's husband Charles was wealthy and it was said how Charles saw his children and supported them. So there was never any question of Allie's money. When Kate wanted another child, When Allie said, children need fathers, Kate said, their children didn't have one, but Allie came back with "They HAVE fathers and they see them plenty." And went on to explain how they support them.

I don't recall any serious money issues, it was always money for extras like when Kate bought the dress that caused thousands of dollars, intending to wear and then return it, only to find it wound up on a lady who died and they had to get it off the corpse

by Anonymousreply 57July 10, 2020 2:56 PM

yes one episode had Allie spying on Charles or maybe his fiancée and she snuck into his house, she reported back to Kate in a withering tone “Modern. Ultra Modern. DANISH Ultra Modern.” I took that to mean he was well off. We did see the kids with packed bags going or coming from weekend visits too.

by Anonymousreply 58July 10, 2020 3:18 PM

I'm Peter Onorati, waiting backstage hoping the director will ask me to take my shirt off just once.

by Anonymousreply 59July 10, 2020 3:28 PM

I’m the master tapes for all six seasons. Do you know where am? I don’t. It sure is dark, though. And dusty. Hello? Anyone?

by Anonymousreply 60July 10, 2020 3:33 PM

[quote] I’m Bob Randall, the head writer of Kate & Allie,

He also won an EMMY for writing the TV Movie "David's Mother"

by Anonymousreply 61July 10, 2020 3:41 PM

I'm Peter Onorati, waiting backstage hoping the director will ask me to take my shirt off just once.

—Anonymous

Some viewers were hoping that too, Pete!

by Anonymousreply 62July 10, 2020 6:42 PM

I’m Shirley Feeney! I met Kate as a fellow participant in the witness relocation program in Missouri. That was years back and we’ve been best buddies ever since!

Did I say Missouri? I meant...Maine! We love the seafood here!

by Anonymousreply 63July 10, 2020 7:11 PM

I'm Ari Meyers who may or may not be Puerto Rican depending on the edit war at Wikipedia.

by Anonymousreply 64July 10, 2020 7:17 PM

she’s Jewish, hence white adjacent

by Anonymousreply 65July 10, 2020 7:20 PM

[quote]I'm Kate's daughter who moved to Cleveland with Drew, Oswald and some other guy.

Christa Miller is Susan's niece, not her daughter.

by Anonymousreply 66July 10, 2020 7:24 PM

[quote]I’m Susan St. James, the star of the fucking show, and I’m just now being mentioned? Fuck all of you.

You're an IMPOSTOR! If you were really Susan, you'd know she HATES it when people don't spell out SAINT James.

by Anonymousreply 67July 10, 2020 7:25 PM

At the time it was one of the few shows that was produced in NY. IN recent years there has been a huge upswing in TV production there.

by Anonymousreply 68July 10, 2020 7:26 PM

It was taped at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where Stephen Colbert now does his show (or at least did before the pandemic).

by Anonymousreply 69July 10, 2020 7:48 PM

Hi I'm Freddie Koehler. Before "Kate & Allie" I was in "Mr. Mom." I think I got to see Terri Garr's woo-woo. But I was 8 so I do not really know.

by Anonymousreply 70July 10, 2020 7:52 PM

Freddie Koehler would later join the cast of All My Children playing the supporting role of Tim Dillion's best friend

by Anonymousreply 71July 10, 2020 7:58 PM

I loved Bob Randall

by Anonymousreply 72July 10, 2020 8:17 PM

I'm the required scene to show Kate and Allie entering separate bedrooms to let viewers know they were not lesbians.

by Anonymousreply 73July 10, 2020 8:22 PM

I’m a frustrated Meredith Baxter Birney, stuck with Shakes and no tennis.

by Anonymousreply 74July 10, 2020 8:45 PM

Just when you think there’s no one carin’. Just when you think there’s no one Sharin ’. Just when you think you can take off your pants and take a big shit - you can’t.

by Anonymousreply 75July 10, 2020 8:49 PM

Just when you think you’re alone and can JO, you can’t.

by Anonymousreply 76July 10, 2020 10:48 PM

Anyone remember this?

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by Anonymousreply 77July 11, 2020 12:19 AM

No charisma.

by Anonymousreply 78July 11, 2020 12:37 AM

She got Brian Bloom dick in his prime.

by Anonymousreply 79July 11, 2020 12:37 AM

I'm Greg Salata who for some reason was considered attractive despite a humongous nose.

by Anonymousreply 80July 11, 2020 4:44 AM

I'm the episode with Allie screaming "Paullll Newmannn!!!" out the front door for all the neighbors to hear.

by Anonymousreply 81July 11, 2020 1:40 PM

I’m r33’s VERY SPECIAL EPISODE.

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by Anonymousreply 82July 11, 2020 2:29 PM

Thanks, R82! To be fair, I do want to amend one part of my post, which is that Allie could've walked home "in an hour and a half." As I recall, she was supposed to be stranded somewhere up near Washington Heights and their apartment was in the Village, so if she had attempted to walk home, yes, she could've made it but it would've taken her a lot longer than 90 minutes. Probably something more like 4.5 hours (depending on how fast she walked and how many times she stopped to rest), so if she started walking from say 168th around 9 a.m., she'd likely get home sometime around 1:30 that afternoon.

by Anonymousreply 83July 11, 2020 2:59 PM

R33 why couldn't she just take a taxi and pay for it when she got home?

by Anonymousreply 84July 11, 2020 3:10 PM

R84, I haven't seen the episode in a number of years but I think the point was that she was stranded uptown without money for a cab or the subway, so the only way she could get back home was to walk, which was a long trek. She tried to pick up change along the way (either off the ground or by asking strangers), hence everyone looking at her and thinking she was just another hobo/vagabond.

by Anonymousreply 85July 11, 2020 3:21 PM

I loved the homeless episode. Jenny was going to college at Columbia University and that is Allie's starting point.

So it's Columbia University to Greenwich Village. According to Google it's 5.7 miles and Google says you should be able to walk it in one hour and 56 minutes.

by Anonymousreply 86July 11, 2020 3:26 PM

R47 Entertainment Tonight had live shots of Susan's parents watching the Emmy's and it was real awkward when Jane said that about acting with a poodle ; the camera quickly panned away from Susan's parents.

by Anonymousreply 87July 11, 2020 3:48 PM

Actually she ends up giving her change to a homeless man at the end, so we assume Allie does end up walking home. BUT - she meets a cast of characters along her journey that reminds us that the homeless could be you and me!

by Anonymousreply 88July 11, 2020 3:51 PM

I'm confused about the poodle comment -- was Jane really meaning to insult Susan or was it misunderstood?

by Anonymousreply 89July 11, 2020 3:55 PM

Jane is awesome. I watched her Emmy legends interview and she's classy to all her costars.

Even John Belushi who was a total asshole to everyone. She says that; she, her husband and John and his wife were friends and would go out on the town often. This was before they were on SNL together.

Then she says after he reach star status he became difficult and describes some of his behaviors and says it must've been the drugs because he was not the John she had known.

And on Chevy Chase she said the fame came to quickly and NBC pushed to make him the "star" of SNL, which everyone else resented. But then adds, "that's the what the public wanted and he pulled in the ratings, so what else could be expected and that is the nature of the business, so if you want to be in it, people need to get used to it."

by Anonymousreply 90July 11, 2020 4:57 PM

R90, thanks for mentioning that interview. I enjoyed watching it.

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by Anonymousreply 91July 11, 2020 6:18 PM

I always liked that Jane received the honors and success she did. John Belushi and Chevy Chase were both really obnoxious to her on the set of SNL (Belushi even told her straight to her face, "Female isn't funny"), and yet she showed them both that people in the industry appreciated her exceptional comic timing.

by Anonymousreply 92July 11, 2020 7:21 PM

There was a period when the Monday night CBS line-up included "Kate & Allie," "My Sister Sam" and "Cagney & Lacey"--one of my best friends (a lesbian) called it "Dyke Night on CBS."

by Anonymousreply 93July 11, 2020 7:23 PM

I'm all the lesbians closeted and out on that Monday night lineup. Sometimes I tune into Monday Night Football instead of my own shows.

by Anonymousreply 94July 11, 2020 7:31 PM

For those who are saying "Oh Allie got a big settlement from her doctor husband" - there was a show where Allie and her ex were negotiating the divorce and all Allie wanted was child support. She wanted NO alimony - but she wanted the house.

So she got the house, but Allie also wanted to go back to school. She had quit school to marry Charles, and she regretted it. So after back and forth, she finally decided instead of asking Charles (ex-husband) to pay for her college education. Allie would sell the house, and use the proceeds to pay for her college education.

She went through the entire amount of money she got for the house, on her college education. Fine Arts Degree. They did an episode, she couldn't find a job after graduating. She finally found a job working at a movie theater, and then she got a job at a gift shop in an Art Gallery. But the gallery job was short lived and there was a fire, and it burnt to the ground

That is when Kate & Allie started the catering business. So in short, Allie and Kate were always pressed for money.

by Anonymousreply 95July 11, 2020 7:42 PM

I'm the red head daughter who will eventually move to Jersey, take a shitty waitressing job and get killed by Jason Voorhees wearing the body of the Desperate Housewives guy.

by Anonymousreply 96July 11, 2020 7:49 PM

I remain astonished Curtin never got an Emmy for 3rd Rock from the Sun. Her performance as Mary Albright was by far the funniest thing on that show. Two of her funniest moments:

1) Dick buying her a dog, which for some reason was obsessed with her crotch. Nobody has ever been funnier being simultaneously horrified and disgusted as Jane Curtin (both here and in the "Roseanne Rosannadanna" skits on SNL).

2) Mary on a long cross-country driving trip with Dick, passing the time by singing the entire score of "West Side Story." They show singign both parts for "A Boy Like That," including the high part for Maria ("Oh no, Anita...").

by Anonymousreply 97July 11, 2020 8:32 PM

r95

I never got the idea they were pressed for money. Certainly Charles gave his kids lots of expensive gifts and in one episode when Allie finds Jenny living with her boyfriend at the dorm, Jenny arrogantly says "Don't worry my father won't cut us off."

While they weren't rich I never saw money as an issue, especially since Allie didn't work for half the series.

by Anonymousreply 98July 11, 2020 9:16 PM

I also think Allie might have come from a good family because didn’t they do a flashback and she was in a sweater and pearls while Kate was all dirty hippy?

by Anonymousreply 99July 11, 2020 10:24 PM

The maintenance man

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by Anonymousreply 100July 11, 2020 11:22 PM

[quote] While they weren't rich I never saw money as an issue, especially since Allie didn't work for half the series.

When they started running their catering business, money became an issue - that was in season 5

by Anonymousreply 101July 11, 2020 11:23 PM

I’m not going to read this thread because I just can’t imagine how exhausting it must be to be Kate and Allie.

by Anonymousreply 102July 11, 2020 11:25 PM

What are you talking about, R96? Alison Smith was never in a Friday the 13th movie.

by Anonymousreply 103July 12, 2020 12:02 AM

What the hell are you talking about, R103?

by Anonymousreply 104July 12, 2020 12:34 AM

I bet Susan St James used to tell homo jokes in front of Rock Hudson. She looks the type.

by Anonymousreply 105July 12, 2020 12:38 AM

Susan has always been a far left liberal. She's on Twitter.

She lived in a hippie commune when she was on McMillan and Wife.

by Anonymousreply 106July 12, 2020 12:41 AM

There is also another Susan St James on Twitter who is a Trump loving cunt. I thought for a moment the “real” SSJ had lost her mind.

by Anonymousreply 107July 12, 2020 12:56 AM

r103, she was in Jason Goes To Hell which I realize a lot of fans don't like to consider a true Friday the 13th entry

Spoiler at link

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by Anonymousreply 108July 12, 2020 1:21 AM

So, yes or not? Was the Kate and Allie duo as destitute as the Three's Company trio(s)??? The Three's roommates always had a hard time coming up with the rent, which was $300 for most of that show's run. That was only $100 apiece!

by Anonymousreply 109July 12, 2020 1:41 AM

R109 it was only in season 5 when they started up their business did they have money problems

By Season 6 Allie married Bob, and there was no talk of money issues.

by Anonymousreply 110July 12, 2020 1:44 AM

R105 - What she said she did do was make all sorts of varied facial expressions during her closeups while Rock was delivering his lines, the editors loved it and would cut to her reactions a lot.

by Anonymousreply 111July 12, 2020 2:11 AM

R100 - Jesus that looks like my late grandpa -- us Italians start off cute but no age so good!

by Anonymousreply 112July 12, 2020 2:13 AM

R112, um, hello, he's STILL hot!

by Anonymousreply 113July 12, 2020 2:21 AM

R108 still before her nose job I see.

by Anonymousreply 114July 12, 2020 2:22 AM

R113 - I'm glad you think so! I just see my future eye bags and jowls.

by Anonymousreply 115July 12, 2020 2:34 AM

[Quote] By Season 6 Allie married Bob, and there was no talk of money issues.

Kate and her daughter continued to live in the same house with them?

by Anonymousreply 116July 12, 2020 2:37 AM

R116 Kate's daughter moved to L.A. (as the actress Ari Meyers had left the show in the middle of season 4 to attend college full-time)

So Kate was like a permanent house guest living with Allie and Bob in their new condo

by Anonymousreply 117July 12, 2020 2:39 AM

Kate was such a pest, living with newlyweds. A real-life Allie would be like GTFOOH!

by Anonymousreply 118July 12, 2020 2:42 AM

If I was TPTB I would still have Kate & Allie still living at their old place, and make that entire last year one long engagement of Bob and Allie - and them get married in the last and final episode.

by Anonymousreply 119July 12, 2020 2:46 AM

I'm 1980's 'How To Beat The Hight Cost of Liiving', which cemented the chemistry between Jane Curtain and Susan Saint James. It took awhile to find a TV series vehicle. CBS came through in 1984.

by Anonymousreply 120July 12, 2020 4:06 AM

r89 Curtin was just joking. I think St. James was a bit oversensitive about it and probably a little miffed that Curtin won when St. James was the bigger star at the beginning.

by Anonymousreply 121July 12, 2020 4:42 AM

Susan St. James already had an Emmy at that point, the greedy bitch.

by Anonymousreply 122July 12, 2020 4:46 AM

The whole final season was so awkward. Both daughters had gone off to college and no longer (or rarely) appeared. Chip was at a really awkward period of adolescence with a constantly cracking voice and a newfound horniness for girls that was only slightly more convincing than Danny Pintauro's over on Who's The Boss. They wrote in that Allie's new husband was away from home frequently so Kate could move in but it was just a really weird setup that didn't make sense. And the character of Allie became really insufferable once she married Bob. I wanted Kate to smack some sense into her or take her down a few notches but by that point I guess no one really cared.

by Anonymousreply 123July 12, 2020 5:03 AM

I never liked the wallpaper in the apartment.

by Anonymousreply 124July 12, 2020 7:37 AM

R124 on the contrary! The squiggled lines wallpaper? As a young gayling I wanted that wallpaper for my room! I loved Kate and Allie.

The look of the show evokes a particular era, for some reason I keep thinking about the Silver Palate Gourmet cookbook.

by Anonymousreply 125July 12, 2020 12:50 PM

I did like the condom episode from the last season.

by Anonymousreply 126July 12, 2020 1:07 PM

The last season was a result of the series being cancelled and then brought back for a half a season. Emma had been written off essentially, going to live in the dorm at Columbia, while Jenny lived at home going to Columbia. Then Emma was said to have gone to LA to live with her father (who was an actor) whilst going to college out there.

Bob was given a job in Washington DC so he lived there M-F and commuted to NYC on the weekends.

This left Allie alone M-F so she had Kate move in, apparently forgetting that she had a son to keep her company.

During the last season it was said Kate paid $800/month for her Greenwich Village apartment, which she sublet out to move in with Allie.

The new apartment was to give them all sorts of wacky neighbors to interact with.

by Anonymousreply 127July 12, 2020 1:17 PM

r127

Emma had moved out the season before and Jenny moved to the dorm in the last season, being seen there from time to time but usually seen just bringing home her laundry to do.

by Anonymousreply 128July 12, 2020 1:19 PM

Wasn’t there a Broadway “Annie” associated with this show?

by Anonymousreply 129July 12, 2020 1:50 PM

yes, the one who played Jennie

by Anonymousreply 130July 12, 2020 2:47 PM

R130 How did she and horse faced SJP get shows, but not that delightful Andrea McArdle?

by Anonymousreply 131July 12, 2020 2:51 PM

wasn’t late 80s teen pop sensation Debbie Gibson also an Annie?

by Anonymousreply 132July 12, 2020 2:54 PM

Aside from Aileen Quinn, SJP had to be the fugliest Annie.

I mean, I know she was an orphan and all...but did she really have to look like she just escaped Auschwitz?

by Anonymousreply 133July 12, 2020 3:01 PM

R132 Only in her dreams!

by Anonymousreply 134July 12, 2020 3:01 PM

The creatives forces behind Kat & Allie (Bob Randall & Bill Persky) had left after season five - and CBS hired a pair of LA show-killers (for a NY based show) as the new EPs

So that is why the final season sucked

by Anonymousreply 135July 12, 2020 3:03 PM

The house on Bank Street used for exteriors, previously belonged to Marian Tanner, the inspiration for Auntie Mame.

by Anonymousreply 136July 12, 2020 3:03 PM

[quote]The new apartment was to give them all sorts of wacky neighbors to interact with.

They couldn't have had wacky neighbours in Greenwich Village? Besides, we never got to meet Roger's wife Evelyn.

I loved this show as a kid (and still enjoy some of it on rewatch as an adult), but, as R119 suggested, they should have drawn out the engagement a bit longer and ended with the wedding (but not the wedding they had - like, at least bring Ari Meyers back for that, if not the characters of Max, Charles, Claire, Andrea Martin's Eddie, et cetera, instead of Dick Butkus).

by Anonymousreply 137July 12, 2020 3:19 PM

It was a pretty good sitcom back in the day. It was a mid-season replacement series of only six episodes from March to May 1983. It ranked #8 for that season, the only sitcom in the Top 10. At that point, the primetime soaps (Dallas, Dynasty, etc.) and one-hour dramas dominated the ratings. Kate & Allie signaled a bit the return to the sitcom. The Cosby Show would debut in the fall of 1984 and sitcoms then dominated the ratings for a long time thereafter.

It was a show that had a premise with a shelf life, though. Once Allie got married, that was it really. That forced final season was a bad one. It was also affected by a writer's strike that affected the quality, but really it was trying to go beyond its premise at that point. Still, while it was within its shelf life, it was pretty good, mainly thanks to Jane Curtin.

by Anonymousreply 138July 12, 2020 4:04 PM

Jane Curtin for her part was not happy with quality of the final season, as she called the scripts "uneven"

by Anonymousreply 139July 12, 2020 4:09 PM

[quote]They couldn't have had wacky neighbours in Greenwich Village? Besides, we never got to meet Roger's wife Evelyn.

But they lost the girls, Chip was fugly to start with and grew absolutely hideous. Moving into a big apartment building made it easier for them to have drop ins, such as a pathetic version of Schneider and the fat who one the lottery.

by Anonymousreply 140July 12, 2020 4:10 PM

Dick Butkus was on this show? He was also on My Two Dads. Kate and Allie moving to a new apartment reminds me of Nell, Addie, and Joey moving to NYC on the final season of Gimme a Break. Yes, Nell and Addie had "wacky" neighbors...like Rosie O'Donnell and Paul Sand!

by Anonymousreply 141July 12, 2020 5:05 PM

I though Chip was cute when he appeared on Strangers With Candy.

by Anonymousreply 142July 12, 2020 5:13 PM

The odd thing was that they kept bringing Ted back during the run, and it seemed like the showrunners were angling towards them to eventually marry as well, but then they had a really bizarre episode after Allie and Bob's wedding, where Ted goes on a trip, finds a new girlfriend, and breaks up with her over the phone. Then she goes over to his house but finds the new girlfriend there and she pours out her feelings to her while Ted shows up in the car but doesn't come in. So Susan's character is left sitting in Ted's house at the end of the episode alone.

You wonder why they just couldn't get the guy who played Ted to do one more episode to wrap things up.

by Anonymousreply 143July 12, 2020 5:16 PM

R140, why are you so concerned about the attractiveness of a child aged 8-12? Weird.

by Anonymousreply 144July 12, 2020 5:20 PM

r143

They did worse in the final episode where they got a new girl to play Emma as a "California valley girl" in Kate's dream at the end.

by Anonymousreply 145July 12, 2020 5:58 PM

I much more preferred Charles in Charge

by Anonymousreply 146July 12, 2020 6:01 PM

It was a great show that showed you can make your own family. It's hilarious, though, that the producers were pushed to make it clear that the main characters weren't gay. I remember they even had an episode where Kate & Allie's landlord mistakes them for a gay couple and reveals that she herself has a female partner. When Kate and Allie tell her the truth, the landlord threatens to kick them out since they're not a "family". Kate calls out the landlord on "reverse discrimination against straight people" and they all end up being friends.

by Anonymousreply 147July 12, 2020 6:29 PM

In the first run of that episode the girls have to lick the landlord's labia. That part is cut in syndication.

by Anonymousreply 148July 12, 2020 6:42 PM

I think you're misremembering, R145--Kate had a bad dream of Emma turning into a valley girl if she went to school in California, but it was still Ari Meyers (in a curly blonde wig) playing Emma in the scene.

by Anonymousreply 149July 12, 2020 6:44 PM

And that was an episode in an earlier season when the girls were still in high school and trying to decide where to attend college, not the series finale.

by Anonymousreply 150July 12, 2020 6:46 PM

////

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by Anonymousreply 151July 12, 2020 7:13 PM

[quote] -Kate had a bad dream of Emma turning into a valley girl if she went to school in California, but it was still Ari Meyers (in a curly blonde wig) playing Emma in the scene.

That was NOT Ari Meyers - "Dream" Emma was played by Fiona Gallagher

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by Anonymousreply 152July 12, 2020 7:24 PM

Then First Lady Barbara Bush appeared as herself in the episode where Peter Onarati reveals he is illiterate

by Anonymousreply 153July 12, 2020 7:28 PM

[quote] “wacky" neighbors...like Paul Sand!

Ugh there’s a guy they kept trying to make happen for no discernible reason. So unappealing he couldn’t even make his own 70s sitcom a hit and that decade was full of ugly, unlikable actors leading hit shows.

by Anonymousreply 154July 12, 2020 7:52 PM

I'm Kate's big shoulder pads.

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by Anonymousreply 155July 12, 2020 8:50 PM

My mistake, R152--you're right, I had forgotten about the fake Emma in the final episode. But I enjoyed the earlier episode with Ari Meyers as valley-girl Emma ("Emma Goes to College") much more ;)

by Anonymousreply 156July 13, 2020 12:15 AM

Just when u think nobody’s watching you jack off

by Anonymousreply 157July 13, 2020 12:20 AM

It was a great show, and the Jane Curtin interview posted above was awesome.

by Anonymousreply 158July 13, 2020 12:26 AM

Remember the episode where Kate dated the Black guy like the bigger deal that it was back in the day?

by Anonymousreply 159July 13, 2020 12:31 AM

Remember when Kate ate ally’s bitch hole?

by Anonymousreply 160July 13, 2020 12:37 AM

I still don't get going to a closet in the middle of the living room for privacy on the phone. The laundry room was another weird space where it seemed like it was exclusively theirs, but there are references to neighbors using it in the beginning.

by Anonymousreply 161July 13, 2020 1:11 AM

They ate each other’s pussies in the linen closet

by Anonymousreply 162July 13, 2020 1:17 AM

But Jane was better in Third Rock right?

by Anonymousreply 163July 13, 2020 1:23 AM

How did they find curtains in the exact same wallpaper pattern (only set vertically, not horizontally)?

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by Anonymousreply 164July 13, 2020 1:26 AM

"You can't do it with a trained poodle."

What the hell does that even mean? How did Jane ever think that would go over? I don't care how nervous she was that was just bizarre.

by Anonymousreply 165July 13, 2020 1:30 AM

On Cagney & Lacey, even though Tyne Daly had contractual right to be top-billed, she decided to share billing with Sharon Gless. In the beginning both names would share the screen. Then they alternated, 11 shows would have Tyne get top billing, the other 11 shows Sharon would get top billing

Susan St. James refused to budge on top billing. So for six years, her name was first -

Starring Susan St. James

Then

Starring Jane Curtin

by Anonymousreply 166July 13, 2020 1:33 AM

R166, I didn’t know that. Susan was petty. Is she a Datalounger?

by Anonymousreply 167July 13, 2020 1:35 AM

R166 Damn what a bitch, at least use staggered placement like many of them do - first name at bottom left, second name upper right.

by Anonymousreply 168July 13, 2020 1:35 AM

Susan hated Rock Hudson. She said, "Can you imagine how disgusting it is to take a back seat to him?"

by Anonymousreply 169July 13, 2020 1:36 AM

Lol she said that then played a big lez on tv years later!

by Anonymousreply 170July 13, 2020 1:48 AM

What the Christ happened to “Let’s be...”?

I’m the retard one of them brought home.

by Anonymousreply 171July 13, 2020 1:54 AM

The original title for the show was "Two Mommies"

by Anonymousreply 172July 13, 2020 1:59 AM

I went on a K&A binge last year and watched every episode on YouTube. This was a wonderful show with great performances and smart dialogue and great pacing and timing. I was kind of bummed when Allie got married in the last season, which changed the dynamic but it was still great.

by Anonymousreply 173July 13, 2020 2:02 AM

[quote]You can't do it with a trained poodle.

Curtain overestimated the intelligence of the viewing audience.

It was a self-effacing compliment to Saint James and an acknowledgement that neither actress could have done what they did without the other.

Anyone can be trained to hit their mark and bark out a line - it’s all over the fucking “airwaves”.

People were not drawn to the set-ups, punchlines, editing and studio audience laughter. They were drawn to their chemistry as well as their innate comic ability, like Marshall & Williams, Ball & Vance.

Anyone that thought this was a dig at Saint James is a dullard.

by Anonymousreply 174July 13, 2020 2:04 AM

Did she marry another woman?

by Anonymousreply 175July 13, 2020 2:05 AM

Curtain, obviously.

by Anonymousreply 176July 13, 2020 2:05 AM

God dammit - it did it again.

C U R T I N

by Anonymousreply 177July 13, 2020 2:06 AM

R174, it may have been meant as praise but it came off as something a dullard would say.

by Anonymousreply 178July 13, 2020 2:07 AM

Thought Susan St, James did demand top billing, Jane Curtin made a demand of her own

She wanted the make-up lady who did her make-up for five years on Saturday Night Live to do her make-up on Kate & Allie

by Anonymousreply 179July 13, 2020 2:30 AM

Susan had a case for getting top billing: She had been in two series (Name of the Game and McMillan & Wife) and had won one Emmy (for the former) and something like five other nominations.

Jane likely agreed. She didn't care about that shit.

by Anonymousreply 180July 13, 2020 2:33 AM

You bitches have me watching episodes on YouTube.

by Anonymousreply 181July 13, 2020 2:36 AM

R180 for someone who didn’t give a shit she sure got a lot of work!

by Anonymousreply 182July 13, 2020 2:37 AM

I meant she didn't give a shit about fame and associated vanities, R182.

She attests to that in the SNL books.

by Anonymousreply 183July 13, 2020 2:42 AM

R183 oh I know what you meant and I totally agree — still, it’s very rare that people like that succeed and she has ALWAYS worked. She’s the only person I can think of who treated her jobs like a 9 to 5 corporate job and really lead that kind of a lifestyle.

Did she move to LA for Third Rock?

Regarding the billing, for all their rivalry even Marshall & Williams agreed on the joint billing — geez!

by Anonymousreply 184July 13, 2020 2:54 AM

How did this not become a hit? It had all the elements.

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by Anonymousreply 185July 13, 2020 2:55 AM

Yes, Jane relocated to LA for 3rd Rock.

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by Anonymousreply 186July 13, 2020 2:59 AM

Am I the only one who wells up when hearing the theme song?

by Anonymousreply 187July 13, 2020 3:07 AM

I loved Sam Freed’s chunky ass in khakis.

by Anonymousreply 188July 13, 2020 3:25 AM

I’m Gregory Salata’s super-tight jeans.

by Anonymousreply 189July 13, 2020 3:26 AM

I’m the weird mentally challenged guy that appeared periodically in season 4 and hung around Chip a little too often.

by Anonymousreply 190July 13, 2020 3:29 AM

[quote]Starring Susan St. James

N-E-V-E-R!

As pointed out upthread, Susan was always ADAMANT about never abbreviating her last name. It always MUST be SAINT James.

by Anonymousreply 191July 13, 2020 3:34 AM

For the person who asked about Andrea McArdle ... Kate and Emma's surname in the show was McArdle. Possibly a shout out?

by Anonymousreply 192July 13, 2020 3:35 AM

R159, yes, Kate met him during a blackout, pardon the pun. When the electricity went out, they chatted easily, and he asked her on a date. Then the lights came back on, and he asked her, "are you surprised that I'm the same color with the lights on?"

by Anonymousreply 193July 13, 2020 3:35 AM

[quote]That was NOT Ari Meyers - "Dream" Emma was played by Fiona Gallagher

Isn't Emmy Rossum significantly younger than Ari Meyers?

by Anonymousreply 194July 13, 2020 4:06 AM

[quote]They couldn't have had wacky neighbours in Greenwich Village? Besides, we never got to meet Roger's wife Evelyn.

An episode had went into production featuring Evelyn. Producers had hired a down-on-her-luck Helen Lawson (something about saving her health insurance) but it proved to be a disaster and the entire episode was scrapped.

The table read started innocently enough with a chain smoking Lawson offering the Chip actor a drag off of her Viceroy to "put hair on your chest," but when she poured some Popov into his Styrofoam cup, producers had to intervene. No one thought it was cute either when she shimmied her thighs together to make her panties drop to her ankles and then asked the young chap to hike them back up for her. "And watch those goddamn fingers, will ya?"

Blocking rehearsals proved disastrous as Lawson repeatedly harassed Saint James demanding to know if this "was some queer broad show." She then insulted the set dresser demanding to know what flea market that "shitty wallpaper" was purchased at.

When it was brought to her attention that Allison Smith had appeared on Broadway as the star of Annie, Lawson quizzed her as to which producers she had to "fuck and suck?"

"C'mon honey, let's compare notes. Was it that stubby pricked Hebe, Merrick?"

Finally everyone had enough and she was fired on the spot at the taping when, before a live studio audience, she kept shouting, "What the fuck is my line? Kee-rist, whose a legend gotta guck around here to get a goddamned cue card!"

by Anonymousreply 195July 13, 2020 4:21 AM

So Curtin played Kate and St. James played Allie.

Or was it the other way around. I never could remember even after watching the show.

by Anonymousreply 196July 13, 2020 4:27 AM

Just how much coke did you do in the 80s, R196?

by Anonymousreply 197July 13, 2020 5:57 AM

No, wait: Kate played Scarecrow and Bruce played Mrs. King

by Anonymousreply 198July 13, 2020 6:00 AM

In the interview linked above, Curtin says that the Thanksgiving episode was her favorite. (That's the episode featuring Wendie Malick, pictured above.) It was a great episode. Curtin was excellent, as you could feel her character's anxiety. The humor is subtle, balanced with drama and observations about life. This episode had just one laugh-out-loud moment.

by Anonymousreply 199July 13, 2020 6:56 AM

I also watched the episode, Chip's New Friend, about the homeless man with developmental disabilities. The writers really handled it well. A couple of lines were heartbreaking. Kate makes an analogy about basketball. That analogy has stuck with me since I originally saw the show nearly 35 years ago. I remembered an adult telling the analogy to a child on a sitcom, but I didn't remember the characters or show that delivered it. So, it was a nice moment of deja vu to see that scene again. The best sitcoms can make you both laugh and cry, and can sneakily teach you a lesson without being preachy.

by Anonymousreply 200July 13, 2020 7:01 AM

(I'm the one rewatching on YouTube)

It really was an earnest, honest show, definitely a cut above what passed for sitcoms in the 80s.

That wallpaper is from another planet, though.

by Anonymousreply 201July 13, 2020 7:29 AM

I re-watched then all on YouTube last year, but this thread is making me want to re-watch them again!

by Anonymousreply 202July 13, 2020 8:52 AM

R196 After finding out what a huge, nasty, bitch Susan Saint James was at casting identification, it’s pretty safe to say that she would be hellbent that her fictional character also be listed first so it is a given that she played Kate. I’m also pretty sure that her trailer was at least 25-30 square feet larger than Jane’s, she got that first five minutes alone at the craft services table before anyone else and her pick of the cute male production assistants before Jane.

by Anonymousreply 203July 13, 2020 10:41 AM

Who the hell was Roxie and why did the series spin-off only last two episodes?

by Anonymousreply 204July 13, 2020 10:43 AM

Trained poodles deserve respect. Jane was very dismissive of their craft. She needs to be canceled for that remark.

by Anonymousreply 205July 13, 2020 3:46 PM

R205 I agree!

by Anonymousreply 206July 13, 2020 3:57 PM

Chip was a peeping tom and peeped on his neighbor who he thought was sawing a woman in half. Turns out she was a mannequin and the neighbor was practicing a magic act 🤣

by Anonymousreply 207July 13, 2020 4:21 PM

Andrea Martin is a national treasure!

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by Anonymousreply 208July 13, 2020 4:24 PM

Are episodes still on YouTube? All of 'em?

by Anonymousreply 209July 13, 2020 5:06 PM

R8, I’m the cliched observation that people who live in NYC on sitcoms wouldn’t be able to afford it in real life. I come up at least ten times on any Friends or Sex and the City thread.

by Anonymousreply 210July 13, 2020 5:11 PM

They should've had Rock Hudson and Chevy Chase play the gay landlord couple.

by Anonymousreply 211July 13, 2020 5:25 PM

R179, what an unreasonable monster.

*eyeroll*

by Anonymousreply 212July 13, 2020 5:39 PM

This thread is giving me such a flashback. I remember being veeeery, very young (toddler-age) and watching this with my family. It’s surprising how forgotten this show was because it was a big hit at the time.

by Anonymousreply 213July 13, 2020 5:45 PM

[quote]An episode had went into production featuring Evelyn.

Oh, dear.

Why do people seem to have so much trouble with past participles?

Present - Past - Past Participle

Go - Went - Gone

Swim - Swam - Swum

Sing - Sang -Sung

Spring - Sprang - Sprung

I've seen every one of these misused on DL just in the past few days.

by Anonymousreply 214July 14, 2020 2:29 AM

I appreciate your frustration, r214, but I went right past that post when I realized it was another long-winded, unfunny Helen Lawson joke.

by Anonymousreply 215July 14, 2020 3:00 AM

What did Kate do for a living?

by Anonymousreply 216July 14, 2020 3:39 AM

She worked in a travel agency early on and then they started a catering business together. Not sure if she had any other jobs

by Anonymousreply 217July 14, 2020 3:52 AM

r217 She pimped out the simple minded Lewis.

by Anonymousreply 218July 14, 2020 3:54 AM

I've been skipping around the series.

That last episode is horrid. Barely a laugh to be had.

by Anonymousreply 219July 14, 2020 4:01 AM

I wonder if they asked Jessica Lange to come on with a trained poodle? Fred Willard would have accepted the offer.

by Anonymousreply 220July 14, 2020 4:02 AM

And I don't understand how their apartment works. I always assumed that they were in the basement, but that doesn't match up at all with the exterior shot.

by Anonymousreply 221July 14, 2020 4:05 AM

The living room is a gardenish apt.

The living room is half above and half below ground and they have a deeper basement shared by other tenants.

The upstairs is only half as high as you think. Except when Chip looks out of the window at his murder, then for that episode it's much higher.

by Anonymousreply 222July 14, 2020 4:14 AM

The exterior used in the show was 72 Bank Street (at left).

So apparently they entered through the garden level and four (or five?) bedrooms were stuffed into the parlor floor with other tenants above and a laundry room in the subbasement (?)

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by Anonymousreply 223July 14, 2020 4:23 AM

Their kitchen and living are an English basement. When people leave the apartment, they can be seen (though the windows) climbing stairs. The bedrooms were upstairs. Below the kitchen was an even lower basement, which held the laundry room. Above their bedrooms were two more stories which comprised a separate apartment.

In one episode, they mention that the house has three bedrooms. So, if each woman has her own bedroom, then all three kids must share a co-ed bedroom. Unless, they make Chip sleep in a cubby hole under the stairs.

On Three's Company, how come Janet and Chrissy were allowed to share a bedroom (twin beds, of course), without any gay implications?

by Anonymousreply 224July 14, 2020 4:40 AM

Their house makes as much sense as the Golden Girls house. I mean W...T...F?!!!

by Anonymousreply 225July 14, 2020 4:42 AM

One episode had an oafish suitor of Janet's assume they were lesbians. After he tried to rape her of course.

Mr, Penrose tried to rape Chrissy now that I think of it. The same guy who played Janet's father.

I digress

by Anonymousreply 226July 14, 2020 4:45 AM

R226, that was a two-bedroom apartment. So why have THREE roomates? Eleanor had her own bedroom while Janet and Chrissy shared? Then Jack took Eleanor's bedroom when she moved out (pregnant)? Yet they all paid the same rent, $100 each? OMG, Kate and Allie would never have put up with that sh*t.

by Anonymousreply 227July 14, 2020 4:52 AM

In reality, there would be room for two small bedrooms on the lower level, directly downstage from the main kitchen/living room set. Those brownstones go WAY back. So they could have had a hallway (instead of the closet) leading to those bedrooms.

Then two bedrooms upstairs, and voila — plausibility.

by Anonymousreply 228July 14, 2020 4:53 AM

I never liked the three kids on the show. Sort of bad actors, unmemorable. Too much focus on the star duo. The kids were just background and frequently/mysteriously disappeared and/or were not mentioned.

by Anonymousreply 229July 14, 2020 4:59 AM

That's a good thing, R229. Just like on Everybody Loves Raymond, the kids are in the background, and sometimes they're plot devices. But there are no scenes designed around "aw, isn't he/she cute?".

by Anonymousreply 230July 14, 2020 5:02 AM

I always notice that in old sitcoms. Vanishing children, sometimes for many episodes in a row.

by Anonymousreply 231July 14, 2020 5:08 AM

In adult comedies, background kids are much better than obnoxious front-and-center wisecracking kids in family sitcomes (Family Ties, Growing Pains, Full House)

by Anonymousreply 232July 14, 2020 5:10 AM

R232, whatcha talkin' about, Willis?!

by Anonymousreply 233July 14, 2020 5:16 AM

R229 I agree they were pretty bad, that’s why it was good they were generally in the background.

by Anonymousreply 234July 14, 2020 5:17 AM

What a boring premise for a sitcom. "Two female friends with children share a house".

by Anonymousreply 235July 14, 2020 5:25 AM

Surrogate adult children are the best solution.

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by Anonymousreply 236July 14, 2020 5:26 AM

Bob never had children with Emily or Joanna. Even the Ropers were childless. What gives?!

by Anonymousreply 237July 14, 2020 5:29 AM

R237 you have to have sex to procreate — at least you did in the 70s.

by Anonymousreply 238July 14, 2020 5:33 AM

I think it's pretty clear why the Ropers didn't have children.

by Anonymousreply 239July 14, 2020 5:41 AM

R239 Was it the caftans?

by Anonymousreply 240July 14, 2020 5:44 AM

Henry and Muriel Rush (Too Close for Comfort) were as old as the Ropers yet THEY had a baby! The baby then constantly disappeared, of course!

by Anonymousreply 241July 14, 2020 5:45 AM

Did Mrs, Garrett have any children of her own or did she just vampire them off other of people?

by Anonymousreply 242July 14, 2020 5:52 AM

Mrs. G had a son, Raymond. He bought her the shop that became Edna's Edibles. Raymond was also on My Sister Sam and played Dr. Prescott on Three's Company.

by Anonymousreply 243July 14, 2020 5:55 AM

R243 those Dr. Prescott episodes are the BEST. And I always welcome a TC troll!

by Anonymousreply 244July 14, 2020 6:19 AM

Where can I buy that $200 (in 1980) stuffed giraffe in Dr. Prescott episode #2? I seriously want that same giraffe.

by Anonymousreply 245July 14, 2020 6:23 AM

When I was 8 or 9 this was one of the only shows in syndication or reruns available in the “den” at my parents’ (No oh dear) house and I learned to love all the 80s shows then. It’s quite hardcore for what it is, looking back . The bad hair and “dirty” feeling really brings you back to a diff time. R75 is best DL laughs in years

by Anonymousreply 246July 14, 2020 10:44 AM

Sometimes for good, R231.

by Anonymousreply 247July 14, 2020 12:31 PM

LOL, r241, that shark jumped awful high! But every sitcom was having a baby in those days. I guess the writers couldn't have made one of the grown daughters pregnant instead.

by Anonymousreply 248July 14, 2020 3:27 PM

Growing Pains did that unnecessary baby thing when they made Maggie pregnant because the three kids were getting too old. And then later bringing DiCaprio on.

by Anonymousreply 249July 14, 2020 5:04 PM

black'ish did the baby thing, too (because the other kids hadn't gotten too "old"). That's pretty much when I tune out of a show because that's when I think they've run out of ideas.

by Anonymousreply 250July 14, 2020 5:16 PM

I think Family Ties was the first sitcom to add a baby to the nearly grown nuclear family. And they made the baby a clone of the most popular character.

Lara Jill Miller has said she was jealous when Joey was added to Gimme A Break. Even behind the scenes, Nell was spending more time with Joey, when previously, Nell had spent the breaks taking Lara out for lunch. The infamous "blackface" episode give Lara Jill Miller a chance to work out her resentment onscreen in a parallel storyline.

Danny Pintauro has expressed frustration at how Who's The Boss inexplicably added an unrelated orphan kid to the family and started giving him more lines and storylines than Pintauro. Alyssa Milano had become a huge teen star because of the show, and now the show was completely skipping over Pintauro (who had been there from the start) in favor of some new, younger kid. Like all kids, Pintauro had an awkward adolescence, and it was obvious to most viewers that he was different. Still the show could have given him some teenaged-boy storylines that didn't involve chasing girls.

The kid I feel sorry for most was Jeremy Miller. When he was no longer cute enough, the show added a younger kid to the show. The show had made a huge star of Kirk Cameron, and apparently the producers didn't think Miller had the same star power. So they added a new character (an orphan), who was practically the same age as Miller, and they gave him more to do than Miller. Miller might not have had the acting chops of DiCaprio, but he was good enough for a fluffy sitcom. Oh, and the writer's unnecessary "fat jokes" about Tracey Gold's characters hopefully weren't responsible for pushing her over the edge into an eating disorder.

Gimme a Break was the worst though. When the kids got too old, they were tossed aside and eventually fired. Used and disposed.

by Anonymousreply 251July 14, 2020 5:43 PM

R251 [Insert Patsy Ramsey joke here]

by Anonymousreply 252July 14, 2020 6:05 PM

R252, a Patsy Ramsey joke wouldn't work here. My post at R251 is about adding children, not subtracting children!

by Anonymousreply 253July 14, 2020 6:18 PM

R251 Please refer to your last line.

by Anonymousreply 254July 14, 2020 6:23 PM

r230 "Raymond's children" were totally not needed. The kids on "Kate and Allie" were used quite a lot (until the end). I can only think of one or two episodes of "Raymond," that featured the children.

by Anonymousreply 255July 14, 2020 10:41 PM

[quote]Even the Ropers were childless. What gives?!

Anne Brooks) Do you have any children?

Helen) Not yet

Stanley) NOT YET?

by Anonymousreply 256July 14, 2020 10:43 PM

[quote]Mrs. G had a son, Raymond. He bought her the shop that became Edna's Edibles. Raymond was also on My Sister Sam and played Dr. Prescott on Three's Company.

She had another son, who was the mooching carpenter.

by Anonymousreply 257July 14, 2020 10:43 PM

[quote]I think Family Ties was the first sitcom to add a baby to the nearly grown nuclear family.

That's because MBB got pregnant in real life.

by Anonymousreply 258July 14, 2020 10:47 PM

r258

Why didn't she just hide behind things?

by Anonymousreply 259July 14, 2020 10:47 PM

[quote]Danny Pintauro has expressed frustration at how Who's The Boss inexplicably added an unrelated orphan kid to the family and started giving him more lines and storylines than Pintauro.

Not inexplicably, he was too femme and everyone hated him.

by Anonymousreply 260July 14, 2020 10:48 PM

Oliver and Lisa Douglas didn't have children. Why not? Did they marry "later in life"?

by Anonymousreply 261July 14, 2020 10:49 PM

Speaking of Green Acres, the Ziffels could never have a child after Fred pushed Doris down a flight of stairs and she miscarried. So they adopted a pig and taught it to turn on the TV.

Kinda like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? when you think about it.

by Anonymousreply 262July 14, 2020 10:58 PM

R237: By all reports, Bob was a great parent, always at the kids little league games, etc. but he thought they ruined sitcoms and fought the network on his first show on this.

by Anonymousreply 263July 14, 2020 10:59 PM

And then there's MAUDE!

by Anonymousreply 264July 14, 2020 11:26 PM

Well, R264, we know she was pro-choice.

by Anonymousreply 265July 14, 2020 11:28 PM

Maude had an abortion in the second season.

by Anonymousreply 266July 14, 2020 11:34 PM

r251, I've always wondered if the girls who played Carrie Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie ever got a complex about all the other kids they kept bringing on the show rather than give her character more to do. She (they) was such a terrible actress so I can't blame the producers but it had to be awkward.

by Anonymousreply 267July 14, 2020 11:44 PM

Kari Michaelsen had asked for a reduced number of episodes the season before she was written off Gimme A Break! She was happy to be let go. Lauri Hendler and Jonathan Silverman acted like an old Jewish couple instead of a couple of newlyweds. Lara Jill Miller ended up sticking around more than originally planned. There was even a test episode in the last season for Nell to become the housemother at her college if the show got picked up for another season.

by Anonymousreply 268July 15, 2020 12:07 AM

R266, 1st season. That episode was written by Susan Harris (Soap, The Golden Girls, etc.).

by Anonymousreply 269July 15, 2020 12:49 AM

r266

We don't know that. The episode ended with Maude pregnant and it wasn't mentioned so we assume she did but maybe she had a miscarriage. We can't assume Maude murdered her child.

by Anonymousreply 270July 15, 2020 1:06 AM

[quote]There was even a test episode in the last season for Nell to become the housemother at her college if the show got picked up for another season.

Who thought that would work?

by Anonymousreply 271July 15, 2020 1:07 AM

[quote]Bob never had children with Emily or Joanna.

Emily got pregnant on the last episode of the Bob Newhart show. But then Bob was talked into doing another season. So they made that a dream and Emily wasn't pregnant. How original huh?

by Anonymousreply 272July 15, 2020 1:09 AM

R258 yeah whether it was a good move or a bad move Andrew to FT wasn’t done because of sagging ratings (they were just peaking, on the contrary) but because she was pregnant with twins. She wanted reduced hours so they couldn’t just hide her.

I didn’t really watch Gimme a break much but Laurie Hendler was an excellent game show player!

by Anonymousreply 273July 15, 2020 3:01 AM

R273, yes, Laurie was good on game shows, as was Patty Duke.

by Anonymousreply 274July 15, 2020 3:06 AM

[quote]Gimme a Break was the worst though. When the kids got too old, they were tossed aside and eventually fired. Used and disposed.

No worse than "The Lucy Show," which jettisoned the two young actors who played Lucy's kids in order to move her character out to Hollywood with Mr. Mooney, after which I don't think they were ever mentioned again.

by Anonymousreply 275July 15, 2020 3:13 AM

r275

Chris and Sherman were mentioned once each and Jerry was mentioned twice and called Jimmy in another episode.

Vivian was mentioned and came for a guest appearance with Joan Crawford.

by Anonymousreply 276July 15, 2020 3:28 AM

Thanks, R276. I stand corrected. Vivian I did remember had popped up for a guest appearance.

by Anonymousreply 277July 15, 2020 3:45 AM

Jane always had such smoker’s voice. Especially in that Archive Interview (i watched for a few mins) Did she ever quit I wonder?

by Anonymousreply 278July 15, 2020 4:26 AM

How Bea Arthur and 'Maude' Changed the Way Women Were Portrayed on Television

After grappling with her choices, she decides to terminate the pregnancy.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 279July 15, 2020 12:20 PM

Bea Arthur looks like she's in her late 50s in r279 pic, were we really supposed to believe her character was PREGNANT?

by Anonymousreply 280July 15, 2020 1:11 PM

R280, they played the age angle for laughs. Maude was said to be 48 if I remember correctly.

by Anonymousreply 281July 15, 2020 6:39 PM

[quote]No worse than "The Lucy Show," which jettisoned the two young actors who played Lucy's kids in order to move her character out to Hollywood with Mr. Mooney, after which I don't think they were ever mentioned again.

And this was wrong?

by Anonymousreply 282July 15, 2020 8:12 PM

[quote] No worse than "The Lucy Show,"

The Lucy Show was actually an earlier version of Kate & Allie

Two widows move in together, blending their kids under one roof

There was even a later version "A New Kind of Family with Eileen Brennan and Gwynne Gifford with Rob Lowe & Laurie Hendler as a few of the kids

Gwynne Gifford was later axed and replaced by Telma Hopkins who had Janet Jackson as her daughter

See opening below

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 283July 15, 2020 8:30 PM

Can we stick to the topic at hand by getting back to discussing KATE & ALLIE? PLEASE? THANK YOU!

by Anonymousreply 284July 15, 2020 8:47 PM

r284

Mr Landers, Larry and the Beaver were talking after the bell rang. I told them just because you weren't hear doesn't mean they could talk, but they talked anyway.

by Anonymousreply 285July 15, 2020 8:49 PM

I’m Ari Meyers’ bulbous nose and weak chin.

by Anonymousreply 286July 15, 2020 8:50 PM

^But she had fabulous hair though.

by Anonymousreply 287July 15, 2020 9:01 PM

R296 I always thought she looked like Carly Simon. Anyone else?

by Anonymousreply 288July 15, 2020 11:51 PM

Anyone watching Jane Curtin on ABC right now?

by Anonymousreply 289July 16, 2020 12:04 AM

Why would Jane be on ABC right now? Is there a Circus of the Stars reboot?

by Anonymousreply 290July 16, 2020 1:08 AM

[quote][R296]I always thought she looked like Carly Simon. Anyone else?

I can see it.

by Anonymousreply 291July 16, 2020 2:14 AM

Women do get pregnant after 50

by Anonymousreply 292July 16, 2020 3:23 AM

I thought Ari was the cutest of the kids.

by Anonymousreply 293July 16, 2020 3:24 AM

The kids were terrible. All of them.

by Anonymousreply 294July 16, 2020 3:53 AM

[quote]The Lucy Show was actually an earlier version of Kate & Allie...Two widows move in together, blending their kids under one roof

Vivian Vance played a divorcee on the show

by Anonymousreply 295July 16, 2020 5:54 PM

Remember when Allie got bangs.

by Anonymousreply 296July 18, 2020 9:10 AM

how sjp had a career is a wonder to us all...

jane i got, st james i never did, alas....didnt she marry someone powerful, there ya go

by Anonymousreply 297July 18, 2020 9:55 AM

Susan Saint James married NBC Sports Dick Ebersol and often joked about living is WASPy Connecticut. Her dad invented airplane glue - which we all sniffed in our younger years putting together those miniature models of cars, Dracula, etc.

She was one of the best guests Letterman used to have on when he was still at NBC. She came on once dressed like Madonna (in her 1984 get up) and skewered her popularity and the moronic 13 year old girls who loved her.

She was also in Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows.

She's totally cool in my book - and I love Jane too.

by Anonymousreply 298July 18, 2020 10:21 AM

r298

All she did was bash Rock for being gay. So it figures YOU'D like her, ya racist.

by Anonymousreply 299July 18, 2020 12:41 PM

Susan Saint James often relied on a sanitized version of the quirkiness of some late 60s and 1970s actresses. Quirk with a side of vivacity, but benignly fizzy instead of acerbic - like Margot Kidder with no sharp edges. Based on some of the anecdotes here, I guess she saved the acidity for when she was off-duty.

by Anonymousreply 300July 18, 2020 6:10 PM

Susan looked best in the last season of K&A. She’d thinned out and her hair was different.

by Anonymousreply 301July 18, 2020 8:53 PM

R300 can you explain what that means in English?

Seriously, I’m curious but you’re kind of talking In circles a bit.

by Anonymousreply 302July 18, 2020 10:54 PM

Saint James is more conservative on certain issues saying

"I'm not one of those people who's divisive, but I am just a lifetime Democrat, a Yellow Dog Democrat. It's a fine line, because I'm probably fiscally sort of conservative. "

by Anonymousreply 303July 18, 2020 11:00 PM

Xennial/R301, do you know the sort of actress I mean - the "offbeat" 70s actress? Kidder, Susan Anspach, later Paula Prentiss? Basically that, without the edge.

by Anonymousreply 304July 19, 2020 12:16 AM

I always liked Susan Saint James and am sorry she's not still working, even though she's not a great actress. Always enjoyed K&A, it was smarter than most of the rest of the offerings at the time. As a gayling, i was jealous of her in McMlllan and Wife, beiing married to Rock, having Nancy Walker as a sassy maid living in a spooky-ish house in San Francisco. Little did I know how attainable iit would have been for me to actually be having hot, drunken sex with Rock...well a tiny bit later. He did like his blonde boys.

by Anonymousreply 305July 19, 2020 12:59 AM

I wonder if Jane and Susan keep in touch. Probably not.

by Anonymousreply 306July 19, 2020 3:53 AM

^I would like to think so.

by Anonymousreply 307July 19, 2020 9:27 AM

She was hilarious in Love At First Bite with George Hamilton.

by Anonymousreply 308July 19, 2020 11:46 AM

R306, I agree, probably not. I certainly don’t keep in touch with coworkers from the 80s.

by Anonymousreply 309July 19, 2020 12:14 PM

Staying in touch with Ginny in Billing doesn't have the same appeal of staying in touch with a co-star of a famous tv show.

by Anonymousreply 310July 19, 2020 12:57 PM

They fit their roles perfectly. I could never see SSJ playing Allie and JC playing Kate.

by Anonymousreply 311July 19, 2020 1:37 PM

R311, they could have swapped roles, but Kate would have been the funny one. Jane is just a better comedy actor than Susan.

by Anonymousreply 312July 19, 2020 1:39 PM

I thought I read that they were actually good friends before K&A (but not so much after the show)?

by Anonymousreply 313July 19, 2020 2:45 PM

I'm a subtle (or not-so-subtle) lesbian subtext that was explored later in Cagney & Lacey.

by Anonymousreply 314July 19, 2020 2:52 PM

Back when MTV had that Celebrity Death Match show, I always wanted there to be a Laverne & Shirley vs. Kate & Allie

by Anonymousreply 315July 19, 2020 3:13 PM

Jane and Susan are more closer with their TV daughters (Ari & Allison) then each other

Though they don't hate each other, they are friendly. But not friends.

by Anonymousreply 316July 19, 2020 3:16 PM

Susan lost a child, did Jane reach out to her?

by Anonymousreply 317July 19, 2020 4:12 PM

R317, she gave her a puppy and a basket of muffins.

by Anonymousreply 318July 19, 2020 4:30 PM

[quote]Susan lost a child, did Jane reach out to her?

Well, we know she never heard from Susan Dey.

by Anonymousreply 319July 19, 2020 4:47 PM

She was awful in SOS TITANIC. She didn’t deliver her lines so much as she recited them, emotion free.

by Anonymousreply 320July 19, 2020 4:56 PM

I’m Jane Curtin, a guest on Seth Meyers tonight.

by Anonymousreply 321August 4, 2020 12:07 AM

OMG, Jane is in a new ABC sitcom called United We Fall. Terrible! Jane plays a grandmother. Will Sasso (from Mom) plays her son.

by Anonymousreply 322August 4, 2020 1:15 AM

Terrible because she plays a grandmother?

I love her so I’ll try watching it anyway .

by Anonymousreply 323August 4, 2020 1:51 AM

R323 here again, anyone watching her on Seth Myers? Where the f does she live? I thought she lived in CT but she said there are no restaurants, no take out, just rabbits... did she move to North Dakota or something? CT is pretty hopping right now (for the COVID world, that is).

I think I’ve said this before on here but it’s seriously amazing she’s ALWAYS working — a decent role on a series, in a commercial movie, etc. she must have a really good working rep (and great agent of course ) .

by Anonymousreply 324August 4, 2020 5:22 AM

I started following Susan on Twitter. She's super liberal, and recently noted that she's 23 years sober.

by Anonymousreply 325August 4, 2020 6:30 AM

I follow Susan too. She grew her hair long over quarantine.

by Anonymousreply 326August 4, 2020 5:17 PM

[R91], thank you so much for the Jane Curtin interview. An infusion of sanity. '`]

by Anonymousreply 327August 4, 2020 7:43 PM

I am now watching this show on YouTube. On episode #4, when the ladies have a cake-making business (at home). Of course they can't handle the workload. Just like the Facts of Life episode when Jo and the other girls have a pizza-making business (at home, at Edna's Edibles) and of course THEY can't handle the workload!

by Anonymousreply 328August 6, 2020 7:02 PM

I just watched season 2, episode 2. The ladies pretend to be a (gay) couple and they find out their landlady is in a same-sex couple. I thought Kate owned the apartment/condo/whatever but she's merely renting it. Also, I'm realizing that the house is not a townhouse but an apartment building with several units. Another tenant, named Roger, lives above the ladies...and there is a laundry room! WTF?

by Anonymousreply 329August 8, 2020 12:51 AM

[quote]OMG, Jane is in a new ABC sitcom called United We Fall. Terrible! Jane plays a grandmother. Will Sasso (from Mom) plays her son.

I saw a commercial for that and of course it looks godawful. When I saw Jane is in it, my only thought was "Well, she probably has a mortgage to pay just like anybody else."

by Anonymousreply 330August 8, 2020 1:34 AM

R330, I watched this week’s episode after seeing Jane on Seth Meyers show. Terrible generic sitcom. Jane does what she can but the other actors are so dull she doesn’t have much to work with. I liked Will Sasso on MAD TV but I’m not sure he’s leading man material even for a network sitcom

by Anonymousreply 331August 8, 2020 1:38 AM

See, guys, I told you United We Fall was awful! LOL! Jane plays a selfish, self-absorbed grandmother. Yes, the rest of the cast is blah, especially the mother (Will's wife). That actress was the child star in the Michael J. Fox film Life with Mikey (1993?), in which DL fave Cyndi Lauper co-starred.

by Anonymousreply 332August 8, 2020 4:25 AM

She claims her it's her "niece" but it's really her daughter, that was on Drew Carey. She had a failed abortion.

by Anonymousreply 333August 8, 2020 5:09 AM

R333, wait, what??? Explain. Are you talking about TV characters or real people?

by Anonymousreply 334August 8, 2020 5:12 AM

Kate & Allie Reunion! - The ENTIRE original cast gets together for the first time

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 335June 5, 2021 8:30 PM

[quote][R174], it may have been meant as praise but it came off as something a dullard would say.

That word... I think it does not mean what you think it means.

by Anonymousreply 336June 5, 2021 8:45 PM

Thanks, r335. I never would have recognized the two daughters.

by Anonymousreply 337June 6, 2021 3:42 PM
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