Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Bonnie Franklin

I thought we were about due for one of our 32 Bonnie Franklin threads we get per year.

She's a conjoined twin cut off of Linda Lavin.

I know this is her big number but even the original isn't very good.

She and Linda got lucky and became t.v. moms we're still talking about.

A vicious, flat chested ginger dwarf , with the maternal warmth of Susan Smith or Magda Goebbels.

An untalented hambone foisted on the hapless American public by Norman Lear and Bill Paley, she’s proof that you could air anything on network television in those pre-cable days.

She drove her TV daughters to smack addiction, and her precocious adopted tv son to a life of pole smoking.

Did I miss anything?

That shoddy reprisal was uncalled for.

For the life of me, I can't understand why she wasn't part of the 1975 musical "A Chorus Line". I mean really, she could've knocked it out of the park with "At the Ballet", or "What I Did for Love", or "Dance Ten, Looks Three" (most appropriate for her).

And then for her not to be offered the role of Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard' in 1996 ? Elaine Paige instead ? Please !

R5 - she was no longer a gypsy.

She is repulsive in every way.

R2 Bonnie Franklin wished she had 1/10 the talent of Linda Lavin.

She would have been a remarkable Wednesday Matinee Mama Rose!!!!

Picture it: Bonnie Franklin as Mama Rose, Valerie Bertinelli as 'Baby June', Pat Harrington as 'Herbie' and, of course, Mackenzie Phillips as 'Miss Gypsy Rose Lee'.

No one thought of this in 2003 ? We got Bernadette instead ?

R3 - well done - BRAVA - now that's DL bitchiness!

Everybody, take notes.

General Mils wanted to hire her to play the Lucky Charms leprechaun, but she too fucking unpleasant to play a cartoon cereal mascot.

L’eggs considered as their spokesperson, but test audiences said she reminded them of dirty pantyhose, so they picked a more subtle and less noxious sitcom actress as their pitch woman, Joyce DeWitt.

Ooof. Not even Helen Keller was that tone deaf. See, horrible singing causes cancer.

After signing up on DL a year ago, the monthly Bonnie Franklin discussions brought back that fucking earworm of a theme song to One Day at a Time, playing on loop in my head some mornings upon waking. I remember it from visiting my grandparents’ house in the 80s, where the TV was on nonstop for 16 hours per day. I hold Datalounge directly responsible for this.

R14- To help you with your earworm.

No Bonnie Franklin thread is complete, without her fried egg tit threatening to pop out of that nasty sweater on the cover of People, while the phrase “the Nobel sperm bank” was positioned next to smack addict Mackenzie Phillips’ bony ass.

^^ That very sweater is for sale at an auction site. Or it was - -

R15 oh trust me I’ve seen it in the past year.

And I couldn’t help but think, how many sitcom openers from that era heavily featured the main character relocating to another city and showing them driving their car driving across a highway? Alice, Perfect Strangers, Who’s the Boss, and how many others? Someone should commission a study. It was a great cliche of the time.

I have to admit it still tugs my heartstrings when they show Mary moving to Minneapolis in the first MTM season credits.

Here's the scandalous Bonnie Franklin sweater, yours for a mere $1,250.00

[quote] Item # T0879 - This iconic sweater was worn by “Ann Romano” portrayed by Bonnie Franklin in the television series “One Day At A Time”. The original 1980’s vintage Nathan Road sweater is constructed of an electric blue chenille fabric with a plunging neckline and ¾ length rolled sleeves.

[quote]Ms. Franklin wore the sweater on the cover of People magazine March 17, 1980 with co-stars Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli. The headline, “Why Mackenzie Got Fired: The sad story of One Day’s troubled star.” When the magazine hit newsstands, there was a swirl of controversy; not because of the headline or article inside the magazine, but because the image of Bonnie Franklin with her breast visible. Bonnie (and this) sweater were thrust into headlines and watercooler discussions around the globe.

[quote]This garment is in good screen worn condition and was acquired directly from the costume designer and head of the wardrobe department for Embassy TV (formerly TAT/Tandem) Betsey Potter. The department also supplied wardrobe to Sanford and Son, One Day At A Time, Maude, All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and other iconic television shows produced by Norman Lear and Embassy TV.

[quote]Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Betsey Potter.

R23 Burn it!!!!

R23 Thank you for the background info on that. I always suspected that sweater was originally intended for Isabel 'Weezie Jefferson" Sanford to wear on the cover of TV Guide, but she had way too much class. At least no one would say she had 'fried eggs' if she did.

I always loathed this woman, a hammy Streisand wannabe.