Glendenning

I love this comment from TBB subreddit on the Variety Hour (Hard to imagine Susan Olsen being "hot", it's like Charlotte Long (hottie) vs. Cindy Shelley (gawky, toothy bird from Howard's Way) in "The Tripods"). "If you can make it through the one season of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, it shows what the Bradys would have been like three years after cancellation: Greg looking for his own place, Marcia dates Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter, Carol has an atrocious Dorothy Hamill wedge hairdo and Cindy looks a lot hotter."

As seen here, The Torkelsons dressed Mary Sue (played by Rachel Duncan) in a way more befitting 1951 than 1991. I'm pretty this is a trope - either Southern Belle or just to make the character look as cute/adorable as possible which they felt couldn't be done with trousers or shorts.

Aside from his latent desire to romance Anissa Jones,, Sherwood really didnt handle Cindy/Susan well - just look at the Shirley Temple episode... which belonged in Season 1 not 5.

Unfortunately "King of the Hill" went with the usual "I think you'll find i have *no* testicles!" Sooner or later, the media - and to be fair, a lot of feminist activists - are going to get women seriously injured or killed with their propagation of false reassurances and false beliefs.

To Ohiopirate02: Your typical WOMAN wouldn't be able to be Buffy Summers or some ninja in the movies.

It's a real shame Lisa became a fundie Christian. Look at how Kirk Cameron quickly destroyed Growing Pains.

One of my favorite "1970s in the 1800s" on this show is Nellie naming her daughter "Jennifer". Um, *Jennifer*? In the late 19th century? Um, no...

At this stage, I think I will settle for a Very Special Episode where Harris meets the Lanford Slasher 😉

It's hard for us old codgers to understand the fifty years ago temporal perspective.

"Hey Dad...!" was an interesting mix of Cousin Oliver and The Other Darrin as the daughter Jenny went from 16 to 12 when she was re-cast. Can't think of many characters that are made younger like that.

Rachel Duncan was pretty good too as Mary Sue. Much more tolerable than Jodie Sweetin

"Great chunks of my past... detaching themselves like melting icebergs!"

Lindsay's Morgan is an example of a trope I hate - TV kids who act in a way that would get them severely punished in real life (see also: Michelle Tanner and Steve Urkel)

Since The Torkelsons is now a cult classic, i'd like to see an in-character reunion special produced by Disney who own it. One problem.. although "Boarder Hodges" will have definitely died by this point even in the show's world.. how would they handle "Molly Morgan"?

that's a Very Special Episode topic itself - for example, that straight actors shouldn't play gay characters but gay actors should be allowed to play straight characters even though why should gay actors play straights.

Subversions would be nice to see on TV. I really thought Almost Home might end The Dance with Alyson Hannigan's Samantha *not* in love with Jason Marsden's character, subverting the "tomboy becomes a beautiful and definitely heterosexual young lady"... but, no.

Problem is that the TV shows back then were under a lot of pressure, both official and unofficial, to present a "proper" version of American society and things like the Civil Rights Movement etc. were too controversial or outright unacceptable. Again "CHILDREN" today are being stupid when they act as if shows in the fifties and sixties could have just shown boys playing with dolls etc.

Judith Barsi guested in C & L as Shauna, an abused child. While obviously no one involved could see into the future, that episode is much more difficult to watch now.

I'd love to see a "in-character" reunion special for The Torkelsons/Almost Home as it has become a cult classic. While it would be normal for Boarder Hodges to have died by now, I hope they'd give Molly Morgan a better and more dignified fate than her actress.

Could have been worse... They could have retconned her to Mary Sue Torkelson's age - Harris as a five year old carrying around a doll that she says makes funny comments....

"It puts the lotion on its skin or It gets the hose again"...

That's why kids being spanked or threatened with one in Enid Blyton books have been Orwellian Retconned out.

Plus Harris might as well be one of those undercover cops from "21 Jump Street" soon... I never realized how quickly people age until I compared 18 year old Alyson Hannigan (still looked like a kid/teen) in The Torkelsons/Almost Home with how she looked at 23 in Buffy the Vampire Slayer S1 (definitely looked like an adult)

The show with three kids, an uncle, and a butler. And Mrs. Beasley. We all know about CBS and Don Fedderson not allowing Buffy Davis to grow up, We know that they wrote her in a way which led to some people trying to re-create her on their own show in a very creepy way. We know that what happened to her destroyed Anissa Jones and led to her death whilst still a teenager. (by the way, Buffy Davis is generally depicted as "All-American" but Anissa Jones was of Arab background and her successor in 2002, Sasha Pieterse. is White South African)

Harris needs a retool. Sassy Obnoxious Brattiness is NOT "empowerment", television writers. Being from a group traditionally marginalised by society doesn't mean they should be written as having the right to freely act like a jerk.