Egg McMuffin

Keep in mind that the “Mayberry RFD” theme - called “The Mayberry March” - was used as incidental music for years on “The Andy Griffith Show” before it got promoted to the main theme for the sequel series. CBS was determined that the transition would be as seamless as possible and that included using familiar music as the theme. Hey - just be thankful Ken Berry didn’t show up in RTM. After RTM aired to blockbuster ratings, there was talk of a “Christmas in Mayberry” follow up movie. I think Andy’s involvement in “Matlock” in part helped prevent that, which was probably a good thing.

Ah, “Back to School” - probably my favorite episodes of the series, with so many great moments: Nellie’s graduation speech, Harriet imploring the students to tell their parents about the restaurant (in the middle of the street), “Who’s going to do the cooking”, cinnamon chicken, the runaway millstone (and Pa hiding behind those flimsy doors), the mud fight, Harriet’s satisfied smirk in the background when mud-covered Nellie is telling the Ingalls that Almanzo kissed Laura. This was also the year where they transitioned Nellie from emotionally troubled schoolgirl to all-out comic relief, and Alison Arngrim was more than up to the challenge.

You’re right, and Barney would have benefitted from Andy protecting his feelings fewer times. But in RTM Andy says something about how he doesn’t imagine Barney has had many high points in his life over the years. It’s coming from a place of compassion at least. I didn’t realize that Janet Waldo, who I agree was a great VO actress, did Aunt Bee’s voice in RTM. It was still a bad impression, though. They should have done something else.

WKRP creator Hugh Wilson spoke of his frustration at trying to beat Little House in the ratings. “Every time we gain on 'em, they set a house on fire or blind another child.”

Someone was trying to convince me that Frances Bavier recorded those lines herself and I said no way. It’s like a bad SNL imitation. They should have just used a flashback from the series (unless Frances Bavier, who was still alive at the time, didn’t give them permission). RTM is a mixed bag, but there are some touching parts, such as the resolution of the contest for sheriff at the end. And I’ll give them a lot of credit for gather as much of the cast as they did. So often with those 80s TV movie reunions, they’d get the main cast, but few/none of the recurring players or guest stars. RTM did a good job in that area.

They could have done a different tag scene, one that didn’t involve the family arriving home after the graduation. Then they wouldn’t have had to explain about Mike. And we also would have been spared Greg’s hideous tux. Reed was also missing from “Goodbye Alice, Hello” yet they didn’t explain Mike’s absence.

I think the lighting has something to do with it. Lucy was the first filmed show done in front of an audience, and I think they were still figuring out how to light it in those early days of TV. It looks fantastic compared to its peers, but it sometimes looks a little overlit and washed out. You can tell that by the 60s, TV filming had progressed. DVD was actually filmed at Desilu, btw. I’d like to see if the results would be different if they colorized one of the Lucy-Desi hours from the late 50s.

They look better than the colorized I Love Lucys CBS has shown over the years. The color in those ILL episodes are way too bright - and Lucy’s hair is orange. I understand that Carl Reiner was consulted when they first started colorizing DVD. I wonder what happened to the colorized Lucys, anyway.

I don’t understand why Andy and Helen would choose Sam as godfather anyway. I guess Sam and Andy were supposed to be longtime friends even though they only appeared in a handful of episodes together. I always thought they should have just said that Sam and Andy were cousins. Then it would have made more sense for Aunt Bee to move in with her other nephew, Sam, after Andy got married. I remember in a later episode, one of Mike’s friends says (referring to Bee), “She’s your aunt.” Uh, I don’t think so.

“We're so proud that you graduated with honors, Greg. Too bad your father was out of town and had to miss it!” Ugh - exposition at its worst.

Scarecrow was an 8:00 pm show, but Remington Steele aired at 10:00.

I never understood why Fox waited a year to pick up LMS, letting it go out of production and all the contracts lapse. Had they picked it up immediately after the ABC cancellation, they would likely have still had all the actors under contract. I vaguely remember them saying that it didn’t fit on their schedule and they had no companion for it (to fill out the hour). But still, they could have picked it up for midseason to at least keep the cast together. The show was doing well in syndication, so there was a good business reason for continuing to produce new episodes.

I get why the women have the work done. Hollywood isn’t kind to women over 50. If you get plastic surgery, you’re criticized, and if you don’t and look older, you’re criticized. I don’t get why Matt Perry would have work done. He certainly seems quiet and sad during the trailer. I wonder if this special is really something he wanted to do.

This has probably been posted before, but Thomas Miller and Bob Boyett both worked as producers on Happy Days. All the annoying things about Happy Days - catch phrases, fantasy episodes, friends and neighbors needlessly elevated to series regular status - were the template for later shows they did without Garry Marshall and Ed Milkis (the other main producers on HD). They had a lot of success with lowest-common denominator comedies like Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, etc. Once Miller/Boyett wrested full control of “Valerie” from Valerie Harper and fired her, they fully grafted that template onto what become “The Hogan Family” as well. Harper had been fighting them on their creative vision, and that was the main source of conflict there; the salary dispute was secondary.

I’d never heard of him before and never saw him when he was a contestant. After just one night, he’s my favorite of all the guest hosts. Great presence and energy and love of the game. He was relaxed and seemed like he was having a blast. I liked Mike Richards too but he’s kinda Mr. Generic Game Show Host, while Buzzy has a unique presence. Looking forward to seeing the rest of his run.

Buzzy gave a interview that was published I believe in Yahoo Entertainment this week and he said he’d love to have the job.

Thumbs up on Buzzy. Good energy and a clear love of the game.

Seriously - what was in the house that someone would want? The clothes? The dishes? Certainly not the orphans who the Ingalls couldn’t give away even if they wanted to.

Oh yeah. And Edie McClurg as the bingo-obsessed lady with all the OCD-inspired good luck charms.

CBS also played it at 8:00 which at that point was considered the “family hour” and that likely had an effect on the content. I think the tone would have been different at 9:00 or 10:00.

Totally agreed. I loved season 3 and 4. The consistency of the writing and episodes was amazing. Sara Gilbert and Lecy Goranson really came into their own. And this was when Roseanne had the best work setup - the Rodbell’s diner, with Bonnie and Leon. Leon was a much better foil as her boss than as her business partner (in the later years, at the Lunch Box).

I haven’t seen it in years. I wonder why none of the digital subnets have picked it up. The first season was freshest from what I remember. Also recall that the fourth season was kind of a dud after the secret marriage and after Kate Jackson started missing episodes.

Have either of the Greenbush twins spoken about the size of Carrie’s role in the later years? It would have been natural to shift some stories to Carrie as Laura got older, rather than bringing in Cassandra. I always assumed that Michael Landon didn’t think they were up to a bigger part, but maybe there was something else going on.

Lucy Lee Flippin may have been a plain jane by TV standards, but she was an excellent performer. I think back to the episode where she just found out that Harv was marrying someone else. Zaldamo was complaining to him about Laura and wanted EJ to mend his shirt. She lowered her voice an octave, told him off, and pretty much just blew him off the screen. It was one of the rare times LLF had decent material to work with. EJ could have been a great character, but most of the time came across as a cartoon.

So I’m guessing here, but money talks. Since the revival came nearly 20 years after the regular series ended, and Lecy never had that kind of steady acting work again, the gig may have seemed more attractive in 2018 than it did in 1996. It’s also possible that whatever factor was making the job less satisfying during season 8 no longer existed. Crystal seemed to be phased out as Nancy’s role got bigger. Apparently thinking was that Roseanne Conner didn’t need quite so many peers (Jackie, Nancy, Crystal) to hang out with. I’ve gotten the impression that Roseanne Barr herself had something to do with that decision. For the record, I liked Crystal much better. There was a retrospective special a few years after the series ended, and they included scene with Crystal in the background where they blurred her face. So West didn’t give permission to use her image, and that’s a possible indication that her departure wasn’t amicable (it’s fairly unusual for an actor to deny permission to use their clips). But Crystal has reappeared in the revival, so I’m assuming that any issues were resolved.