WendyCR72 August 20, 2014 Share August 20, 2014 I have seen some folks actually sort of disappointed once Murphy Michaels (James Read) and Bernice Fox (a.k.a. Miss Wolf, heh, played by Janet DeMay) exit and Mildred appears. I did read it was to focus more on the Laura/Remington relationship, and the dead triangle was holding that back, but what do YOU think? Should Mildred have replaced, in essence, both Murphy and Bernice? Should Murphy had stayed on? Bernice? ALL of them, including Mildred? If you had the chance to be show runner, what would you have kept or changed? How would you have evolved the Laura and Steele story? Link to comment
GHScorpiosRule August 20, 2014 Share August 20, 2014 I have seen some folks actually sort of disappointed once Murphy Michaels (James Read) and Bernice Fox (a.k.a. Miss Wolf, heh, played by Janet DeMay) exit and Mildred appears. I did read it was to focus more on the Laura/Remington relationship, and the dead triangle was holding that back, but what do YOU think? I never thought it was a triangle. At all. Because at one point, Murphy told Laura how he felt, she put her fingers to his lips, I think, and told him she didn't feel the same way. To me, a triangle is when the focus, say, the person being sought out by the two, has feelings for BOTH. And this was just not the case here. I loved Murphy and Bernice, but I also liked Mildred. I can't imagine seasons 2 and onwards being the same had Murphy and Bernice still been there or if Mildred wasn't there. 1 Link to comment
BkWurm1 August 21, 2014 Share August 21, 2014 The one thing that having Murphy and Bernice around did was give Laura people she defended Steele to where as once Mildred was there, Steele played up his part and Laura had to bottle up her frustrations until she took them out on him. In a way, taking away Murphy and Bernice probably delayed the Steele/Holt romance. I honestly was never a big fan of Bernice, she was just a little too, um, hardened? I don't know the right word I'm really looking for. I missed Murphy but not the part of him that pined after Laura. I would have happily had him stick around once he was gaga over his "stewardess". Wouldn't it have been fun for Mildred to fuss over two guys? Now going to another hand, without both Murphy and Bernice gone, we would never have had Red Holt Steele and that isn't something I'd like to think about. I guess I wish they could have visited sometime in the next four years but otherwise I can't say I think the show would have been better with them still around. 2 Link to comment
Bastet August 21, 2014 Share August 21, 2014 What I miss about the season one dynamic is Laura having a "safe space" in the office -- everyone there knows she's the boss and treats her as such. She can shut the door after a day of enduring people fawning over Steele, him gleefully taking credit for her work, getting a metaphorical pat on the head (or ass), etc. and have her words respected. When Mildred comes along, she has no escape from the charade. With that said, there just wasn't room for Murphy and Miss Wolf (heh) as Steele became more than a figurehead; combining the third investigator and receptionist role into one made sense after a season. Gleason knew James Read was entirely justified in his frustration, and also knew the solution was to let him move on as beefing up the role wasn't a realistic option at that point. 5 Link to comment
andipandi October 5, 2018 Share October 5, 2018 I recall being really pissed off when Mildred arrived, because she treated Laura like an underling, puffed up Steele's ego, and was hugely annoying. I liked Murphy and Bernice and thought it was nice for Laura to have friends. I only really warmed up to Mildred once she was in on the secret identity thing. 2 Link to comment
Davey1 October 12, 2018 Share October 12, 2018 I am in the second season and am fast losing interest in a romantic comedy show with a slight detective/crime solving flavor. Link to comment
GHScorpiosRule October 12, 2018 Share October 12, 2018 10 minutes ago, Davey1 said: I am in the second season and am fast losing interest in a romantic comedy show with a slight detective/crime solving flavor. But that’s the premise of this show. 2 Link to comment
WendyCR72 October 12, 2018 Author Share October 12, 2018 3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said: But that’s the premise of this show. Yes. Yes, it is. 1 Link to comment
andipandi October 19, 2018 Share October 19, 2018 (edited) Absolutely. Also a nice snapshot of the state of feminism in the 80s. If they rebooted this today, would we need the premise of a fake male boss? Oh hey, there's a 21st century thread to discuss that in! Edited October 19, 2018 by andipandi Link to comment
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