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Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split)
Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 05:39 AM |
So remind me. Occasionally Archie would get a visit from army pals. Was he a combat vet?
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G-Fafif Feb 10 2011 05:49 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
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The Reverend Fletcher. Felcher. Whatever.
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G-Fafif Feb 10 2011 05:54 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
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According to Archie, he was.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 07:23 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
He often mentioned the town in Italy where he fought. Something like "Folgia."
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 07:24 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
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That's right! Thanks! I had drawn a blank on his name. When I'd try to think of it, I'd keep getting "Dr. Shapiro." Others in the Bunker universe: Kelsey the bartender, McNabb the cabbie, and Ferguson the grocer.
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batmagadanleadoff Feb 10 2011 08:00 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
And the supermarket cashier: Sybil Gooley. She's good with green stamps, but you should count your change. Not because Sybil's dishonest, but because she catches colds often, which cause her to sneeze and sneezing fogs up her glasses and then she can't see so well.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 08:19 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
Wasn't Sybil Gooley also some kind of a new age type? I think she was the one who did the spinning wedding ring thing to try to determine whether Gloria was carrying a boy or a girl.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 08:24 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Hey, Barney Hefner oh! oh! your dog is killing my lawn again.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 08:26 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Many think of him as "Sam the Butcher" but he'll always be Barney Heffner to me.
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Willets Point Feb 10 2011 08:56 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
This is a bit of tangent, but did anyone ever see the show 704 Hauser? This was a Norman Lear sitcom set in the same house the Bunkers lived in but now occupied by an African-American family and exploring the political/social issues of the 1990s. It sounded like an interesting concept but I never saw it and since it lasted only 5 episodes apparently wasn't very good. At any rate, it may be the only tv spin-off based around a house rather than a character.
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batmagadanleadoff Feb 10 2011 08:59 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
[youtube:zc1rbv7x]yMhg1cbvfD4[/youtube:zc1rbv7x]
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HahnSolo Feb 10 2011 09:08 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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I did watch one episode. John Amos played the "Archie" character. A grown-up little Mikey Stivic shows up one day to have a look at the home his grandpa owned. He was greeted by Amos much like Archie would have welcomed Lionel Jefferson bringing over 4 of his friends. That's all I remember.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 09:09 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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I did watch the first episode. John Amos played the father of the family, and Joey Stivic dropped by, wanting to see the house that his grandfather once lived in. (He didn't mention whether or not his grandfather was still alive. I don't remember if Carroll O'Conner was still living at that point.) I never bothered watching any additional episodes, so I guess I didn't find it all that entertaining. All in the Family had so many spinoffs, and spinoffs of spinoffs. Maude --> Good Times Jeffersons --> (some Florence show that didn't last long) Gloria (she was a veterinary assistant working for Burgess Meredith) Archie Bunker's Place (more of a sequel than a spinoff) 704 Hauser
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HahnSolo Feb 10 2011 09:10 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I also seem to recall Archie referencing "Foley the philanderer" but don't remember the character.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 09:29 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Seven spinoffs may be the record, if you count Archie Bunker's Place.
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LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 10 2011 09:37 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Feb 10 2011 09:44 AM |
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You may be thinking of 227? Not a spinoff, although Marla Gibbs played essentially the same character, only transplanted from the East Side-ah to a lower-middle-class Washington, D.C. neighborhood. Stayed afloat for five seasons, no doubt helped significantly by co-star Jackeé's buoyancy.
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batmagadanleadoff Feb 10 2011 09:40 AM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
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I definitely remember Sybil being described as a new age type also, though I can't recall the other details you provided.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 09:48 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Well, if Florence didn't get her own show, then we're down to six. Happy Days could still tie up the spinoff race with some summer replacement show about Fonzie's grandkids or something.
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LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 10 2011 09:52 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
MtM had three, with none of those having any "kids," right?
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 09:53 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
No, Florence did have her own show. It wasn't 227, it was called Checking In.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 09:54 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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Um, helloooooo. White Shawdooooo. Thank yooooo. OE: Way to save the franchise, Florence.
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batmagadanleadoff Feb 10 2011 09:55 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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It's unusual for someone your age to be so into MTM and The Bob Newhart Show. Were any of those shows ever in heavy syndication? It's all good though.
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themetfairy Feb 10 2011 10:01 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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I remember watching The Bob Newhart Show in syndication. Quick Googling indicates that MTM didn't do as well in syndication.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 10:05 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I've mentioned this before, but NBC-4 had two MTM episodes from 2-3 AM in my post-college recession-laden years. We had an understanding among my friends that viewing that second episode meant you had reached a level of unemployment referred to as "hardcore unemployable" and you needed intervention.
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LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 10 2011 10:10 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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God damn, must that have been one big pile of sassy-terrible. Has that ever happened before or since-- spin-off fails, character "returns" for good, midseason, no less?
Was a bit of a TV junkie, and more than a bit of an insomniac during middle- and high school (to my long-term detriment, mebbe)... caught more than a bit of MtM there (perhaps in the slot Edgy mentioned), and I've gone back to the well a couple of times in the DVD-by-mail era. Also, actually did sort of a personal research project on BN during college; was doing some comedy writing then, and wanted to study up on the greats.
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batmagadanleadoff Feb 10 2011 10:23 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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That first episode wasn't chopped liver either.
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Willets Point Feb 10 2011 10:34 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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This sounds like my life. I had insomnia which lead to me watching lots of episodes of the Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore and
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 10:35 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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I don't know about mid-season, but Joanie and Chachi came home to Milwaukee with their tails between their legs after Chicago turned into one big long blurry nightmare, Enos returned to his lofty place on the Hazzard County Police Force after finding the LAPD wasn't suitin', and Grady returned to Fred Sanford's neighborhood, kicking Bubba out of the shotgun seat.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 10:44 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I thought that Flo had returned to Alice, but Wikipedia says otherwise.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 12:47 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Of course there was worksite yukster Stretch Cunningham, often referred to but rarely appearing.
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G-Fafif Feb 10 2011 01:03 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Stretch went on (after passing away and revealing his Judaism on AITF) to have a helluva career, and not on that big loading dock in the sky. Whether he's Ruth Fisher's new husband on Six Feet Under, one of Josiah Bartlet's predecessors on The West Wing or driving the brains to Adams College in Revenge of the Nerds, I see James Cromwell, and I think, "It's Stretch Cunningham!"
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 01:08 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Me too! He'll always be Stretch Cunningham to me.
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dgwphotography Feb 10 2011 01:11 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Sorry - I see him, and see Zefram Cochrane.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 01:16 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
In one episode of Happy Days, Richie mentioned that his nickname, when he played basketball, was "Stretch Cunningham."
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 01:35 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Farmer Hoggett to me.
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seawolf17 Feb 10 2011 01:47 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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Law & Order and/or CSI count? Plenty of both of those.
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G-Fafif Feb 10 2011 01:50 PM Re: WS of Sit-coms Q-finals #1 -- M-T-M vs AitF |
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Black Elmo worked alongside the aforementioned. And let's not forget Vincent Gardenia and Betty Garrett as Frank and Irene Lorenzo next door, post-Jeffersons.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 01:56 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Do you remember McNabb? I think his name was Jim McNabb? I'm sure that was a name of someone Archie knew, but I can't figure who he was. Maybe he was the "Joe Rockhead" of Queens.
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HahnSolo Feb 10 2011 02:34 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Was McNabb the guy who sold his house to the Jeffersons?
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 02:41 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
That sounds like it might be right. And I think he may have been played by Vincent Gardenia! (In one of his three roles on All in the Family.)
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HahnSolo Feb 10 2011 02:44 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I remember the scene when he tried to assure Archie about who he was selling to.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 02:49 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Three episodes featured a female impersonator named "Beverly LaSalle" who Archie revived in his cab --- confident and proud that he had come to the aid of a classy dame.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 10 2011 02:58 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I was watching Shameless on Showtime a couple of weeks ago, and there was an elderly actress who I remembered from All in the Family. I had to look up the name of the character she played: Mildred "Boom Boom" Turner.
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Fman99 Feb 10 2011 04:06 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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What about all of those pornographic movies with the Tuscadero sisters? You mean those DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAPPEN? Fuck.
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Fman99 Feb 10 2011 04:09 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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I think of him first as the warden from The Green Mile. Or, the dad from the opening scene of Revenge of the Nerds.
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LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 10 2011 06:24 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Mr. Skolnick it is... but he did make an impression as Captain "Rollo Tomasi" in LA Confidential.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 06:26 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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Well, we were working from sitcoms, but CSI is at two and holding, but Law & Order is interesting. We've got: [list=1][*]Law & Order: Special Victims Unit[/*:m] [*]Law & Order: Criminal Intent[/*:m] [*]Law & Order: Trial by Jury[/*:m] [*]Conviction[/*:m] [*]Law & Order: UK[/*:m] [*]Law & Order: Los Angeles [/*:m][/list:o] Now, one might count Law & Order: UK as an adaptation, rather than a spin-off, but either way, that's a good showing.
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G-Fafif Feb 10 2011 06:26 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
Nobody wants to remember Harry, Archie's partner/fellow bartender after he bought Kelsey's, but before it became a show unto itself with Martin Balsam and Anne Meara. It wasn't a JTS thing, but it was a sign that the show was running on fumes when Archie bought the bar.
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Edgy DC Feb 10 2011 06:41 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
How did Archie line up the scratch to buy that dump anyhow? Insurance settlement?
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G-Fafif Feb 11 2011 06:55 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I think Norman Lear was his silent partner.
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Vic Sage Feb 11 2011 08:55 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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i don't think L&O shows qualify as spinoffs. In a spinoff, there is a common character that connects one show to another. That character is what is being spun off into their own series. In L&O, they not only don't have a common character, they don't have a common setting or even, necessarily, the same format. The only thing that is being spun off is the BRAND NAME. I don't think they're sequels either, as that suggests some linear connection as something that comes later (as opposed to a "prequel" which comes before), but there is no suggestion of sequential nature between the shows. They are at best contemporaneous. I think Dick Wolfe has created a brand, which represents a certain style, approach and subject matter, but are neither spinoffs, sequels, remakes or any of the other standard categories. I've seen it in publishing, but not so much on TV. Magazines create an expectation for its readership; they will provide content that fits into a certain style, format, subject, theme, approach, but the articles and the issues may have nothing actually to do with each other (in the sense of sequel/spinoff/remake). Publishers also put out books in tightly defined genres (a Harlequin romance, for example) with different writers, characters, situations, but each is emblematic of the brand. But the TV networks never worked that way (even the new ones, like FOX or WB), and even the cable networks (even something like ESPN) has a range of programming broad enough to encompas different styles, subjects, approaches, etc. But here is one tv writer/producer who has created an identifiable brand (1-hour network dramas about cops who catch criminals and the lawyers who prosecute them, which focus on narrative (ripped from the headlines) rather than character, with cynicism about the system balanced by inherent decency of those working in it). by focusing on plot rather than character, the shows hold up well in syndication, where episodes are often seen out of sequence. It also allows for easy cast changes, thus promoting a series' longevity. It's quite an accomplishment, frankly.
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Edgy DC Feb 11 2011 10:07 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I agree that a spin-off hooked on a title brand is a different animal and was going to draw that distinction. That may well disqualify it from this argument as you say, but so far, All in the Family holds the title anyhow.
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Edgy DC Feb 11 2011 10:21 AM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
And the ticker today also notes the passing of actress Peggy Rea, Archie's cousin Bertha from Ozone Park.
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Benjamin Grimm Feb 13 2011 03:01 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
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Followed very quickly by Betty Garrett, Bunker neighbor and Edith's friend Irene Lorenzo. She was 91.
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G-Fafif Feb 13 2011 04:14 PM Re: Repeating Characters in the Bunkerverse (split) |
I fear for AITF survivors the further we get into this tournament.
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