Single Season Sitcoms of The 1980s by Leszczak Bob;

Author:Leszczak, Bob;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Published: 2016-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Provenza recalled, “The show’s creator, Michael Weithorn is a great guy—very funny, very skillful. I got to read for the part, we got along like gangbusters, and he liked me for the role and said that I was his guy. That was great because I really liked the innovative fantasy element of the show that involved Magic Johnson as himself, and Kevin Scannell as Thomas Jefferson. I was to play a young, idealistic professor, and my two heroes were Johnson and Jefferson, so whenever I had a conundrum in my life I sought their advice in the fantasy sequence. We did the pilot, but a short time later I got a call from Weithorn. He was very apologetic, but told me the network didn’t like me and that they wouldn’t do the show unless my part was recast. I was disappointed, but that’s the nature of the business. My motto is ‘C’est la TV.’

“The very next day, I got a call from director John Bowab, who wanted me for the role of Casey Clark on The Facts of Life. I didn’t think I was right for that show, but he told me they wanted to go ‘edgier,’ and really wanted me for the role. I had been doing the warm-up for several shows in which Bowab was involved, and he wanted to find a vehicle for me and thought this was ideal. Just as I was getting started on that show, I got a frenzied call from Weithorn again. The replacement for me on The Pursuit of Happiness wasn’t working out and I was back in if I wanted the role. Long story short, I wasn’t exclusive with The Facts of Life and we made arrangements and adjusted schedules so that I could do both shows. By the way, Weithorn and I are still in touch after all these years.”

Sara Duncan, Roland’s daughter, a very average student, was portrayed by Judie Aronson; and Margaret Callahan, professor of Egyptian history, was played by Wendel Meldrum—a timid, nervous, daffy, A+ student, and Jersey girl who lets her hair down when she drinks (or, more descriptively, slurps) beer. About her character, Meldrum said, “I think of Margaret as someone who is brilliant with limited social skills—quite common in male [TV] characters today. I had a lot of freedom to create her. I owe Michael Weithorn for really pushing for me. Before the network test, he had his dream team in to rehearse and was very helpful with direction. I found out I was pregnant at this same time, and it was a bit of a shock to everyone, myself included. Weithorn called my doctor and asked the last possible date we could shoot before I started showing too much. My skirt was rising by the day. My doctor called it perfectly—they were able to cover me. Margaret is one of my favorite roles. She operated inside her Egyptology passion bubble, and all her quirks came out of that.”

The baby came during the show’s run.

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