Who is your favorate charater.
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taylorje — 19 years ago(October 29, 2006 04:38 PM)
Kate, definitely! I once would've said Willie, but now I see him as a spoiled brat with a smart mouth. He had it made he was a high school dropout who still lived at home (but in the later seasons he moved into Nancy's vacated guesthouse when she got her own apartment). His parents paid his bills and apparently gave him free room and board. They were angry because he quit high school, but he never had to suffer the financial consequences. He was allowed to come and go as he pleased. I wonder how he would have turned out if the show had lasted a few more years?
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Liz01219 — 18 years ago(September 12, 2007 02:31 PM)
gok,
Yes, Nancy did seem to have it all.
But, in the end, the "most likely to succeed" really didn't have anything but of course her adorable son.
She married to quick to someone who was going to provide more than generously for her.
The girl who had everything, the prom queen had a cheating husband and a young baby while all of her friends were still in college or just out of college doing the things everyone assumed SHE woud be doing.
In the end, the strongest of the 3 children was really Buddy.
Nancy and Willie were enabled by both parents. Oh yes, Doug protested about Willie, and Kate protested about Nancy, and because the parents weren't on the same page with either one of them, both were enabled.
Buddy, was always the most adjusted of the 3. -
ggillespie — 19 years ago(November 09, 2006 12:03 PM)
My favorite character was Kate Lawrence. The one liner that sticks in my mind, to this day, involved the heated exchange between Kate and Willie. As a result of the argument, Willie promised he would be moving out tomorrow. It was one of the few times that their voices were raised to such feverishness. Confident that he had won the argument by asserting his independence, Kate slam dunked him with this line.
"Why put for tomorrow what you can get done today."
It was all in Sada Thompson's quiet and suggestive finish of the scene. It was subtle yet biting.
Oh, how I long for television that isn't so "in-your-face."
Family was and remains a class act. -
isisdawonder — 19 years ago(April 01, 2007 09:27 PM)
My favorite character is Katewhen I was little it was Buddy and Annie first and then Always Katenow it's just KateI like her iron will, heart of gold, and words of wisdomyet she is vulnerable and knows that she doesn't know everything there is to knowshe grows with her family.
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ed4evr — 18 years ago(April 28, 2007 01:39 AM)
I remember that exchange between Kate and Willie, ggillispie! I also remember a similar argument she had with Nancy. She had reprimanded her for something and Nancy also threatened to move. She asked if she could borrow the rentals section of the newspaper so that she could start looking for another apartment. Kate icily replied, "Take the whole paper, Darling. You can use it to pack your china." I still laugh when I think about it. Doug was a good father, but his kids (most notably Nancy) could wrap him around their fingers. Kate could spot BS from her kids from a mile away. And she never hesitated to call them on it.
I can only hope that, if I ever have a 25-year-old threatening to run away from home I can handle it half as well as Kate! -
mlone — 19 years ago(December 27, 2006 09:18 PM)
Buddy. I was/am about the same age as Kristy McNichol, so I could relate to that character, although I wish I had been a courageous/outspoken as Buddy. I really liked the relationship between Buddy and Willie.
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ethersmum — 18 years ago(April 28, 2007 12:41 PM)
I was, and still am, obsessed with Sada Thompson and her roll as "Kate". The show premiered on my fifth birthday and Kate Lawrence seemed like a godsend to me. I, too, wanted her to be my mother. I have read other threads about this show and there seems to be a theme amongst those who love the Kate character so much: many kids who fell in love with her appear to have been abused and neglected children. I know that's why I was, and am still, so drawn to her. I remember taping episodes in the late 80's on the VCR and watching them endlessly and pausing it on her and just sobbing because I had nothing like her in my life.
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spike71 — 18 years ago(April 29, 2007 08:05 AM)
I think alot of people agree with you. I admired Kate for many reason, she was a good mother, good wife and did her own thing - going back to school. Do you have seasons 1 and 2? If not, be sure to pick them up. Tons of great memories.
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isisdawonder — 18 years ago(July 22, 2007 10:50 PM)
Well Kate is my favoritebut not because I was neglected or abusedbut because she most reminds me of my own mommy mother was a single parent who was only 17 when she had me with an attitude like Katesoft when need be and stings when need beeven as an adult I can still see this attitude in my mom. Sometimes we don't get along like Kate and Nancy at timesbut I know my mo mis ALWAYS there for me.
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fentress — 16 years ago(January 04, 2010 02:36 PM)
Hard for me to pick one. I like them all, but some are more interesting than others.
It's probably easier to say who was NOT my favorite. While I like Mr. Lawrence (Doug) and Nancy, I didn't feel that the two of them were raw unique characters in quite the same way that Kate, Willie, and Buddy were. A lot of competent actors could have played Doug or Nancy and it wouldn't have made a lot of difference. But with Kate, Willie, and Buddy, I don't think the show would have been nearly as good if other actors had played those characters. With each of those three, it was really a case of the actor bringing something perfectly unique to the role.
The popular choice judging from this thread seems to be Kate. I think it was courageous that the show's creators had the nerve to make the character a little distant, a little snippy at times. Yet we the audience still know that she's a good person and really cares. And they cast a woman slightly chunky, who didn't fit the standard polished Hollywood beauty image.
I was close to Willie's age when the show first aired - and I'm a guy - so I identified with him at the time. Watching his evolution to maturity was one of the best parts of the show. He was a bit spoiled and could be a smart-mouth at times. But I could take that as part of his journey to manhood. Sometimes though I was a bit put off by how witty and good looking and generally "cool" he was, being a more nerdish guy myself.
I also felt the chemistry between Willie and Buddy was great. I could realistically believe it. They snapped at each other now and then, but still had a special bond. -
ethersmum — 16 years ago(January 05, 2010 05:35 PM)
Kate, Willie, BuddyI couldn't agree more, though I feel James Broderick was the perfect match for Sada Thompson's Kate and can't imagine another actor in his place, either. Nancy, however, could have been played by any actress. Baxter-Birney's beauty seems to fool people into thinking she was a better actress than Elayne Heilveil, and I just don't get it. I think most of the actresses who played Willie's girlfriends over the years could have played Nancy just as well. Nancy just wasn't an interesting character, in my opinion, and Baxter-Birney's introduction to the show is where I feel things started to get cheesy: Hey! I know! Let's replace the pretty-ish brunette with a knock-out blond with big you-know-whats and we'll boost our ratings! Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed to have worked.