Dick Van Patten has passed away.

[Tulin]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

I'm currently doing a complete watch through of "Eight Is Enough", thanks to it FINALLY being made available on DVD.

The show (my favourite as a child) unfortunately doesn't hold up that well but van Patten is ALWAYS THE BEST THING about it. He has GREAT comedic timing in it and is consistently always better than the material.

Eight is Enough is my favorite "dramedy". It may not "hold up" under today's "standards", or be a realistic portrayal of how families are, but it's an excellent portrayal of how families should be.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE every second of it and was beyond THRILLED when it was announced it was finally coming to DVD. Watching it though has been an interesting experience however if not only because it's a window to a time of moral and value shifts away from the "Father Knows Best" '50's era to the (supposed) post-women's lib/post MLK late '70's.

I say "supposed" above because there have been some truly shocking (by today's standards) storylines involving Tom upset that his daughter is dating a black man - I'm the least PC person you'll ever meet but that even shocked ME that such a story still passed muster in 1979. The countless incidents of sexism would brand this show as unwatchable for most of the young females I know today - they'd simply be appalled and rightly so!

Again, NOT PC here by any stretch and growing up in a disfunctional family environment, I yearned with all my heart to join the Brady's, the Partridge's and ESPECIALLY the Bradford's, so I look back on this show with extreme fondness. I'm just looking at it through a modern audiences' eyes and finding the show now a relic of a different time.

 

[RandyS]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

I'm currently doing a complete watch through of "Eight Is Enough", thanks to it FINALLY being made available on DVD.

The show (my favourite as a child) unfortunately doesn't hold up that well but van Patten is ALWAYS THE BEST THING about it. He has GREAT comedic timing in it and is consistently always better than the material.

Eight is Enough is my favorite "dramedy". It may not "hold up" under today's "standards", or be a realistic portrayal of how families are, but it's an excellent portrayal of how families should be.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE every second of it and was beyond THRILLED when it was announced it was finally coming to DVD. Watching it though has been an interesting experience however if not only because it's a window to a time of moral and value shifts away from the "Father Knows Best" '50's era to the (supposed) post-women's lib/post MLK late '70's.

I say "supposed" above because there have been some truly shocking (by today's standards) storylines involving Tom upset that his daughter is dating a black man - I'm the least PC person you'll ever meet but that even shocked ME that such a story still passed muster in 1979. The countless incidents of sexism would brand this show as unwatchable for most of the young females I know today - they'd simply be appalled and rightly so!

Again, NOT PC here by any stretch and growing up in a disfunctional family environment, I yearned with all my heart to join the Brady's, the Partridge's and ESPECIALLY the Bradford's, so I look back on this show with extreme fondness. I'm just looking at it through a modern audiences' eyes and finding the show now a relic of a different time.

Then you can count me as a relic of a different time. I'm the same age as Nicholas, and remember that era well. I don't blame you at for looking backat that show with fondness, I do too, but it might help NOT to watch it with modern sensibilities. If you just accept it for what it is, you might enjoy it more.

In a way, I do know how you feel though. Take the character of Mary for instance. All she wants is to be accepted as a doctor, but her constant harping on how men hold her back, combined with her shrillness, just makes me want to jump through the TV and strangle her.

 

[Tulin]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

That's the thing - my partner and I watch a LOT of older tv/movies and enjoy them as almost a "window" into the era they were made in. We recently watched the entire series of "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" and LOVED it as a camp, kitschy porthole into a coke-fuelled kaleidoscopic nightmare of '70's variety shows at their worst.

So, yeah, I CAN turn off the modern sensibilities thing - no worries.

I'd like to see a person sit through all of THOSE and not run out of the room screaming!

Anyway - trust me, I yearn for the '70's and '80's more than just about anybody. I was born in 1970 and can recognize the time of my childhood as a far simpler and less frenetic time. What I was saying was, if you shift your viewpoint to that of a 23 year old female of today, the show is basically unwatchable.

Fortunately, I have that ability to see something through varying and multiple viewpoints, while still finding merit in the show as either a journal of its time or as just plain entertainment for its own sake.

I personally could not give TWO SHITS if the 23 year old penis-envying, feminazi, ball buster at my work doesn't like EiE - I LOVE it. That doesn't make her point of view worthless - it just is.

And yes - I agree on Mary, but she was ALWAYS my favourite Bradford sister. There's just something earthy and warm about Lani O'Grady and I was very saddened to hear about her untimely death many years ago.

 

[Tulin]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

P.S. Thanks for the interesting conversation. Discussion on EiE is extremely rare and I appreciate it!

 

[RandyS]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

P.S. Thanks for the interesting conversation. Discussion on EiE is extremely rare and I appreciate it!

You're welcome. I'm the only person I know of (until you, anyway) that enjoys that show, so it's good to talk to another fan. If you want to talk about the show further, I invite you to PM me any time.

I was also born in 1970, and it's nice to see a one of my comtemporaries with a similar interest.

 

[mos6507]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

Next time someone decides to post an obit, please try to get the guy's name spelled right, as a minimum sign of respect.

 

[Tulin]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

I was going to say it but didn't want to be "that" guy, as I have been so many times in the past.

Thanks, anyway.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Re: Dick Van Pattern has passed away.

In a way, I do know how you feel though. Take the character of Mary for instance. All she wants is to be accepted as a doctor, but her constant harping on how men hold her back, combined with her shrillness, just makes me want to jump through the TV and strangle her.

That's funny. I remember Mary as being the most interesting character on the show. It was the middle son that really annoyed me.