im wondering why did the girl's get dropped im getting in to this show again,by help of Antenna tv anyone know why
shareThe show actually was completely overhauled and renamed "the Ted Knight Show" but they kept those episodes as part of the "Too Close For Comfort" syndication package.
Unfortunately Ted Knight died after the first season.
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Deborah van Valkenburgh, who played Jackie, quit right before the end of season 5. She didn't want to do the show anymore, so they wrote an episode that had Jackie move to Italy to be a fashion designer.
Lydia Cornell, who played Sara, was still on the show until the end of season 5, but after season 5 they retooled the show and called it The Ted Knight Show. What is aired as Too Close for Comfort season 6 is actually The Ted Knight show, season 1. It was just repackaged for syndication and new title credits were created for this syndication package using the Too Close For Comfort title instead of The Ted Knight Show.
I don't know what they have to say. It makes no difference anyway. Whatever it is, I'm against it.
According to Lydia Cornell herself:
https://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2008/10/sitcomsonlinecom-exclusive-interview_29.html
First, Deb dropped out and didn't want to do a final year. She was always more interested in doing theater and darker roles. But I loved comedy and wanted to stay on. Then Arne Sultan died and new producers came on board whose sole purpose was to satisfy Ted - who had an ownership stake. Since the network never got to develop the Jackie and Sara characters, and our value had been diminished in the last couple of years - the new producers were simply resistant to upsetting Ted. And they didn't realize the value of the Sara character without Jackie. It was like willful ignorance. But to be honest, we had the hardest time ever feeling like they cared about "the girls" on that show. They were constantly trying to push us aside and make us feel expendable. I remember we had these amazing writers for one season - Jeff Reno and Ron Osbourne - who wrote great shows for Sara and Jackie. They were fired for being too talented! They went on to write and create Moonlighting. I have the greatest respect for writers. All the writers on the show were wonderful -- especially Earl Barret and Arne Sultan. Also we were honored to have the gifted and amazing duo of Rocky and Irma Kalish, they wrote Gilligan's Island, Bob Newhart, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis shows, Facts of Life, and tons of classic sitcoms. Irma was President of Writer's Guild America West and is one of the first women to become a producer of a TV show... a woman's activist. We also had Doug Arango and Phil Doran -- who had written All in the Family. The funny thing is, I would have done the show for free - but my managers at the time were negotiating my contract for more money.share
Season 6 as The Ted Knight Show kind of proved how essential and how needed Jackie and Sara were. Without them, there really wasn't much of a direction or driving force anymore. I think that Jackie and Sara's departure hurt because without them around, the show no longer had any "youth" appeal (and dare I say, sex appeal to draw in young males). This would've been fine had Ted Knight been surrounded by a strong or stronger supporting cast. But without the daughters, there was no longer anything at its center. Characters like Monroe and Lisa the housekeeper were just too one-note to really work for long.
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