MovieChat Forums > Mr. Belvedere (1985) Discussion > Writing in his diary earlier in the epis...

Writing in his diary earlier in the episode

posted 9 years ago by jarrodmcdonald-1
7 replies | jump to latest

I've been meaning to start this thread but kept forgetting.

There are maybe a half dozen episodes where in addition to his normal diary writing at the end, Mr. Belvedere also writes in his diary earlier in the episode.

Maybe when we see these episodes again on Antenna-TV, we can mention them in this thread. It's a unique aspect of the show.

We also have an episode that focuses on Heather writing in her diary.

In 'The Counselor' Belvedere doesn't write in his diary at all, because Hewitt and Beckham instead make a special announcement about the episode's subject matter.

The fifth season episode 'The Book' (filmed during the fourth season) is based on Belvedere publishing his diary entries. By the way, this plot was lifted from the very first Belvedere movie, SITTING PRETTY, starring Clifton Webb as Belvedere back in 1948. In the movie, he published a book about the people who lived in their suburban community. And of course, the movie was itself based on a book called Belvedere-- written by Gwen Davenport, originally published in 1947.

[–] jastrait78 9 years ago

I always looked forward to the end. For some reason i enjoyed watching him writing in that journal.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 9 years ago

I enjoyed it, too-- it helped put the foibles of the Owens clan into proper perspective.

When I created this thread yesterday I had not yet watched the finale (I had seen it first-run on ABC in the summer of 1990) so it had been almost 25 years until I reviewed it.

In part one of the finale, he writes in the diary several scenes before the end-- because that is when he realizes he has fallen for Louise and then he tries to get out of going away with her for the weekend. This of course sets us up for the reversal, where they announce they will marry, leaving us with the 'To be continued' hook at the end. Before the credits, instead of the scene where his journal entry would normally have been, we see previews of part two.

I cannot remember if back in 1990, when ABC aired the finale as a one-hour special what they had in place of the previews for the second part. And also, there was only one set of credits at the very end of the hour. So either something did get cut for syndication, to make room for the preview and the credits at the end of part one, or else back when ABC originally broadcast it, the network just filled that time with more commercials.

[–] Edermike 9 years ago

According to Broadcast Magazine, and several other sources I checked, it was always a two part episode. It ranked #59 on 7-1-90 and part two got them up to #37 on 7-8-90. Besides I remember watching it over the two weeks.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 9 years ago

Did ABC rerun it later in the summer as a one-hour broadcast? Or was that it?

Thanks for checking.

[–] Edermike 9 years ago

You are welcome. I don't remember them ever rerunning it.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 9 years ago

Okay. Is the source you mentioned, Broadcast magazine, online or in print? Also, do they have records of syndication and cable airings. Or just network television only?

[–] Edermike 9 years ago

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-BC-IDX/90-OCR/BC-1990-07-09-OCR-Page-0046.pdf#search=%22mr belvedere%22

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-BC-IDX/90-OCR/BC-1990-07-16-OCR-Page-0067.pdf#search=%22mr belvedere%22

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TIHU89_R9xg/St57upQA5EI/AAAAAAAAAHI/G6noSkTuHcE/s1600-h/Ratings_19900625.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TIHU89_R9xg/SuEjRMLEyJI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/eZGQt4vE3sI/s1600-h/Ratings_19900702.jpg

Not sure where the second two come from but they are obviously from a contemporary TV Guide or newspaper. The first two come from Broadcast Magazine. They make a lot of mentions of the show throughout the years, but I didn't dig through it all. I did notice that Belvedere beat the A-Team in one article that came up.