Eight Is Enough Is Finally Happening (1 Viewer)

I did notice one mistake...Episodes 4 and 6 have the same end credits..they belong with Episode 4...none of the guest stars for Episode 6 are credited.

 

[younger1968]

I did notice one mistake...Episodes 4 and 6 have the same end credits..they belong with Episode 4...none of the guest stars for Episode 6 are credited.

That probably is not surprising there are mistakes as the network probably did little work to clean the episodes up. I was surprised with the cast reunion that more was not talk about with regards to Ralph Macchio being on the show. Ralph's first big break before he did the karate kid movies. I had many gals i went to school that had posters of Ralph from the Karate Kid days!!
I also found the interview neat as well, because it talked about Laurie Walters's real life age on the show was the same as betty buckley. The actors/actresses did talk about the ages, especially Nicholas's age and his character. The show had the right mix of age and issues as William Aames, Connie Needham and Adam Rich were close to the ages they portrayed.

 

I'm thinking the mistake was a result of the chaos that must have ensued following Hyland's death. Episodes were shown out of order, and this may have been an oversight. It may have been corrected for later airings. I'm thinking these transfers are from the negatives because the detail and contrast are excellent.

 

[younger1968]

I'm thinking the mistake was a result of the chaos that must have ensued following Hyland's death. Episodes were shown out of order, and this may have been an oversight. It may have been corrected for later airings. I'm thinking these transfers are from the negatives because the detail and contrast are excellent.

Hi Eric,
Thanks for the posting!
I have really no issue on how the handle the Dianne Hyland situation, especially with the focus more on the kids and the father. It was 2nd season when Betty Buckley was added to mix as the step mom and that was well done. The addition of Ralph Macchio was interesting as well as it was just before he did karate kid!!

 

[vnisanian2001]

I never could figure out why Betty Buckley acted like such a cold-hearted tyrant, and why she was universally hated by the cast.

 

[sjbradford]

Hey everyone - I'm the one who's been posting on imdb about the possibility of trimmed episodes.
It makes sense that Joan wasn't mentioned in the last episode of the season, "The Gipper Caper". It was not aired during the regular season, and instead aired during the summer alongside episodes that had been trimmed to remove mentions of her. And it does appear as full length on the DVD release.
But Hyland was missing from five episodes that season. William Blinn states that the last two were rewritten to not mention Joan. And they do seem to appear intact on the DVD, given the running time. But that doesn't include the other three where she was absent which did mention that she was away visiting a relative and featured phone calls from her - Blinn stated this in the recent book "The Show Must Go On", which has an excellent chapter on Hyland's death and "Eight is Enough". Blinn says in this book, "I went to her house a number of times with a tape recorder and would record her side of a phone conversation with Dick Van Patten. Later, we'd shoot Dick on the other end of the call; he would be on camera and we would just hear Diana."
That's why the trimmed episodes are strange to watch. The mother simply disappears in the middle of the season and isn't mentioned again until the second season premiere. And two of these episodes, "Quarantine" and "V is for Vivian" are up to a minute shorter. That's enough for a mention of "Hey - wonder when Mom's getting back from her trip?" or a minute long phone call from Joan.
Also, Hyland was credited for all the episodes in the first season, even the ones where she didn't appear. The "pyramid" opening (without Hyland) was created for the second season, but pasted onto some of those first season episodes in summer reruns. They also had to redo the closing credits of those episodes to use a still shot of the pyramid - that could possibly be why at least one of those episodes has the complete wrong closing credits. Those second-season openings (and closings) appear on this DVD release, another sign they're using trimmed versions for at least a couple of the episodes.
I know I'm nitpicking, but I really wish these studios would take extra care to make sure they release full episodes.

 

[sjbradford]

I don't think Buckley was "universally hated". But I do think there was a period of adjustment. Buckley was used to doing Broadway and features, where you have the time to do lots of rehearsals (and retakes). Willie Aames, I believe, said that some of the cast had issues with how much rehearsal Buckley wanted to do at first, but once she adjusted to television, it wasn't a problem. There was also a problem with a Christmas gift Buckley gave to her younger co-stars her first year on the show - a book on acting (by Lee Strasberg, I believe). Some of the kids took this as Buckley's way of telling them that they weren't good actors (while others looked to the gift as Buckley's way of mentoring the younger actors).
But I don't think the kids were especially close to her as they were with Van Patten. And I remember reading that they didn't shed any tears when she didn't do the reunion movies in the late 80s.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

[younger1968]

I don't think Buckley was "universally hated". But I do think there was a period of adjustment. Buckley was used to doing Broadway and features, where you have the time to do lots of rehearsals (and retakes). Willie Aames, I believe, said that some of the cast had issues with how much rehearsal Buckley wanted to do at first, but once she adjusted to television, it wasn't a problem. There was also a problem with a Christmas gift Buckley gave to her younger co-stars her first year on the show - a book on acting (by Lee Strasberg, I believe). Some of the kids took this as Buckley's way of telling them that they weren't good actors (while others looked to the gift as Buckley's way of mentoring the younger actors).
But I don't think the kids were especially close to her as they were with Van Patten. And I remember reading that they didn't shed any tears when she didn't do the reunion movies in the late 80s.

Thanks for the info!

Your comments make sense since the show was based on raising a family of 8 kids.My guess is Diane Hyland bonded immediately with the kids and replacing her was difficult as the actors were attached to her. The studio tried to add Betty Buckley in S2, but, there appear some chemistry issues early on and maybe that had to do with the strain relationship and/or cast not accepting Betty Buckley. However, i did notice from S3 on that the series seem to adjust better to Betty Buckley. My only question is to the rationale why Ralph Macchio was added as the nephew of Betty Buckley. Could it be that kids were getting older and they needed another young adult with different issues to add more to the story lines? Ralph Macchio was young and up in coming star that broke ice with a few movies before he gained a role on eight is enough.
I still like the show, but i think family wise that growing pains and/or family ties was much better with dealing family issues as the kids were much closer to teenagers then eight is enough. I think eight is enough will always have its spot in history, especially due to fact it talked about raising a family of 8.

 

[Neil Brock]

I checked with a fellow collector who recorded all of the first season episodes on 3/4 tape when they originally aired on ABC. He has compared them all with the DVD release and here is his synopsis and comparison between the DVDs and the original airings:
1. Never Try Eating Nectarines Since Juice May Dispense. Episode is intact as originally broadcast.
2. Schussboomer - Episode is intact as originally broadcast.
3. Pieces Of Eight - Episode is intact as originally broadcast. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually broadcast 4/5/77
4. Women, Ducks And The Domino Theory - Original opening title sequence has been replaced with second season opening title sequence. End credits modified with second season cast still over credits. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually broadcast 4/12/77.
5. Turnabout - Episode is intact as originally broadcast. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually broadcast 4/19/77.
6. Quarantine - Original opening title sequence has been replaced with second season opening title sequence. Kitchen scene with the family and Tom on the phone has been modified. Originally, Tom's phone call was to Joan to tell her about the quarantine. The revised version has Tom calling Dr. Maxwell about the quarantine. Re-shot closeups of Tom were inserted into the existing scene. Watch for the wide shot of the family in the kitchen with Tom on the phone to see the mismatch in the dialogue vs. the video content. The original tag scene with Tom on the phone to Joan has been replaced with an alternate scene with Tom and some of the children. The end credits are incorrect for this episode and are mistakenly from the episode "Women, Ducks, And The Domino Theory". Guest stars are actually Dennis Kort, Leonard Stone, Damon Raskin, Ray Buktenica, and Holly Smith. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually broadcast 4/26/77.
7. V Is For Vivian - Original opening title sequence has been replaced with second season opening title sequence. End credits modified with second season cast still over credits. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually broadcast 5/3/77.
8. Hit And Run - Episode is intact as originally broadcast. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was held back from the original series spring run and first-run broadcast wasn't until the series returned to the schedule on 8/10/77.
9. The Gipper Caper - Original opening title sequence has been replaced with second season opening title sequence. The original tag scene with Tom on the phone to Joan has been replaced with an alternate scene with Tom and Nicholas. End credits modified with second season cast still over credits. Air date listed in most references as well as on the DVD set is incorrect. This episode was actually the third episode broadcast on 3/29/77, which explains why the air dates in references become incorrect from episode 4 onward. ABC repeated this episode on 8/24/77.

 

[vnisanian2001]

Excellent information, Neil. Thank you for sharing it.
Even though it's uncut, why is the pilot episode only 47:34 long? Are pilot episodes generally shorter than actual series episodes?

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

Excellent information, Neil. Thank you for sharing it.
Even though it's uncut, why is the pilot episode only 47:34 long? Are pilot episodes generally shorter than actual series episodes?

Pilot episodes aren't generally shorter, except of course if it is a TV-movie pilot. It is also not uncommon for extended tv movie pilots to be trimmed down to episode length for reasons of syndication and allotted time slots. I think 47-48 minutes (PAL speed) was standard for a U.S. hour tv show in 1977.
Thank you too, Danny for that info. Nice to be able to compare notes from the original airings. Can't argue with that!

 

[derosa]

thanks Neil, great post.
I'm off to pick up a set for myself now.

 

[Brian Himes]

Thanks Neil. At least all of the quetions have at last been answered. The few minor edits that exist on the set won't bother me much. It's not like huge scenes or chunks are missing. While I don't like sets to have any edits, these are so minor that I can live with them.
My set arrived today and I'll be viewing it just as soon as I'm done with Logan's Run.

 

Thanks, Neil! The edits, while not exactly what I like, were there during the original run. It's not the best situation, but it's better than syndicated prints.

 

[sjbradford]

Thanks, Neil, for the detailed post, and for finally clearing things up. ABC sure did go to a lot of effort to edit Joan out of the reruns, didn't they?

 

[Neil Brock]

Excellent information, Neil. Thank you for sharing it.
Even though it's uncut, why is the pilot episode only 47:34 long? Are pilot episodes generally shorter than actual series episodes?

I had my friend check on the pilot and it runs around 49 minutes, give or take a few seconds, no different than the normal running time for the other episodes from that season. Without doing a complete side by side viewing, he doesn't see any noticeable cuts so right now the thought is that the DVD pilot is taken from a tape that was timesped for syndication. If I hear anything differently from him, I'll post it, but for now that what it appears to be.

 

[Hasslein]

I rarely buy television seasons release week, but I felt I had to buy this and Logan's Run because Warner Brothers actually gave us pressed discs. Just hope later seasons of EIE don't go MOD. It appears to be selling well at Target, but Best Buy isn't carring it B&M so I don't know what that does to numbers.

 

[younger1968]

I have watched all the episodes and it brought back great memories of the show that i watch as a kid. I also had a bit of crush for Elizabeth (Connie Needham) as a kid. I just hope the remaining seasons and the reunion films are all released. I especially like to see the episodes when Ralph Macchio joined the cast.

 

Adam Rich posted on Facebook that he is very happy the show is now on dvd, and he plans to share it with his family.