Eight is Enough (1 Viewer)

[Jon Baker]

Is there anyone else who would love to see a DVD release of this series? I loved this show. Mark Hamill starred in the pilot episode and the original actress who played the mom passed away after the first few episodes. Plus Willie Aames was pretty popular as a teen idol. He played Tommy and was either trying to score Ted Nugent tickets or playing in a band. Lani O'Grady who played the eldest sister on the show died a few years ago due to a stroke. Her character Mary was always bossy, her nostrils flairing everytime she was interrupted from her medical studies. Susan Richardson, the redhead, had been featured on some entertainment news show claiming that in the 1980s, she was held hostage in Korea by filmmakers who tried to kill her. Her character revolved around her skydiving, joining the police force and marrying a baseball player. I liked Dianne Kay (she was the cute blonde). Most epsiodes revolved around her looking for a job or modelling in some beauty pageant. And there was the dancer, Elizabeth, Played by Connie Newton (who later because Connie Newton-Needham after she married a production guy on the show). Adam Rich was also getting into a lot of trouble with drugs and alcohol after the series ended, but his character Nicholas was a central character on the show - I recall a 2-part episode where Nicholas runs away to San Diego and lives on the street with a bum (played by Jack Elam). Then there was Laurie Walters (starred in 'Harrad Experiment" and "Warlock Moon" before the series), who played Joanie, the actress who later got a job on some news station. She was also older than Betty Buckley, who played Abby. Tom, the dad played by Dick Van Patten, worked at a newspaper and his secretary was played by Jennifer Darling (from 'Bionic Woman'). Grant Goodeve played the oldest son, David, who sang the theme song which was featured in season 2 and later episodes. he didn't live at the house but was always dating women played by actresses who later became fairly well-known.

Is there any chance that this series will ever make it to DVD. I'm not sure who owns the rights, but I would think the show was popular enough to garner a release. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Yes, this was a favorite of mine when it was originally airing. Grant Goodeve wound up on Northern Exposure until he was killed by a falling satelite.

I'm not sure how concurent it was, but James at 15/16 was another that I liked a lot as a youngster.

 

[Jeff Willis]

This one's also on my "wait" list. Haven't heard a thing about it on any site about a rumored or planned release though.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

In refreshing my memory of this show I ran across a fan site eightisenough.com which has a few pics from the show. No wonder I liked it as a teen, those girls were hot!

Dick Van Patten is apparently recovering from a stroke. He did commentary/interviews on Disney's The Shaggy D.A. which was just released.

 

[LeonaB]

I would love to see Eight is Enough come out on DVD! It was definitely a favorite of mine. I wonder what the holdup is. It was a pretty successful series, both ratings-wise and among the younger fan base, and I can't imagine that there'd be a music problem. Plus, the reunion movies that they did in the late 1980s did pretty well, too. Hmmmm....

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Ah...Eight is Enough. What a great show! I can even distinctly recall two separate theme songs. The first one was completely instrumental and the second had Grant Goodeve singing the "Eight is Enough" song. I'd love to have the DVD simply for the "time capsule/nostalgia" factor. Plus, my uncle used to be Betty Buckley's pianist while she was a struggling young singer in Fort Worth, Texas. It would be great to have this show on disc, IMHO!

 

[Jon Baker]

From what I remember Betty Buckley actually sang 2 songs on the show that she wrote herself. One of these was featured in the same episode where Grant Goodeve first sang the song used as the theme for the 2nd season ("there's a plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen window sill...") -- this was the episode where the Bradfords tried to raise money by having a talent show. Mr. Brandord & Nicholas did a really lame rendition of "Who's on first", Joanie and Susan did pantomime and Nancy did a tap dancing number.

In looking at tvshowsonDVD I noticed that the rights to the show are unknown, or not owned by anyone. I don't know if this is a factor on whether or not the show gets a DVD release. There may also be some issues surrounding the Betty Buckley numbers as those are were released on her first CD.

 

[JeffWld]

The show was produced by Lorimar-which means that Warner Brothers now owns the rights to the show.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

If this is the case, I guess we know one question that should be asked if/when Warner does their TV chat here.

 

[Steve JD]

This is a series I would definately buy on dvd! Have not seen the show since it ended, unfortunately. It got cancelled the year before my family got a VCR, but I still have an audio tape of one episode.

Commentaries on a few episodes by the actors who played the kids would be great.
"My back hurt for weeks after we filmed the pyramid collapse!"

 

[Claude North]

I would definitely buy EIE on DVD. I loved this show when it originally aired (Wednesday nights at 8 on ABC, right before CHARLIE'S ANGELS -- pure 1970s TV heaven!) and I got hooked on it again when the PAX Network aired it several years ago.

One of the songs performed by Betty Buckley was called "So La" if I'm not mistaken. It was a reworking of sorts of "Do Re Mi."

One episode that always stood out in my mind is the Christmas episode, quite possibly one of the great tearjerking moments in television history.

With so much at Warners disposal, I wonder if this show has simply fallen through the cracks. Perhaps the fan base for it isn't as organized and vocal as those of other shows.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

No doubt. Every EIE fan remembers that episode (or should, anyway).

 

[Michael Alden]

I'd buy it up until the point when Susan dyed her beautiful red hair.

 

[Jon Baker]

Anyone remember the episode of CHiPs where Susan Richardson played 'Strawberry', the lead singer of a punk band? The show ended with Ponch all decked-out in disco duds singing "Celebration"?

 

[Michael Alden]

Thankfully, no, I don't think I've ever watched an episode of CHIPS.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Are you guys talking about the Christmas episode where robbers stole their Christmas presents, but Tommy found a wrapped package that his dead mother had hidden away for him before she passed away? I remember seeing that when I was 12 and busting up...! I haven't seen EIE since it originally aired, and that is the only complete episode I can recall.

As for the show itself, I watched it the first couple years, but it was a mixed bag. I remember thinking at first that it was an hour long Brady Bunch, but the comedy and drama were never an easy mix; it was dramatic when it should have been funny, and funny when it should have been dramatic. I also feel to this day there were some unfortunate casting decisions. I remember I couldn't stand the oldest daughter; she was just damn unpleasant to watch. And Grant Goodeve looked pissed all the time, like he wanted to be a romantic lead on another series, instead of just the big brother in a huge cast. As for Adam Rich...aye yie yie! Is there a kid in America who actually liked watching Adam Rich on that show?? He was about 1 year younger than me and ya'd THINK I could relate to him, but he was such an awkward punk that I couldn't stand him. He's one of those precious kid actors that the grown-ups think is cute, but that other kids hate. He belongs in the same dorky group as Robbie Rist or Jonathan Lipnicki. There was just some weird, weird casting in that family. They never did develop the easy cameraderie of the Bradys, the Keatons, the Waltons, or other tv families....the Bradfords just didn't gel. I always had a theory it was because there were so many daughters, that there was probably a huge amount of competition between them....it showed onscreen. I did like Willie Ames and some of the middle sisters, but the rest of them just killed it for me...and there were times when Dick VanPatten was way too much of a goofball to be a believable father of eight. I don't know....I might buy this if it showed up on dvd, but it might be kinda painful to go through again...kinda like reliving unpleasant childhood memories, lolololol

 

[Claude North]

What made that episode so moving is that the actress who played the mother had died, so what you're seeing is the characters mourning their mother and the actors mourning their friend and co-star.

I've always admired the producers of EIE for choosing to preserve the memory of Diana Hyland rather than recasting the role. She had appeared in only six episodes, so recasting would have been feasible at that point. Even the reunion movies contained references to Ms. Hyland and her character, which I found truly remarkable for an industry that often seems to regard people as disposable.

 

[Ethan Riley]

It was different, but it made the series sad too soon, maybe. I dunno...

 

[julienUK]

It's funny, I remember this show when I was a kid in France. Huit Ca suffit!
lol I quite liked it but the small kid deserved to be slapped, he looked like the kid on the Kinder chocolate boxes. lol

 

[Ethan Riley]

That's exactly why I didn't like him, Julien...! Adam Rich spoke with this sort of "stuffy nose" thing going on, leading us cooler kids to conclude that he was retarded. I met him once; here's a true story: it was Halloween 1991 and I was with friends for a costume party/street festival in Hollywood. There were literally 1000s of people walking around in costume, and we were all drunk and pointing out people in costumes like "Hey! She's dressed as the Little Mermaid!" "Hey! He's dressed as Indiana Jones!" and so on. All the sudden, here comes Adam Rich. And I went up to him and said, "Hey! He's got on an Adam Rich costume!" And Adam...oh my god, if looks could kill. He looked at my like I kicked his mom, I swear.

Anyway, years later, I used that same exact joke on Camryn Mannheim from "The Practice," and she stopped still in a crosswalk laughing her head off and said, "Yeah, and I did a good job of it, too, didn't I?"