I think when Mark may have become a lawyer in Season 6, maybe the writers began decreasing his role. Then Mark decided to become a police officer, so at least, for the time being, he still would be living with the Chief, but would not be the Chief's bodyguard and aide. Mark was attending the Police Academy, so he was not on camera as much. Since the Chief became more independent, Mark became one of his team. It also seems that the writers decided to feature one or two of the team members in a episode. When Fran was introduced, she was featured. When Ironside's friend was killed and the Chief had the flu, Ed was featured. The episode "Class of '40" featured Fran, but the next episode had all of the team participating. Next week, if you watch "What's New with Mark" on Friday, you may find that the writers were preparing the viewers for a turning point in the series. I do miss the late night conversations between Mark and Ironside, which did not occur in the 7th season, but there were some one-on-one conversations between them without Fran and Ed.
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nikishopping
11 years ago
Thanks for the reply.
Yep, I am watching Season 6 and Mark's decreased appearance in many of the episodes is quite noticeable. He added quite a bit to the character of the show and it feels a bit flat without his interaction.
I was just wondering if there was some specific reason at the time (e.g., ratings or a dispute with the actor) why they decided to predominantly feature Fran and Ed while moving Mark to more of a supporting character who is not really involved from start to finish like he used to be. He pops in from time to time towards the middle of the episode, says a line or two, and then gets sent off on some off-screen errand.
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sueeastlake
11 years ago
I don't know if there was any reason with Don Mitchell, but as I said before, when Mark decided to become a police officer and Ironside could drive, they had Mark going to the police academy at first, but at least when Ironside put him on his team, he was in a few more episodes. I don't know how much he will be seen after the third episode of the eighth season, but it is on Friday in Cleveland, so you should watch it and then, after the two-parter that ended the 7th season on Monday and Tuesday and the two-parter that begins the eighth season on Wednesday and Thursday, we will see how much he is featured.
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sueeastlake
11 years ago
I don't know if you saw today's episode "Close to the Heart". After the Chief get in a traffic accident when he is driving the van himself, Mark comes to the hospital. He mildly admonishes the Chief, telling him that he could drive Ironside anywhere. The Chief responded that Mark was not his driver anymore, that he was a police officer. That statement speaks volumes about the changing relationship of the Chief and Mark. The man who was hired to be Ironside's driver in the pilot is now having to do what a police officer does. As I said before, I don't know what was happening behind the scenes, but I did read that Don Mitchell and Raymond Burr were friends, so I don't think there was any strife going. The series was just evolving and Mark was the one who changed the most of all of the characters.
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