I wonder if Ms. Harper will allow the release of the show?

That is not good to hear that the producers are going to wait until after she passes to then mass produce the first couple of seasons of the show with her in it to make the money off of it after she has passed away. I grew up during the 70's but was very young at the time when The Mary Tyler Moore Show came out. I remember the show because my mom would watch it when I was a kid including my grandparents also. I even remember her TV show Rhoda that was on also. I was 14 years old when Valerie came out in 1986. I was a fan of the show and watched it until NBC sold it to CBS. Once that happened I lost track of the show. I did watch the name change while it was on NBC from Valerie to The Hogans, and then I guess it was called The Hogan Family after it switched to CBS. I will definitely pick up my copy of the first two seasons since I have not watched this show in ages. The last time I saw it on was about 7 or 8 years ago when ABC Family use to show it at the 6:00 to 7:00 time slot which is held by now Boy Meets World. I was so excited to watch The Hogans when it was on that I tuned in to watch it and then the next thing I know ABC Family pulled it right off the air. The one other time that I saw Valerie was on when ION was known as PAX TV I believe it was and I happened to be flipping channels when I stumbled upon it. I was excited to see the channel show this great show.

I don't know if they'll release it once she passes for her husband, Tony Cacciotti, stands to benefit from a release as well since he and Valerie are co-owners of the show. I'm just stating that Edie McClurg said directly that the producers are the ones blocking a release due to their fallout with Valerie so I imagine that, once she passes, it'll no longer be an issue. I just think it's downright dirty of them to deprive the fans of the show for they're the ones they're ultimately hurting, not to mention the cast members who could benefit from royalties as well. Given how callously they killed off the Valerie Hogan character and how they chose to write her off in a way where the family acted practically unfazed by her death, I'm not surprised. Their desire to hurt overrides their desire to do right by everyone else, and that's just sad.

I am sorry to hear that it will be hard for you to watch the TV show due to what has transpired between the executives and Ms. Harper. A lot of the shows that the producers created were popular shows to watch. They created Perfect Strangers, Step By Step, Family Matters, and even Full House. They have been around for a long time and the only shows that were popular that are being shown anywhere is Full House and Family Matters which are on ABC Family and NICK@NITE.

Yeah, I'm well aware of their creative legacy. Many of those shows aren't stellar hits and much of the plots and dialogue could be interchangeable, sad to say. Methinks this is what Valerie saw the show evolving into and is in part why she wanted to have more creative control. So much of Season 2 (after the 10 episode Season 1) was spot on sharp comedic writing that seemed to regress a bit with the last 3 or 4 eps of that same season, and I think Valerie & hubby wanted to maintain the comedic sharpness so that the show could not only be funnier but appeal to both children and adults. As it was, it evolved into a show that only kids really could appreciate. How sad that a show with a stellar cast as this is remembered overall more for the controversy behind the scenes that it is for the show itself. The cast, including Sandy Duncan (nothing against her, mind you, for she's a brilliant actress in her own right) deserved much better than that. They were so brilliant that they could take stale, overly predictable jokes that you saw a mile away and perform them in a way that made it look and sound fresh. They deserve recognition for that and the reward of earning royalties for their past work. It's long overdue in my opinion.

Ed

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