R.I.P. Suzanne Sommers

[Sonic Youth]

R.I.P. Suzanne Sommers.

[flipp525]

…

[Big Magilla]

And it wasn’t simply that you were wrong about Mo’Nique that year. It was that you acted literally disgusted that someone with that name (I don’t think you even knew who she was) would be under consideration for the award. You were extremely fussy about it which is about the kindest adjective I can use here. My memory is very long and I remember it exactly how it went down.

That comment you are referring to sounds like something Jeffrey Wells would have said, not me. I certainly knew who Mo'Nique was before Precious. If I ever said anything like that it would have been in reference to how Academy voters might be thinking. Deliberate cruelty, senseless murders, and MAGA Republicans disgust me, but other than that, like Deborah Kerr in The Night of the Iguana, which had a profound effect on me way back in 1964, nothing human disgusts me.

I went through all the mentions of Mo'Nique and Precious that I could find in old posts. The earliest that her name appears is in a 2006 post by someone else. I couldn't find my early 2009 predictions on the site. I think they were posted on CinemaSight, but you may be right that she wasn't in my early predictions. I do recall that my early winner predictions were for either Anna Kendrick or Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air. However, once I saw Precious I was convinced that Mo'Nique deserved to win and defended her performance in some of the posts I found by others in 2010 and 2011.

If you find something that supports your assertion that I said something mean or untoward about Mo'Nique personally, kindly point to the post in which I said it.

[flipp525]

I've seen Serial Mom but I don't remember her in it, beside which playing oneself is technically not acting.

This is truly one of the dumbest things I think I’ve ever seen posted here. We’ll be sure to let John Malkovich know.

You trotting this out instead of (yet again) just admitting that you were wrong, is how I know I’ve won the argument.

And it wasn’t simply that you were wrong about Mo’Nique that year. It was that you acted literally disgusted that someone with that name (I don’t think you even knew who she was) would be under consideration for the award. You were extremely fussy about it which is about the kindest adjective I can use here. My memory is very long and I remember it exactly how it went down.

[Reza]

I remember her very fondly from Three's Company which I watched in re-runs during my University years (1984-86) in the United States.

[gunnar]

I've never seen Step by Step either (Gen X'er here), but I fondly remember Somers from Three's Company which I watched regularly from the beginning and continued watching after she left. I do remember her being in the Thighmaster ads as well.

It's sad, but at least her family was gathered there when she passed.

[Big Magilla]

So, in 25 years I was wrong about one perceived frontrunner in one acting race who turned out to be the runaway winner.

I've seen Serial Mom but I don't remember her in it, beside which playing oneself is technically not acting.

I get, though, that she is fondly remembered by older millennials who loved her early 90s show, Step by Step, which, excuse me for living, but I've never seen it. Apparently, it is fondly remembered by those older millennials who did, but maybe not so much by their boomer elders.

Being neither an older millennial (born between 1981-1996) nor a boomer (born between 1946-1964), I have no idea which side of the argument I would be on if I had ever watched the show.

I do remember her in Three's Company, those Thigh Master ads, and the hullabaloo over her support of Trump, and that's about it.

[Okri]

Yeah, TGIF was big for me. Basically, anyone on "Boy Meets World," "Step by Step" and "Family Matters" were huge parts of my childhood.

[flipp525]

Not familiar with Step by Step, but I do recall the Thigh Master ads which were everywhere.

Sure, she made a ton of money with Thigh Master so good for her, but I was focused on her acting career which was non-existent for decades.

Yes, you keep saying that. And, no, her acting career was not “non-existent for decades.” As you’ve already been corrected, she starred in “Step by Step” which was hugely popular, remembered by many millennials to this day, and ran on ABC for seven years (1991-1998). Also, while it was a flop on-stage, her 2005 “Blonde in a Thunderbird” one-woman show on Broadway has since become a gay cult classic.

She also had a very memorable turn playing herself in Serial Mom (another cult hit) among several other projects that you can look up. That is not a “non-existent” acting career for decades, something which you appear fixated on defending.

Sometimes you’re wrong, Magilla, and you need to just admit it. It’s extremely “Boomer” of you to double-down like you tend to do, even in the face of evidence being presented before you. Shall we cite your reaction to the Mo’Nique in Precious predictions again? That was embarrassing. You basically acted like we were all insane for predicting that a person named “Mo’Nique” was being given consideration for an Oscar and only after it was clear from space that she would not only be nominated but was actually the frontrunner, did you add her to your predictions.

[Big Magilla]

Not familiar with Step by Step, but I do recall the Thigh Master ads which were everywhere.

Sure, she made a ton of money with Thigh Master so good for her, but I was focused on her acting career which was non-existent for decades.

[Sabin]

Yeah, I remember her the most from Step by Step.There's a lot that I feel bad about from my childhood and subjecting my family to TGIF isn't high up there, but I *REALLY* remember how difficult it was for my father to feign interest in those shows. TGIF felt like a major part of my childhood, mostly due to the incredible marketing achievement that was Full House. My understanding is that that bloc of television started centering warm sitcoms like Perfect Strangers and Mr. Belvedere, but then they totally shifted their brand and went family with Family Matters and especially Full House (which brought me in). I think their ratings high water mark was some combination of Family Matters, Full House, Dinosaurs, and whatever their last slot was (like Must See TV, they never quite figured out a perfect four block) but Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step by Step was equally beloved by older Millennials like myself. Step by Step sort of was branded as Not Family Matters, but by the time Step by Step came out Family Matters had long since become The Urkel Show. I liked Step by Step. I thought Suzanne Somers was a warm presence and unlike Family Matters, Step by Step managed to keep its focus on the complications of the mixed family. My memory of it is functional cookie cutter, and with her passing I say goodbye to a part of my childhood.

[flipp525]

Three's Company - Suzanne, John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Audra Lindley, Norman Fell all in iconic performances from 1976-1982. The magic left with Suzanne in a contract dispute and never recovered although it struggled for two more years. Her career never recovered either though she was often in the news in the years since.

Her career recovered just fine. She rebounded with a starring role in Step by Step which everyone my age remembers watching on Friday nights as part of their “TGIF” lineup. She also was the face of the ThighMaster which made her a shit-ton of money. At the time of her death, her net-worth was upwards of $100M. That’s not “career never recovered” money.

[Big Magilla]

Three's Company - Suzanne, John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Audra Lindley, Norman Fell all in iconic performances from 1976-1982. The magic left with Suzanne in a contract dispute and never recovered although it struggled for two more years. Her career never recovered either though she was often in the news in the years since.

[Mister Tee]

She's the girl in the white T-Bird, for me. Never watched (or cared to watch) anything else she did. But she endures as that image.

[anonymous1980]

Story.

R.I.P.