Styles Bitchley wrote: never thought much about it before but my guess is that they were looking to increase female viewers. The magic of TM is that women wanted to sleep with him and men wanted to be him. Putting a relatable female into the show helps women see themselves in the stories. Think about it, they could have had a bikini bimbo character easily, but they went with a relatively normal professional and practical woman. These are exactly the women who were swooning over Selleck in the 80s.
If these sex-starved women are highly educated, they don’t need any help to “see themselves in the stories.” Especially via a female surrogate with a poodle-perm hairdo.
Carol was not successful as serious love interest, nor did she imo possess any kind of sex appeal to most males watching the show. Carol definitely wasn’t needed to somehow add to a superb core ensemble.
Styles Bitchley wrote:This cover on People in the spring of 1982 followed by Carole first appearing in Foiled Again in November 1982. Coincidence?
That story would have had more “punch” if it’d been published after Carol’s debut.
Little Garwood wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:15 pm
If these sex-starved women are highly educated, they don’t need any help to “see themselves in the stories.” Especially via a female surrogate with a poodle-perm hairdo.
I don't know about you, but my mom had a lot of friends who looked like Carol in the early 80s. \
Anyway, while it may well be true that it didn't work as a tool to bring in (more) female viewers, it doesn't mean networks weren't doing this. They did it all the time and still do. I think the A-Team may have the most infamous example of this, however. Mike Hammer also had a public mandate directly from the head of ABC to tone down the macho tone to attract more women after season 1. They ended up not appealing to either!
I think we're clearly in digression territory here now.
How about Kika the pedicab driver? Anyone find him annoying?
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
Little Garwood wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:15 pm
If these sex-starved women are highly educated, they don’t need any help to “see themselves in the stories.” Especially via a female surrogate with a poodle-perm hairdo.
I don't know about you, but my mom had a lot of friends who looked like Carol in the early 80s. \
Anyway, while it may well be true that it didn't work as a tool to bring in (more) female viewers, it doesn't mean networks weren't doing this. They did it all the time and still do. I think the A-Team may have the most infamous example of this, however. Mike Hammer also had a public mandate directly from the head of ABC to tone down the macho tone to attract more women after season 1. They ended up not appealing to either!
I think we're clearly in digression territory here now.
How about Kika the pedicab driver? Anyone find him annoying?
Styles,
You’re actually right on in terms of the reason Carol was introduced to the series. I remember there was a paperback my aunt bought about Selleck a couple of years into the show. It was an unauthorized biography sort of thing. She passed it on to my mom as they were both fans of the show… pretty much because of Selleck. I remember reading some of it and there was a part about how the early producers such as Bellisario and J Rickley Dumm were concerned about the female viewers dropping from the ratings despite the sex appeal of Selleck. I suppose that only goes so far.
No matter what all us Maniacs think of the artistic qualities of the series, the bottom line is to get viewers of certain demographics for the advertisers. I’m sure that includes women who make many purchasing decisions in households.
I’ll see if I can find the book online. I remember the cover distinctly.
Little Garwood wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:15 pm
If these sex-starved women are highly educated, they don’t need any help to “see themselves in the stories.” Especially via a female surrogate with a poodle-perm hairdo.
I don't know about you, but my mom had a lot of friends who looked like Carol in the early 80s. \
Anyway, while it may well be true that it didn't work as a tool to bring in (more) female viewers, it doesn't mean networks weren't doing this. They did it all the time and still do. I think the A-Team may have the most infamous example of this, however. Mike Hammer also had a public mandate directly from the head of ABC to tone down the macho tone to attract more women after season 1. They ended up not appealing to either!
I think we're clearly in digression territory here now.
How about Kika the pedicab driver? Anyone find him annoying?
Styles,
You’re actually right on in terms of the reason Carol was introduced to the series. I remember there was a paperback my aunt bought about Selleck a couple of years into the show. It was an unauthorized biography sort of thing. She passed it on to my mom as they were both fans of the show… pretty much because of Selleck. I remember reading some of it and there was a part about how the early producers such as Bellisario and J Rickley Dumm were concerned about the female viewers dropping from the ratings despite the sex appeal of Selleck. I suppose that only goes so far.
No matter what all us Maniacs think of the artistic qualities of the series, the bottom line is to get viewers of certain demographics for the advertisers. I’m sure that includes women who make many purchasing decisions in households.
I’ll see if I can find the book online. I remember the cover distinctly.
Edit: this is the paperback, and wow it’s crazy expensive now!!!!!
Styles Bitchley wrote:I don't know about you, but my mom had a lot of friends who looked like Carol in the early 80s. \
Heck, I remember the father of a friend of mine having that hairdo!
Was the 1980s the last decade in which men and women had the same hairstyles? Hopefully!
The 1970s and 1980s, which were Boomer-dominated decades, had the worst fashions! Coincidence? Hardly!
That is hilarious and you’re right! I just remembered my first guitar teacher who had Carol’s hair AND Magnum’s moustache!
Give it time though, Evan that style will come back! I was with family last week and my 18 year old niece came back from getting her hair done. It was done exactly in that feathered style Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs and the like used to do their hair in the late ‘70s. She told me it’s the latest thing!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
Styles Bitchley wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:12 pm
That is hilarious and you’re right! I just remembered my first guitar teacher who had Carol’s hair AND Magnum’s moustache!
Styles Bitchley wrote: Give it time though, Evan that style will come back! I was with family last week and my 18 year old niece came back from getting her hair done. It was done exactly in that feathered style Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs and the like used to do their hair in the late ‘70s. She told me it’s the latest thing!
I seem to remember a feathered ‘do comeback circa 2002, when women who would have been slightly older than me started once again sporting the hairstyles of their late ‘70s-early ‘80s teen years.
That's hilarious. I'm pretty sure Doug Henning actually got his start in Toronto (where I grew up). Maybe he was giving guitar lessons to help supplement his income from magic shows. Or maybe all the cool dudes in Toronto looked like that back in the 80s...
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
Little Garwood wrote: ↑Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:22 pm
Why MPI’s producers and writers wanted to crowbar a female character into a show whose lead was a female fantasy hero as well as forcing her into an already-airtight quartet is beyond me.
I never thought much about it before but my guess is that they were looking to increase female viewers. The magic of TM is that women wanted to sleep with him and men wanted to be him. Putting a relatable female into the show helps women see themselves in the stories. Think about it, they could have had a bikini bimbo character easily, but they went with a relatively normal professional and practical woman. These are exactly the women who were swooning over Selleck in the 80s.
This cover on People in the spring of 1982 followed by Carole first appearing in Foiled Again in November 1982. Coincidence?
Styles Bitchley wrote:I don't know about you, but my mom had a lot of friends who looked like Carol in the early 80s. \
Heck, I remember the father of a friend of mine having that hairdo!
Was the 1980s the last decade in which men and women had the same hairstyles? Hopefully!
The 1970s and 1980s, which were Boomer-dominated decades, had the worst fashions! Coincidence? Hardly!
That is hilarious and you’re right! I just remembered my first guitar teacher who had Carol’s hair AND Magnum’s moustache!
Give it time though, Evan that style will come back! I was with family last week and my 18 year old niece came back from getting her hair done. It was done exactly in that feathered style Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs and the like used to do their hair in the late ‘70s. She told me it’s the latest thing!
In fairness to the 80's, which I was proudly a participant, hair you could cut, clothes you could get rid of. Let's see what everyone looks like 40 years from now, those who've painted their bodies with tats - as their skin sags and wrinkles - sorry, if my biggest mistake was my hair and my clothes... call me guilty
BTW, my guitar teachers back then all had feathered hair too, but they could play - and teach, well, when their hais wasn't in their eyes
