Strollerderby : sitcom

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Ernie From 'My Three Sons'?

Jen Chaney — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:58:00 GMT

You may have to dip pretty far back into the recesses of your TV memory to recall "My Three Sons," a sitcom about a widower (Fred MacMurray) raising a trio of boys (hence the name) as a single dad. Well, not entirely single. He had some help from his father-in-law during the first few years of the show, then from housekeeper Uncle Charlie. (A male housekeeper? Kinda forward-thinking for a show that ran during the '60s and early '70s.)

In one of the many storyline changes that occurred during the comedy's run, MacMurray decided to adopt a friend of his son Chip's after the boy's parents died in a car accident. The kid's name was Ernie and he was cute, a little nerdy and an obvious attempt to keep the three sons concept alive after the eldest, Mike, was written out of the show. Ernie Douglas was played by Barry Livingston, who happened to be the real-life brother of Steve Livingston, the actor who played Chip. After "My Three Sons" ended its run in 1972, what became of the boy we knew and loved as Ernie?

This is one of those Rich or Rehab stories that doesn't quite have a twist ending. As it turns out, Livingston kept on acting. His resume, seen here on imdb, is pretty long, filled to the brim with TV credits on shows such as "Ironside," "Hart to Hart," "Doogie Howser" and "Ally McBeal." You even may have seen him more recently on "Mad Men" and "Two and a Half Men," or in the movie "You Don't Mess With the Zohan."

Livingston, who turns 55 later this year, is also married and the father of two children. Okay, so he doesn't have three sons. But it looks like the guy is doing pretty well for himself. Uncle Charlie would be proud. Here is what Livingston looks like now:

And, for old time's sake, here is the opening of "My Three Sons." Enjoy.

Rich or Rehab appears every Tuesday morning on Strollerderby.

More Rich or Rehab:

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Blossom?

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Cousin Oliver From 'The Brady Bunch'?

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the Older Brother From 'E.T.'?

Bernie Mac dies for real

Brett Singer — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Bernie Mac died this morning at the age of 50. The cause was complications from pneumonia. He was admitted to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago to receive treatment for sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease.

Weirdly, a viral text message that made the rounds last week caused many people to believe he was already dead. That was revealed to be a hoax.

I always liked Bernie Mac. His sitcom was somewhat unique in that he wasn't the father of the children he was raising; he took his sister's kids when she entered rehab. He also, if memory serves, was a stay at home "dad"; his wife worked as an executive I think, and he was a stand-up comic. (Thanks to the commenter for this correction. My point wasn't that he didn't work, but that he was a father who was home with the kids, which is still not the norm on TV.) Mac wasn't shy about threatening to smack the kids around, which some found controversial, but I thought it was (a) realistic and (b) funny. He also had some film success with appearances in the "Ocean's 11, etc." remakes, among other roles.

His most recent headlines came because of a joke he told during a Barack Obama fundraising event. Mac used the word "ho" and Obama told him he didn't like it.

On TV, Bernie Mac had no children of his own, but in real life he had a wife, daughter, and a grandchild. 50 is too young to go but at least he knew some success in his life. Funny guy, very sad.

source/photo: Chicago Tribune

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Five Forgotten Fictional Fathers

Brett Singer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

OK, "forgotten" is a little strong. But while we are all familiar with Darth, Homer and the rest, here are some other unreal dads that deserve a mention on Father's Day. Not all are great dads; some are pretty damn bad. Most just don't make it onto the usual "best/worst dad" lists. Here you go, on Father's Day, in no particular order:

1. Jock Ewing, "Dallas", played by Jim Davis

OK, maybe it's not in any particular order, but was there ever a tougher TV dad than Jock Ewing? As The Onion's AV Club puts it, "[Jock's] sons Bobby and J.R….have absorbed his good and evil sides, respectively, and are used by their deceptively benign father to consolidate his power." He also had an illegitimate son, Ray Krebbs, who worked on Ewing's Southfork ranch; this wasn't revealed until after Ray had been working there for a couple of years. Which means that Jock hired his own son to work on his ranch but didn't tell him that he was his father. Go ahead. Find me something better than that. Davis' portrayal of Jock was so iconic that when the actor died, he was not replaced; they killed the character and put a portrait of the Ewing patriarch in the family dining room where he could continue to exert his will from beyond the grave. Here's a clip of Jock tossing out ten grand like it was ten cents in order to "purchase" Bobby's wife Pamela (Victoria Principal) from her father, Digger Barnes.

2. "Man", played by Antonio Banderas, in "Four Rooms"

Banderas doesn't get a name in this segment of the largely forgotten hotel comedy. He plays a gangster of some sort who pays off the bellhop (Tim Roth, currently appearing in "The Incredible Hulk") to watch his offspring while he and the missus go out and celebrate New Year's Eve. When he looks at his children and demands, in full Antonio-accented English, "Don't misbehave," you know that they will. Video clip below, not remotely safe for work or family-viewing. (Banderas also gets a nod for Gregorio Cortez in the three "Spy Kids" movies.)

"Four Rooms" Video clip (Not Work-Safe)

3. Mork from Ork, played by Robin Williams

You probably forgot that Mork was a dad. In a desperate attempt to save the weird "Happy Days" spin-off, Jonathan Winters signed on to play Mearth, Mork and Mindy's son. Of course, Orkans are born old and age backwards. It wasn't much funnier than it sounded. Now that I’m a parent myself, I have to say that I don't think I'd want things to work that way. Not that changing diapers is fun, but it's definitely easier to do it when the kid is smaller than you.

4. Wayne Szalinski, "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", played by Rick Moranis

Fathers in movies and television are often portrayed as bumbling fools who fall to pieces in the parenting department as soon as mommy leaves for five minutes. This guy, however, actually manages to shrink his children to microscopic size when left to his own devices. The character was slammed back in 1997 by Dr. Helen Haste of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, who took issue with the way that, " writers and directors employ stereotypes for almost every scientist seen on film and television."

5. Michael Kyle, "My Wife and Kids", played by Damon Wayans

This ABC sitcom ran for five seasons, which is certainly respectable. But it never quite caught on with audiences the way "Everybody Loves Raymond" did. One reason could be that the parents were, at times, intentionally not 100% nice to their children. For example, in the episode "The Grassy Knoll", mom and dad discover that Michael Jr. is stoned. So they decide to mess with his head. (The only clip I could find was in Spanish, so you'll have to just take my word for it that it was funny. Unless, of course, you speak Spanish.) It was a silly show, but there was something very realistic in the way Michael dealt with his son. It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't always behavior you wanted to emulate. But it was usually pretty funny.

Here is a clip from "Junior Gets his License".

There are, of course, many more. Who are your favorites, forgotten or otherwise?

Oh yeah -- happy father's day!

images: Amazon.com, timstvshowcase.com, mrsjrewing.tripod.com, wjzy.com

Strollerderby : sitcom

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Ernie From 'My Three Sons'?

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Blossom?

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Cousin Oliver From 'The Brady Bunch'?

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the Older Brother From 'E.T.'?

Bernie Mac dies for real

Is Bernie Mac Dead?

Son stabs father over haircut

Is it ever OK to hit your kids?

Bernie Mac's Final Moments -Wife & Daughter By His Side

Should You Intervene When Strangers Hit Their Kids?

5 ways to get revenge on your kids

Man locks daughters in cage while he works

Savage stands by his stupid words

Five Forgotten Fictional Fathers

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