- Awards
- 24
The writers seemed determined to create catch-phrases for everyone.
"Stow it!"
"Dingy chick!"
"Silly me."
"My little voice always calls me Isabel."
"Stow it!"
"Dingy chick!"
"Silly me."
"My little voice always calls me Isabel."
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- Awards
- 11
It is a very "sitcomy" thing for a sitcom to employ.
"Kiss my grits!"
"Stow it, Blondie!"
"Whatcha talking about, Willis?"
"Sit on it!"
"Up your nose with a rubber hose!"
"Dy--no--mite!"
Some of them bother me more than others.
- Awards
- 11
I can see the implication as drawn from a kid's view without knowing what grits were.
I'm a born and bred South Georgian, so I'm very familiar with grits. It was one of my favorite breakfast dishes, served with butter, salt, pepper, and a good portion of cheese for good measure. My mother-in-law even sometimes makes them with cream cheese in them, and they're delicious, I assure you.
Imagine my horror, however, when my mother took my to her new in-laws' house several years ago. They had grits, but no salt, no pepper, no butter, no cheese. They had sugar in them. Sugar! And it was gross.
They aren't married anymore, though.
“Happy Days” was the worst when it came to character words/catch phrases:
- Sit on it! (Fonz)
- Ayyyy (Fonz)
- [word]-amundo (Fonz)
- Bucko (Richie)
- Yowsa yowsa yowsa (Richie)
- I found my thrill…(Richie)
- I still got it! (Ralph)
- Frisky (Howard, Marion)
- Yep yep yep yep yep yep… (Al)
- Wa wa wa! (Chachi)
- Awards
- 3
After the initial set up, the show did seem to become a standard sitcom with each episode having a formula that each character fit into. I think that's partly why Diane Ladd struggled during her stint because she was given a caricature to play instead of a character that she could make her own. The show did sort of course correct with Jolene's character with eventually writing to what Celia Weston could play vs the initial characterization that Jolene was introduced with (i.e. she was a truck driver with a hot temper in her first episode or two before her character changed).
I think the formula started to change a bit in the final season or two when Vera became less of a dingbat and more of a fully fleshed out character with a marriage, house, etc... and Jolene being more of a warm and nurturing presence especially between her and Vera.
Even Linda Lavin was bored playing Alice so in the final season or two.. she either would appear in either one scene as Alice.. or she would play that elderly lady that eventually rents a room in Vera's place in the final season.
The catch phrase 'Kiss my Grits' only worked because of how Polly delivered it... but the show couldn't leave well enough alone and tried to give the others a catch phrase.
I think the formula started to change a bit in the final season or two when Vera became less of a dingbat and more of a fully fleshed out character with a marriage, house, etc... and Jolene being more of a warm and nurturing presence especially between her and Vera.
Even Linda Lavin was bored playing Alice so in the final season or two.. she either would appear in either one scene as Alice.. or she would play that elderly lady that eventually rents a room in Vera's place in the final season.
The catch phrase 'Kiss my Grits' only worked because of how Polly delivered it... but the show couldn't leave well enough alone and tried to give the others a catch phrase.
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- Awards
- 23
As a kid growing in the Southeast, I always loved grits -- especially cheese grits.
But the carbs. The complex carbs!
- Awards
- 21
I knew that grits were some kind of foodstuff so taken literally it was fairly meaningless. I think it may have been intended as euphemism for something she wouldn't have been allowed to say in the 70s such as @Crimson suggests. But Polly's performance got it across.