Shark Bytes

I do not think it ever jumped the shark. It was a great show, with and without Valerie. My favorite one was Aminal house where the Wolverine was in the closet and Sandy went to hang up her coat. Suddenly, the sleve of her sweather was torn off. It was Hysterical to watch her try and open the door while the boys were holding it shut so the wolverine would not escape.

Would like to see this on DVD as well.

I never thought this show jumped. If anything it got even better and better as it evolved. No disrespect to Valerie Harper, but the show was still great even when she left and they delt with her character's death very tasefully. But one episode that always sticks out in my mind was the one where David's best friend, Rich, died of AIDS. I remember watching it when it first came on TV when I was about 11 and I was just learning about AIDS and I started crying my eyes out during the last scene where David's talking about him during a school essembly and then they started showing flashbacks of David and Rich, then at one point showed David helping Rich who started getting really weak and sickly, then they cut to David telling the audience that he died and the tears started streaming down his face. This is truly the best acting work from Jason Bateman, who was really moved by the storyline as was Sandy Duncan and the two young actors who played his little brothers. This show also delt with the teen sex issue and was pretty groundbreaking in terms of the first ever use of the word "condom" on a pimetime sitcom. I wish they would air this show in reruns. I don't know why they suddenly decided to stop airing this show. I love this show to this day and think of it as one of the best sitcoms ever to air on TV. Jason Bateman, aside from being one of my earliest girlhood cushes, is one of the funniest actors on TV.

Any shows which tries to promote compassion for people with AIDS deserves some respect!

If Valerie was fired for drunkenness, as claimed at the time, why didn't a drinking problem ever mar her brilliance in both comic and serious acting before or since?

I think that The Hogan Family jumped the shark at its final season. The show was great with both Valerie Harper and Sandy Duncan. I liked the fact that the show showcased important dramatic emotional elements into the show such as The Fire Episode and When Rich died of AIDS. These episodes made me cry because it each dealt with loss of a loved one and a good friend. The AIDS episode inspired me to write stories about people dying from AIDS and become involved with its cause for a cure for AIDS and it made me not afraid to interact with people who are suffering from the horrible disease. Mrs. Poole was a riot and I liked that Edie Mc Clurg's character much better than her previous character Bonnie Brindle from Small Wonder. The sweet Mrs. Poole was much more neighborly and friendly than the nosy and spiteful Bonnie Brindle. I had a huge crush on the father on The Hogan Family and he was the epitome of every father figure of every sitcom and drama. I can relate to David and Willie more than Mark because they suffered pressing life issues. I also went through Mark's transformation from nerd to popular and it reminded me of painful junior high school experience of me being a nerd in the 6th and 7th grades and transformed into a social butterfly in the 8th grade. The show jumped when they added Cara and Brenda characters portrayed by the no talent Josie Bissett and an obnoxious Angela Lee and Burt's low appearances in the final season and Rich's death from AIDS. All in all the show really changed my life because the AIDS episode encouraged involvement and its cause.

The world's first and only "Family Ties" knockoff. Probably should have been cancelled after Valerie Harper was fired.

In the week leading up to the "fire" episode, the elementary school I was attending had posters all over encouraging us kids to watch it with our families. I seem to remember a short spot or two after the show which featured the cast urging viewers to implement fire safety drills and buy smoke detectors. Even then, I was dubious about the fact that school was encouraging us to watch a sitcom - especially a sitcom that nobody watched in the first place - to learn the same common sense things that they were meant to teach us in class.

My all time favorite show. I hope it comes out on DVD and I hope they start airing it again on T.V. so I can at least record it until it comes out!!

A bunch of factors contributed. Almost every factor starts with trying to make a very serious situation on a comedy. ABC at the time was really pushing the AIDS issue and practically factoring it in on every shows story lines. People watch sitcoms to escape and have something to laugh about, not see a kid die from aids. Valerie leaving wasn't that big of a factor because Sandy Duncan was a bigger star and every know the whole story behind Valerie leaving.

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I think it JTS when David witnessed his teacher have a heart attack, save him, he later dies, and Dave questions the meaning of life. I know they did not have a specific episode dealing with their feelings over their mom's death, but he seemed to be questioning life and it's meaning more over that teacher than his own mother. And since his mom hadn't died that long before this, I think it was just strange that they made it feel like he was dealing with death for the first time. Otherwise, I loved the show. I think Valerie was awesome when she was on, but I don't think the show would've lasted longer or been better had they not replaced her with Sandy Duncan. Sandy was a fun mix with the family and it seemed like the boys got more freedom without their preachy mom. By the way, Sandy is blind in one eye, but it is not a glass eye! Lastly, someone commented on the show not showing real life because guys slept in t-shirts and sweatpants. Sure, most guys sleep in just their boxers, but the show was a family show, and will we complain next because they had no scenes with David/Jason Bateman waking up in bed in the morning with a woody? I think not!

Never jumped. They handled their AIDS storyline, when David discovers his friend Rich is dying of AIDS, very well. It was pretty daring for a primetime network *family* show in 1990.

I lived in Missouri at the time and our local NBC affiliate in Paducah, Kentucky threatened not to air the show where David buys condoms for a date. What was stupid about it is when it did air, they didn't even show the box. They had some stupid mix-up with drug-store bags and David and Aunt Sandy (?) get the wrong ones. Sandy gives David's back to him, but with a ton of "please don't do it" advice. Trust me; it would have been a better message if they had just let him go. It's called trust, and Jason Bateman's character was in college at the time. Not to mention, at least he did think responsibly.

Many people believe the Hogan Family jumped when their Mom Valerie Harper left. That's not true the show wasn't the same but it was still good, until the Hogans went to Paris. I mean Jason Bateman falls in love with a girl who might be a PRINCESS. Valerie/The Hogan Family was actually one of the more realistic family shows of the 80s before they went to Paris. Then it became like Growing Pains, Full House, and Step By Step.

Definitely jumped when the house "burned down" but was restored in perfect condition the very next episode. Producers need to make up their minds, is the show telling a story in which the characters will grow and change, or will the status quo always be restored at the end of every episode?