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Questions about Diana Hyland/Joan Bradford
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Diana Hyland's Death in Eie Episodes
Monday, 07-Aug-00 00:29:45
i was wondering how each cast member handlded diana hyland death? and do you think the show would have
been different if she lived stayed with the series
Mike Jacobs
Sunday, 20-Aug-00 16:15:53
There was an episode (it was either Thanksgiving or Christmas time)--after the character of Abby was introduced where in my opinion showed them for the first time dealing with the death of "Joan". In the episode, Tommy was having a lot of trouble accepting Abby. Someone found a Christmas gift that Joan had hidden and it was a book for Tommy. She had written a very touching message in it for him. The whole cast stood around with tears streaming down their faces. Those were very real tears crying for Diana.
I hated that they never,ever explained her death in the show. They just stopped mentioning her and it was on the news that we learned of her death. The episode that I just mentioned if I recall, was the first if not only time that the death of her character was even mentioned.
Saturday, 02-Sep-00 21:09:37
Yes, I have that episode on tape, it's a 2-hour one, called "Yes Nicholas, There is a Santa Claus" and at the end when there is a group hug/sob after Tommy reads Joan's card and opens the gift (an E.E. Cummings book), it looks very real. I think there was definitely genuine emotion there and it wasn't all acting.
Mike
Diana had breast cancer. Bit of trivia--she was also seriously involved with John Travolta at the time. He (even recently) refers to her as the "Love of his Life". She died in his arms
Subject: Joan Bradford
Name: Princess
Date: Thursday, 15-Jul-1999 17:46:50
Message:
I was sooooo totally confused on the show eight is enough on the sudden disappearance of Joan Bradford until I read the message boards here! Thanks for helping me understand what happened as I didnt catch Eight Is Enough when it originally aired and I felt so lost until I read the message boards here!!! However I am just as disappointed as alot of others are that the producers didnt handle Joan's death better with the show!!! I mean 25 years of marriage in the way that it implies on the show seemed so thrown away the way they did that.....They should have showed some emotions on the show over the loss of Mr. Bradford's wife and the childrens mother!!! Or redid the show...something!!! After Joan went off the show it was as if she never existed except with the few shows that later aired that made some mention of her it them......
Replies...
Name: Tina Fraga
Message:
I agree with you Princess about what the producer did to Joan Bradford like she was never their mo- ther on the show.I love the scence she did.
Name: Michelle
Message:
I agree totally, they never did an episdoe dealing with everyone's grief, but they did have separate episodes where some of the Bradford's dealt with it their own way. They dealt with Tommy's grief pretty well on the Christmas episode titled "Yes Nicholas, There is a Santa Claus". It was quite a tear jerker! They also dealt with Joanie's greif on the episode titled "The Graduates" when she graduated from college and didn't know where to go with her life. She kind of lashed out at Abby and cried about missing her mother. That was a GREAT scene. Susan talked about her mom not being there on her wedding day in the episode "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do". Elizabeth dealt with missing her mother by rejecting Abby in the wedding episode of Tom and Abby Called "CHildren of the Groom". So, I think they dealt with it, but kind of a little bit at a time, and each Bradford in their own way.
Name: Missy
Message:
They also dealt with her death in "Trial Marriage" which aired yesterday. Tom talked to Tommy about missing Mom. However, I think they should have had an episode that dealt with exactly how she died, they could have had Joan be killed suddenly in an accident, and had the whole family at the memorial service sharing memories of Mom. Sure it would have been a sad episode, but that's life, isn't it?
Name: Princess
Message:
I agree with all the comments! I know they did deal somewhat with the grief........but I still think it was as if Joan didnt exist in a way because of the way some episodes right after her dealth mentioned nothing.........as if she had been gone many years or as if she hadnt existed! Everyone was just too happy in the shows that immediant followed her death.........However I am glad that there was finally some shows that did deal with it!!
Name: Susan
Message:
You have to realize that Diana Hyland died during the month the show debuted on TV. The episodes with her in them may have been filmed a year ahead of time. When they were given the go ahead for the show, she was probably too ill to perform, thus her non-appearance. If they were going to discuss her death, it could only have been (timing wise, I think) in the first show of the new season, 6 months after she died.
Name: Princess
Message:
I do realize Susan what you said but the first shows that were filmed after Diana's death could have delt with it better.........I know its just TV but part of that is to make the shows as realistic as possible and I am sorry I just dont like the way they did Diana's (Joan's)memory! I mean as a mother of 8 children and a wife of approx 25 years I wouldnt think would show the family so happy right after she died.....Basically it was as if she hadnt existed until Mr. Bradford is getting married again and then they did pay some tribute to Joan but I agree with Missy in how they should have done it and showing ALL of them missing mom!! Its so sad about Diana Hyland but she sure did a great job acting with her being so sick!
Name: Tina Fraga
Message:
Hello Missy: I agree with what you said about their mom. They should have a service on her and go to where they buried her. And have more memories about her. Abby is a good-step mother. not their mother though.
Name: Doug
Message:
The pilot of eight is enough was shot in 1976. ABC picked up the show in jan.1977 and ordered 7 more shows.Filming began in Feb 1977 and Diana Hyland filmed the first 3 shows before she became too ill to work. Diana kwew she was sick and did not tell the producers.She bravely refused to let the cancer stop her - she wanted the part of Joan that bad. She became very ill while filming "maxwell's party" episode and even though she was sick she almost completed that episode. In one scene from that show "Tom" is shown talking to "Joan" outside her darkroom but Diana is never shown.Diana was then hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai in LA but told producers,cast and crew that it wasfor back problems.She was hastily written out of the next 2 episodes.Finally,realizing the end was near she told the producers and Dick van Patten she only had a few weeks to live and was written out of the last 2 shows. She went back to her home in West LA where she died at the end March 1977.Diana worked up till about a month before her death.
Name: Missy
Message:
Wow, talk about a dedicated actress!
Subject: Joan Bradford
Name: ????
Date: Tuesday, 13-Jul-1999 17:38:49
Message:
I have been reading the posts about the way the show dealt with Diana Hyland's death. People have said that in the remaining four episodes of the first season, it is explained that Joan is away and the children are seen talking on the phone with mom. I have seen these episodes numerous times and cannot ever recall these phone conversations. Were they edited out of the reruns?
Replies...
Name: Jodi
Message:
I have never seen the episodes where Joan was away and the kids were talking to her on the phone either. I also think Diana Hyland looked painfully thin toward the end.
Subject: Diana
Name: Missy
Date: Tuesday, 13-Jul-1999 09:12:06
Message:
I really enjoy watching the very first episodes that had Diana Hyland as the mom. I was thinking, wow, for a woman with 8 kids, she sure looked good. She could have been their sister rather than their mother. You'd never have suspected that she was dying of cancer when she made those episodes. That was really a shame that she died.
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Name: Tina Fraga
Message:
Dear Missy: I love watching the first episode of eight because of their mother Joan. I also don't like how the producers of the show dealt with her death. I miss her very much. I agree with you about her looking like their sister insted of their mother.
Name: Amy
Message:
I've always held a special place for Diana Hyland, mostly because of the role she played in the boy in the plastic bubble, but now because of EIE. Also because she loved a good ole' Italian NJ boy named John Travolta. Her death was shocking to me, she didnt even look sick. The show had a different feel with Diana, I wonder if it would have laster longer/shorter if she had lived?
Name: GAF
Message:
it lasted along time without her.
Subject: Diana Ill on EiE
Name: ?
Date: Friday, 12-Feb-99 03:46:59
Message:
I was wondering if anyone knew if the shows producers knew that Diana was that sick, especially because it was so early in the show. I think I read she died after the 3rd show was taped. In the 3rd episode she really looked good for someone who died so quickly.
Replies...
Name: Nathan
Date: Friday, 12-Feb-99 10:38:42
Message:
The third show was actually the one that airs tonight. She completed the pilot + 3 shows. From what I've read, she'd had cancer in the past and was treated for it. After the pilot was filmed, she was told that it had spread, but she wanted the part so badly that she kept her secret until she couldn't hide it anymore. I read this in a John Travolta biography within the last couple of months (she and John were a couple at the time of her death).
Name: Gwynne
Date: Friday, 12-Feb-99 18:45:10
Message:
She's not in tonight's episode, and she wasn't in the one where they were playing football, yet she was in last night's episode. I wonder what's going on, unless they are showing them out of order.
Name: Nathan
Date: Friday, 12-Feb-99 23:48:12
Message:
OK, so the order is weird. I don't think they've showed episode #5 (Turnabout) in which Joan appears for the last time.
Name: Doug
Date: Saturday, 13-Feb-99 14:23:26
Message:
The episodes are shown in the order they orginally appeared on ABC not the order they were shot.IT also seems to me that the 4 episodes without Diana from season 1 had the kids talking on the phone to her chrachter.She also appeared in the opening credits for all 8 shows when orginally aired March- may 1977.When the show returned in August 1977 they only showed the episodes without Diana,the credits were new and there was no mention at all of her chrachter.I enjoyed the show but felt the producers did not deal well with her death.In season 2 Joan Bradford was all but forgotten.Iwas surprised after Diana Hyland died they did not recast.The whole concept of the show had changed.The idea that Tom would remarry less than ayear after his wife had died,after 25 years of marriage, seemed strange. I did ,however, think Betty Buckley was great as Abby and have fond memories of watching this show as Iwas growing up.
Name: Lori B
Date: Friday, 12-Feb-99 22:36:10
Message:
I have enjoyed watching these earlier episodes especially the ones that Diana appeared in before her death. I thought she took her "Mom" role very well I had gotten so used to Betty Buckley as a replacement "Mom" I sometimes need to remember who the real "Bradford mom" was.
Name: Diane
Date: Saturday, 13-Feb-99 13:19:08
Message:
How do they write off Diana Hyland? Is her death acknowledged in any way or does life go on and ignore her roll as mom? Friday's episode didn't mention her at all. Seems odd to me.
Name: Doug
Date: Saturday, 13-Feb-99 13:51:44
Message:
The episodes are shown in the order they were orginally shown on ABC,not the order they shot. This is why Diana Hyland is in one episode but not the next.It also seems to me that when the 4 shows without diana were orginally shown the kids were seen talking to her chrachter on the phone. She also appeared in the opening credits for all 8 shows when they first were shown march-may 1977.When the show returned in august 1977 only the shows without diana were repeated and the opening credits were new. I enjoyed the show but felt the producers did not deal with her death well.It seemed like in season 2 Joan Bradford was all but forgotten.I was surprised they didnot recast after Diana hyland died.The whole concept of the show was different.The idea that after 25 years of marriage Tom would remarry less than a year after his wife died seemed strange.I did, however, think Betty Buckley was GREAT as Abby and have fond memories of watching this show as I was growing up.
Name: Steve
Date: Monday, 15-Feb-99 03:01:10
Message:
I have absolutely loved the recent episodes with Diana Hyland in them. Hopefully, episode 5, her last, will be shown Monday (PAX aired episode 9, The Gipper Caper one day last week; number 5 should have aired Friday; the pilot had been aired Monday). A longtime fan of the show, I don't recall ever seeing these episodes. Thanks Doug for clearing up the opening credits mystery for me. I had wondered why the opening was different for episode 4 which aired 04/05/77. The last episode in which Diana appeared aired 04/12/77. Diana did look good. Anyone know how far in advance of her death these episodes were taped? Or what type of cancer she had? While I did enjoy Betty as Abby, I can only imagine the show's success with Diana. The writers did a disservice by not fully acknowledging her death and letting the viewers see how the family dealt with her death.
Name: Nathan
Date: Monday, 15-Feb-99 20:01:19
Message:
She'd had a mastectomy years earlier, but the cancer ultimately spread throughout her body. After the pilot, she found this out and that her chances of surviving were slim, but she wanted to do the show so badly that she kept mum until she had to be hospitalized.
Name: Doug
Date: Monday, 15-Feb-99 23:20:40
Message:
The "gipper" episode is not episode 9 the one where tommy throws a rock through the chruch window is.Diana Hyland was supposedly pretty sick when the "Maxwell's party" was shot and did not actually finish filming the entire show.Notice the scene where she is supposed to be in the darkroom,talking to Tom outside, she is never shown just heard.The final scene of the show she is also absent.A freind I used to know worked as a prod. asst. said she complained of severe back pain quite a bit on the set.Such a waste that someone so talented died so young.
Name: Steve
Date: Tuesday, 16-Feb-99 02:40:13
Message:
Thanks guys for clearing things up for me. Interestingly enough, I noticed that in episode 5 where Joan is in the darkroom,it didn't seem to even be her voice. I read an interview that was done with Grant Goodeve. In that, he stated he read for, and got, the part of David in February 1977. So Diana must have worked right up until the end. To have completed 3 episodes in that short amount of time took a lot of courage for her. She died in March 1977. I am impressed.
Subject: Joan Bradford
Name: Peter and Campbell
Date:
Message:
We were just visiting your website and we have a question. In which season and in what episode did Joan Bradford (the mother) die?
Replies...
Name: D.T.
Date:
Message:
I can't recall the exact episode that she died because for some reason the writers just didn't know how to deal with the death of Diana Hyland, the mother on the show, during production of the show in late March. Part of this is from the book "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Shows" by Tim Brooks.
At first, they had her as being "away" after she completed four shows. When the series returned with new episodes that fall, Tom had become a widower, his wife having died, at least in the storyline "about a year ago".
With the help of his best friend "Doc Maxwell", Tom set about keeping order among his large brood while re-entering, in middle age, the singles world. He soon found romance in the person of Abby, a pretty schoolteacher who came to the Bradford home to tutor Tommy, one of the youngsters. Their romance blossomed, though IMHO rather fast for pacing in a two month period, but they married on a two-hour telecast Nov 9, 1977, in time for the ratings sweeps period.
The Christmas episode that year had Tommy having trouble dealing with the loss of Joan, but one of the family members found a present from Joan to Tommy for later giving that Christmas. Eventually, the father begged his son to open and read the note that she wrote.
Subject: Diana Hyland and John Travolta
Name: bwood@acessunited.com
Date: Tuesday, 19-Jan-99 22:44:30
Message:
Does anyone know if this is the actress that John Travolta was involved with? What year did she die?
Replies...
Name: Nathan
Date: Tuesday, 19-Jan-99 23:25:46
Message:
Yes, Diana Hyland was the woman with whom John Travolta was involved. She died of cancer in March of 1977.
Name: ?
Date: Thursday, 21-Jan-99 07:00:51
Message:
Yes, she played his mom, with Mr. Bradey as his father, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. He gave several interviews regarding her, stating that she was a very close friend and that her death greatly affected him. He did not, however; lend an credince to a ronatic involvement between the two of them (this could be due to the age difference between the two).
Name: Nathan
Date: Tuesday, 26-Jan-99 00:41:37
Message:
They were absolutely involved on a romantic level. It was a very controversial relationship due to their age difference. Pick up a copy of "Hollywood Babylon" (written in the 1980's) for the complete story. There's also a Travolta biography in bookstores now that offers a clear description of the intensity of their romantic relationship and John's devastation following Diana's death.
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