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1930s)Īfter he left the film shorts, Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Hal Roach’s Little Rascals: William ‘Buckwheat’ Thomas, (ca. That portrayal would be deemed quite controversial in the years to come.
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Thomas initially played Buckwheat - speech impediment and all - as a girl dressed as the stereotypical African-American “pickaninny.” He wore bowed pigtails, a large hand-me-down sweater, and oversized boots. 1936īut the Buckwheat character slowly morphed into a boy. From left: Spanky McFarland, Billie ‘Buckwheat’ Thomas, ca.
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The “Buckwheat” character was originally a female, portrayed by Matthew “Stymie” Beard’s younger sister, Carlena. Thomas first appeared in the 1934 Our Gang shorts as a background player. was born on March 12, 1931, in Los Angeles. He brought his own Carroll O’Connor, his own Archie to it.Buckwheat of The Little Rascals the culturegeist Very much like how Jamie Foxx was more Sherman Hemsley than Woody Harrison was Carroll O’Connor. They all know the shows as we all do but they don’t have to mimic and become who that character is if they don’t want to. We encourage them to have some creative freedom to bring the character that they want to bring to the screen. How are the actors told to prepare outside of reading the scripts themselves? Are they encouraged to go back and watch old episodes? Miller: As is our director, Jimmy Burrows. You have to be in order to do what they’re going to accomplish in a couple of days. Friday they’ll all see each other and then it’s literally Sunday, Monday, Tuesday there’s rehearsal. The Facts of Life on Thursday was when Diff’rent Strokes met each other. The first time they all met each other was on Wednesday. That’s how all of that began.įor this year’s Live show, how long is the rehearsal before Tuesday’s night’s performance? And I said, “Get that kid” and they brought him back because it was so clear that this little guy should be on the tube. And I saw this little guy, Gary Coleman, of course. I saw it after it had been filmed since I really had very little to do with the other part of the company that made it. Lear: It started with a pilot that didn’t work really, Little Rascals. Norman, both Diff’rent Stroke and The Facts of Life were focused on young people when your earlier hits were very adult. It was the perfect way to go with these two episodes. At the end of the day, when you saw that table read and everyone starts reading, their instincts were spot on. I was a little nervous about the conceit and I just went with it. Tell me about that first table read and what was it like once you got these people together and these characters came to life through them? LIVE IN FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE – Key Art. We’ve come off a couple rough years and we really wanted to lighten things up and just have a good time. Everyone is going to have a good time, the actors on stage and the audience at home, and we intentionally chose these episodes for that reason. Issues have changed over the years and what’s funny then might not be funny now, so tell me how Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life will pertain to audiences today?īrent Miller: The way it pertains to today is a good time.
#THE ORIGINAL LITTLE RASCALS THEN AND NOW SERIES#
While the episodes they’ll be reenacting are under wraps until show night, Tuesday, December 7, executive producers Norman Lear and Brent Miller talked to TV Insider about everything from their memories of the series to how they choose which installments to feature. The third installment is bringing more recognizable names to memorable roles like Diff’rent Strokes’ Arnold Drummond (to be played by Kevin Hart) his brother Willis ( Damon Wayans), and On The Facts of Life, Blair Warner ( Jennifer Aniston), and Jo Polniczek ( Kathryn Hahn) as well as a surprise role for Jon Stewart. Cast members, including Kevin Bacon, Marisa Tomei, Woody Harrelson, Viola Davis, and Jamie Foxx, helped bring in big ratings and (so far) three Emmy awards. The first two live specials, which aired back in 2019, featured reproductions of episodes from producer Norman Lear‘s classics All in the Family, Good Times, and The Jeffersons. Everything old is new again, as fan-favorite 1980s sitcoms Diff’rent Strokes and its spinoff, The Facts of Life become the next shows to be featured on ABC’s third round of Live in Front of a Studio Audience.