Doug Wiken at Dakota Today just pointed me to Dakota 21, another S.D. Blog. I don't read as much S.D. stuff as I probably should; I usually end up running into South Dakota news elsewhere (such as the ongoing ridicule at Slate of our latest abortion law).
Among the posts was one about Estelle Getty's death, which brought back memories. I worked at KEVN during the initial run of The Golden Girls. We not only aired that, but also the syndicated reruns of the show, so I got to know it pretty well. Getty was always the spark of the show, and her ability to play a considerably older character was great to watch.
I remember getting a call from a woman asking for the name of an actor who had appeared in the episode we had just aired. Apparently she saw him visiting Mount Rushmore. It was Harold Gould, one of those actors who has had an impressive career and who many people would recognize but not be able to identify. I found this bit of trivia....
On the TV series "Love, American Style" (1969), Gould originated the role of "Howard Cunningham" in a segment called "Love and the Happy Days" in 1972. When "Happy Days" (1974) became an actual series with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, Gould was replaced in the dad role by Tom Bosley.
It's hard to imagine Gould in the role instead of Bosley. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies, "Operation Petticoat". Bob Hope turned down the leading role, Cary Grant got the part, and in my opinion his persona made the movie work in a way that Bob Hope wouldn't have been able to accomplish.
Then too, only Leonard Nimoy as Spock made it from the original Star Trek pilot to the series, and even he was almost cut. Try to visualize that series with a completely different cast.
From a new blog to Spock..... that was some serious narrative drift.
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