Was the real reason some out-of-universe circumstance? Say, one of the actors leaving the show?
Yes and no. The character couple broke up on screen and it is explained in the plot by having Carol suspect Tony of having an affair with “X”. However, we viewers know that the rift in the relationship is really the result of the man painting a portrait of X (plotwise). But from my recent reading about the show years later, I now know that the actual decision for the character couple breakup is a direct result of the painting plotline, but not in any way relating to the fictional story being told. Got that? No one was leaving the show. No one had relevant personal outside-the- story animosities or issues. They just needed the characters to break up and that reason is never part of the story. But it relates to the story. So why did Carol and Tony have to break up?
The real reason for the break-up is a direct result of the painting storyline, but not because of the fictional story being told. The reason has nothing to do with the fiction or the future plotlines for the characters. But it was still needed. Why?
You say that, because of something you read years later, you now know the actual reason was “not in any way related to the fictional story being told.” I guess my question is: would someone merely watching the show — with no knowledge of that show beyond what they simply and only see on screen — have been capable of figuring out what you now know?
Like, is there some detail that you maybe missed, or brushed off as irrelevant, or whatever, but now you can look back and say, “oh, well, now that I know the truth, it’s an obvious clue; why didn’t I notice that before?”
You said no one left the show, but was the availability of one of the actors reduced (for whatever reason), so it wouldn’t have been workable to have these characters continue as a couple?
Would it be plausible for this to happen today, with a show set in the present time? If no: could it plausibly happen with a show made today, but set in the 1960s-1970s?
Did the show writers initially intend for Carol and Tony to stay together, prior to introducing the painting storyline?
Would it help to know more about the character who was being painted? About the actress (it is a “she,” correct?) who played this character?
Would it be plausible for this to happen today, with a show set in the present time? If no: could it plausibly happen with a show made today, but set in the 1960s-1970s? No to all, at least I do not see how.
Did the show writers initially intend for Carol and Tony to stay together, prior to introducing the painting storyline? Not sure. Probably not.
Would it help to know more about the character who was being painted? Yes
About the actress (it is a “she,” correct?) who played this character? A “she” and it will not help to know more about the actress outside of her show character.
OK, I am still trying to wrap my head around the part where there are two different plot reasons for the breakup, one from the characters’ point of view and the other from the audience’s, quite apart from anything happening outside of the show…
You’ve said no one in this story is gay, but did the painting storyline somehow imply that the “real” reason for the breakup was something else that it would be taboo or controversial to discuss openly on TV in this era?
Does the audience know something about the woman in the painting that Carol doesn’t? Is she really Tony’s sister / other relative?
Does anything / anyone relevant appear in the painting besides the woman?
Another thought: is censorship relevant in any way?
(The specific scenario I’m thinking about: Was there a Hays Code-type rule that you could depict a characte doing X on TV, but it had to have negative consequences within the plot – you couldn’t just show them doing X and living happily ever after? And in the course of the painting plot, Carol or Tony did X?)
OK, I am still trying to wrap my head around the part where there are two different plot reasons for the breakup, one from the characters’ point of view and the other from the audience’s, quite apart from anything happening outside of the show…
You’ve said no one in this story is gay, but did the painting storyline somehow imply that the “real” reason for the breakup was something else that it would be taboo or controversial to discuss openly on TV in this era? No
Does the audience know something about the woman in the painting that Carol doesn’t? Yes Is she really Tony’s sister / other relative? No
Does anything / anyone relevant appear in the painting besides the woman? No
Are twins / lookalikes somehow involved? Sort of… but that bit of the plot is mostly irrelevant to solving the puzzle.