# So, is that it for "For Better Or For Worse"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010 "2008-01-02T18:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/1 "2008-01-02T18:04:42Z")
I knew that the strip was winding down, but I didn’t pay any attention to any cutoff date, if there was one. I just know I can’t access it since 12/31/07. If that’s the end, it seems like she left several story arcs open-ended. The 12/31/07 strip was a little depressing, too. Maybe she’s leaving herself room to start it up again someday, like Doonesbury. ETA: Hey, I just accessed it. For some reason, it wouldn’t open for me for the last two days, no matter from which computer I made the attempt. Never mind! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/2 "2008-01-02T18:09:13Z")
> [@](#): > > ETA: Hey, I just accessed it. For some reason, it wouldn’t open for me for the last two days, no matter from which computer I made the attempt. **Never mind!** Emily? Emily Litella? .. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/3 "2008-01-02T18:54:22Z")
There have, indeed, been problems accessing _FBoFW_ online in the last few days as noted at various sites that exist to snark. And the "[home" site](http://www.fbofw.com/) has also been wonky. (Maybe the link will work for you!) For those wanting to catch up: 1. The Pattersons are still insufferably smug. (Especially Michael.) 2. Liz & Anthony are still drifting through the most boring relationship ever recorded. 3. Jim is still praying for The End. and 4) Therese is still EVIL! (And more elegant & interesting than the pallid Patterson Women.) The plan to “end” the series is on hold. Apparently, the plot will continue to develop with glacial slowness. But older strips, with tarted-up art & edited dialog, will show up occasionally to grind things to a complete halt. (For many who enjoyed FBoFW in earlier days, the strip has been “over” for a long time.) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/4 "2008-01-02T19:03:39Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] 2) Liz & Anthony are still drifting through the most boring relationship ever recorded. [/QUOTE] Which, given their separate histories, _should_ be a f\*\*\*ing trainwreck, but noooo, they’ve found “true love” and all of a sudden they both become solid mature adults. Gaaaah, why do I keep reading the thing? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/5 "2008-01-02T19:13:52Z")
[QUOTE=Ponder Stibbons] Which, given their separate histories, _should_ be a f\*\*\*ing trainwreck, but noooo, they’ve found “true love” and all of a sudden they both become solid mature adults. Gaaaah, why do I keep reading the thing? [/QUOTE] Because you’re praying for the huge thriller storyline where Francie decides that her father MUST not fall in love with the Fickle Foob and commits a horripilating midnight double murder with a side of cannibalism and creative use of her Playskool Seamstress Shop playset with the working sewing machine? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/6 "2008-01-02T19:26:13Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Because you’re praying for the huge thriller storyline where Francie decides that her father MUST not fall in love with the Fickle Foob and commits a horripilating midnight double murder with a side of cannibalism and creative use of her Playskool Seamstress Shop playset with the working sewing machine? [/QUOTE] Well, given that her mom has so little liking for her own daughter that she fended her off at the mall and foisted her back onto Liz, even though she totally hates Liz, I wouldn’t be surprised if Francie grew up into a serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/7 "2008-01-02T22:39:52Z")
FBoFW and Funky Winkerbean have come unstuck in time, like Billy Pilgrim. They keep dithering from one generation to another, as if somebody is sitting on the remote control. If somebody were just starting one of these strips, they’d be dizzy trying to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/8 "2008-01-02T23:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Because you’re praying for the huge thriller storyline where Francie decides that her father MUST not fall in love with the Fickle Foob and commits a horripilating midnight double murder with a side of cannibalism and creative use of her Playskool Seamstress Shop playset with the working sewing machine? [/QUOTE] Actually, I’m praying for leprosy. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/9 "2008-01-03T01:12:42Z")
You’re not missing anything. She seems to have writer’s block - half the strips are Elizabeth and Anthony slobbering over each other (hey, honey, a guy with kids who don’t like you \*and \* a vindictive ex is not necessarily a good catch, knowhamean?) ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/10 "2008-01-03T07:47:25Z")
[QUOTE=ElvisL1ves] (hey, honey, a guy with kids who don’t like you \*and \* a vindictive ex is not necessarily a good catch, knowhamean?) [/QUOTE] But they were meant for each other! Because they dated as teenagers! Okay, reluctantly, but that still counts! And her parents like him! And that means it’s destiny! :dubious: Personally I only keep reading for April and Jim’n’Iris. The whole Lizardbreath story line started to stink when Johnston decided she had to get Paul Wright out of the story and smeared the whole village she’d so lovingly created to make it possible. So far it has not improved a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/11 "2008-01-19T22:32:28Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] Well, given that her mom has so little liking for her own daughter that she fended her off at the mall and foisted her back onto Liz, [/QUOTE] You don’t think Therese could have been upset, not at seeing her daughter, but at seeing her with the woman that her husband swore up and down he was not pining for throughout their marriage? Yes, Liz and Anthony were Just Friends. That’s why she’s now taking Francie Christmas shopping. If I were Therese, I’d retreat from that too. Plus, what was she supposed to do? It was not a scheduled visit. Should she have driven Francie away in her car and get accused of kidnapping? Someone is going to have to give me examples of this “vindictiveness” Therese displays, because I honestly do not see it. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-that-it-for-for-better-or-for-worse/432010/12 "2008-01-19T23:07:39Z")
BTW: I can’t provide a link for this, but LJ gave an interview to a newspaper in which she said she was dissatisfied with her attempt at mixing old and new material. Sometime this year, she intends to wrap up the storylines and then that will be it. I suppose the syndicate will still offer the older strips, a la Peanuts, but that’ll be it for new material. The only thing she’ll do is go back and fix the art on some of her earlier strips.