# the worst children additions in television shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015 "2011-04-03T04:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/41 "2011-04-04T16:32:31Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > With Seven on _Married with Children_, at least the producers had the good sense to get rid of him after one season, with no explanation given. There was even an episode in a later season where they showed Seven’s face on one of those “have you seen me?” missing children ads. I was under the impression that Seven was added as a parody,poking fun at all the other lame child actors.Punky Brewster had a friend named Six which is why the named him Seven, I figured. What do ya’ll think? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/42 "2011-04-04T17:05:00Z")
You sure that was Punky Brewster? I remember a girl named Six as the best friend of the title character in _Blossom_. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/43 "2011-04-04T18:03:13Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > I was under the impression that Seven was added as a parody,poking fun at all the other lame child actors.Punky Brewster had a friend named Six which is why the named him Seven, I figured. > What do ya’ll think? I would say not. You have to remember at the start of season six, Katey Segal was pregnant in real life. But then the baby was stillborn (six weeks early) and I recall at the time the writers were at a loss how to cope with this. They felt they couldn’t have a kid on the show as it would be insensitive to Sagal. I recall headlines of that time commenting on the irony of the most insensitive show ever, was going out of their way to be sensitive and respond to Segal. So in the end they fell back on that old chestnut of having it be a dream. Which I didn’t like but I didn’t see another way for a show famous for is crass and crude plots to cope with a thing like that. So the show seemed intent on having a not one child but two. Remember Marcy was also pregnant as was Peg. Then in the start of the 7th season came “Seven” It appears the writers were trying to bring back that theme they had explored the year prior. As for his name, it was a joke. His parents explain that his name comes from the fact that they had “one, two, three, four, five, seven kids” ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/44 "2011-04-04T18:30:05Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Scrappy Doo > [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > Seriously. Even as a kid I couldn’t stand to watch the episodes with Scrappy Doo. Also, IIRC most of the episodes that had him didn’t have Fred, Velma, or Daphne, which made them extra lame. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I forgot to give props to this answer also. Great answer to the thread. Totally took me out of the Saturday Morning Cartoon ritual I had down to a science. When Scrappy Doo came on, I tuned out. > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Ding ding ding! Thread winner! > > I wonder what the show creators were thinking when they added him. I imagine it went something like this: > > Writer 1: Scooby Doo is a hit; it’s wildly popular and we’ve created some iconic characters! > > Writer 2: Yeah, we need to do something about that. > > Writer 1: Huh? > > Writer 2: What, you still want to be writing the same formulaic stories for the next twenty years? We need to make the show unwatchable somehow. > > Writer 1: Yeah, I see your point. How about adding an annoying puppy sidekick and diminishing the roles of the other kids? > > Writer 2: Bingo. Let’s give him some dumbass catch phrase, too. > > Writer 1: No problem. Sooner we’re done with this show, the sooner I can bring my “ALF” idea to fruition. > [@SciFiSam](#): > > Doh! How could it have taken this long for this clear winner to come up? :smack: Even worst in 1985, they got rid of Fred and Velma, kept Scrappy, and added Flim-Flam, who is arguable more annoying than Scrappy!? … and even worse my kids love them both! ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/45 "2011-04-04T19:00:21Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > You sure that was Punky Brewster? I remember a girl named Six as the best friend of the title character in _Blossom_. Yes,Blossom. ---
**Author:** ![DivineComedienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@DivineComedienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DivineComedienne)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/46 "2011-04-04T20:00:01Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > That girl Stephanie (Danielle Brisebois) who was added to “All in the Family/Archie Bunker’s Place”. The female “Seven”. > > If any child ever added to a show, perhaps “Ernie” on “My Three Sons”. But then improving that show didn’t take much and if any real improvement came, it was the delightfully cantankerous William Demarest as “Uncle Charlie”. But hen I’m basing my memories of Ernie on having seen the show when it was first televised and I was closer to Ernie’s age. Speaking of My Three Sons, I remember when Steve re-married (I forget his wife’s name) and brought Dodie into the mix. No insult to the actress intended, but I always thought that there seemed to be something wrong with Dodie. Definitely hurt the show! ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/47 "2011-04-04T20:22:06Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > The kid on _Star Trek: Voyager_ worked very well. (The dead crewmember’s daughter, not the _shudder_ Borg kids). About the only time I can recall the addition of a kid being an improvement. Nit: Samantha Wildman (Naomi’s mom) never died. There were some plots that explored the mother-child relationship. The actress of the mom appeared in less and less episodes over time, but she was never explicitly killed off. (You could bet they would have done an episode as to how that affected the kid, especially if the kid was brought in, as we suspect, as part of Cute Kid Syndrome) ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/48 "2011-04-04T20:36:56Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > Holling and Shelly had a baby in season five, but she (the baby, Miranda) wasn’t the main focus of any episodes. She was in them, of course, but it wasn’t obtrusive at all. Except for the one great episode that did focus on Miranda - the one where Shelley met her as an adult before she went into labor. I miss that show. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/49 "2011-04-05T14:42:07Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > You sure that was Punky Brewster? I remember a girl named Six as the best friend of the title character in _Blossom_. In the last year of Blossom, Ted Russo marries a woman named Carol who has a daughter named Kennedy. I have blotted her out until I saw this thread. DAMN YOU! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/50 "2011-04-05T18:33:52Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > In the last year of Blossom, Ted Russo marries a woman named Carol who has a daughter named Kennedy. I have blotted her out until I saw this thread. > > DAMN YOU! It’s nice to be appreciated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/51 "2011-04-05T23:01:42Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Robbie Rist was added not only as Cousin Oliver but to\* the Mary Tyler Moore show\* as Ted Baxter’s adopted kid, David. He now [appears](http://www.interviewinghollywood.com/robbie-rist.html) to be working as Comic Book Guy on _The Simpsons_. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/52 "2011-04-06T15:49:18Z")
Charlie Sheen, _Two and a Half Men_. (C’mon. You know _somebody_ was going to say it! :D) ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/53 "2011-04-06T17:12:34Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > Except for the one great episode that did focus on Miranda - the one where Shelley met her as an adult before she went into labor. > I miss that show. Yeah, that was a great episode. Shelley met her at three different ages, and the 7 or 8-year-old Miranda was played by Kaley Cuoco, of _Big Bang Theory_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015/54 "2011-04-06T20:03:37Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > The Olsen Things on Full House > > Yes, I know they don’t qualify because they’ve always been there (were they even the baby?) but had they never been there, the show would have been better (not “great”, but better). > > (Same could probably be said for the world as a whole … ) Why not go with Nicky and Alex, then? They were basically doing the same thing Michele did while younger. > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > The kid on _Star Trek: Voyager_ worked very well. (The dead crewmember’s daughter, not the _shudder_ Borg kids). About the only time I can recall the addition of a kid being an improvement. I was going to mention Naomi Wildman. I loved her. She proved you could have a kid on Star Trek without it sucking. She was important to the plot without feeling like it either wasn’t Star Trek, or that she was a Mary Sue. And, yes, it was also nice that they didn’t kill of the Mother. They actually had an episode where the mother was in peril and you assumed she was going to die, but she actually made it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-children-additions-in-television-shows/577015.md?page=2)