# tv trivia **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070 "2000-04-08T01:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![larry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/47e85d/32.png) [@larry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larry)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/1 "2000-04-08T01:10:00Z")
back around 1989 or 1990 there was a short-lived sitcom that featured a blind central character. This was fiction, the actor who played him was not blind. What was the name of the show, and of the actor? Nobody I talk to can remember this show. Please help. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/2 "2000-04-08T02:53:00Z")
I believe it was “Mr. Sunshine” starring Jeffrey Tambor. He played a blind guy who was totally obnoxious, but thought people didn’t like him because he was blind. IIRC, it lasted 4 episodes before being cancelled by ABC. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/3 "2000-04-08T06:03:00Z")
“Mr. Sunshine” aired on ABC off on from March 28, 1986 until September 3, 1986. It did indeed star Jeffrey Tambor as a blind English professor named Paul Stark. It also featured Nan Martin, Barbara Babcock, Leonard Frey, Cecilia Hart, and David Knell. The only other series I recall that had a blind person as its central character was “Longstreet” which starred James Franciscus as a blind insurance investigator. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/4 "2000-04-08T07:38:00Z")
There was also a show called “Good and Evil” that aired briefly in 1991. Mark Blankfield was one of the stars and he played a very accident prone blind man. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/5 "2000-04-08T15:35:00Z")
There was also an 80’s remake of a 60’s sci-fi show where one of the main characters was blind. He wore a special device that allowed him to see in other spectrums than visible light. Ironically, the actor couldn’t see well when wearing the “device”, a gold-painted hair band, but saw perfectly well when he had it off and played blind. Wish I could remember the name of this show… * * * Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination. ---
**Author:** ![larry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/47e85d/32.png) [@larry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larry)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/6 "2000-04-08T16:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by kawliga: > **There was also a show called “Good and Evil” that aired briefly in 1991. Mark Blankfield was one of the stars and he played a very accident prone blind man.** Thank you for answering. I think this was the show, not the aforementioned Mr. Sunshine. Did they try to rewrite the show to make him seeing? Also, was Mark Blankman a popular stand up comedian at the time? For some reason I recall this show and “Seinfeld” having some kind of similarity. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/7 "2000-04-09T05:32:00Z")
“Good and Evil” only aired five or six episodes. A combination of low ratings and protests (over the blind character) resulted in a quick cancellation. The show was quite similar to “Soap.” Mark Blankfield was a sketch actor from the early 80s SNL ripoff “Fridays.” ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/8 "2000-04-09T07:51:00Z")
“Good and Evil” ran on ABC on Wednesday nights at 10 from Sept-Oct. 1991. It starred Teri Garr (who was good) and Margaret Whitton (who was evil). The National Federation of the Blind protested Mark Blankfield’s portrayal of a blind psychiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![larry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/47e85d/32.png) [@larry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larry)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/9 "2000-04-09T15:53:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by BobT: > **"Good and Evil" ran on ABC on Wednesday nights at 10 from Sept-Oct. 1991. It starred Teri Garr (who was good) and Margaret Whitton (who was evil). > The National Federation of the Blind protested Mark Blankfield’s portrayal of a blind psychiatrist.** Thanks for answering. You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve asked about this show without anyone remembering it. People were starting to call me “the blind tv character guy” ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/10 "2000-04-10T13:26:00Z")
AWB, your post seems to be an awfully good description of the character “Geordi LaForge” on “Star Trek - The Next Generation”. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/11 "2000-04-10T13:39:00Z")
\ ***Keeves:** AWB, your post seems to be an awfully good description of the character “Geordi LaForge” on “Star Trek - The Next Generation”. \* Gee, y’think? You’d think that having a sig line from the original ST pilot, I’d remember the show. * * * Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/12 "2000-04-10T14:05:00Z")
The similarity between _Seinfeld_ and _Good and Evil_ was that both Mark Blankfield and Michael Richards were on _Fridays_. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/13 "2000-04-10T14:42:00Z")
Yes, I was just going to say they were on Fridays, which was pretty good, better than SNL. Mark Blankfield used to do a pharmacist strung out on drugs. * * * [My home page](http://members.aol.com/abbie4ever22/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/14 "2000-04-10T16:51:00Z")
There was also a short-lived tv series in the '80s called “Sable”. The title character seemed to be a sort of Batman clone (ordinary person who puts on a costume at night to fight crime). One of the reoccuring secondary characters was blind. (The character was named “Cheesecake” and he and Sable would communicate by sending cheesecakes to each other with messages on the box in braille.) * * * “Sometimes I think the web is just a big plot to keep people like me away from normal society.” — Dilbert ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/15 "2000-04-10T18:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by tanstaafl: > (The character was named “Cheesecake” and he and Sable would communicate by sending cheesecakes to each other with messages on the box in braille.) Please tell me you’re joking. ---
**Author:** ![larry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/47e85d/32.png) [@larry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larry)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/16 "2000-04-10T21:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Wendell Wagner: > **The similarity between _Seinfeld_ and _Good and Evil_ was that both Mark Blankfield and Michael Richards were on _Fridays_.** Thanks for answering. That was a pretty obscure connection, congratulations! About my other question about the show being rewritten, I seem to remember that the network tried to make the controversial blind psychiatrist character a seeing person, or dropped the character altogether, before they finally cancelled the series. Does any of this ring a bell? ---
**Author:** ![larry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/47e85d/32.png) [@larry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/larry)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/17 "2000-04-10T23:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried: > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally posted by tanstaafl: > > (The character was named “Cheesecake” and he and Sable would communicate by sending cheesecakes to each other with messages on the box in braille.) > > Please tell me you’re joking. > > \*\* I’m afraid he may not be joking. I had forgotten about that weird show, it didn’t last very long. I’m beginning to see a pattern here - “blind character = quickly cancelled” ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-trivia/10070/18 "2000-04-10T23:23:00Z")
> [@](#): > > “blind character = quickly cancelled” Well, I don’t know about that. Isn’t \*Early Edition[/] (the show about the guy with the newspaper that tells him the future) still on the air? Does it still have a blind character? I haven’t watched it in a long time, so I honestly don’t know. And _Night Court_ weathered not one but **two** blind characters. Granted, the first character, a surly assistant played by Elaine Bouzler \, didn’t last long, but it was the character, not the show, that got the axe. I think the second character, who ran the newspaper stand in the breakroom, lasted quite a bit longer. * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy Are we kin? Visit me at [The Kat House](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/home.htm) and find out! [Join the FSH Muscular Dystrophy Webring](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/fshwebring.htm)