Eight is Enough pilot intro

[Hljakes]

THERE WAS A DIFFRENT NANCY AND TOMMY

[Juliaflo]

The pilot-'Never Eat Nectarines Since Juice May Dispense'--a mnemonic for remembering the names of the Bradford children--the youngest to the oldest.

[Juliaflo]

@Juliaflo My bad--It should have been Never Try Eating Nectarines Since Juice May Dispense--memorizing the Bradford children, youngest to eldest.

Never=Nicholas

Try=Tommy

Eating=Elizabeth

Nectarines=Nancy

Since=Susan

Juice=Joannie

May=Mary

Dispense=David

[Solaris498]

ma tommy lo faceva Mark Hamill??

Did Mark Hamill play Tommy's role??

Unbelievable!

[jchahine]

i remember the pilot episode was released the same night as two other pilots -- "Three's Company" and "Bosom Buddies".

[Gerkinstock]

Hey, it seems Kimberly Beck-- who played Nancy Bradford in the pilot-- also made a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch. Too bad she's remembered for neither.

[jimmyk5769]

@SHC87

You are mistaken. Mark Hamill's accident happened right after he filmed Star Wars. That's why his face looks different in Empire Strikes Back (and also why they had Luke's face get damaged by the snow creature in the opening minutes of Empire). This info is easy to look up now that we have the internet, by the way.

[DanIN72]

This made him unavailable for shooting the TV series, and ABC was forced to recast the role of David, which then went to Grant Goodeve.

[DanIN72]

He was originally cast as David on "Eight Is Enough" (1977), and asked to be released from his contract before Star Wars (1977) came out because he sensed the movie would be successful, and Hamill wanted to focus on his movie career. ABC refused to release him from his contract, thinking that having a successful movie star connected with the show would help "Eight is Enough" (1976). Hamill was then in a car crash in December 1976 and injured his face.

[goodgirl4275]

Grant Goodeve was much better than Mark Hamill!

[tippymugs]

I got a lot of hards on back then-lol--

[robertnobody]

This should be on DVD, whoever owns the rights to these shows should get this going now.

I don't know why this hasn't come out yet on DVD?

[mrtelevision]

Warner Brothers owns the rights to this

and the other Lorimar shows

[Captmiloman]

Has season one been released or will it be released on DVD anytime soon? I didn't start watching until the second season. To this day, I've never seen the pilot.

[Baldenlong77]

I thought Mark got in that car crash and that's why he couldn't play David in the series. His face was messed up and that's why he looks different in Empire Strikes Back.

[DanIN72]

I can't remember where I read it but I remember that Mark wanted out of his contract with the show because Star Wars became such a hit...the show didn't want to let him out of it, but then he had the accident and it would have set the show way back on shooting if they waited on him to recover and heal so ABC relented and let him out of the contract and cast Grant Goodeve

[regency98us]

You are right, I remember that too. He was already cast in Star Wars and he did the pilot for 8, in late 1976. This pilot premiered in March 1977. I have the original video tapes which were taped from WBAL in Baltimore, from a friend who worked there. During the pilot, Mary is talking to Joan at the table at 6am and Joan says "You cant compare the 50's to 1976". Definitly a great show and Diana Hyland died too soon, she was very beautiful.

[Gerkinstock]

And Chris English played Tommy and Kimberly Beck played Nancy. Four of the actors/actresses from the pilot were gone within a few episodes of the show's premiere.

[snoops71]

Yes, Diana was wonderful as Joan. Absolutely brilliant :)

[SHC87]

@Baldenlong77

HI Mark's car accident was between the Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. That is when his face was changed the most. It seemed to add to his character of Luke.

[Baldenlong77]

No, his car accident happened right after he filmed Star Wars. January 11, 1977.

[Aeolis7]

@SHC87 Actually, on January 11th, 1977 Mark Hamill was in a car accident. This happened one day before he was to shoot his final scenes in Star Wars. A double was used for the necessary Landspeeder pick-up shots. His acceident was between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

[kbirdusa]

I think Mark was quite good as David - he actually had sort of a rebellious attitude, much more so than Goodeve's David.

[airdriver]

Well for one thing, Grant Goodeve would n ot have sang the theme which signaled to me that the show had finally jumped the shark.

[X23109]

Had Mark Hamil stayed with the series, he may not have become Luke Skywalker. Would you have preferred Grant Goodeve, Don Adams, or Clint Eastwood been casted for the Star Wars role. I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

[LondonGuysVids]

Clint Eastwood as Luke? That would be interesting to say the very least.

[X23109]

LOL! Did I fire six shots or only five. Well considering this is a .357 Tatooine Energy Pistol which can blow your head clean off, I've lost track of the energy usage of this gun.

So ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well do ya stormtrooper?

Harrison Ford: Uh, Clint I think those are my lines.

[kbirdusa]

Actually - "Star Wars" began filming in March of 1976, before the "Eight is Enough" pilot was shot. However, if Mark had stayed with the series, they would have had to work around his filming schedule for the sequels.

[X23109]

Very good insight. Thanks.

[Aeolis7]

Also Starring: Luke Skywalker as "David".

[bishoplord]

Wow, that opening (listing 3 actors/stars) was akin to the 1st season of Gilligan's Island where the song goes "...and the rest!"

[stanmugs]

Willie Aames is a beautiful man.

[FilmsRreel]

I like Willie too(But I'm straight). He's great on "Celebrity Fit Club", but it annoys me how he is reffered to as the co-star of "Charles In Charge"...what about the great "EIGHT IS ENOUGH?" I guess it is because VH1 also has Scott Baio on another of their reality shows

[ih1s1bila1n]

mark hamill was in the pilot? i never knew that.

[montrosepatriot]

Mark's part was recasted where Grant Goodeve took over; he made the transition to blockbuster films since (everyone knows who he became and a ranch was named after him - the Skywalker Ranch by George Lucas)...

[drummerbraves]

Eight Is Enough should be on DVD.

[ih1s1bila1n]

i think it should be on dvd on netflix and it should be on tvland.

[kfag101]

Will someone please put full episodes of this show? please!!

[Gerkinstock]

It was filmed in 1976, though, long before the rest of the first season episodes were shot. I just happened to be online when you responded, so this might be my quickest You Tube reply yet.

[brickmanonj]

In the pilot episode, other actors played Tommy and Nancy. Willie Aames and Dianne Kay came on-board later, along with Grant Goodeve.

[rvpstudios]

WOW! Where do you find all these neat pilots?

[Gerkinstock]

This has actually aired many times, most recently on PAX TV in the early 2000's. I think it was originally a TV movie, with Kimberly Beck playing Nancy and Chris English playing Tommy.

[kbirdusa]

The pilot isn't a TV movie - just a one-hour episode that is included in the syndication package. But you're right - Hamill, Beck, and English appeared in the pilot only.

[Gerkinstock]

That's right... it was only an hour long. Kimberly Beck is still in the business.