TLC: Home Time and Dean Jones
Anita Rowland
>
>What's up with the female cohosts on this show. My wife and I
>are trying to figure it out. He always talks like the one cohosting
>with him at the time is his "significant other". So what's he do
>go through a woman every 2 years?
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Kevin
>
The woman who was on with him first was on for several years,
then left to do other acting. They made a big deal of her last
episode, with bloopers, a retrospective, etc. Then the next
cohost was on for only one season, then gone. Robin is now in
her second year, I think.
I agree, it does give a strange impression when they structure
the show as if they are really married. Scenes when they are
getting up in the morning, etc.
I think part of the deal is that Dean is exec producer, that
is, he owns a piece of the show, His cohosts do not.
I have wondered if he buried the old "wife" in the foundation
of a project.
Anita Rowland
anitar@halcyon,com
Ronald Oakes
>
>In article <D2z11...@cs.dal.ca>, ab...@cfn.cs.dal.ca (Kevin R. Briand) says:
>>
>>are trying to figure it out. He always talks like the one co-hosting
>>with him at the time is his "significant other". So what's he do
>>go through a woman every 2 years?
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>Kevin
>>
>
>The woman who was on with him first was on for several years,
>then left to do other acting. They made a big deal of her last
>episode, with bloopers, a retrospective, etc. Then the next
>her second year, I think.
Actually I have seen four different women co-hosting Hometime with Dean
Johnson.
In the earliest ones, Peggy Knapp co-hosted. During this era, Hometime
presented straight forward "How-To" information, without any of the
"dramatic" elements. Both hosts came across as completely competent, but
Dean project a little bit of personality. Basically, these were very dry
programs.
Then after a season or two, JoAnne Lieber took over as co-host. After a
few shows, they started moving out of the studio. About this time, they
also began to add some dramatic elements (actually comedic elements) and
started having the hosts related to each other as though they were married
(or at least co-habitating). Much of this is explained in the last show with
JoAnne. After several years -- three or four I suspect by the volume of
work -- JoAnne left to go to California to presue a carrer in comedy. This
appeared to be a mid-season replacement at the time, but that could have
been because of and when WTTW was airing the first run programs.
After JoAnne left, Susane Egli came in for a season, or part of one. While
she clearly knew her home improvement stuff, she could never create the
chemistry to make the dramatic elements work. Her shows became almost as
dry as the Peggy Knapp shows.
At the start of the next season, Robin Hartle was the co-host. She was
again able to fill the role both in -- apparent -- knowledge and as the
significant other for the dramatic elements.