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Family Affair

 Family Affair
type
TVTItem
 Family Affair
label
Family Affair
 Family Affair
page
FamilyAffair
 Family Affair
comment
Family Affair was a 1966–71 CBS Dom Com about three children named Cissy, Jody, and Buffy, who — having lost their parents to a car accident — went to live with their bachelor uncle Bill Davis (Brian Keith) and his British manservant Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) in a swanky Manhattan apartment.Today, the show is mostly remembered for both its creator-producer Don Fedderson and the network insisting that the character of Buffy should remain a young, prepubescent child, even as actress Anissa Jones entered puberty and got closer and closer to high school.A revival of the series, starring Gary Cole as Uncle Bill and Tim Curry as Mr. French, aired on The WB during the 2002 season.Not to be confused with British soap opera Family Affairs.
 Family Affair
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2024-04-04T21:22:50Z
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2024-04-04T21:22:50Z
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Dropped link to ManipulativeBitch: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Dropped link to VerySpecialEpisode: Not a Feature - ITEM
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ManipulativeBitch
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DBTropes
 Family Affair / int_12f078f3
type
Artistic License – Linguistics
 Family Affair / int_12f078f3
comment
Artistic License – Linguistics: The children are said to come from Terre Haute, Indiana, but they always pronounce it as "Terre Hut" instead of the correct local pronounciation "Terre Hoat".
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 Family Affair / int_14beeefd
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Darker and Edgier
 Family Affair / int_14beeefd
comment
Darker and Edgier: Sasha Pieterse's version of Buffy responds to Mr French's dismissal of her love for her doll as a friend by threateningly saying "You're beginning to ANNOY Mrs. Beasley!"
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Family Affair / int_14beeefd
 Family Affair / int_1989b0c
type
Comic-Book Time
 Family Affair / int_1989b0c
comment
Comic-Book Time: Buffy, six in season one, mentions that she's "almost nine" in the third-to-last episode of the final season (five). You could argue that the series takes place over a shorter amount of time than it was aired...if not for the fact that the fifth season opens with an episode called "It Can't Be Five Years" where the fact that the kids first came to live with Uncle Bill exactly five years ago is repeatedly and explicitly stated!
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 Family Affair / int_2482df9c
type
Companion Cube
 Family Affair / int_2482df9c
comment
Companion Cube: Mrs. Beasley, Buffy's doll, which she still treats like a living person even as a preteen in the later seasons.
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Family Affair / int_2482df9c
 Family Affair / int_255cc9bd
type
Nephewism
 Family Affair / int_255cc9bd
comment
Nephewism: Part of the show's premise; Buffy, Jody and Cissy move in with their uncle after losing their parents in a car crash.
 Family Affair / int_255cc9bd
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Family Affair / int_255cc9bd
 Family Affair / int_25c7875f
type
Practically Different Generations
 Family Affair / int_25c7875f
comment
Practically Different Generations: Cissy is nine years older than her younger siblings Buffy and Jody.
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Family Affair / int_25c7875f
 Family Affair / int_2e39af52
type
Girlish Pigtails
 Family Affair / int_2e39af52
comment
Girlish Pigtails: Buffy's signature hairstyle.
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 Family Affair / int_35ae6a23
type
Lethal Chef
 Family Affair / int_35ae6a23
comment
Lethal Chef: Now and then Cissy attempts to cook for her uncle and siblings, but the results are comically bad.
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 Family Affair / int_392372f9
type
Actor Allusion
 Family Affair / int_392372f9
comment
Actor Allusion: In the second episode, Mr. French reads Winnie the Pooh to Buffy and Jody. Earlier the same year, Sebastian Cabot had narrated Disney's Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and he would go on to narrate the other two classic Disney Pooh shorts too. Repeated references to French reading them the book are made throughout a good part of the series.
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 Family Affair / int_3f11ef74
type
Parental Substitute
 Family Affair / int_3f11ef74
comment
Parental Substitute: Uncle Bill and Mr. French both serve as this to the kids in different ways.
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 Family Affair / int_4046f869
type
The Tonsillitis Episode
 Family Affair / int_4046f869
comment
The Tonsillitis Episode: In "A Matter of Tonsils," Buffy and Jody both have their tonsils removed.
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 Family Affair / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 Family Affair / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: The Christmas Special, "Christmas Came a Little Early." The Christmas party given by Bill and the family makes Eve happy, but Eve is still going to die soon. The episode ends with Buffy realizing this sad truth and crying in Bill's arms.
 Family Affair / int_40cc0c7e
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 Family Affair / int_499499e6
type
Written-In Absence
 Family Affair / int_499499e6
comment
Written-In Absence / Suspiciously Similar Substitute: When Sebastion Cabot became ill and had to miss part of the first season, Mr. French was said to be off accompanying the Queen on a tour of the Commonwealth. His brother, Nigel French (John Williams), took over the household duties in his stead.
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 Family Affair / int_5d7cfc66
type
The Jeeves
 Family Affair / int_5d7cfc66
comment
The Jeeves: Mr. French, the very British "gentleman's gentleman" who also serves as cook and babysitter to the children.
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 Family Affair / int_5f9fbd83
type
Not Allowed to Grow Up
 Family Affair / int_5f9fbd83
comment
Not Allowed to Grow Up: Buffy and Jody were still made to act like 7-year-olds toward the series' end when theynote particularly Anissa Jones, as Whittaker was two years younger than his onscreen twin were pushing 13, not only on the show but in their real-life public appearances too. The whole sordid story is on the trope's analysis page.
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Family Affair / int_5f9fbd83
 Family Affair / int_76e24530
type
Delicate and Sickly
 Family Affair / int_76e24530
comment
Delicate and Sickly: Eve Plumb of future Brady Bunch fame plays a terminally ill little girl in the episode "Christmas Came a Little Early".
 Family Affair / int_76e24530
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Family Affair / int_76e24530
 Family Affair / int_829b958e
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Embarrassing First Name
 Family Affair / int_829b958e
comment
Embarrassing First Name: Mr. French's first name is Giles.
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Family Affair / int_829b958e
 Family Affair / int_868409c
type
Broken Pedestal
 Family Affair / int_868409c
comment
Broken Pedestal: In one episode, Cissy develops a crush on her psychology teacher Julian Hill, played by Robert Reed of future Brady Bunch fame. But when he visits the apartment, he horrifies Cissy by calling Buffy and Jody "little monsters" when they accidentally spill hot coffee on him (although he immediately apologizes). After a talk with Bill, Cissy learns to respect Mr. Hill as a teacher yet realize that he's a human being, not a flawless idol.
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 Family Affair / int_86a5c427
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Kiddie Kid
 Family Affair / int_86a5c427
comment
Kiddie Kid: Jody and Buffy in the later seasons, due to being Not Allowed to Grow Up.
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Family Affair / int_86a5c427
 Family Affair / int_88141a44
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Heartwarming Orphan
 Family Affair / int_88141a44
comment
Heartwarming Orphan: All three kids.
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Family Affair / int_88141a44
 Family Affair / int_9acd7704
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Dom Com
 Family Affair / int_9acd7704
comment
Dom Com: A classic example of the genre, with most episodes taking place in and around the family's apartment.
 Family Affair / int_9acd7704
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 Family Affair / int_a7850fbf
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Only Known by Their Nickname
 Family Affair / int_a7850fbf
comment
Only Known by Their Nickname: Cissy's real name is Catherine, but hardly anyone calls her that. Sources such as the show's IMDb page give Buffy's full name as "Ava Elizabeth" and Jody's as "Jonathan," though these never seem to be stated in the show, so the canonicity of these is dubious.
 Family Affair / int_a7850fbf
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 Family Affair / int_c1e6f5bd
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Don't Split Us Up
 Family Affair / int_c1e6f5bd
comment
Don't Split Us Up: Cissy, Jody and Buffy were originally split up and each sent to live with different relatives after their parents died. In the first episode, Bill initially takes in just Buffy, and is reluctant to take in all three siblings, but by the end of the second episode he decides not to split them up again.
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 Family Affair / int_c2393191
type
Show Within a Show
 Family Affair / int_c2393191
comment
Show Within a Show: In one episode, Mr. French is cast as Henry VIII in a movie about the famous king. But when Bill sees a private screening before the premiere, he sees that the film has been edited as a comic farce that will humiliate Mr. French, so he threatens the producer with a lawsuit to prevent it from ever being released.
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 Family Affair / int_c26e2b1
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New Powers as the Plot Demands
 Family Affair / int_c26e2b1
comment
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Buffy's new friend Lana in the season 3 episode "The Latch-Key Kid" creates a hairdo out of Buffy's hair that would be the envy of many high-end salon hairstylists despite her young age and complete lack of professional training.
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 Family Affair / int_c40c8b74
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And Starring
 Family Affair / int_c40c8b74
comment
And Starring: On the revival, thanks to Tim Curry getting top billing (followed by Caitlin Wachs, Sasha Pieterse and Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak), Gary Cole gets "And.."
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 Family Affair / int_c6ed4005
type
Candy Striper
 Family Affair / int_c6ed4005
comment
Candy Striper: The episode The Candy Striper sees 15-year old Cissy wishing to join her friend Sharon as a Candy Striper at the local hospital. The minimum age for volunteers is 16, so Cissy needs her Uncle Bill to meet with the hospital administrator to give permission for her to work. Cissy nearly causes an incident when she brings an old woman a glass of water before surgery, but she makes up for her earlier misstep when she helps a pregnant woman on the maternity ward deliver a baby.
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 Family Affair / int_d3beb0de
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Precocious Crush
 Family Affair / int_d3beb0de
comment
Precocious Crush: In one episode, Jody becomes enamored of his substitute teacher. Eventually the family realizes why: the teacher bears a striking resemblance to his Missing Mom.
 Family Affair / int_d3beb0de
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Family Affair / int_d3beb0de
 Family Affair / int_e064dc5a
type
Plot Allergy
 Family Affair / int_e064dc5a
comment
Plot Allergy: In the episode "The Award," Jody and Buffy start to constantly itch, and Uncle Bill worries that they've developed a psychosomatic allergy because he's been overly strict with them. But actually they're allergic to the modeling clay they've been secretly using to make a "Best Uncle Award" sculpture for Bill.
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Family Affair / int_e064dc5a
 Family Affair / int_e28f88b8
type
Last-Name Basis
 Family Affair / int_e28f88b8
comment
Last-Name Basis: Bill just calls his servant "French," while the children call him "Mr. French." This is his preference, since he dislikes his first name, Giles.
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Family Affair

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Family Affair
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Big Applesauce / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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British Stuffiness / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Candy Striper / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Chaste Toons / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Christmas in July / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Don't Split Us Up / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Girlish Pigtails / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Nephewism / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Plot Allergy / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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Suppressed Mammaries / int_11bd93f4
 Family Affair
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The Jeeves / int_11bd93f4
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Troubled Child / int_11bd93f4