[TomGuy]

Gilbert had a short-lived 1/2 hour comedy [Stand by Your Man] a decade or so ago. In it, she was the wife of a guy in prison. It didn't play but a few weeks, it was so bad.

It is not unusual for 'childhood' stars to 'push the envelope' to get away from the stereotyping of their childhood character. Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Alyssa Milano of Who's the Boss did explicit photog/video in their later teen-early twenties. It is their way of saying, "I'm not that little kid any more."

They do these extremes to break the casting curse many childhood stars think exists -- that they get permanently welded into the childhood character. Danny Bonaduce was Danny Partridge for decades. Gary Coleman can't shake the Diff'rent Strokes type casting.

[alexander_busek]

Dear TomGuy:

You wrote: "They do these extremes to break the casting curse many childhood stars think exists -- that they get permanently welded into the childhood character. Danny Bonaduce was Danny Partridge for decades. Gary Coleman can't shake the Diff'rent Strokes type casting."

Does that mean that we can soon expect some explicit, steamy performances from Bonaduce and Coleman (perhaps together?!) in an attempt to shake off their childhood characters?

I certainly hope not!

Regards,