This is the ninth in a series of examinations of legends about television and the people involved in TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the previous eight.

Let’s begin!

TV LEGEND: All My Children cut a storyline short in the middle of it because of the Oklahoma City bombing.

STATUS: True

The horrific April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK by Timothy McVeigh, was one of the most tragic days in United States history, with 168 dead and over 800 wounded.

As horrific as the day was, you can only imagine what the producers of All My Children were thinking when they realized that their April 19th episode had to do with a bomb plot!!

The popular soap opera (home to Susan Lucci’s famous character, Erica Kane) had a plot where Janet Green (played by Robin Mattson - see the picture below) makes a homemade bomb and sends it to the father of her child (the father, obviously her former lover, is getting married that day to another woman).

On the following Monday, Robin Mattson opened the show with a message to the audience that, due to sensitivity over the plot, All My Children decided to re-edit, re-write and re-shoot the episodes with that plot and excise anything bomb-related.

Which is exactly what they did.

Instead, I believe Janet was struck by lightning before she could do anything to the wedding (she, of course, survived the lightning and returned to do other mischief - Mattson stayed on as Janet Green until 2000).

Thanks to reader Joe M. for recommending this story to me! And you don’t have to make excuses for watching All My Children, Joe! You like what you like - it’s all good!

TV LEGEND: Jason Bateman was fired from Silver Spoons because he was taking away too much attention from Ricky Schroder.

STATUS: I’m Going With False

Silver Spoons was a situation comedy that starred Joel Higgins as Edward Stratton III, a rich man who discovered that he had a son he did not know about, Ricky Stratton (played by Ricky Schroder).

The basic gist of the show was seeing a typical kid adjust to the fact that he was now extremely wealthy (hence the title, Silver Spoons - made even better by the fact that Edward is ALSO the son of a rich man, so he, too, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, as the saying goes). A secondary plot is the simmering romance between Stratton and his personal assistant, Kate Summers (played by Erin Gray).

In any event, along for the ride (besides Edward’s two accountants, Leonard Rollins (Leonard Lightfoot) in the first season and Dexter Stuffins (Franklyn Seales) for the rest of the series’ run) was Ricky’s “friend,” the trouble-making Derek Taylor, played by Jason Bateman.

Now, being as fair as possible, Jason Bateman was a better actor than Ricky Schroder. Heck, Jason Bateman was an extremely strong young actor, period. He was what you would call a “scene stealer.”

So when Bateman was written off the show after two seasons, the rumor began that it was because Schroder hated being upstaged by Bateman. In fact, one rumor was that Schroder’s mother specifically requested Bateman’s removal.

Now, honestly, I couldn’t tell you for sure that Schroder WASN’T irritated by Bateman’s presence. The character of Derek HAD gotten quite popular, and Derek definitely WAS the sort of character who stood out, which presumably WOULD irritate the supposed lead teen actor on the show.

However, I think there are two notable points that would tend towards this theory not being correct - one a bit anecdotal, the other a bit more substantive.

The first, more anecdotal, evidence is the fact that Ricky Schroder was clearly more popular than Jason Bateman during the show’s first two seasons. Besides both appearing in NBC “One to Grow On” public service announcements, Bateman did basically ZERO public appearances during his first two seasons on the show. Schroder, on the other hand, in that same time appeared on Star Search, Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roast, Family Feud, Circus of the Stars, he NBC All Star Hour and the Battle of the Network Stars. Not to mention magazine covers and merchandise.

So that’s the anecdotal evidence - Schroder really wasn’t in any danger of being eclipsed by Bateman in the popularity department during their two seasons together.

Now as to the more substantial bit - the producers of Silver Spoons GAVE BATEMAN HIS OWN SHOW!!!

It’s Your Move debuted in the fall of 1984 and ran for a season and starred Bateman as a young con artist living with a sister and a single mother who seemed to meet his match when a journalist (played by David Garrison, who would go on to co-star in another show by the same producers, Married…With Children) moved in across the hall and began dating his mother (and who seemed to be on to all of Bateman’s character’s schemes).

Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt were the producers of Silver Spoons and they created It’s Your Move. Now, doesn’t it seem so much more likely that Bateman was taken off of Silver Spoons as a REWARD and not a PUNISHMENT?

I think it is SO much more likely that I am going with that as the real reason, even if I will allow that perhaps Schroder and Bateman did not get along. Heck, I would even allow that splitting them up was not even an added bonus in the move, but it seems clear that the main motivation was to make more money by giving Jason Bateman his own show, which he seemed quite clearly ready to handle (once It’s Your Move ended, Bateman was not left looking for a show for long, he was quickly snatched up for the mid-season replacement for the next TV season, Valerie, a show Bateman would star on for six seasons - and, of course, he’s grown up to be a fine adult actor, as well).

TV LEGEND: The police liaison to Dragnet ended up taking Lieutenant Joe Friday’s badge number when he made Lieutenant.

STATUS: True

Jack Webb’s character, Sergeant Joe Friday, is one of the most popular cops in TV history. But in fact, Friday was around even before the TV series that he starred on, Dragnet, existed.

Webb created (Webb wrote, produced AND starred on the show) the no-nonsense Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective for radio, where the radio show Dragnet ran from 1949-1956. Webb’s creation, a generally realistic look at crime-solving, was revolutionary in its approach.

A great part of the realism of the show came down to the cooperation with the LAPD, who certainly were not displeased with how impressive Webb made them look on the show.

A little more than two years into the show’s run on radio, Webb took the program to television, where it ran from 1951 to 1959.

The badge used on the show (714) was originally worn by LAPD officer Dan Cooke.

At the end of the show’s run, Friday had been promoted to Lieutenant, with a Lieutenant’s badge number 714, to boot.

Almost a decade later, Dragnet returned to television, this time in color (with Harry Morgan now as Webb’s partner)…

For this new series, Webb decided that it was more realistic for Friday to be a Sergeant, as a Lieutenant just wouldn’t be going out into the field as much as Friday did.

The show’s liaison with the LAPD for this series was Dan Cooke, who was now a Sergeant on the force. He offered the Lieutenant’s badge to Webb, who informed him of his decision. So Cooke just put the badge away.

Fast forward a number of years later, and Cooke was promoted to Lieutenant. He remembered the badge, and asked if he could use the #714 badge as his official badge, and they said yes.

So, amusingly enough, for at least a few years, there was an actual #714 badge in use at the LAPD (Chief Daryl Gates retired the number when Webb died in 1982).

Okay, that’s it for this week!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com