“Full House” ended in 1995, after nine years on TV. But Mary-Kate and Ashley continued to perform after that. They got their own sitcom on ABC’s prestigious “TGIF” lineup called “Two of a Kind.”
In it, Mary Kate and Ashley play the twin daughters of a college professor, Kevin (Christopher Sieber). He’s a single dad and needs help dealing with his pre-teen children. So he hires Carrie, one of his students, to be their babysitter. She provides them with the female guidance they lack and UST with their father. Here, the twins continue the molds they started in “It Takes Two.” Mary-Kate plays a tomboy; Ashley the girly-girl. The only thing I really remember about this show was Sieber as the dad and I’m glad he’s found acclaim on the Great White Way.
Why didn’t it last? Timing, I believe. This aired in 1998, when TGIF was starting to fade in popularity. Most new shows introduced in the lineup failed to ignite viewership like earlier offerings did. Even favorites “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Boys Meets World” had less audiences. Given the trends we saw starting in the late 90s and lasting into the early 2000s, I think TV audiences as a whole were starting to grow tired of sitcoms. Especially family-friendly ones.
So, the Olsens moved to ABC Family for their next project: “So Little Time.”
Not much to say about this one. Even though I was probably the age they were trying to attract, I remember my sister (who is six years my junior) being more interested in it than me. Which was probably one of the problems of the show. Riley and Chloe (Mary-Kate and Ashley) were the daughters of well-off fashion designers who were separated but still amicable. The two sisters get along well and get along with their friends. It’s just the usual zany sitcom antics that drive the show.
And let’s think about it. What were we teenagers watching at the time? Angst ridden primetime soaps. Dawson’s Creek, Degrassi, The O.C., One Tree Hill, etc. If we were going to watch teens who were better looking than us (and dressed better than us in most cases), they had also better be dysfunctional. Or slightly more realistic, like Degrassi. Yes, there are parents who separate and remain friends. I have relatives who are closer as friends than they were as spouses. But this portrayal of a marriage on the rocks was a little too happy.
It seems though they were growing up, the Olsens’ material wasn’t. “So Little Time” lasted only two seasons. The Olsens then went on to make a few more movies before going off to New York University. People were concerned when the twins became very skinny, to the point we were worried they had developed anorexia. But they’ve seemed to have gotten healthier. Mary-Kate has acted a bit since going to NYU, like in the movie “Beastly,” but has mostly been in the news lately due to her relationship with the much older Oliver Sarkozy, brother of France’s former president. Ashley is staying out of the public eye, though I imagine she is working hard on their fashion lines.
And so, Mary-Kate and Ashley month comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed it.
Next month: Lady Lovelylocks!
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