AI Summary
5 min read“They forced me to cut my hair for season two,” Taliesin Jaffe recalls of his time on the sitcom She’s the Sheriff. He had a “David Bowie Labyrinth era mullet” that looked fabulous. The producers made him cut it into something more “sitcom kid.” Suzanne Somers, the star, walked in, saw what happened, and “raised holy hell,” yelling at the producers. Jaffe, who was ten or eleven, just sat there thinking, “Thank you, because I can’t do this myself.”
That story, told on the podcast Weird Kids in front of a live studio audience, captures the strange reality of being a child actor on a sitcom in the 1980s and early 1990s. Hosts Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson trade memories of that world—a world of four-camera shoots, live audiences, studio teachers, and the peculiar freedom of a backlot. The conversation is a loose, affectionate tour through a specific era of television that is now largely gone.
The Machinery of a Sitcom
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:00) **Welcome & Sitcom Introduction** - The hosts greet the live studio audience and announce the episode's topic: sitcoms.
- 2 (05:24) **Taliesin's Sitcom Career: "She's the Sheriff"** - Taliesin recounts his two-season run on the Suzanne Somers sitcom.
- 3 (10:10) **Ashley's Sitcom Career: "Growing Pains"** - Ashley describes her time on the iconic family sitcom during its final two seasons.
- 4 (18:30) **The Kidnapping Attempt on the "Growing Pains" Set** - Ashley shares a harrowing story about a security breach during a live taping.
- 5 (23:04) **Haunted Sound Stages & Studio Lots** - The conversation shifts to the supernatural lore of Hollywood backlots.
- 6 (28:58) **Being a "Good Kid" vs. "Bad Kid" on Set** - The hosts discuss the pressure child actors face to be professional.
- 7 (32:06) **Set Sitters & Studio Teachers** - A deep dive into the unique educational and supervisory roles for child actors.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
New Epsiodes of Weird Kids are now releasing on Beacon every Tuesday! Watch all available episode on Beacon now: https://Beacon.tv/WeirdKids
Weird Kids ad-supported episodes from 2025 are now releasing every Tuesday on YouTube and Your Preferred Podcast Platform!
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From Growing Pains to She's the Sheriff, Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe are here to fill you in on what it was really like to be a child actor in a sitcom! From P.E. classes with the boys of Home Improvement to sneaking into Universal Studios during lunch to LITERAL KIDNAPPING…they're ready to share all the juicy details - with a few commercial breaks of course.
Also in this episode:
• Sound Board Shenanigans
• Haunted Soundstages
• Awkward Fanmail
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Ashley Johnson and Taliesin Jaffe deep dive into their lives as the Weird Kids! This is a formal invitation to all the misfits, outcasts, and weirdos to take a seat at our table and join these former child actors as they embrace their unique upbringings and celebrate all things weird and wonderful.
Learn more at https://critrole.com/weirdkids/
Produced by Maxwell James and Will Lamborn
Theme Song by Dave Heatwave
Animation by Max Schapiro
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