In her award-winning portrayal as a student turned teacher in the popular TV series Room 222, Karen Valentine recalls the difficult journey that brought her to this position.
She still clings to the show that launched her into popularity and ended nearly 50 years ago, despite her admission that the experience of appearing on The Dating Game was a “awful” one in which she lost all affection.
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Celebrities including Suzanne Somers, Tom Selleck, Leif Garret, and Farrah Fawcett participated in The Dating Game before they were well-known. It was the first dating reality show and helped establish hundreds of similar ideas later on while also serving as a platform for up-and-coming performers.
Valentine, a former adolescent beauty queen, was granted the chance to speak with three suitable bachelors who were concealed behind a wall.
She acknowledged that she had expected the appearance to be “harmless fun,” but she said that her “choice” had made it a horrible experience.
That was terrible, because you know the guy assumed this would actually be a date? Valentine, now 76, told Closer Weekly that “the Dating Game got more serious later on, where people would be sent on trips.” “You know this is a first date, right? The guy thought we were going to make out in the limo, but all I got to do was go to the Ambassador Hotel to see a show.” It was really sultry. After dinner, you would
I received a gift that goes to a show, but the person took this seriously. I desired to end the date. You know, “Who needs to go on a date? Save the money.” Permit me to perform in another show. Please give me a chance to act or something.
Leaving that sorrow behind, Valentine went on to star in the popular TV series Room 222 (1969–1974) before being cast in the film Gidget Grows Up (1969). The award-winning Lloyd Haynes (1934–1987) played a black high school teacher in the avant-garde TV series who attempted to instill tolerance in his students.
The show’s creator, James L. Brooks, who also created Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and movies including As Good as it Gets and Terms of Endearment, produced it along with Gene Reynolds, who was involved in MAS*H’s development and production.
At the 1970 Primetime Emmy Awards, Room 222 won Outstanding New Series, while supporting parts went to Valentine and Michael Constantine (who was also recognized for his work in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002).
Regarding her first nomination and victory, Valentine remarked, “It was kind of mind-blowing to have that happen so soon, so quickly.” And to run into Carol Burnett, who told me, “Well, congrats on this. It seemed to say, “Thank you.” And Carol Burnett would be acquainted with me? Simply amazing.
The teenage actress remembers being awestruck upon seeing another renowned actor.
Valentine began, “I went to my singing class. I remember I was taking singing lessons at the time.” Gregory Peck was also acquiring knowledge. I was at the teacher’s piano when he passed by, and he noticed me through the window. He kind of mimed, “You did it!” I exclaimed, “Oh my God.” Gregory Peck is here! How did I acquire the good fortune to meet these celebrities and brilliant individuals right away?
Closer Weekly claims that although critics were applauding Room 222, the show was terminated in the middle of its fourth season due to a decline in viewership.
Valentine recalled the moment the network informed the actors that the show was being canceled and added, “I have no idea why things changed.” It was sad, well, sad usually, but especially when you feel you have a good product and a nice show, for it to be taken away, but they did have the wherewithal to let us know that it was occurring. However, the network ultimately decided to take a different course. They usually say something like, “We’ve decided to go in a different direction.”
Following the cancellation of Room 222, she starred in Reynolds’s own television series, Karen (1975), which was canceled after four months due to low viewership.
describing the idea behind the show Valentine described the initial opening titles as a parody of the start of the movie “Patton,” calling them “controversial political stories that were a shrewd, humorous reflection of then-current headlines.” You had me marching up to an American flag background, not George C. Scott. Very smart, yet it was never broadcast. “It was changed to me riding a bicycle around D.C.” she went on. Instead of a political drama/comedy focused on issues, the network had in mind something more sentimental, intimate, and uncomplicated. It was ahead of its time, in my opinion.
Stage actor Valentine, who has previously performed in Broadway plays, maintained her career as a semi-regular on The Hollywood Squares (1971–1977) and in TV series episodes such as The Love Boat and Murder She Wrote.
Her latest movie, which aired on the Hallmark Channel, was Wedding Daze (2004), in which she costarred with John Laroquette.
Valentine’s sole happy memories of Room 222, the play that launched her career very early on, was that she “worked with all of those people, and to have
