Shag not Shadd


Imogene Coca's characters name in the series is Shag not Shadd, it is listed in the Imdb cast name list incorrectly. And I remember that the first season was about the two astronauts ariving and living in prehistoric times. Then in subsequent shows the astronauts took off with the caveman family and arrived back in our current modern day. I don't remember if that was a new season or just more of the first one. I thought I remembered Shadd was the name of the son in the caveman family but I may incorrect on that. You only have to go to Youtube and type the series name and you can see some of the shows credits, thats how I checked if I was correct about Imogene!

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Coca's character's name was Shad (or Shadd). Originally it was going to be Shag, until the producers were informed that "shag" was a euphemism for sexual intercourse. This happened late in production, so a few of the first episodes actually did have her listed as "Shag" in the opening credits. But it was changed to "Shad" very quickly after that.

There were several versions of the opening credits, all of them are available on YouTube. Watch them and you will see.

Shad and Gronk's son was named "Breer".

Teresa
http://MermaidLady.com

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Thanks for the clarification on that.

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I remember watching this and on the pilot episode that character was called Shag. In all other episodes she was called Shadd.

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[deleted]

I bought what was probably a bootleg DVD of the show from an eBay seller, quality is horrible, but I can't find it any other way. In process of watching episodes, brings back memories! Remember the show in its original run. Nice to know you're still around, appreciate the show info!

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From one of the trivia entries;

"In the pilot, Imogene Coca's character was called "Shagg." When the producers were made aware of the fact that "shag" is a slang vulgarism in the U.K., they changed her name to "Shadd" - but didn't fix the pilot, which aired (as the premiere episode) as originally filmed."

But through a limited collection of episodes I have, I can personally attest to the following;

Episodes as late as #18 still showed her name as Shag in the opening credits. Both Imogene and others refer to her character by what pretty clearly sounds like Shag, from episode 1. By #18 though, it sounds more like Shad to me. So, not sure when it changed verbally.

The opening was thoroughly re-worked to reflect their flight back to the present day by episode #20, the next one I have. Not only the visual story line (reverse time direction etc.), but also Imogene's credit, and even the theme song.

Maybe the change was explained/implemented in episode #19? Hopefully I'll snag it yet.

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In the pilot Imogene was called Shag. After the show was picked-up her name was changed to Shad (for obvious reasons) . The boy was Breer.

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I actually thought "shag" was a slang word made up after this show, like the way "gay" changed its meaning. The creators should have know better.

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"Gay" meaning homosexual has been around for quite some time. The Dictionary of American Slang says it's been used since at least 1920. And then there's this:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/517/how-did-gay-come-to-mean-homosexual

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"Gay" meaning homosexual has been around for quite some time. The Dictionary of American Slang says it's been used since at least 1920. And then there's this:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/517/how-did-gay-come-to-mean-homosexual


No. Wrong. Very wrong.

The word, gay, never meant homosexual until the 1960s. Up until then, it had always meant "happy, cheerful." The new version of gay was so new that when Life Magazine did an entire feature on gay culture in 1964, it had to put "gay" and "straight" in quotes:

https://books.google.com/books?id=qEEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68&dq=gay&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjy9aW6uofPAhVGpR4KHZ0GCdY4ChDoAQgzMAY#v=onepage&q=gay&f=false

Just three years before, there was a broadway show called The Gay Life. If the word, "gay" had in any way, shape or form meant "homosexual" at the time, it would've never seen the light of day. Nor would Maria from West Side Story have been able to sing, "I feel witty and pretty and gay."

---
IMDB, flagging ppl for bull💩 since 1995. 

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As far as I know, "shag" only has vulgar connotations in England. I thought it was ridiculous they changed a character's name because of that. What about shag carpeting? And as another poster noted, the credits still read Shag even though the characters say Shad. I liked Shag better, especially because the pilot hints at a catchphrase for her rhyming Shag with nag.

This discussion stirred up memories of other middle-of-the-race name changes. I remember on THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO they changed William Katt's character name from Hinckley to Hanley for awhile after a nut named Hinckley shot Pres. Reagan back in 1981. That was a silly, short-sighted decision, one reversed after a few episodes.

On THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN they changed the Seven Million Dollar Man's name from Barney Miller to Barney Hiller, presumably because his latter appearance came after the name was associated with Hal Linden's popular sitcom.

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