The Diner makeover

[adam436]

Does anyone know when the Diner got its facelift? It look vastly different in the late 1990s and IIRC, even the counter was on the other side of the building (entrance side). It must have been a few years before it burnt down

[Dan F]

That look debuted in Episode 2381 in 1998 - Alf decided a few weeks beforehand that it needed a revamp to help compete with the newly opened Bonza Burger.

[c120701]

16 hours ago, Dan F said:

That look debuted in Episode 2381 in 1998 - Alf decided a few weeks beforehand that it needed a revamp to help compete with the newly opened Bonza Burger.

I never understood why they moved the counter away from the kitchen, I think one of the characters said it onscreen at the time too and as it turned out it the decision probably led to the destruction of the Diner with Colleen not being able to keep her eye on the kitchen.

[joany208121]

I felt like the whole diner set lost a lot of size, especially in width with these renos. Also the paint job of the kitchen made it look very much like a set.

[Jeremai]

On 6/25/2016 at 10:48 PM, Dan F said:

That look debuted in Episode 2381 in 1998 - Alf decided a few weeks beforehand that it needed a revamp to help compete with the newly opened Bonza Burger.

Dan, do you have a list of when set changes occurred? I'm impressed that you were able to answer this so quickly!

[Dan F]

10 hours ago, Jeremai said:

Dan, do you have a list of when set changes occurred? I'm impressed that you were able to answer this so quickly!

I've made various notes on all sorts of things whilst watching/flicking through eps over the years, it just so happened that was one of them

[Jeremai]

45 minutes ago, Dan F said:

I've made various notes on all sorts of things whilst watching/flicking through eps over the years, it just so happened that was one of them

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!  Do you want to compare notes?

[adam436]

On 26/06/2016 at 11:55 PM, c120701 said:

I never understood why they moved the counter away from the kitchen, I think one of the characters said it onscreen at the time too and as it turned out it the decision probably led to the destruction of the Diner with Colleen not being able to keep her eye on the kitchen.

 

Me neither - it would make sense to have the counter/kitchen together, as all subsequent incarnations have had. Perhaps the producers at the time felt like a change or the counter was closer to the action or something

[beau_t]

Do you two want to be alone?

Seriously, I wish I had notes on stuff like that... but at least we have BTTB which is useful for all kinds of things!

I quite liked the makeover in 1998. The only thing I didn't like was the enormous counter taking up half the room, blocking out the windows, and hardly any tables. It was a bit unrealistic. After Maz left they should have just expanded into her salon. But I liked the actual design/appearance of it and to be honest it was an overdue makeover.

I vaguely remember they originally squeezed two booths between the kitchen door and the salon door... but it was obviously too tight for the actors so they reduced it to one table. I might be imagining this. Maybe Dan could confirm?

[Dan F]

4 hours ago, Jeremai said:

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!  Do you want to compare notes?

Ha, well there's some utterly useless stuff in there, but I never can be sure when it'll come in useful for the site - I think I can trust you with it Feel free to shoot over an email/PM with your stuff if you want, and I'll figure out the best way to copy mine over from the iPad  

1 hour ago, beau_t said:

I vaguely remember they originally squeezed two booths between the kitchen door and the salon door... but it was obviously too tight for the actors so they reduced it to one table. I might be imagining this. Maybe Dan could confirm?

Just double-checked and there was only one booth there from the outset - I guess they could have experimented with it later on, I've skipped through a few 98/99 eps and haven't noticed anything different so far though.

I never did like the makeover really, it did seem to make it rather cramped.