The evolution of Gina

[StreetScenes]

you're probably right on the origins of the evolving characters. it's not like characters need to change or have street stories chronicling major life events for the show to be compelling. the only reason we're even conscious of the changes is that it's been on the air for so darned long and we still watch. and because those events give the show a life-span narrative that can be dredged up every five years in the latest anniversary commemoration.

it seems in recent years the writers write best for chris, while they write the other humans as "non-descript grown-up" that you could plug in any one of them to play. maybe that's a little harsh, but it seems like the role of whichever human is in a particular script is reduced so much that you don't get a sense of the individual character personality that each one has built over the years.

they could easily write bob as a grandfather-figure, or luis as a favorite-uncle-figure, or susan and gordon as retirees-across-the-street-who-sit-on-their-porch-all-day-figures. (didn't you have neighborhood denizens like that? subtly different from grandparents, engaged with neighborhood goings-on from their central porch/stoop location?) anyway, it wouldn't take changes in their characters, it would just take a script and a few minutes of screen time.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I find the Maria/Gina thing interesting, because in the 80s when I first started watching the show, Maria was already an adult, so Gina was the only one that I really saw 'evolve.' I remember that Gina used to have a Day Care Center, in fact, they show a glimpse of that in 'Elmo Saves Christmas.'