The Daily Ping

If you’re a long-time Pinger – and I’m sure you are – then you know that the Ping has a soft spot in its heart (it’s self-aware) for the TV show Just the Ten of Us. After all, it was the subject of the very first Ping posted 11 years ago today! (Be sure to see last year’s retrospective to get you up to speed.)

That said, this year I’d like to take the time to spotlight one Heather Langenkamp, who played proper Lubbock daughter Marie on JTTOU. I had no idea of Langenkamp’s non-JTTOU career – something about a bad dream – so when I watched the show, I have to admit I didn’t care much for Marie. Her straight-laced attitude was anti-Poochie, and it tended to put a damper on things. Oh, sure, she let her hair down (literally!) when the ill-conceived Lubbock Girls’ singing act hit the big time… but that’s weak stuff. I admit it.

Since JTTOU went off the air, Langenkamp has had a mostly quiet acting career. She did appear on a few episodes of Growing Pains as another character, and a few things here or there. Most importantly though, she’s fine with where things went. Per her IMDB page:

“I do like acting, but it is just something that I do on the side, being rich and famous is not a priority for me. I have my husband, my kids, my parents, my brothers and sisters, my home and enough money. I don’t need to be this rich and famous millionaire actress, I am quite happy with what I have and I can’t think of anything that might be lacking from my life.”

And really, isn’t that a laudable goal? I say it is. Although if we ever did get around to, say, making a JTTOU reunion movie, I would hope I could count her in.

Posted in Childhood Memories, Television, Movies, and Music