A Brief Look Back: Willie in Paradise

I picked up Eight Is Enough season 1 last week, mostly for nostalgic reasons, and last night finished up the first four episodes. Eight is Enough is a show I was too young to watch when it first aired but I remember our ABC used to air double episode reruns on Sunday mornings for a short while in the mid eighties. I had a brief crush on Willie Aames but in re-watching some of these episodes I realize that more than the other seven, Aames was a really gifted young actor. He broods with the best of them and Aames, other than Van Patten, had the most extensive film and television credits of all the cast members.



In the little that I know, Aames had some struggles during the shows run and certainly had some after. According the Today Show reunion special on the Special features, Aames currently works as a financial advisor.



In 1982, in an obvious attempt to exploit the success of The Blue Lagoon, Aames and co-star Phoebe Cates pretty much follow in the footsteps, and naked swimming scenes of Atkins and Shields (Cate though, most likely did not use a double) in Paradise. After the Eight Is Enough viewing, I felt compelled to download some Paradise clips. Those 80's hunks really were put through much more skinning than today's teen idols, between Tiger Beat and Battle Of The Network Stars. it...

Paradise (1982)


I wonder if Aames regrets his brief turn with nudity. It is a great scrapbook of how incredible Aames looked, great face and body and all that beautiful curly hair. Aames acting skills were not put to their best use in Paradise but I enjoyed my brief look back. Oh and yes, I did briefly contemplate the obvious, entitling this post, Willie's willy, but thought better of