Mallory Keaton's character changed

Mallory Keaton was often the butt of jokes, but she was first written as a smart cookie.

Discussing the change in her character, Justine Bateman - who played Mallory - said: "When the writers saw that, they thought, 'If she thinks that's funny, that's so great.’ They have a line in the pilot where Alex brings a girl home to have dinner with the family, and she says, 'I really love helping people, and I really love cheerleading’, and I say, 'Oh, kind of like an Albert Schweitzer with poms poms.' What Mallory became, of course … She would never have a line like that."