A: Angie

And we're off! Day One of Blogging A to Z 2022. My theme this year is Forgotten TV Shows. For Day One:

Angie 

Created by Garry Marshall, creator and producer of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, Angie was introduced in the winter of 1979 as a starring vehicle for Donna Pescow, John Travolta's co-star in Saturday Night Fever. It drew comparisons to Rhoda for its similar theme of two people of different backgrounds falling in love and getting married. It was, in a way, the Dharma and Greg of its day.

Angie Falco (Pescow) was a waitress at a coffee shop in Philadelphia, who fell for Brad Benson (Robert Hays, from the Airplane movies), a wealthy pediatrician. The two eloped, much to the chagrin of their very different respective families. Years before she played Raymond's mom, Doris Roberts was Angie's meddling mother Theresa, a newsstand operator. Debralee Scott was Angie's younger sister, Marie (Scott had previously played the younger sister on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman). Brad had an older sister, Joyce (Sharon Spelman) who was divorced three times, and seeing a psychiatrist who hated her. Her daughter Hilary (Tammy Lauren) was only seen during the first half-season, as was DiDi (Diane Robin), Angie's friend and fellow waitress at the coffee shop. Brad later buys the coffee shop for Angie, but she and Theresa then close it down to open a hair salon.

The show's theme song, "Different Worlds" by Maureen McGovern, was one of a handful of TV show theme songs (along with those from The Greatest American Hero and Friends) to hit the Top 40. It was the singer's second and final Top 40 hit. The full version of the song can be heard here.

The show originally aired aired on Thursday, after Mork and Mindy, but its time slot was changed several times during the second season. Airing on Tuesdays between Happy Days and Three's Company didn't seem to help. Angie was rerun on ABC daytime in the summer of 1985, which is mostly when I remember watching it. I also seem to remember seeing a rerun or two on TV Land around 1997.

Some viewers may remember Donna Pescow from the syndicated sitcom Out of This World. Debralee Scott was later a frequent panelist on The Match Game. She sadly died in 2005 at the age of 52. RIP. Robert Hays subsequently starred in several mostly forgotten series, including a TV adaptation of Starman (1986), and the radio station comedy FM (1989-90).