I: I'm a Big Girl Now

 

I'm a Big Girl Now

After leaving Soap in 1980, Diana Canova starred on this series, from the same team as Soap and its spinoff Benson: producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas (son of TV legend Danny Thomas, who also starred on this series) and creator Susan Harris. This was later the team behind The Golden Girls. The show's start was delayed by an actors's strike during the 1980-81 season, premiering at the end of October 1980, on Friday nights following Benson, as noted in this promo from ABC:

Divorced mom Diana Cassidy (Canova) and her father, dentist Benjamin Douglas (Thomas) were the central characters. After his wife ran off with his partner, Dr. Douglas moved in with Diana and her daughter Becky (Rori King). Michael Durrell (who later played Donna's father on Beverly Hills 90210) was Benjamin's son and Diana's brother, Walter. Diana's boss was Edie McKendrick (Sheree North), and her coworkers were Neal Stryker (Martin Short, before SCTV and Saturday Night Live) and Karen Hawks (Deborah Baltzell). Originally, they were employed at a think tank, but in the last episodes, were working at a newspaper. Baltzell died in October 1981, several months after the show as cancelled, at the age of 25. King, who left acting to become a psychologist, died in 2015 at age 44. RIP.

I seem to recall a line from one episode that became a private joke in my family. It would be hard to explain now. I would've liked to see a clip from the show, but none could be found on Youtube. Not much seems to be found about the show on Youtube besides the promo above and the series intro/theme song (sung by Canova):