E: E/R

 

E/R

No, not that one...

A decade before the premiere of the long-running medical drama that made George Clooney a star, there came this similarly titled sitcom, adapted from a  stage play. The earlier show had a lot in in common with the better-known show, besides the title and setting. Both took place in Chicago and both had Clooney in the cast, making him  the first performer to appear in two different shows with the same title.

On E/R (notice the slash in the name of this one), Elliott Gould starred as Dr. Howard Sheinfeld, an ear-nose-throat specialist who moonlighted in the emergency room at Clark Street Hospital in Chicago in order to maintain alimony payments to two ex-wives. The staff also included head E/R doctor Eve Sheridan (Mary McDonnell, who would also appear in the later ER), head nurse Joan Thor (Conchata Ferrell, later of L.A. Law and Two and a Half Men), and fellow nurses Julie Williams (Lynne Moody) and Cory Smith (Corrine Bohrer), receptionist Maria (Shuko Akune), Julie's roommate, and police officer Fred Burdock (Bruce A. Young), Maria's boyfriend. Recurring cast members included Clooney as EMT Mark "Ace" Kolmar, Thor's nephew, and Jason Alexander (in his first TV role) as Harold Stickley, the hospital administrator. The series had ties to the long-running comedy The Jeffersons: the character Julie Williams was the niece of George and Louise Jefferson, and Sherman Hemsley appeared in the E/R premiere as his iconic character. Also, Marcia Strassman (Welcome Back, Kotter) played Dr. Sheridan in the pilot.

It's obvious the show had two different intros, and it only lasted one season. I did not see it the first time, but caught some reruns on Lifetime in 1992. The reruns I saw then included the intro in the first clip.

A few serious issues such as Nurse Thor being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, and Officer Burdock having high blood pressure, but the the series was cancelled before either storyline could be taken any farther. 

RIP Conchata Ferrell.

D: Duet

 

Duet

This was one of the first shows to air on Fox when the network made its debut in 1987. Along with 21 Jump Street, Married...With Children, and The Tracey Ullman Show, Duet was part of Fox's Sunday night lineup. Though it ran two-and-a-half seasons, Duet is not as widely remembered today as the other flagship Fox shows. Though it certainly did better than two other early Fox shows: Karen's Song (a dramedy starring Patty Duke, with Teri Hatcher as her daughter) and a sitcom adaptation of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, the first show canceled by the nascent network.

The main characters were writer Ben Coleman (Matthew Laurance, who later played David Silver's father on Beverly Hills 90210), and his girlfriend Laura Kelly (Mary Page Keller) who owned a catering business with her sister Jane (Jodi Thelen). Chris Lemmon (son of Jack Lemmon) and Alison LaPlaca played yuppie friends Richard and Linda Phillips. He was a patio-furniture salesman (and later a professional pianist) and she a studio executive. Their baby, Amanda, was born at the end of season two, but fell victim to soap opera rapid aging in the third season, as the events were pushed ahead a few years for what ended being the series's final season. The Phillipses gradually became the focus of the show then, leading to a spinoff series in which Linda becomes a real-estate agent. Open House was the new series, and it only lasted one year (1989-90), and was also an early TV role for Ellen DeGeneres. Phillip Charles MacKenzie, of the previously mentioned Brothers, played Linda's rival real-estate agent. Mary Page Keller returned as Laura, who'd also became a real-estate agent. Chris Lemmon also returned as Richard, but was dropped in mid-season as he and Linda separated. MacKenzie and LaPlaca later married in real life. The intro to Open House is here, and an episode can be seen here.

This was one of my regularly watched shows of the 1980s. Both Duet and Open House were rerun on Lifetime in the early 1990s, but haven't been seen since, to the best of my knowledge.

Below are the series intros as well as a first-season episode I was able to locate:

Alison LaPlaca did not have much luck with TV after this series and its spinoff ended. Her next series, a medical sitcom called Stat in 1991, was quickly cancelled, and her next two gigs, the Tom Arnold shows, The Jackie Thomas Show and Tom, bombed as well. She fared somewhat better on The John Larroquette Show, but even that one is now largely forgotten, despite a four-year run. In 1997, she made several appearances as Rachel's boss, Joanna, on Friends. 

Chris Lemmon had previously starred on Brothers and Sisters, an Animal House knockoff that aired on NBC nearly a decade earlier. His last TV role was on Thunder in Paradise, a syndicated adventure series starring Hulk Hogan.

Most of Mary Page Keller's subsequent series were short-lived as well. Among them was Baby Talk, a TV adaptation of the Look Who's Talking movies.

C: The Cross-Wits

 

The Cross-Wits 

I wanted to give game shows some love, too 😉  Two teams, each consisting of a contestant and two celebrities, competed to solve clues to a giant crossword puzzle. The words in the puzzle, in turn, were the clue to a master puzzle.  The show had two runs in syndication, first from 1975 to 1980, then in 1986-87.  I remember watching the the first one. I was excited to learn there would be a new version in 1986, but I only got to see that one once or twice. The local channel that aired it switched the time slot. As I recall, it was on in the afternoon, and before its run ended, it was on around 5 in the morning! Needless to say, I could not watch it then. I was still in high school and we did not have a VCR in my house at that time.

Jack Clark was host of the first run, with Jerri Fiala as the hostess who used a pointer to reveal each word once it was guessed correctly. David Sparks was host of the second version, titled The All-New Cross-Wits.

Would this idea work today? This came out the same time as the original daytime version of Wheel of Fortune, the famous letter game that still airs to this day. Wheel even has crosswords clues for some of its puzzles now. 

Here are some clips from Youtube, of both runs of the show (click here to see more):

Sunday Break

Today is the first Sunday off from the A to Z Challenge. That's because there are 30 days in April but only 26 letters. I don't know how often I'll be getting on the blog on Sunday during A to Z, but I decided to stop in today. Since I pre-wrote my posts, it won't take long to work on them before making them live on my page. 

I've been looking at other participating blogs and leaving some comments. I've gotten  a lot of comments on my first two posts. 

I also want to say how hard it was choosing just one show for each letter and in some cases, it was difficult. There  were some I thought of including, but didn't.I tried to include as many types of shows as possible, but I'm sad to say I didn't include any cartoon shows.  

The A to Z posting resumes tomorrow with the letter C. See you then.

Chapter Break Bingo – April 2022

 The card for April is now up.

My books:

1. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald--Therese Anne Fowler (8 squares): Library Book, Physical Book, Book Club Read, Not in a Series, Not Set in Current Times, New-to-you Author
2. Never Always Sometimes--Adi Alsaid (5 squares): White on the Cover, Shadow on the Cover, Under 400 Pages, Alliance, Eye Roll
3. Unicorn on a Roll--Dana Simpson (3 squares): In a Series, Children's book, Outdoor Activity
4. Cat Me If You Can--Miranda James (2 squares): Mystery/Thriller, Hunt/Hunter
5. Music is History--Questlove (2 squares): E-Book, Free Space
6. Caramel Pecan Roll Murder--Joanne Fluke (2 squares): Free Book, Recent Release
7. Flat Stanley and the Lost Treasure--Jeff Brown (2 squares): Audiobook, Lost Treasure
8. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore--Robin Sloan (1 square): Shelf Love

25 squares completed on April 24

B: Brothers

 

Brothers 

No, this was not a failed knockoff of Animal House (although three such shows did surface in early 1979). Nor was it a late-90s/early-00s sitcom on UPN or WB.  Brothers was the first sitcom produced for a pay-cable channel and one of the first shows to feature a gay lead character. There had been gays on TV shows prior to this, such as Billy Crystal's character Jodie on Soap, but Soap was an ensemble cast, and the series wasn't entirely about him. Here one of the three titular characters was gay, coming out in the premier episode on what was to have been his wedding day. His family then comes to accept his sexuality.

This show ended up at Showtime in the summer of 1984 after NBC turned it down (after screening the pilot) over concern on how to accurately play a homosexual. ABC also passed on the show. It would be more than a decade until both broadcast networks would each premier gay-centered sitcoms. 

The three titular characters were the Waters brothers. Joe (Robert Walden, formerly of Lou Grant), was the middle one, an ex-football player who now ran a  sports bar in Philadelphia. Lou (Brandon Maggart, father of musician Fiona Apple), a construction foreman, was the oldest one and the youngest, Cliff (Paul Regina), was the one who came out. Hallie Todd (daughter of Ann Morgan Guilbert of the Dick Van Dyke Show and The Nanny, and later co-star of Lizzie McGuire) was Joe's daughter, Penny. Donald Maltby (Philip Charles MacKenzie) was Cliff's best friend who was also gay. Mary Ann Pascal played Samantha, who later married Joe (they then had a baby). Robin Riker was Kelly, a waitress at the bar. One of Lou's children, daughter Louella, was occasionally seen later in the series. She was played by Yeardley Smith, today known as the voice of Lisa Simpson. 

I didn't have cable back in the day, so I did not see this when it first aired. I did, however, catch a few reruns on San Francisco station KBHK (now CW affiliate KBCW) around 1989. It has never been released on DVD, but some episodes can be found on Youtube (click on the episode above and you will find others). 

A little ahead of its time, Brothers tackled issues such as AIDS, something not widely discussed at the time. That being true, it's a wonder why this show not widely available.  

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).