Blansky's Beauties

Blansky's Beauties
Genre Sitcom
Directed by Garry Marshall
Jerry Paris
Starring Nancy Walker
Caren Kaye
Eddie Mekka
Scott Baio
Pat Morita
Blackjack
Opening theme "I Want It All" by Cyndi Grecco
Composer(s) Charles Fox
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive producer(s) Garry Marshall
Edward K. Milkis
Thomas L. Miller
Producer(s) Nick Abdo
Bruce Johnson
Garry Marshall
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Miller-Milkis Productions
Henderson Productions
Paramount Television
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network ABC
Original release February 12 – June 27, 1977
Chronology
Related shows Laverne & Shirley
Mork & Mindy
Who's Watching the Kids
Out of the Blue
Joanie Loves Chachi

Blansky's Beauties is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC network in 1977, and then set in the present-day. The main character of the series was, however, introduced in an episode of Happy Days, then set in the 1950s, and the show is thus a spin-off.[1]

Synopsis

Nancy Walker played Howard Cunningham's visiting cousin Nancy Blansky from Las Vegas on the February 4, 1977, episode of Happy Days. Blansky's Beauties premiered the following week, on February 12, 1977.

Nancy Blansky (Walker) was a long-time Las Vegas showbiz vet (since the 1950s) and current den mother to a bevy of beautiful Las Vegas showgirls. In addition to keeping order in the chaotic apartment complex where they all lived, Nancy staged the girls' big numbers at the Oasis Hotel. Although the Happy Days episode on which Nancy first appeared took place in the early '60s, Blansky's Beauties itself was set in (then) present-day 1977.

Emilio (Johnny Desmond), the maître d', was Nancy's boyfriend. To help Nancy defray costs of her apartment, Ethel Akalino (known as Sunshine) (Lynda Goodfriend) and Bambi (Caren Kaye) shared it with her, along with her nephews Joey DeLuca (Eddie Mekka), a choreographer, and leering, 12-year-old ("going on 28"), Anthony DeLuca (Scott Baio). Anthony was forever trying to impress Bambi, who much to his chagrin treated him like a kid brother, as did almost all of Nancy's girls. Also sharing Nancy's apartment was a huge Great Dane named Blackjack who was shown in the opening credits playing blackjack.

Links to parent show and other spin-offs

Eddie Mekka's character Joey DeLuca was a younger cousin to Carmine Ragusa, Mekka's 1950s-era character on Laverne & Shirley. During production of Blansky's Beauties, Mekka continued in his starring roles on both series, a rare occurrence of one actor assuming two regular scripted roles, in two different primetime series, at the same time. The series' star, Nancy Walker, had just finished several seasons of the same situation in which she had co-starred simultaneously in both McMillan & Wife and Rhoda, while also maintaining her ongoing role as diner waitress Rosie, the spokesman for Bounty paper towels, which she continued during Blansky's Beauties.

In episode 1 ("Blansky's Biking Beauty") Joey introduced Nancy Blansky to stunt motorcyclist Pinky Tuscadero (Roz Kelly) who was instantly hired for Nancy's stage show. Pinky wore the same outfit as her Happy Days episodes, though her hair was now in a '70s style shag cut. She looked as though she had not aged in 20 years.

The show also implied a link to then-ongoing show Laverne & Shirley; in the episode "Nancy Remembers Laverne," Nancy recalls working with a clumsy girl named Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall's character on Laverne & Shirley) back around 1957. She discovered that, despite her clumsiness, Laverne was a great dancer and Nancy offered her a job on the spot, which Laverne declined.

Pat Morita, after the failure of his series Mr. T and Tina, was added to the cast as Arnold, the character he originated on Happy Days. As with Pinky Tuscadero, he seemed not to have aged in 20 years' time. Here he ran a coffee shop, whereas in Happy Days, he owned the diner. Morita would re-join the cast of Happy Days five years later, while his replacement on that series, Al Molinaro, would repeat Morita's career move at that time by joining another Happy Days spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi.

After the end of Blansky's Beauties, Lynda Goodfriend and Scott Baio would join the cast of Happy Days at the start of the 1977-78 season. Goodfriend and Baio, along with their Blansky's Beauties co-stars Caren Kaye, Shirley Kirkes and Elaine Bolton, would appear in a similarly-plotted pilot, Legs, for NBC in 1978, using different character names. This project would be revised further and appear on the network as Who's Watching the Kids in the fall of that year, lasting half a season.

Garry Marshall, creator of Blansky's Beauties and the aforementioned Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Joanie Loves Chachi, et al., had a recurring role as Nancy's employer, the enigmatic Mr. Smith.

Cast

Episode list

Episode # Episode Title Original Airdate
1 "Blansky's Biking Beauty" February 12, 1977
2 "Blansky for the Defense" February 19, 1977
3 "Nancy's Cover-Up" February 26, 1977
4 "Nancy's Magic Moment" March 12, 1977
5 "Nancy Goes Sheik" March 19, 1977
6 "Anthony Falls in Love" March 26, 1977
7 "Nancy Meets Francie" April 2, 1977
8 "Nancy Remembers Laverne" April 9, 1977
9 "Nancy Meets Pa Bates" April 16, 1977
10 "My Nephew's Debut" April 30, 1977
11 "Dear Nancy..." May 21, 1977
12 "To Nancy with Love" June 7, 1977
13 "Nancy Breaks a Leg" June 27, 1977

References

  1. ↑ Note, however, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present doesn't include the series in its list of prime time spin-offs. Brooks, Tim (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (Ninth Edition). Ballantine Books. pp. 1707–1709. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. .

External links

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