Angie (TV series)

Angie
Genre Sitcom
Created by Garry Marshall
Dale McRaven
Developed by Alan Eisenstock
Larry Mintz
Starring Donna Pescow
Robert Hays
Doris Roberts
Debralee Scott
Diane Robin
Tammy Lauren
Sharon Spelman
Tim Thomerson
Theme music composer Norman Gimbel (Lyrics)
Charles Fox
Opening theme "Different Worlds" performed by Maureen McGovern
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 36 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s) Bob Ellison
Dale McRaven
Leonora Thuna
Producer(s) Alan Eisenstock
Bruce Johnson
Larry Mintz
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 24 minutes
Production company(s) Miller-Milkis Productions (season 1)
Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions (season 2)
Paramount Television
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network ABC
Audio format Monaural
Original release February 8, 1979 (1979-02-08) – September 4, 1980 (1980-09-04)

Angie is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast by the ABC network from February 2, 1979 to September 4, 1980. The series was created by Garry Marshall and Dale McRaven, and produced by Miller-Milkis Productions (Miller-Milkis-Boyett in season two) in association with Paramount Television.

The series starred Donna Pescow in the lead role, Robert Hays as her love interest and eventual husband, and Doris Roberts and Debralee Scott as her mother and sister, respectively.

A DVD release of the series was announced, for release later in 2015.[1]

Premise

Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Pescow) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Hays), a pediatrician. While she assumes he is a struggling young doctor, he reveals that he is actually rebelling against his wealthy family, presumably residents in the Main Line region of the city's suburbs. (In response to Angie asking him just how wealthy, he replied, "You've heard of 'filthy rich?' We're disgusting.")

The other Falco family members are Angie's mother Theresa (Roberts) and her younger sister Marie (Scott). Angie and Marie's father had walked out on the family many years earlier, but Theresa continued to set a place for him at the dinner table. Brad's relatives consist of his stuffy father Randall (John Randolph), his divorced sister, the overbearing Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and Joyce's daughter Hillary (Tammy Lauren). Angie forms a close bond with Hilary.

Angie and Brad later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos. The characters of Hilary Benson and Didi Malloy were not continued after the first season. Angie and Theresa later open a beauty parlor together, where they had to contend with a pleasure-seeking hairstylist, Gianni (Tim Thomerson).

The series drew many comparisons to the CBS hit sitcom Rhoda, in which the character of Angie Falco was seen as an Italian-Catholic version of Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper); both characters strove to break away from their ethnic, close-knit families to find their own voice in the world (however, Pescow, like the Rhoda character, is Jewish in real life). The constant presence of Angie's mother and sister was seen as similar to Rhoda's family setup of mother Ida (Nancy Walker) and sister Brenda (Julie Kavner). Angie's father being absent was also comparable to the later Rhoda plotline, in which Rhoda's father Martin (Harold Gould) separated from Ida.

Characters

Angelina "Angie" Falco, later Angie Benson, is the title character. At first a waitress at the Liberty Coffee Shop in Philadelphia, she meets her prince charming, Brad Benson, M.D., who worked at the medical center across the street. At first, Angie wasn't sure about dating him because of their economic differences, but he convinced her that he loved her. Angie then eloped with him, because of the families continual arguing about the wedding details, but she did concede to a small Catholic wedding set up by her mother. Brad eventually bought Angie the coffee shop to keep her busy, but she would later sell it to help Theresa buy a beauty salon.

Bradley Benson, M.D., is Angie's wealthy boyfriend and, later, her husband. A pediatrician at the medical center across from where Angie worked, the two fell in love immediately. They eloped due to arguments between the families about the wedding details, but he agreed to a small family Catholic wedding, that was set up by Theresa. At first, he and Angie lived in his large home which he inherited from his parents, but it intimidated Angie, so they moved to a smaller duplex home nearby, where they had their living space upstairs and Brad saw his young patients downstairs.

Theresa Falco is Angie's and Marie's mother. The owner of a news stand, which she ran for years after her husband deserted the family 19 years earlier. She remains in denial and still sets a place at the table for him. She loved Brad, and wanted to make sure that he loved Angie. It astonished, and indeed horrified, her that Angie had eloped with Brad, but she convinced her daughter to have a small Catholic family wedding which she had set up. In the second season, she sold the news stand, and, with Angie's help, bought a beauty salon called Rose's House of Beauty.

Marie Falco is Theresa's younger daughter, and Angie's younger sister. She works nights at a day care center, and doesn't like it. She is kind of a klutz, but she is well-meaning.

Diedre "DiDi" Malloy is Angie's loudmouthed best friend and co-worker at the Liberty Coffee Shop. She was not seen in the second season.

Joyce Benson is Brad's snobby thrice-married older sister. She was seeing a psychiatrist about her third divorce, made all the more difficult because her psychiatrist hated her. The mother of Hillary, she did not hate Angie, but she did not like her either, because she felt Brad could have married someone of their own station, and she felt Angie was not worthy enough to marry her brother. However, she did try to get along with her, as she was the woman her brother chose to be his wife.

Hillary Benson is Joyce's daughter, who was not seen in the second season. She was happy about her uncle's marriage and she instantly bonded her new aunt.

Randall Benson is Brad's and Joyce's father and Hillary's grandfather. He was, at first, stunned by Angie and her family, but he realized that she loved Brad and he loved her. He then began to like her and her family.

Phipps (Emory Bass) is the Benson family butler. He liked Angie.

Gianni is the hair stylist at Rose's House of Beauty, the beauty salon that Angie and Theresa bought after they sold the newsstand and coffee shop. He was always chasing after his female clients to the annoyance of Angie and Theresa.

Mary Mary; Mary Grace; and Mary Katherine are three former school mates of Angie's. They were also her close friends.

Production

Although Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Edward K. Milkis were the show's supervising producers for the second season, the show was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions at Paramount Television. Angie was also one of the few Miller-Milkis productions that did not take place in Miller's hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Theme song

The show's theme song, "Different Worlds," was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox and performed by Maureen McGovern. "Different Worlds" peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart, McGovern's only #1 on that chart.[2]

Main cast

Cancellation

The show was a ratings hit during its first half-season on air. It ranked fifth for the 1978-79 season with a 26.7 average household share, thanks in big part to Thursday night lead-in Mork & Mindy, which ranked No. 3. All of the top-five shows in 1978-79 were ABC comedies, with the others Laverne & Shirley (No. 1), Three's Company (No. 2) and Happy Days (tying Mork & Mindy at No. 3).

However, ratings for Angie dropped drastically after a move to Tuesday for the start of the 1979-80 season, even though the show was placed between Happy Days and Three's Company. (ABC moved Laverne & Shirley in an effort to bolster ratings on other nights.) Viewers lost interest in the interplay between Angie and Brad after they were married in the season premiere, and many critics noted that much of the previously feisty chemistry that Pescow and Hays demonstrated on screen was apparently compromised once their characters were wed.

The show was cancelled in its second season. Thirty-six episodes in total were produced.

Episodes

Season 1 (1979)

No. Title Original air date
1"The Proposal"February 8, 1979
2"Wedding Wings"February 15, 1979
3"The Elopement"February 22, 1979
4"The Morning After"March 1, 1979
5"The Adjustment"March 15, 1979
6"Theresa's Date"March 22, 1979
7"The House Guests"March 29, 1979
8"The Opportunity"April 12, 1979
9"Joyce's Job"April 19, 1979
10"The First Fight"April 26, 1979
11"Angie's Good Deed"May 10, 1979
12"The Check Up"May 17, 1979

Season 2 (1979–1980)

No. Title Original air date
13"Angie's Old Friends"September 11, 1979
14"The First Separation"September 18, 1979
15"Moving Day"September 25, 1979
16"Marie's Crush"October 2, 1979
17"The Gift"October 23, 1979
18"The Thief"October 30, 1979
19"Vinnie's Return"November 6, 1979
20"Uncle Cheech"November 13, 1979
21"Family Feud"November 20, 1979
22"Harvey's Mother"November 27, 1979
23"Mary Mary Marries"December 4, 1979
24"The Gambler"December 11, 1979
25"Coffee Wars"December 18, 1979
26"Angie and Brad's Close Encounter"January 14, 1980
27"The Beauty Shop"January 21, 1980
28"Theresa's Gigolo"February 4, 1980
29"Marie Moves Out"February 11, 1980
30"Brad's Best Buddy"April 12, 1980
31"February Fever"April 19, 1980
32"The President's Coming, the President's Coming!"April 26, 1980
33"The Kid Down the Block"July 31, 1980
34"Friends in Need"August 7, 1980
35"Angie and Joyce Go to Jail"September 4, 1980
36"Angie and the Doctor"Unaired

Syndication

Reruns aired on ABC Daytime from June 17 to September 20, 1985.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Angie-DVDs-Planned/21045
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 165.

External links

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