Angie (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Angie is an American television sitcom
that was originally broadcast by the ABC
network from February 1979
until October 1980
.
) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Robert Hays
). She assumes he is an improverished student; he turns out to be a pediatrician from a wealthy family (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 divorced mother Theresa (Doris Roberts
) and her younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott
). Brad's relatives consist of his stuffy father Randall (John Randolph
), his divorced sister, the overbearing Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and Joyce's daughter Hilary (Tammy Lauren
). Angie forms a close bond with Hilary.
Angie and Bradley later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos. The character of Hilary Benson was not continued after the first season. Angie and Theresa later open a beauty parlor together.
hit during its first half-season on air. It ranked fifth for the 1978-79 season, thanks in big part to Thursday night lead-in Mork & Mindy, which ranked No. 3. Incidentally, 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 the two lead characters 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.
Brad Benson Angie's wealthy boyfriend, later husband. A pediatrician at the medical center across from where Angie worked, the two fell in love immediately. They eloped, but agreed to a small family wedding. At first, he and Angie lived in his family's large home, but it intimidated Angie, so they moved to a smaller home, where they lived upstairs and Brad saw his patients on the lower level.
Theresa Falco Angie and Marie's mother. Owner of a news stand, which she ran for years after her husband deserted the family. She, inexplicably, still put a place at the table for him. Was astonished that Angie had eloped with Brad, but convinced her daughter to have a small wedding. In the second season, she sold the news stand, and, with Angie's help, bought a beauty salon.
Marie Falco Angie's younger sister.
Joyce Benson Brad's snobby sister. She was seeing a psychiatrist about her third divorce, made all the more difficult because her psychiatrist hated her. Mother of Hillary. Didn't hate Angie, but didn't much like her either.
Hillary Benson Joyce's daughter. She was happy about her uncle's marriage and she loved her new aunt.
Randall Benson Brad and Joyce's father and Hillary's grandfather. He was, at first, bemused by Angie, but he grew to like her.
Phipps The Benson's butler. He liked Angie.
. This is one of the classic "Miller-Boyetts" that did not take place at producer Tom Miller's hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
.
and became a Top 20 Billboard
hit, reaching number 18 on the Pop charts and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1979.
in the late 1990s.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
that was originally broadcast by the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network from February 1979
1979 in television
The year 1979 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1979.For the American TV schedule, see: 1979-80 American network television schedule.-Events:...
until October 1980
1980 in television
The year 1980 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1980.For the American TV schedule, see: 1980-81 American network television schedule.-Events:...
.
Premise
Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Donna PescowDonna Pescow
Donna Pescow is an American film and television actress and director.-Life and career:Pescow was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. Her father owned and ran a news stand in downtown NYC at Battery Place. Pescow attended Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn and she took drama classes...
) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Robert Hays
Robert Hays
Robert Hays is an American actor and is arguably most well known for his role in the movie Airplane!-Life and career:...
). She assumes he is an improverished student; he turns out to be a pediatrician from a wealthy family (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 divorced mother Theresa (Doris Roberts
Doris Roberts
Doris Roberts is an American character actress of film, stage and television. She has received five Emmy Awards. She began her career in 1952, and may be best-known as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996–2005....
) and her younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott was an American actress best known for her role on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter as the sweathog Rosalie "Hotsie" Totsie...
). Brad's relatives consist of his stuffy father Randall (John Randolph
John Randolph (actor)
John Randolph was an American film, television and stage actor.-Early life:Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants Dorothy , an insurance agent, and Louis Cohen, a hat manufacturer...
), his divorced sister, the overbearing Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and Joyce's daughter Hilary (Tammy Lauren
Tammy Lauren
Tammy Lauren is an American actress who has appeared in film and television. She starred in Wishmaster, portraying Alexandra Amberson, a young woman who accidentally awakens the Djinn, a powerful spirit more commonly known as a genie.-Career:To date, Wishmaster is the only feature film in which...
). Angie forms a close bond with Hilary.
Angie and Bradley later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos. The character of Hilary Benson was not continued after the first season. Angie and Theresa later open a beauty parlor together.
Cancellation
The show was a ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
hit during its first half-season on air. It ranked fifth for the 1978-79 season, thanks in big part to Thursday night lead-in Mork & Mindy, which ranked No. 3. Incidentally, all of the top-five shows in 1978-79 were ABC comedies, with the others Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
(No. 1), Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
(No. 2) and Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
(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 the two lead characters 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.
Characters
Angie Benson The titular character. At first a waitress at Liberty Coffee Shop in Philadelphia, she meets her prince charming, Dr. Brad Benson who worked at the medical center across the street. Angie then eloped with him, because of the families arguing about the Wedding details, but conceded to a small wedding. Brad eventually bought Angie the coffee shop to keep her busy, but she would later sell it to help her mother buy a beauty salon.Brad Benson Angie's wealthy boyfriend, later husband. A pediatrician at the medical center across from where Angie worked, the two fell in love immediately. They eloped, but agreed to a small family wedding. At first, he and Angie lived in his family's large home, but it intimidated Angie, so they moved to a smaller home, where they lived upstairs and Brad saw his patients on the lower level.
Theresa Falco Angie and Marie's mother. Owner of a news stand, which she ran for years after her husband deserted the family. She, inexplicably, still put a place at the table for him. Was astonished that Angie had eloped with Brad, but convinced her daughter to have a small wedding. In the second season, she sold the news stand, and, with Angie's help, bought a beauty salon.
Marie Falco Angie's younger sister.
Joyce Benson Brad's snobby sister. She was seeing a psychiatrist about her third divorce, made all the more difficult because her psychiatrist hated her. Mother of Hillary. Didn't hate Angie, but didn't much like her either.
Hillary Benson Joyce's daughter. She was happy about her uncle's marriage and she loved her new aunt.
Randall Benson Brad and Joyce's father and Hillary's grandfather. He was, at first, bemused by Angie, but he grew to like her.
Phipps The Benson's butler. He liked Angie.
Production
Although Tom Miller, Bob Boyett, and Eddie Milkis were the show's supervising producers for the second season, the show was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions at Paramount TelevisionParamount Television
Paramount Television was an American television production/distribution company that was active from January 1, 1968 to August 27, 2006.Its successor is CBS Television Studios, formerly CBS Paramount Television...
. This is one of the classic "Miller-Boyetts" that did not take place at producer Tom Miller's hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
.
Theme song
The show's theme song, "Different Worlds", was performed by Maureen McGovernMaureen McGovern
Maureen Therese McGovern is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her premier renditions of the Oscar winning songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno in 1974.-Early life:McGovern was...
and became a Top 20 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
hit, reaching number 18 on the Pop charts and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1979.
Season 1 (1979)
| № | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Proposal" | 1979 February 8 |
| 2 | "Wedding Wings" | 1979 February 15 |
| 3 | "The Elopement" | 1979 February 22 |
| 4 | "The Morning After" | 1979 March 1 |
| 5 | "The Adjustment" | 1979 March 15 |
| 6 | "Theresa's Date" | 1979 March 22 |
| 7 | "The House Guests" | 1979 March 29 |
| 8 | "The Opportunity" | 1979 April 12 |
| 9 | "Joyce's Job" | 1979 April 19 |
| 10 | "The First Fight" | 1979 April 26 |
| 11 | "Angie's Good Deed" | 1979 May 10 |
| 12 | "The Check Up" | 1979 May 17 |
Season 2 (1979-1980)
| № | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | "Angie's Old Friends" | 1979 September 11 |
| 14 | "The First Separation" | 1979 September 18 |
| 15 | "Moving Day" | 1979 September 25 |
| 16 | "Marie's Crush" | 1979 October 2 |
| 17 | "The Gift" | 1979 October 23 |
| 18 | "The Thief" | 1979 October 30 |
| 19 | "Vinnie's Return" | 1979 November 6 |
| 20 | "Uncle Cheech" | 1979 November 13 |
| 21 | "Family Feud" | 1979 November 20 |
| 22 | "Harvey's Mother" | 1979 November 27 |
| 23 | "Mary Mary Marries" | 1979 December 4 |
| 24 | "The Gambler" | 1979 December 11 |
| 25 | "Coffee Wars" | 1979 December 18 |
| 26 | "Angie and Brad's Close Encounter" | 1980 January 14 |
| 27 | "The Beauty Shop" | 1980 January 21 |
| 28 | "Theresa's Gigolo" | 1980 February 4 |
| 29 | "Marie Moves Out" | 1980 February 11 |
| 30 | "Brad's Best Buddy" | 1980 April 12 |
| 31 | "February Fever" | 1980 April 19 |
| 32 | "The President's Coming, the President's Coming!" | 1980 April 26 |
| 33 | "The Kid Down the Block" | 1980 July 31 |
| 34 | "Friends in Need" | 1980 August 7 |
| 35 | "Angie and Joyce Go to Jail" | 1980 September 4 |
| 36 | "Angie and the Doctor" | (Unaired) |
Syndication
Reruns aired on ABC Daytime from June 17 to September 20, 1985, as well as on TV LandTV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
in the late 1990s.