Who's the Boss?: Pilot

Who's the Boss?: Pilot
ABC
September 20, 1984
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The same week that Three's Company, with its occasional Jack/Janet (and Jack/Chrissy and Jack/Terri) bowed out, a show that would move its shipping front and center premiered on ABC.  Martin Cohan, who among other things wrote six Bob Newhart Show episodes, and Blake Hunter created the show and wrote this pilot that sets up the next eight years.  Here's some of what is already present in a script written about a year before it aired:

• Sexual tension between Tony and Angela, including his remark that he would never sleep with his employer;
• Angela's poor choices in men, in this case her boss, Grant Paxton (Dennis Holahan, who had played Per Johannsen on M*A*S*H);
• Mona's easy-going lust for "hunk "Tony";
• Mona's interference and assumption that she knows what's best for her daughter;
• Angela answering the door in a pink robe and towel, which would be echoed on at least two more episodes;
• Jonathan's love of reptiles and general geekiness;
• Samantha's tomboyishness and snark;
• The kids' prickly almost-sibling-like relationship;
• Tony's love of Sinatra;
• His use of the catchphrase "Ay-oh, oh-ay!"
• His sunny optimism, although this would be tempered by time and experience;
• Angela's wariness;
• Her commitment to her career;
• Her willingness to let a near stranger make decisions about her son;
• Her reluctance to take Tony's advice about herself;
• The kids' awareness that the adults are talking about "sex" through symbolism (here Crunchy Crawlers cereal);
• The kids' interrupting a hug between Tony and Angela;
• The Micellis' love of sports, particularly basketball;
• A mention of Tony's loss of his wife and Major League career;
• A mention of Angela's rival Jim Peterson;
• A mention of her secretary Rosie;
• And a cameo of Mrs. Rossini in Brooklyn.

In some ways, it's a very self-assured pilot, but I don't think things have gelled right out of the gate.  For one thing, the kids, so young and little here, aren't as good performers as they'd become and it seems like they could've enunciated better.  Also, this is actually a freer, more relaxed Angela than we'd see for much of the first three seasons, as if the Angela vs. Tony and Angela vs. Mona contrasts hadn't yet been fully worked out.  I can see why the pilot sold though, and why it got a fall debut rather than ending up as a mid-season replacement.  There's a lot of potential here, and the "male housekeeper" thing hadn't yet been done to death.  (Charles in Charge would debut a couple weeks later, Mr. Belvedere in March.)

This is the only WtB episode directed by Bill Persky of That Girl. 

That Girl: Stocks & the Single Girl

That Girl: Stocks & the Single Girl
ABC
February 12, 1970
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This middle of three Bruce Howard TG scripts has Ann, Lew, and Donald playing the stock market, based on false tips.  I'm pretty sure I've seen this plot on another show, although nothing immediately springs to mind.  In this case, after a bit of worry (more on the part of the audience than on newbie investor Ann's), everything works out just fine, with gains rather than losses.

Jim Connell, who plays Jonas, previously was Harvey Miller, as well as nerdy Norman Crowley on Gidget.  Pitt Herbert, who's the finance writer Ben White, twice played Mr. Driscoll on The Brady Bunch.  This is the only episode that TG co-creator Bill Persky directed.

That Girl: My Sister's Keeper

That Girl: My Sister's Keeper
ABC
February 6, 1969
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This episode is mostly notable for its nepotistic cast, with Marlo's sister Terre playing a nun at "St. Thomas's," her brother Tony (who would go on to be a producer) as the sister's brother, and her father Danny as a priest.  It also has 41-year-old McLean Stevenson's very first screen role (even pre-The Doris Day Show) as Mr. McKorkle.  Terre Thomas sings well but I felt like it was two plots rather than one, with the "Pop soda" thread dropped about halfway.  Series creators Bill Persky and Sam Denoff wrote this episode, which explains a lot of the semi-in-jokes, including Denoff cast as the man in the commercial with Ann.

Judith Cassmore makes her second of three TG appearances, as the Secretary.

That Girl: What's in a Name [revised]

That Girl: What's in a Name [revised]
ABC
November 17, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This reworking of the Pilot is an improvement but I'm marking it down from a B to a B- because it's not seamless, as when they don't change Ann's apartment number in the dialogue, and more significantly when Lew is told that "strange men" aren't allowed upstairs, and we've already seen, on a previous episode, the rich borderline-stalker in Ann's place when she's not home.  (Arguably Ann and Donald's '65 vs. '66 hairdos make continuity errors as well, but these are forgivable.)  Still, the recasting is definitely justified when comparing this to the original.

Cliff Norton, who plays Charlie, would be Charley [sic] Fitch later in the series.

That Girl: Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye

"It's your father."

That Girl: Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye
ABC
September 15, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Ann leaves home for New York but soon finds herself caught in the middle of an argument between her parents, who've been well recast as Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp.  The episode also features Ronnie Schell as her agent Harvey Peck.  And it properly introduces Bonnie Scott as neighbor Judy.  So in some ways it's more of a "first" episode than the previous two.  I like the touches like Ann repainting her table and trying to settle into her first apartment.

J.B. Larson, who's the Studio Usher here, would play an Assistant Producer on another episode.  Byron Morrow, who's Mr. Corcoran here, would be Officer Ben Cooper later.  Ogden Talbot, who plays a customer here, would be a messenger later.

That Girl: What's in a Name? [Pilot]

That Girl: What's in a Name? [Pilot]
ABC
1965 [see below]
Sitcom
DVD
C+

As with the Gilligan's Island pilot, this did not air at the time but was later used to make an episode in the regular series, in this case with the same title.  The difference here is that I don't have an exact date on when this was shot, unlike GI, where it is well-known that filming of the pilot coincided with JFK's assassination.  This is as good a point as any to review it, since the first episode of TG to air will be next.

There are some obvious differences from the regular series, in particular casting, especially Harold Gould as Ann's father.  Even Ted Bessell isn't playing his usual character, since he's part-Indian and has the last name Blue Sky, not to mention that he's Ann's agent rather than a journalist.  More so than with GI, it's easy to see the potential here, but major restructuring needed to be done.  For one thing, there are just too many characters in the episode and it would've been better to focus on Ann, Donald, and her parents.

Of Ann's friends, Shirley Bonne would appear as a different character later in the series, while Jackie Joseph would be on The Brady Bunch.  Cliff Norton would again play a character named Charley/Charlie on TG.