Who's the Boss?: A Farewell to Nick

Who's the Boss?: A Farewell to Nick
ABC
November 10, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B

Lee Aronsohn's first of three WtB stories, and Marc Sheffler's first of two, has Nick Milano die offscreen, when Sam's on her way to spend Columbus Day with him in Fort Lauderdale.  The way that grief is addressed, with each character responding in their own way, from Jonathan's puzzlement and attempts to comfort Sam, to Angela and Mona sharing the story of how they dealt with Robert's death, is very well done.  And again, Milano steps up when she's given something to work with other than boy-craziness or shopping.  Danza is good, too, his looks of empathy and sympathy totally believable.  I would've gone with a B+, but the set-up, with an unseen character (Nick's previously never mentioned girlfriend Bambi), is a little awkward.  Still, it is better than any of the episodes James Coco was actually on.

Tony Charnota, who was a Hood on Soap and Sgt. Verbanic on M*A*S*H, is Bruno here.  Phil Rubenstein, who previously played the Dealer who sells Tony's baseball card to Angela, here plays Phil.