Who's the Boss?: Frankie and Tony Are Lovers

Who's the Boss?: Frankie and Tony Are Lovers
ABC
September 22, 1987
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Wengrod & Cinnamon's fourth-season-opener reunites Tony with the one girl who wouldn't go out with him in high school.  (Other than Anna Cammisa, who was already married by then.)  Francesca Candino is now a beautiful, successful, intelligent lawyer.  She also has more of a sense of humor and presumably is more into sports than Gina was a couple seasons ago.  Mrs. Rossini again plays matchmaker, but Frankie and Tony are attracted to each other anyway.  When Frankie wins his housekeeping services for the weekend, for $1000, they become lovers in some sense.  In fact, she proposes to him!

Angela, despite Mona's concern, pretends none of this bothers her, but she confesses otherwise to her therapist.  In fact, with direct questions and a promise of confidentiality, she realizes that she loves Tony.  She tries to get the courage to tell him but can't.  Still, she's relieved when Tony tells her that he doesn't love Frankie and can't marry her.  I doubt that the writers or producers knew at the time that this series hadn't even reached its midpoint, but we have a situation that for what will turn out to be years, the viewers know that Angela loves Tony (and not just as a friend), but Tony's feelings are less clear.  This fact will shape the rest of the series.

Gracia Lee, who was Jenny Thompson on The Brady Bunch, is a Bidder here.  Walter Olkewicz returns as Tiny, who has a teenage son named Elvis that Sam dates.