Living Dolls
Living Dolls | |
---|---|
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Ross Brown |
Written by | Ross Brown Eric Gilliland |
Directed by | John Sgueglia |
Starring | Michael Learned Leah Remini Deborah Tucker Alison Elliott Halle Berry |
Theme music composer | John Beasley John Vester |
Opening theme | "Living Dolls" |
Composer | Jonathan Wolff |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 12 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Ross Brown Martin Cohan Phyllis Glick Blake Hunter |
Producers | R.J. Colleary Martha Williamson |
Running time | 22–24 minutes |
Production companies | ELP Communications Columbia Pictures Television |
Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | September 26 December 30, 1989 | –
Chronology | |
Related shows | Who's the Boss? |
Living Dolls is an American sitcom featured on the fall 1989 schedule of ABC. It was a spin-off created by a writer from Who's the Boss? and featuring characters introduced during an episode of that show. The show was the acting debut of Halle Berry.[1] Both Who's the Boss? and Living Dolls were produced by ELP Communications through Columbia Pictures Television and ABC.
Synopsis[]
The show featured Charlie Briscoe (Leah Remini), a friend of Samantha Micelli (the Who's the Boss? character played by Alyssa Milano). Samantha is dabbling in a modeling career and Charlie, a friend from Samantha's old Brooklyn neighborhood, comes to visit. While doing some test shots for a dog food commercial, it is discovered that Charlie is very photogenic. Charlie is then befriended by the owner of a modeling agency for teenage girls, Trish Carlin (Michael Learned). Trish is also a friend of advertising executive Angela Bower, one of the main characters on Who's the Boss?. Trish becomes a mother figure to Charlie and the other models.
Reception[]
Living Dolls was universally panned by critics and received mostly negative reviews.[2] It was the only series to receive an "F" grade by People magazine in its 1989 fall preview issue.[3] ABC canceled the series after 12 episodes in December 1989.[4]
Production[]
The series began as a back-door pilot on Who's the Boss?. In that episode, Vivica A. Fox played Emily instead of Halle Berry, and Jonathan Ward portrayed Rick, who came to be known as Eric when David Moscow took over the role for the series. Executives disliked the original cast and held auditions for recasting.[2] The Who's the Boss pilot first aired in March, but it was rerun directly before the Living Dolls premiere,[5] illustrating the reasons why Charlie moved in with Trish in the first place.
Cast[]
- Michael Learned as Miss Patricia "Trish" Carlin
- Leah Remini as Charlene "Charlie" Briscoe
- Deborah Tucker as Caroline Weldon
- Alison Elliott as Martha Lambert
- Halle Berry as Emily Franklin
- David Moscow as Eric "Rick" Carlin
Episodes[]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
0 | "Living Dolls" | John Sgueglia | Ross Brown | March 29, 1989 |
1 | "It's All Done with Mirrors" | John Sgueglia | Ross Brown | September 26, 1989 |
2 | "It's My Party" | John Sgueglia | Eric Gilliland | September 30, 1989 |
3 | "Martha Means Well" | Lee Bernhardi | R.J. Colleary | October 7, 1989 |
4 | "Seeing Is Believing" | Lee Bernhardi | Matt Ember | October 21, 1989 |
5 | "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner" | Andy Cadiff | R.J. Colleary | November 4, 1989 |
6 | "Rick's Model Girlfriend" | Lee Bernhardi | James Gates | November 11, 1989 |
7 | "The Not So Sweet Smell of Success" | Andy Cadiff | Mark C. Miller | November 18, 1989 |
8 | "The Flash Is Always Greener" | Jonathan Weiss | Martha Williamson | November 25, 1989 |
9 | "He's Ba-aack!" | Valentine Mayer | Eric Gilliland & Martha Williamson | December 2, 1989 |
10 | "'C' Is for Model" | Lee Bernhardi | Martha Williamson | December 9, 1989 |
11 | "And I Thought Modeling Was Hard" | James Widdoes | Ross Brown & R.J. Colleary | December 16, 1989 |
12 | "Beauty and the Beat" | James Widdoes | Susan Sebastian & Diana Ayers | December 30, 1989 |
References[]
- ^ "Halle Berry's Journey From Miss USA Runner-Up To Oscar Winner". Access Hollywood. June 16, 2011.
- ^ a b Ewey Johnson, Melissa (2009). Halle Berry: A Biography. ABC-CLIO. p. 21. ISBN 0-313-35834-6.
- ^ "Throwing a Curveball: Surprising Spin-Offs". Screenrush. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
- ^ "'Homeroom', 'Living Dolls' canceled by ABC". Sun Journal. 1989-12-06. p. 29. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Dayton Daily News, September 26, 1989
External links[]
- Living Dolls at IMDb
- 1989 American television series debuts
- 1989 American television series endings
- 1980s American sitcoms
- American Broadcasting Company original programming
- English-language television shows
- Modeling-themed television series
- American television spin-offs
- Television series by Sony Pictures Television
- Television shows set in New York City