October 28 is the birthday of multiple sit-com mother Susan Harris (Susan Spivak, 1940).
Harris is the step-sister of film editor and producer Marion Segal Freed, who was married to George Segal for 25 years. Shortly after divorcing her own first husband (actor Berkley Harris), Harris began writing spec scripts that were produced on such much programs as All in the Family, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Love American Style, The Partridge Family, and Maude (which is where she established her professional relationship with Bea Arthur).
On the Partridge Family she met producer Paul Junger Witt, who would co-produce all of her shows, and eventually become her husband. Harris's body of work is impressively large, although, forgivably, about half of the shows are spun off from the other half, especially her two mega-hits. They are:
Fay (1975)
Yes, a sit-com vehicle for Lee Grant! More about this show three days from now (Grant's birthday)
Loves Me, Loves Me Not (1977)
Another Partridge Family connection, a vehicle for Susan Dey, who played Laurie on the show, mixed with a very Love American, Style premise, though a slim one to hang a whole show on. The entire sitcom hung on Dey's character dating a young man, played by Kip Gilman, who'd previously been a Jerry Paris TV movie called Help Inc (1972) with Avery Shreiber, and an episode of Rhoda. Art Metrano played his boss. There were only six episodes. Apparently the show was commissioned and green-lit in a hurry and there had been no time to flesh out the characters and situation. As Paul Rust and Leslie Arfin showed on their brilliant show Love (2016-2018), a sit-com about a dating couple can work, but the whole thing hinges on the three dimensionality of the characters (the "situation" being so slim).
Soap (1977-1981) and spin-offs: Benson (1979-1986), and I'm a Big Girl Now (1980-81)
I am one of those rare people who is not a Soap fan, which is why I have refrained for so very long from writing about it. I had been an enthusiastic Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman fan, and I found Soap not only derivative, but much, much weaker in terms of both writing and execution. It actually makes me crazy to hear people describe how "groundbreaking" it was, for to me, then and now, it was not strong as parody or satire or legit comedy. But it was a smash hit that ran for five years. The core of it was two families, the Campbells (Richard Mulligan and Cathryn Damon) and the Tates (Robert Mandan and Katherine Helmond). Billy Crystal, whom I also knew from his stand-up spots on variety and talks shows, played Jodie, one of TV's first openly gay characters, but he sort of played him by not playing him. He was the straightest gay person since "Hank" in The Boys in the Band. But, anyway, knowing him from YEARS of TV sit-com and variety stardom made it exceptionally weird to me that he later became a cast member on Saturday Night Live, as though his previous career had never existed. It was never mentioned or acknowledged on the show in any way. There were several other notables in the cast. Arthur Peterson (brother of Hillary Brooke) as a crazy old patriarch, Jimmy Baio (brother of MAGA Fascist Scott, from Happy Days) as an incorrigible kid, Brian de Palma regular Jennifer Salt, and Ted Wass, who went on to lots of other successes. I'm had the pleasure of knowing the great ventriloquist Jay Johnson because, duh, he's a ventriloquist, and interviewed him a couple of times, and naturally his moments on the show were among my favorites. And it's telling I think that two of my favorite cast members were spun off to star on their own shows: Robert Guilliaume onto Benson, and Diana Canova onto I'm a Big Girl Now. (in the meantime, Canova and Wass had starred on Broadway in They're Playing Our Song).
It Takes Two (1982-83) and Hail to the Chief (1985)
These are two shows featuring Patty Duke (who was Patty Duke Astin at the time). The first paired her with that laugh-riot Richard Crenna as a couple whose work lives were interfering with their marriage (he was a doctor, she a lawyer). It seems like one of those lame, pro forma "issues" shows like One Day at a Time, built to reflect societal changes. It was cancelled after one season and went into syndication. The second one, Hail to the Chief was more promising and interesting. It cast Duke as the first female President of the United States, and had a very strong supporting cast that included Ted Bessel, Herschel Bernardi, Dick Shawn, Murray Hamilton, John Vernon, and others. That's a lot of firepower and it sounds promising. Yet it was cancelled after seven episodes due to very poor ratings. And it wasn't the competition; it was up against Riptide and the CBS Tuesday Night Movie.
The Golden Girls (1985-92), with spin-offs: Empty Nest (1988-95), Nurses (1991-94) and Golden Palace (1992-93)
Well, if I've seemed pretty dismissive of Susan Harr's oeuvre heretofore, I can't rave enough about Golden Girls. In fact, I've already done so. That post is here. Empty Nest, with Richard Mulligan, was the most successful of its spin-offs.
Good and Evil (1991)
Inevitably, Harris returned with another soap opera parody, this one starring Teri Garr as an evil, conniving cosmetics tycoon, and Margaret Whitton of Major League (1989) as her angelic sister. It seemed an attempt to use the night-time soaps that were then so popular as fodder for comedy. The strong supporting cast included Marian Seldes, Mark Blankfield of Fridays, and young Seth Green. It sounds very promising. Everyone loves Teri Garr -- a chance to watch her every week in her own sitcom sounds very attractive. But we must point out that Garr's moment of peak heat was the late 70s and early 80s. She wasn't so hot anymore that the show could transcend any weaknesses and coast on her popularity. Only six episodes of the show aired (eleven were taped).
The Secret Lives of Men (1993)
Just reading about this one puts me to sleep. Three divorced young men (Peter Gallagher, Bradley Whitford, Mitch Rouse) share an apartment. Maybe the gimmick for Harris was that, after a career of shows designed to appeal to females, she'd do one that appealed to the female gaze? I mean, are they gay men? The title makes me think they are gay men. Instead, they're just three straight divorced men in a bachelor pad, all wearing identical clothes. They don't even solve crimes like Toni's Boys. What are the plots? Do they heat up something in the microwave oven? Do they argue about whether to watch the football game or the basketball game? Is beer consumed? Only seven episodes of the show aired (thirteen were taped).
Now the tone of this post may sound negative and for that I must apologize. As anyone can tell you, TV is a numbers game. You throw a bunch spaghetti at the wall, and hopefully some of it will stick. In Harris's case, I genuinely really loved Golden Girls and Benson; and she had big hits with Soap and Empty Nest. And she enjoyed a quarter century at the top of the entertainment industry. That is more, much, much more than the vast majority of aspirants can claim. So...Mad Respect. (Hey, that'd be a good name for a sitcom!)
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