Angie

Angie is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast by the ABC network from February 1979 until October 1980.

Premise

Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Donna Pescow) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Robert Hays). She assumes he is an improverished student; he turns out to be a pediatrician from a wealthy family (in response to Angie asking him just how wealthy, he replied, "You've heard of 'filthy rich'? We're disgusting.")

The other Falco family members are Angie's divorced mother Theresa (Doris Roberts) and her younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott). Brad's relatives consist of his stuffy father Randall (John Randolph), his divorced sister, the overbearing Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and Joyce's daughter Hilary (Tammy Lauren). Angie forms a close bond with Hilary.

Angie and Bradley later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos. The character of Hilary Benson was not continued after the first season. Angie and Theresa later open a beauty parlor together.

Characters

Angie Benson The titular character. At first a waitress at Liberty Coffee Shop in Philadelphia, she meets her prince charming, Dr. Brad Benson who worked at the medical center across the street. Angie then eloped with him, because of the families arguing about the wedding details, but conceded to a small wedding. Brad eventually bought Angie the coffee shop to keep her busy, but she would later sell it to help her mother buy a beauty salon.

Brad Benson Angie's wealthy boyfriend, later husband. A pediatrician at the medical center across from where Angie worked, the two fell in love immediately. They eloped, but agreed to a small family wedding. At first, he and Angie lived in his family's large home, but it intimidated Angie, so they moved to a smaller home, where they lived upstairs and Brad saw his patients on the lower level.

Theresa Falco Angie and Marie's mother. Owner of a news stand, which she ran for years after her husband deserted the family. She, inexplicably, still put a place at the table for him. Was astonished that Angie had eloped with Brad, but convinced her daughter to have a small wedding. In the second season, she sold the news stand, and, with Angie's help, bought a beauty salon.

Marie Falco Angie's younger sister.

Joyce Benson Brad's snobby sister. She was seeing a psychiatrist about her third divorce, made all the more difficult because her psychiatrist hated her. Mother of Hillary. Didn't hate Angie, but didn't much like her either.

Hillary Benson Joyce's daughter. She was happy about her uncle's marriage and she loved her new aunt.

Randall Benson Brad and Joyce's father and Hillary's grandfather. He was, at first, bemused by Angie, but he grew to like her.

Phipps The Benson's butler. He liked Angie.

Production

Although Tom Miller, Bob Boyett, and Eddie Milkis were the show's supervising producers for the second season, the show was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions at Paramount Television. Angie was also one of the few Miller-Milkis series that did not take place in Miller's hometown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Theme song

The show's theme song, "Different Worlds", was performed by Maureen McGovern and became a Top 20 Billboard hit, reaching number 18 on the Pop charts and number one on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1979.

Main cast

Cancellation

The show was a ratings hit during its first half-season on air. It ranked fifth for the 1978-79 season, thanks in big part to Thursday night lead-in Mork & Mindy, which ranked No. 3. All of the top-five shows in 1978-79 were ABC comedies, with the others Laverne & Shirley (No. 1), Three's Company (No. 2) and Happy Days (tying Mork & Mindy at No. 3).

However, ratings for Angie dropped drastically after a move to Tuesday for the start of the 1979-80 season, even though the show was placed between Happy Days and Three's Company. (ABC moved Laverne & Shirley in an effort to bolster ratings on other nights.) Viewers lost interest in the interplay between the two lead characters after they were married in the season premiere, and many critics noted that much of the previously feisty chemistry that Pescow and Hays demonstrated on screen was apparently compromised once their characters were wed.

The show was cancelled in its second season. Thirty-six episodes in total were produced.

Episode list

Season 1 (1979)

Season 2 (1979-1980)

Syndication

Reruns aired on ABC Daytime from June 17 to September 20, 1985, as well as on TV Land in the late 1990s.

External links

Philadelphia portal

• Angie at the Internet Movie Database
• Angie at TV.com
• Angie at epguides.com
• Angie at Retro Junk
• Angie at Nostalgia Central
• Angie at Sitcoms Online