Who's the Boss: Why the Spin-Offs Failed

as one of the defining family sitcoms of the 1980s who's the boss was a reliable source of laughter and hugs for eight seasons on abc the show was a ratings hit throughout most of its 1984-1992 run thanks in no small part to its hilarious cast angela what is the problem the problem is mother you sent me a man for a housekeeper oh don't be sexist a man can do meaningless unproductive work just as well as a woman tony danza judith light katherine hellmand alyssa milano and danny pintaro were everywhere during the 1980s gracing magazine covers appearing on game shows and hosting tv specials alyssa milano even recorded several albums she's a certified platinum recording artist in japan [Music] and maybe you had her workout video teen steam [Music] so it's no surprise that the producers of who's the boss tried to use the hit show to launch spin-offs three episodes of who's the boss served as backdoor pilots for potential spin-offs which cast member almost got their own show and what future superstars were part of the who's the boss verse find out on behind the backdoor pilot who's the boss [Music] the brainchild of veteran sitcom writers martin cohen and blake hunter who's the boss was a staple of abc's family sitcom lineup fun fact the original title was you're the boss playing on the gender role reversal premise of a male housekeeper and his female boss but the creator settled on a title that left some ambiguity as to who was actually the boss welcome to a critical analysis of who's the boss and i'd like to begin with a simple question who was the boss who's the boss was so popular it was adapted into the british sitcom the upper hand there were also german and polish versions of tony angela and the rest as season 2 of who's the boss drew to a close the producers decided to try for a spin-off with a backdoor pilot episode about a mismatched pair of young working women backdoor pilots are tv's sneaky way of disguising a pilot for a potential new series under the guise of a seemingly normal episode of a hit show airing a backdoor pilot at the end of a season is a typical tv cost cutting measure the show's main cast typically sits the episode out in favor of new characters played by guest actors the episode charmed live starts like any other who's the boss episode with tony seeing angela off on a business trip to san francisco expect me a nightgown the flannel pjs the snuggly ones with the feet angela's career as a high-powered advertising executive serves as a setup for the backdoor pilot in charmed lives angela is in charge of picking the new princess vianelli the spokes model for a chef boyardee ask food brand tony suggests she use a micelli you know you don't like this cousin i got another cousin she's half as heavy of course she's a little short and that's the last we see of tony and mona for the rest of the episode the bulk of the episode takes place in san francisco where we meet the two stars of the proposed charmed live spin-off meet lauren an aspiring photographer hoping to work on the viennelli brand but i made an appointment see nine o'clock now it doesn't lauren is played by donna dixon who starred on bosom buddies and in films like spies like us opposite her then husband dan aykroyd she's also garth's dream woman in wayne's world angela's pick for princess vionelli arrives and holy cannoli it's the nanny i'm joyce columbus who i'm princess vinelli yes before she was the fashion girl from flushing on the nanny fran drescher appeared twice on the second season of who's the boss as two completely different characters both roles utilize drescher's sense of style in episode four of season two the heiress fran played mona's interior decorator carol this place is simply not you who designed it me the producers liked fran so much they brought her back for the charmed lives backdoor pilot episode at the end of season two which makes sense as dresher was an up-and-coming talent in the 80s having appeared in spinal tap yes [Music] and opposite donna dixon in the dan aykroyd pimp comedy dr detroit [Music] yes charmed lives was a dr detroit reunion joyce wows mr vionelli with her effervescent fran drescher charm i like this girl she has a fine sense of humor all right but then lauren bursts in demanding the photographer gig and like every other old white guy in an 80s sitcom mr vionelli is struck with a sudden case of hot blonde itis that's the girl that's princess violi no this is the girl this is the girl needing money lauren reluctantly takes the princess vianelli gig i don't want to be a model right it's sexist demeaning people only want you for your body luckily that appeals to me and joyce doesn't get the job the fancy apartment or the designer clothes later at the photo shoot lauren is not having a great time as the new princess vianelli take the noodles out and rub them all over joyce arrives and demands the princess viennelli job who are we getting here clearly it should be fran drescher i'm going to sue you for 32 million dollars for breach of implied contract dump the blonde you got it we get a sense of the tony and angela type comedic dynamic joyce and lauren would have had in the spin-off oh to heck with you all did she say heck i'm afraid she did there's even a who's the boss-ish kitchen scene where the pair argue you take anything you want anyway oh no the peasants are revolting and make up over a sandwich i need the job and you need the job what are we gonna do joyce lauren and angela then hatch a plan i want you to open your mind to a new concept in packaging the viennelli twins hey it's the 80s twins were all the rage in advertising mr vionelli likes the idea now i'm getting two for the price of one and angela lays out the ground rules of the charmed live spin-off just remember you're gonna have to share everything the apartment and the job and all the fringe benefits deal deal by the way this is pretty much the only thing angela does in an episode of her own show it's also too bad we never got a scene with fran drescher and tony danza that would be an epic match of new york attitude oh angela okay the episode ends with joyce and lauren as friends co-workers and roommates a regular laverne and shirley for the high fashion 80s okay now we need to come up with a schedule schedule two girls one bathroom right how long does it take you to put your makeup on i really don't believe in makeup you know if you keep this up i'm gonna be your only friend fran drescher and donna dixon make for a fun pair and abc agreed at least at first four episodes of charmed lives were filmed though there's some debate as to whether they actually aired charmed lives wasn't part of abc's 1986 fall schedule or included in the network promo where all the casts of abc's shows hang out together hey it's tony danza some people claim to have watched charmed lives but they might be remembering the who's the boss episode or maybe they're confusing charmed lives with princesses fran drescher's short-lived pre-nanny cbs sitcom that was also about stylish roommates in the big city could charmed lives be another example of the mandela effect like shazam kazam i am or in this case the nandella effect creepy let us know in the comments if you remember watching charmed lives in the 80s but whether or not it actually aired charmed lives never took off as a who's the boss spin-off things worked out just fine for fran drescher who became a superstar thanks to another show about a no-nonsense household domestic and the uptight boss she it's loves who's the boss executive producers robert sternen and prudence fraser were also behind the nanny fran drescher and donna dixon remained friends and dixon showed up on an episode of the nanny i just love you well then we have a lot in common the pals also reminisced about their dr detroit days on fran's talk show we played hookers with a heart of gold while lauren and joyce's lives post who's the boss weren't charmed fran and donna's friendship remained strong today a year later who's the boss tried for another spin-off this time the focus was on fan favorite mona played by the late great katherine hellmuth a respected star of stage and screen hellman came to who's the boss having starred as jessica tate in the hit series soap you know jody when we were younger there was no such thing as homosexuals and in several terry gilliam films so it makes sense the network would want her in her own show the spin-off would have seen mona leave connecticut to run a new york city hotel with a brand new character her brother cornelius to set up this potential spin-off the who's the boss writers penned a backdoor pilot at the end of season three that sent mona to the big apple the episode mona which also would have been the title of the spin-off kicks off with a black and white flashback to 1941 is this who's the boss or quantum leap we meet young mona played by a pre-full house candace cameron catherine helmand plays mona's mom this is getting pretty meta the flashback establishes mona and cornelius's relationship with mona being the more level-headed of the two young cornelius then flies like superman and wait what is going on here turns out this flashback is a dream mona had because she's going to visit cornelius in new york city how long has it been since you two got together well it must be over three years gee mo that's a long time to see your own brother no it's just about right in typical backdoor pilot fashion this brief kitchen scene is the last we see of tony angela and samantha for the rest of the episode the episode then moves to new york city and the hotel nottingham where we meet the wacky characters that would have been part of the mona spin-off there's don the hapless concierge do we get to see the statue of liberty what for it's on every postcard believe me you're going to have a great time in the south bronx he's played by joe rugglebutto who you might recognize from murphy brown and street hawk kitty the no-nonsense desk clerk you have no class packard the goofy bellhop you know what they once made a movie here what was it the shining and tessie the head housekeeper i'm mona oh blood and gut sister oh yeah i see the resemblance tessie is played by billy bird who you probably recognize from pretty much every movie and tv show from the 1980s and 90s we then meet grown-up cornelius played by james b sicking a tv vet known for roles on hill street blues and doogie hauser cornelius reveals he owns the hotel nottingham what is the big surprise you're standing in it which turns out to be a money pit huh kind of like that movie that came out a year before this episode cornelius plans on running the hotel with mona who is none too happy about it yes that's the other surprise i put your savings in it too you put my savings in this this episode is a treat for fans of mona's eye rolls cornelius wants to return the hotel to its former glory this hotel used to be great and it could be great again somona brings some old-school charm to the dump mona agrees to partner up with cornelius there may be room for a silent partner in this establishment me silent no way and the staff celebrates with a big dance party oh no i know what you're doing the plan was that should the mona spin-off go to series scripps would focus on the eccentric guests of the hotel nottingham as catherine hellman told the sun sentinel in 1987 so many nuts can come and go according to another interview with katherine hellman the actress was planning to star on both who's the boss and mona at the same time helmut will continue her role as the wisecracking mom on who's the boss next season regardless if anyone could have pulled off that double duty it's helmut the season three finale of who's the boss dealt with mona's departure i cannot believe she's moving yeah the hot tomato goes to the big apple with tony moving into her empty apartment to live the swinging bachelor life [Music] ultimately abc decided that katherine hellman was too important to who's the boss to lose to a spin-off so the mona show wasn't picked up for the 1987 fall season you're not leaving are you i was only meant to be here for the weekend the season finale was quickly rewritten after the spin-off was canned with mona back at the bauer house and the hotel plot line wrapped up in a couple of lines what are you doing here why aren't you the hotel my brother and i have finally come to an agreement we disagree about everything the who's the boss writers really arm in tamzarian to their way out of that one and i further decree that everything will be just like it was before all this happened and no one will ever mention it again [Applause] sadly we never learned what happened to the weird bellhop's crush on the desk clerk [Laughter] had monogan to series it wouldn't have been the first sitcom about a rundown hotel in its quirky staff the chicago tribune noted similarities between the mona spin-off and hot l baltimore a short-lived abc's sitcom which starred james cromwell and conchata farrell a few years later the golden girls spin-off the golden palace would try a similar premise with blanche rose and sophia running a hotel with cheech marin and don cheadle perhaps in an alternate universe this who's the boss spin-off was picked up and there's a version of mona who stayed at the hotel nottingham forever you know what they once made a movie here what was it the shining in 1989 hoos the boss took one more swing at a spin-off you can tell it's 1989 by the size of angela's shoulder pads in the season 5 episode living dolls sam heads to the big apple to write an article for her school paper the subject models and that thin premise is all the who's the boss writers needed to launch a spin-off about a group of young models who live with their modeling agent slash mother figure after breakfast the who's the boss cast steps aside for a brand new cast of characters there's trish the head of the modeling agency played by miss michael learned of the walton's fame she was also in that headache ad that was on all the time oh you and angela were sorority sisters yeah ah the old friend of one of the lead characters spin-off trick the writers also introduce an old friend of sam's to further connect living dolls to who's the boss meet streetwise charlie played by future king of queens star leah remini apartment 4b misselli i don't believe charlie is like the mirror universe version of sam she's the sam who didn't get to move to a fancy house in the burbs my mom my mom oh her let's see she's done with husband number three moved on to boyfriend number six the rest of the models fit classic sitcom types there's naive martha played by the spitfire grill star alison elliott my dating experience is a little bit limited how limited i went to the movies once with my brother vayne caroline played by melissa willis why ricky i had no idea you were here and studious emily played by vivica a fox that good for nothing dog of yours got his little ass in the living room and acted a damn fool there's also trish's son rick played by jonathan ward who you might recognize as the older brother from mac and me where'd he come from wait a minute this is what they were looking for back at the accident the rick scenes lean hard into 80s summer camp comedy and since it's the height of the 80s aerobics craze samantha interviews the models while they're jane fonda ing it up how many girls live here then what do you guys do about school how much cocaine do you have for breakfast charlie and trish clash over school work how's the sociology paper coming along look it'll get done soon then you can have the full army of little money makers out there working for you and inviting over guys who are straight out of a high school production of grease you're trying to turn me into one of your little goody two shoes barbie dolls there are certain rules you've got to follow if you're gonna live here wait who's actually the boss here charlie's all i'm out of here i don't need this hat so i'm going home but by the end of the episode she realizes living in a modeling agency isn't so bad i taught you to follow through now you need to teach me about survival in the big city the episode sets up a spin-off with the signature who's the boss heart and dated model jokes and while no one is actually sure if charmed lives aired living dolls definitely did the theme song had strong maybe it's maybelline vibes the freshman sitcom even got the plum post mr belvedere slot living dolls premieres at its regular time right after mr belvedere saturday but when living dolls went to series the network made some major changes living dolls was the brainchild of the facts of life producer ross brown and the network wanted the new show to be the facts of life with prettier girls harsh when test audiences didn't respond well to the who's the boss backdoor pilot episode the network recast several roles jonathan ward was out as rick with david moscow of big and newsies fame taking over the token mail role melissa willis was replaced by deborah tucker from tv's dallas with caroline suddenly going from a blonde to a redhead and in the biggest casting surprise vivica a fox was replaced by halle berry yes living dolls was the oscar winners acting debut abc introduced the living dolls cast as samantha's friends her name is caroline weldon guys are crazy about her the who's the boss gang helped launch living dolls with sam and tony popping in in the first two episodes leah remini and michael learned appeared on who's the boss the same night that living dolls premiered to give living dolls a fresh start the writers retconned the storyline from the backdoor pilot episode in the who's the boss episode life's a ditch charlie and trish meet for the first time at the bauer miscella house except fans know charlie and trish were already acquainted last season huh charlie leaves home to crash at the bauer macellies because her mom neglects her but lorraine this is your daughter you're talking about and she has no other family does she have any other relatives yeah she has one but he's a horse's behind he works in a traveling circus and he plays the back side of her horse where does he put his head who's the boss making a human centipede joke before human centipede edgy oh boy it doesn't get any better than this luckily charlie's good at modeling do you think charlie would be interested in becoming a model well take a look for yourself the camera really loves this girl so trish invites her to live at the living doll's house you can live with me and the other new models and i'll train you this retcon makes charlie's backstory much darker in the living doll's backdoor pilot episode charlie finds a family at the modeling agency as a way to escape her troubled home in life's a ditch tony and angela basically give charlie to a modeling agency instead of taking her in is it a deal all right all right stop twisting my arm go get your stuff go get your stuff life's a ditch ends with sam going to new york city as a bridge to the first episode of living dolls to get viewers up to speed the first episode of living dolls uses almost exactly the same script from the who's the boss backdoor pilot with rehashed scenes this is the exercise room i don't use it myself but it's important that the girls stay trimmed and this is the exercise room i never use it myself and recycled jokes martha could you return my library books i would have done it yesterday but i had to get my hair done so it looked more blonde martha could you return my library books i would have done it yesterday but i had to get my hair done so that it could be more red trim dip a non-fat artificial sour cream-like substance keep away from open flames sam meets the models again and sam is still writing her article for the school paper she's the woodward and bernstein of teen model expose unfortunately living dolls was rife with behind the scenes drama according to living dolls producer rj collery the young cast didn't get along and the writing staff never gelled michael learned says abc never figured out if her character was supposed to be a tough boss or a wholesome tv mother figure like mrs garrett and that led to learned being replaced by an actual tv mom i think had the show continued not been cancelled they probably would have replaced me with marion ross yes marion ross aka mrs c from happy days appeared on the final two episodes as trish's sister when trish was away i've left a list of chores for everyone to do while i'm away finally the models get to eat marion ross played a character named marion hey it worked for tony the episode that introduced marion has a plotline where wholesome martha almost becomes an escort come to new york trish says all you have to do is water the plants answer the phone save a girl from a desperate band of sex maniacs come on to the coast we get together have a few laughs 80s sitcoms are messed up with this casting change living dolls finally mimicked the facts of life you remember when charlotte ray left the facts of life and cloris leachman joined the show as mrs garrett's sister but the wholesome recasting was too little too late i like this woman so do i the backstage problems resulted in low ratings and harsh press and after 12 episodes living dolls was cancelled while it was short-lived fans remember living dolls and its fresh-faced cast fondly in 2019 leah remini shared memories of her and halle berry's first starring roles in 1991 who's the boss moved from its cushy tuesday night time slot to saturdays who's the boss is up next they've got laughs and much more tony and the gang joined growing pains perfect strangers and the cartoon capital critters as part of abc's short-lived tgif offshoot i love saturday night yes even tgif had a failed spin-off now up against the golden girls ratings dwindled in april of 1992 who's the boss said farewell after eight seasons in the hour-long finale tony has to choose between angela and a new job spoiler alert for a 30 year old episode of tv he picks angela but in the current tv reboot era beloved shows never actually go away a new who's the boss series will be coming soon to amazon free v the new show follows tony and grown-up sam now a single mom living in the family home tv legend norman lear is behind the who's the boss reboot even though he had nothing to do with the original hey norm bring back leah remini and fran drescher the road to a spin-off may have been rocky but for who's the boss there's a brand new life around the bend thanks for watching subscribe to atomic and hit the bell notification for more episodes of behind the back door pilot like our look at the episode of the nanny that tried to launch a spin-off episode for the wacky characters at fran's salon what's new pussycat whoa [Applause]

Channel: Atomic Abe

Views: 504,774

Keywords: Who's the Boss, Who's the Boss Amazon FreeVee, Who's the Boss reboot, Tony Danza, Alyssa Milano, Judith Light, Katherine Helmond, Fran Drescher, Leah Remini, Halle Berry Living Dolls, Living Dolls sitcom, Who's the Boss Mona, Who's the Boss FreeVee, Who's the Boss full episodes, The Nanny, Fran Drescher Who's the Boss, 80s sitcoms, Who's the Boss sequel, The Nanny movie, Fran Drescher The Nanny movie, Tony Danza Sex and the City, Tony Danza And Just Like That

Id: XFYb1sRZb8w

Length: 26min 29sec (1589 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 09 2022