A number of “action/adventure” shows of that era (e.g., The A Team, The Highwayman) had some starlet as a reporter who became part of the gang. Often she was written out by the 13th episode and the actress faded into obscurity.
I don’t watch many scripted shows nowadays, so I’m wondering if this is still a trope?
No, it was Sharon Acker as Della Street.
Watched it!
I’ve been watching some of that. Surprisingly, it’s actually funnier than I remember.
“We’re gonna need another Timmy.”
Aha! “Odonna” from “The Mark of Gideon” on ST: TOS.
I see elsewhere that Brett Somers (correct spelling) was on the show, playing “Gertie Lade” in four episodes.
Who the hell was “Gertie Lade”? I can’t find any information on the character, and I’ve seen almost every episode of the original series with Raymond Burr. If she was in it, I don’t remember her.
You’re right that it definitely was a trope, but since women are allowed to be action heroes now, and shows don’t need to shoe-horn in female characters as spunky reporters, I think that trope is pretty much dead.
I think the current trope is that a solo action hero will have a cop of the opposite gender as a contact/dramatic foil/frenemy/romantic interest. If it’s a team of action heroes, then about half of them will be women, and there will be some romantic tension and rivalries within the team.
Actually, on Outlaws the female lead played a police lieutenant and acted a a liaison with the group who started a private detective agency.
Anybody remember a sitcom called Saigon Follies? Standard workplace antics, but it was set in a US Army TV station during the Vietnam War.
I think it was on in the winter of 1980. For some weird reason, it did not last long.
CORRECTION: It did indeed take place in Saigon, but the name of the show was The Six O’Clock Follies.
Does anyone remember a short-lived sitcom called The Single Guy? It aired for like one season in the late 1990s. From what I remember, the show centered around two young married couples and their one friend who was still a bachelor. Sort of like Friends, but the characters were a bit older and married, except for the one title character. The only thing I actually remember from it was one of the characters telling a story about being at a fancy party, asking for the “washroom” because she was too embarrassed to ask for the bathroom, and being shown to a room that contained only a sink – a story I learned shortly thereafter is an old urban legend.
I think I remember being aware of that one.
Anyone remember a series about a cartoonist whose characters came to life in his mind (or his house). Think Mary Gross and the principal from Ferris Bueller was in it.
ETA: The People Next Door
And it had 10 whole episodes!
I think I remember that. The lead actor’s name was Jonathan something and I think he was in the Weekend at Bernie’s movie (which I never saw) and Ernest Borgnine might also have been in it.
You’re right, I just looked up his IMDB page and that show’s on it. And apparently it actually lasted 2 whole seasons.
Yeah, like I said, vague memories. I think I at least got the part where they were members of an outlaw gang teamed up with a sheriff’s posse right…
I remember The Single Guy and remember liking it. It aired after Friends and even crossed over once. There was an episode where Ross shows up and they think he is gay.
The 90s were full of office-based sitcoms that had a similar tone, many now forgotten. The Single Guy, Caroline In The City, Veronica’s Closet, Suddenly Susan, then the ensembles like Just Shoot Me, Drew Carey Show, Spin City, News Radio. You could argue many of these take a different tone, but not diametrically (they aren’t Seinfeld or Third Rock From The Sun, or Married With Children).
Jonathan Silverman. I, too, watched and enjoyed The Single Guy. As Quimby says, Ross from Friends appeared in one episode. Which was weird, because Jessica Hecht, who played Susan, the new wife of Ross’s ex-wife, was a regular on The Single Guy as a completely different character. I don’t think they had any scenes together, though.
This talk about The Single Guy reminds me of the raunchy animated series The Dating Guy. It aired on the Canadian channel Teletoon as part of their Adult Swim-like late night block.
Featuring the voice of Lauren Ash (Dina from Superstore). I found it intermittently entertaining, but it was trying too hard to be outrageous sometimes. It gets bonus points for clearly being based in Toronto, though.
There was a comedy set in a small Arizona prison. It featured a Hispanic guy, and a fat guy who was in all those sit-coms back then. The only thing I remember was an escape attempt in which they took off through the desert, and made a big circle and ended up back at the prison.
On The Rocks. The Hispanic actor, whose name I cannot remember off the top of my head, played “God” in the original production of Steambath (and I think he reprised the role for the Showtime series as well). The only other actor I remember was Logan Ramsey as the warden. There was a running gag where he had taken a trip to Mexico and had a lingering case of “Montezuma’s revenge.”