
Speaking of Fran Drescher: She hosted her own backdoor pilot in "The Chatterbox" episode of her sitcom, The Nanny. Charmed Lives, the sitcom ABC created from this equation, lasted a mere three episodes. Living Dolls, the resultant series, lasted only 16 episodes and is probably remembered best as the launching pad for future Academy Award winner Halle Berry.Īnother episode pitted Fran Drescher and Donna Dixon against one another as spokesmodels for a line of pre-packaged Italian food. She ended up with a modeling contract by the end of the episode, courtesy of agency owner Michael Learned. In one instance, Leah Remini-Samantha's best friend from Brooklyn, who'd never been mentioned in previous shows-came to visit. There's an old show biz adage that says "if you throw enough shi*t against the wall, sooner or later something will stick." The creators of Who's the Boss doggedly tried to make lightning strike twice (and thrice) with limited success. (Which sort of made the nest not-so-empty, but why quibble over the little details?) 3. The producers decided that the original premise would have dissolved into constant bickering between Dooley and Moreno's characters, so they were dumped in favor of a widowed Richard Mulligan, whose adult daughters had moved back home. Empty Nest eventually did become a series, but only after some serious retooling. This episode featured only peripheral appearances by the four principals, and instead introduced us to previously-never-seen neighbors Rita Moreno and Paul Dooley, who were going through a marital crisis shortly after their college-aged daughter moved out. EMPTY NESTSįans of The Golden Girls often rate the episode entitled " Empty Nests" as one of their least favorite installments of the beloved series. The Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz hoped that Kelly's Kids would be picked up as a series, but the network passed. Sounds like a rather blah premise until you consider the "groundbreaking" 1970s twist: one of the boys was white, one was African-American, and one was Asian-American. The Kellys had adopted three boys-Matt, Dwayne, and Steve-in what must be the minimum amount of time required by California law.

During the final season of The Brady Bunch, the Brady family generously relinquished most of a 30 minute episode in order to introduce their neighbors, Ken and Kathy Kelly (portrayed by Ken Berry and Brooke Bundy).
