Living Dolls

Living Dolls is an American sitcom featured on the fall 1989 schedule of ABC. It was a spin-off created by a writer from Who's the Boss? and featuring characters introduced during an episode of that show. The show was the acting debut of Halle Berry.[1] Both Who's the Boss? and Living Dolls were produced by ELP Communications through Columbia Pictures Television and ABC.

This article is about the television show. For the documentary, see Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen.
Living Dolls
GenreSitcom
Created byRoss Brown
Written byRoss Brown
Eric Gilliland
Directed byJohn Sgueglia
StarringMichael Learned
Leah Remini
Deborah Tucker
Alison Elliott
Halle Berry
Theme music composerJohn Beasley
John Vester
Opening theme"Living Dolls"
Composer(s)Jonathan Wolff
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producer(s)Ross Brown
Martin Cohan
Phyllis Glick
Blake Hunter
Producer(s)R.J. Colleary
Martha Williamson
Running time22–24 minutes
Production company(s)ELP Communications
Columbia Pictures Television
DistributorSony Pictures Television
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseSeptember 26 (1989-09-26) –
December 30, 1989 (1989-12-30)
Chronology
Related showsWho's the Boss?

Synopsis

The show featured Charlie Briscoe (Leah Remini), a friend of Samantha Micelli (the Who's the Boss? character played by Alyssa Milano). Samantha is dabbling in a modeling career and Charlie, a friend from Samantha's old Brooklyn neighborhood comes to visit. While doing some test shots for a dog food commercial, it is discovered that Charlie is very photogenic. Charlie is then befriended by the owner of a modeling agency for teenage girls, Trish Carlin (Michael Learned). Trish is also a friend of advertising executive Angela Bower, one of the main characters on Who's the Boss?. Trish becomes a mother figure to Charlie and the other models.

Reception

Living Dolls was universally panned by critics and received mostly negative reviews.[2] It was the only series to receive an "F" grade by People magazine in its 1989 fall preview issue.[3] ABC canceled the series after 12 episodes in December 1989.[4]

Production

The series had a back-door pilot on Who's the Boss? before turning into a series. In that episode, Vivica A. Fox played Emily instead of Halle Berry.

Two pilots were made for the series. The first, in which Berry, David Moscow, and Tucker did not appear, was produced to introduce Living Dolls as a spin-off. Their roles were portrayed by other actors. Executives disliked the original cast and held auditions for recasting.[2] Another pilot was shown directly before the Living Dolls premiere, which illustrates the reasons why Charlie moved in with Trish in the first place.

Cast

Episodes
No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1"It's All Done with Mirrors"John SguegliaRoss BrownSeptember 26, 1989 (1989-09-26)
2"It's My Party"TBATBASeptember 30, 1989 (1989-09-30)
3"Martha Means Well"TBATBAOctober 7, 1989 (1989-10-07)
4"Seeing Is Believing"TBATBAOctober 21, 1989 (1989-10-21)
5"Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner"TBATBANovember 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)
6"Rick's Model Girlfriend"TBATBANovember 11, 1989 (1989-11-11)
7"The Not So Sweet Smell of Success"TBATBANovember 18, 1989 (1989-11-18)
8"The Flash Is Always Greener"TBATBANovember 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)
9"He's Ba-aack!"TBATBADecember 2, 1989 (1989-12-02)
10"'C' Is for Model"TBATBADecember 9, 1989 (1989-12-09)
11"And I Thought Modeling Was Hard"TBATBADecember 16, 1989 (1989-12-16)
12"Beauty and the Beat"TBATBADecember 30, 1989 (1989-12-30)
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References
  1. "Halle Berry's Journey From Miss USA Runner-Up To Oscar Winner". Access Hollywood. June 16, 2011.
  2. Ewey Johnson, Melissa (2009). Halle Berry: A Biography. ABC-CLIO. p. 21. ISBN 0-313-35834-6.
  3. "Throwing a Curveball: Surprising Spin-Offs". Screenrush. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  4. "'Homeroom', 'Living Dolls' canceled by ABC". Sun Journal. 1989-12-06. p. 29. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
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