January 17 (1977-01-17)– November 16, 1977 (1977-11-16)
Busting Loose is an American sitcom starring Adam Arkin which centers on a young man in New York City who has moved out of his parents' house to live on his own for the first time. The show aired on CBS between January 17, 1977, and November 16, 1977.[1][2]
24-year-old Jewish American Lenny Markowitz has recently graduated from engineering school, though his true aspiration is to be a sportscaster. Tired of his overprotective and meddling parents Sam and Pearl, he secretly moves out on his own for the first time- hence "busting loose", into an inexpensive apartment in a rundown tenement in New York City. Lacking the money to even replace the duck-covered wallpaper in his new place and unable to find an engineering job, Lenny temporarily takes a job at the Wearwell Shoe Store owned by Ralph Cabell and befriends his co-worker Raymond St. Williams, a "hip" African American man.
Lenny's childhood friends- Lester Bellman, Allan Simmonds, Vinnie Mordabito, and Woody Warshaw frequently hang out with him at his place where they play poker together and get involved in various escapades. He becomes close friends with his neighbor Melody Feebeck, a tall and very attractive older redhead who works for an escort service.
While Lenny is unlucky finding an engineering job, he is also unlucky in love. In season 1 he dates several different girls, and even goes out on a date with Melody. By season 2 he manages to find a regular girlfriend, an attractive girl named Jackie Gleason (who bears no resemblance to the real-life TV and film star).[1][2][4]
During its first season, Busting Loose aired on CBS on Monday at 8:30p.m. from January to May 1977. The show then left the air until July 1977, when reruns of the first season began to air on Wednesday at 8:30p.m. The second season also ran at 8:30p.m. on Wednesday in the fall of 1977.[1]
In "Mr. Dennis Steps Out," broadcast on October 26, 1977, as the fifth episode of the second season of Busting Loose, Melody is afraid that her boss at the escort service, Roger Dennis – played by guest star Ted Knight– is going to fire her. The episode served as the pilot for Knight's first show of his own, the short-lived 1978 sitcom The Ted Knight Show, which centered on Roger Dennis's firm, the Mr. Dennis Escort Service. However, Barbara Rhoades and her Melody Feebeck character did not appear in The Ted Knight Show.[3]
Episodes
Busting Loose was broadcast over two seasons. Thirteen episodes aired during its first season in the winter and spring of 1977. Eight more were broadcast during its second season in the fall of 1977, and four other episodes produced for that season never aired.
A bullying deliveryman challenges Lenny to a fight.
4
4
"Still Nutsy After All These Years"
James Burrows
Deborah Leschin & David W. Duclon
February14,1977(1977-02-14)
Lenny's ex-girlfriend tries to rekindle their relationship.
5
5
"Grandpa Markowitz"
Harvey Miller
Mark Rothman & Lowell Ganz
February21,1977(1977-02-21)
Lenny's grandfather comes to visit. He hates his relatives and plans to shock them by dropping dead at his own 85th birthday party. (Adam's real-life father Alan Arkin plays his grandfather in this episode.)
6
6
"Hell Hath No Fury"
Norm Gray
Barry Rubinowitz
February28,1977(1977-02-28)
Lenny refuses to let Helene move in with him, so she has him jailed on trumped-up charges.
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