City (TV series)

Last updated
City
Created by Paul Haggis
Directed by Howard Storm
Starring Valerie Harper
Todd Susman
Stephen Lee
Tyra Ferrell
Liz Torres
Mary Jo Keenen
Sam Lloyd
James Lorinz
LuAnne Ponce
Shay Duffin
Rodney Ueno (pilot only)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersPaul Haggis
Tony Cacciotti
Production locations CBS-MTM Studios
Studio City, California
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companies CBS Entertainment Productions
MTM Enterprises
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseJanuary 29 (1990-01-29) –
June 8, 1990 (1990-06-08)

City is an American sitcom television series aired on CBS from January 29 to June 8, 1990. [1] It was a new starring vehicle for Valerie Harper, which went into development not long after she and husband Tony Cacciotti won their lawsuit against Lorimar-Telepictures over her dismissal from her NBC sitcom Valerie (which continued without her as The Hogan Family ). City was created by Paul Haggis, and like the previous series was produced by Cacciotti.

Contents

Synopsis

Liz Gianni is the city manager of an unnamed city. In her line of work came dealings with the all-too-realistic but sometimes lighthearted issues of the modern-day city, from budget cuts to bureaucratic and political corruption, and the socioeconomic travails of inner-city life. Despite the turmoil that often ensued because of these problems, Liz focused on them with much exuberance, with a little kookiness thrown in, which ultimately made this a return to the type of character that first brought Harper fame on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda in the early 1970s. Liz's breezy, Amazonian mentality played more to her advantage at home, where she had to constantly keep up with—-and fret over—-her rapidly maturing 19-year-old daughter Penny. Liz and Penny's frantic repertoire and sweet "mother-daughter" moments, filled with witty dialogue, was the other central base of the show. Liz oversaw a multi-ethnic staff of crazies and eccentrics. Roger Barnett was the assistant city manager who spends most of his time betting on sports and trying to sell a worn-out racehorse he owns. Anna-Maria Batista is the tough Cuban purchasing agent whose most obvious character trait was pronouncing "yep" as "jep". Wanda Jenkins was the sarcastic black secretary, who often discussed how she did not want her young son to turn out like his father, a composer of classical music who actually made very little money. She meets Gloria Elgis, the city social coordinator, a stereotypically beautiful airhead spoiled by her wealthy family; Lance Armstrong, the creepy statistician; and Victor Sloboda, a dumb security guard, who in one episode thought a bandit had stolen the entire supply of White-Out for use in processing records for illegal immigrants. His solution to the problem: painting his entire body in correction fluid in order to "keep his eyes" on the supply! Liz and the gang all answered to Ken Resnick, the totally powerless, monumentally rotten Deputy Mayor. Running the newsstand counter was Sean, an acerbic Irishman. Chuck, an aggressive Asian mail clerk, appeared in the pilot episode.

Cast

Ratings and scheduling

On January 29, 1990, the series cracked the Nielsen Top 10. The show kept up this performance through February sweeps, but the early success did not last long. Audiences diminished over the next few months, and although the series pulled respectable numbers at the end of its inaugural season that April, CBS passed on giving City a second season. From January until April, the show aired in the plum time slot of Mondays at 8:30/7:30c, between freshman hit Major Dad and sophomore hit Murphy Brown . CBS then pulled the show for May sweeps, during which time the series was cancelled. City reappeared on Fridays at 8:30/7:30c in June, where it aired three remaining original episodes before leaving the air for good.

Coincidences between City and The Hogan Family

City had more than one coincidental occurrence with Harper's former series, now known as The Hogan Family. Ms. Harper's husband, Tony Cacciotti, had served as co-producer on both series. However, the connection became stronger when LuAnne Ponce was cast as Penny Gianni in City—she was the sister of Hogan Family star Danny Ponce (thus giving the Ponce siblings the distinction of having both been TV children of Valerie Harper). Harper's characters on both series had husbands named Michael. As if that weren't enough, CBS just happened to schedule City on Monday nights directly opposite The Hogan Family. Both shows even had a number of episodes directed by Howard Storm. City even used the same Cooper Black credit font that The Hogan Family had been using during all seasons in which Harper's replacement on that series, Sandy Duncan, had starred.

Unauthorized use

Despite its short run, the pilot episode continued to be seen by many, through their participation in product and consumer research. Research Systems Corporation, which ran the public invitation-only conventions known as The New Television Preview, had acquired selected copies of the series for showings at their public events, which were falsely passed off, along with actual unaired network pilots, as a test preview for a new series being considered for nationwide broadcast. [2]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		US viewers
(millions)
1"Pilot"UnknownUnknownJanuary 29, 1990 (1990-01-29)TBA20.2 [3]
Liz solves an emergency: a development project levels a cemetery, causing caskets to go sliding into neighboring backyards.
2"Family Business"UnknownUnknownFebruary 5, 1990 (1990-02-05)TBA17.1 [4]
Ken feels that Liz is indebted to him after he fires the mail clerk and gives the job to her daughter Penny.
3"Another One Died on the Steps Last Night"UnknownUnknownFebruary 12, 1990 (1990-02-12)TBA14.8 [5]
A homeless saxophone man has died near City Hall overnight, leaving personal effects indicating he was a man Liz knew in high school.
4"The Miracle at City Hall"UnknownUnknownFebruary 19, 1990 (1990-02-19)TBA15.7 [6]
Although he uses a wheelchair, a new employee's greater disability is his attitude.
5"Your Park of Mine"UnknownUnknownFebruary 26, 1990 (1990-02-26)TBA16.9 [7]
Liz finds herself attracted to a charming councilman named Gene Whalen (Bruce Davison) with whom she's having a political feud.
6"The Big Leak"UnknownUnknownMarch 12, 1990 (1990-03-12)TBA13.2 [8]
Ken's diversion of rec-center funds to his own pocket drives Liz to leak the story to the press, but Ken gets wind of the scoop and orders Liz to find the source.
7"You Can't Bite City Hall"UnknownUnknownMarch 19, 1990 (1990-03-19)TBA13.2 [9]
Anna-Maria is held hostage by Penny's new boyfriend (Robert Petkoff), an animal-rights activist who is protesting the selling of pound animals for research.
8"Unfinished Business"UnknownUnknownApril 2, 1990 (1990-04-02)TBA13.1 [10]
The ghost of Liz's late husband throws in his two cents on her relationship with councilman Gene Whalen (Bruce Davison).
9"Love Among the Ruins"UnknownUnknownApril 9, 1990 (1990-04-09)TBA14.8 [11]
An emergency practice drill forces the staff to stay in the building, but everyone believes it might be the real thing.
10"Oil and Water"Howard StormKathy Slevin & Glen MerzerApril 16, 1990 (1990-04-16)901111.8 [12]
A defective oil tanker, owned by Babette Croquette (Zsa Zsa Gabor), the head of Babette Cosmetics, is leaking vast quantities of oil in the river, but she refuses to pay any cleanup costs.
11"Seems Like Old Times"UnknownUnknownMay 12, 1990 (1990-05-12)TBA4.9 [13]
A confused former city manager (Estelle Getty) returns to City Hall after 31 years and tries to take charge of a library project.
12"With a Song in Your Heart and a Knife in Your Back"UnknownUnknownJune 1, 1990 (1990-06-01)TBA6.0 [14]
When Anna-Maria's husband is released from a Cuban prison, he arrives announcing he's married someone else.
13"Just a Passing Dad"UnknownUnknownJune 8, 1990 (1990-06-08)TBA5.8 [15]
Liz is reunited with her estranged father (Alan Young), but she suspects he's shown up again only because he wants something from her.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Harper</span> American actress (1939–2019)

Valerie Kathryn Harper was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical Li'l Abner. She is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she thrice received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Rhoda.

The Powers That Be is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC, premiering on March 7, 1992. It was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, with Norman Lear as executive producer. It aired for two seasons, with 21 episodes, airing its final episode on NBC on January 2, 1993.

The Famous Teddy Z is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS during the fall of 1989. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and inspired by the true story of Jay Kantor, who was a mailroom clerk at MCA and later became Marlon Brando's agent.

<i>Women of the House</i> Spin-off of Designing Women TV series

Women of the House is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of Designing Women that aired on CBS from January 4 to August 18, 1995, and the last four episodes airing on Lifetime on September 8, 1995. The series starred Delta Burke, reprising her role of Suzanne Sugarbaker, who had reconciled with producers of Designing Women after a bitter, highly publicized, off-screen battle.

Billy is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Head of the Class that aired on ABC for half a season from January 31 to May 30, 1992. The series starred Billy Connolly as Billy MacGregor, a Scottish teacher who moves to America in order to build a new life for himself.

<i>The John Larroquette Show</i> American television sitcom (1993–1996)

The John Larroquette Show is an American sitcom television series that was created by Don Reo for NBC. The John Larroquette Show was a star vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court. The series takes place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri, and originally focused on the somewhat broken people who worked the night shift, and in particular, the lead character's battle with alcoholism. The series was produced by Reo's Impact Zone Productions, Larroquette's Port Street Films and Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

<i>Anything but Love</i> American sitcom

Anything but Love is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from March 7, 1989, to June 3, 1992, spanning four seasons and 56 episodes. The show stars Richard Lewis as Marty Gold and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hannah Miller, coworkers at a Chicago magazine with a mutual romantic attraction who struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional. The series, from creator Wendy Kout and developers Dennis Koenig and Peter Noah, was produced by Adam Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

<i>Going Places</i> (American TV series) American sitcom

Going Places is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 21, 1990, to March 8, 1991. The series stars Alan Ruck, Jerry Levine, Heather Locklear, and Hallie Todd as four young Hollywood writers renting a house together. It aired as part of the TGIF block. The series was created and executive produced by Robert Griffard and Howard Adler, and developed and executive produced by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett for Miller-Boyett Productions, in association with Lorimar Television.

<i>Phenom</i> (TV series) American sitcom

Phenom is an American sitcom about a tennis wunderkind that aired on ABC from September 14, 1993 to May 10, 1994. The series stars Angela Goethals, Judith Light, and William Devane.

<i>Seinfeld</i> (season 3) Season of television series

Season three of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on September 18, 1991 on NBC, a U.S. broadcast television network. It comprises 23 episodes and concluded its initial airing on May 6, 1992. "The Tape", "The Pen", and "The Letter" are some of the season's episodes that were inspired by the writers' own experiences. Co-creator Larry David admits that season three was a big turning point for the series in terms of how the show was made; it's where the writers started doing non linear storylines with episodes containing multiple stories. George was becoming a bigger liar, Elaine was becoming more quirky, and Kramer was becoming surer of himself throughout his crazy antics. This season received eight Emmy nominations and one Directors Guild of America Award.

<i>Something Wilder</i> American TV series or program

Something Wilder is an American sitcom television series starring Gene Wilder that ran on NBC from October 1, 1994, to June 13, 1995. The series was created by Lee Kalcheim and Barnet Kellman. A total of 18 half-hour episodes were produced over one season.

<i>Grand</i> (TV series) American sitcom, originally aired on NBC in 1990

Grand is an American sitcom and soap opera parody that aired on NBC from January 18 to December 27, 1990. It was created by Michael Leeson and executive produced by Leeson, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner.

<i>On Our Own</i> (1994 TV series) American sitcom

On Our Own is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1994, until April 14, 1995. The series stars Ralph Louis Harris and six real life siblings: Jazz, Jocqui, Jake, Jojo, Jurnee, and Jussie Smollett.

<i>Bob</i> (TV series) American television situation comedy

Bob is an American sitcom television series created by Bill Steinkellner, Cheri Steinkellner, and Phoef Sutton. It aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to December 27, 1993, for two seasons. The series was the third starring vehicle sitcom for Bob Newhart, following his previous successful CBS sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart.

<i>The Jackie Thomas Show</i> American TV series or program

The Jackie Thomas Show is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC network from December 1992 to March 1993. The series received widespread attention due to its creators Roseanne Arnold, then starring in the fifth season of her comedy Roseanne, and her then-husband and Roseanne co-producer Tom Arnold. The Jackie Thomas Show starred Tom Arnold as a misanthropic sitcom actor.

<i>Dallas</i> (1978 TV series, season 13) Season of television series

The thirteenth season of the television series Dallas aired on CBS during the 1989–90 TV season.

<i>Dallas</i> (1978 TV series, season 14) Season of television series

The fourteenth and final season of the television series Dallas aired on CBS during the 1990–91 TV season.

<i>The Hogan Family</i> American television series

The Hogan Family is an American sitcom television series that began airing on NBC on March 1, 1986, and finished its run on CBS on July 20, 1991, for a total of six seasons. It was produced in association with Lorimar Productions (1986), Lorimar-Telepictures (1986–1988), and Lorimar Television (1988–1991).

References

  1. ↑ "Land of the Lost (Valerie Harper) TV Series: City" Go Retro!". Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  2. ↑ Pfalum, Nadia (July 15, 2004). "Viewer Discretion Advised". The Pitch. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  3. ↑ "'Amen,' wedded to ratings win". Life. USA Today . February 7, 1990. p. 3D.
  4. ↑ "'Faith' abides for No. 1 NBC". Life. USA Today . February 14, 1990. p. 3D.
  5. ↑ "'Home Videos' a hit for ABC". Life. USA Today . February 21, 1990. p. 3D.
  6. ↑ "'Videos' is a repeat winner". Life. USA Today . February 28, 1990. p. 3D.
  7. ↑ "'Incident' tops Sunday movies". Life. USA Today . March 7, 1990. p. 3D.
  8. ↑ "'Simpsons' soars for No. 4 Fox". Life. USA Today . March 21, 1990. p. 3D.
  9. ↑ "Fox builds Sunday strength". Life. USA Today . March 28, 1990. p. 3D.
  10. ↑ "ABC claims rare Sunday win". Life. USA Today . April 11, 1990. p. 3D.
  11. ↑ "For the week, a network tie". Life. USA Today . April 18, 1990. p. 3D.
  12. ↑ "'Earth Day' ratings bloom". Life. USA Today . April 25, 1990. p. 3D.
  13. ↑ "Sunday night sinks NBC". Life. USA Today . May 16, 1990. p. 3D.
  14. ↑ "'Seinfeld' is a standup hit". Life. USA Today . June 6, 1990. p. 3D.
  15. ↑ "'Mysteries' cracks the top 5". Life. USA Today . June 13, 1990. p. 3D.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.