It's A Living Season 2 falters with Sophomore Changes
by Kristin Battestella
Hostess Nancy Beebe (Marian Mercer), sassy waitress Cassie Cranston (Ann Jillian), divorced mother Jan Hoffmeyer (Barrie Youngfellow), and inept Dot Higgins (Gail Edwards) return to the Above the Top restaurant in the 1981-82 Second Season of It's A Living. The retooling as Making A Living for these fourteen episodes, however, struggles with broad new characters and uneven humor interfering with the topical women's wit.
Laughter and awkward seriousness are slow to introduce the series' changes in the “Boys of Summer” premiere as a flirtatious baseball team wants porterhouse steaks with a side of waitress. Of course our good girls don't go beyond good luck kisses – especially when the promises come from married third basemen – but the focus is on the team, not the ladies. A mugger is afoot in “Of Mace and Men,” but it's similar to First Season burglary plots and the questions about tear gas are treated as more important than the assaults against women. Scary statistics on robbery and rape are deflated by unnecessary jokes while the girls travel in twos so they are never alone in the parking garage. Their peace of mind is the most important thing taken from them, but the caught mugger wants to sue and tired robbery B plots come up again later in the season. Somehow, It's A Living takes all the wrong tacks when it's debut year had deftly touched upon the issues with wit and women's strengths. Groom John de Lancie (Star Trek: The Next Generation) calls off the titular union in “The Wedding” because he never got over Cassie, yet once again so much time is wasted on the sarcastic in-laws that this entry feels like a backdoor spin-off. Fortunately, a potential restaurant sale in “Off the Top” improves It's A Living halfway through the season. The threat of always being fired or out of work is already common here, but the want ads, employment agencies, and paycheck to paycheck struggles hit home. Our ladies realize they aren't qualified for much, and jobs have to fit around a mother's schedule. Longtime housewives don't have a lot to put on an application, and all the work you put in at home doesn't count. A superb montage with the four waitresses trying to impress the recruiters shows the sass and worry about what to do next, and this re-addressing of women in the workplace should have been the season premiere.
Although she's still a working divorced mom also going back to school, Barrie Youngfellow's Jan only features in romantic subplots but remains sensible when her ex-husband returns in “Second Time Around, Almost.” He wants to keep it casual, but she admits that is not enough for her, and such character honesty is one of the nicer episodes this season. Jan leads the ensemble at the racetrack after overhearing a customer's hot tip in “Horsing Around,” but she shouldn't have to share the winning big or lose it all lesson with the attempt to bolster new characters or via more dating mishaps in the “A Farewell to Arm” finale. Who knew Ann Jillian's tell it like it is Cassie was originally a Kansas brunette named Katie Lou? A former flame tempts her, but Cassie isn't sentimental and does the right thing even when receiving no spotlight of her own this season. Though reluctant in group activities, she takes charge, appreciating that her coworkers aren't threatened by her moxie. It's surprising that this It's A Living retooling under utilizes its best assets, and Marian Mercer as takes no crap hostess Nancy also has little to do. Her breezy frocks and harsh demeanor are on point when telling the girls to not cry over the threat of losing their jobs yet she's the one kissing the ballplayers. Nancy says the waitresses actually don't know a lot about her, and if they really cared about anything other than themselves, they would work harder. Despite the occasional kind wisdom, she threatens the girls should they tell when she's being nice. Gail Edwards' ditsy wannabe actress Dot's mouse in the restaurant and dead dog in a dog food commercial side plots should have been their own A stories, too. When Dot gets the lead in “The Garden of Countess Natasha,” the play is good but she is not and it's Nancy who tells her to forget the harsh critics instead of quitting. The cheery hospital roommate and nightgowns of “Strange Bedfellows” are ripped right out of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as everything goes wrong for Dot, and this time the riotous World War I veterans at the restaurant should have been the star story. At its worst It's A Living makes viewers wonder why sitcoms ever used A/B plotting if such storytelling has the wrong lead.
When not pretending to be blind for more tips, Paul Kreppel's demeaning piano player Sonny Mann plays 'Stand By Your Man' during a divorced women's conference. He belittles the waitresses, saying he'd rather die than be a waiter before touching and kissing women without asking and rightfully getting the keyboard lid dropped on his fingers. When a woman claims Sonny is her baby daddy in “All My Son,” any poignant messages are wrapped in the wrong humor, and jokes about the child being overweight ruin what should be moral growth before the easy 'it was all a scam' get out of jail free card. Sonny's favored brother is also in town for “Mann is Mann,” but his fiancee comes on to Sonny. Such erroneous A plot dalliances aren't as bemusing as the waitresses arguing about how to divvy the prize on a lost winning ticket, and Sonny receiving so much attention over the female stars is inexplicable. Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) receives top billing this season as the often clueless Maggie McBurney, but she has no real introduction beyond throwaway lines about her late husband and grown children when her return to the workplace is a plot unto itself. Maggie's look also changes per episode with custom uniform designs and different hair lengths suggesting out of order airings that place her featured episodes near the end of the season. Being a sentimental widow remains her only character trait save for her contrived disapproval of her younger brother dating the older Jan in “Young Love.” This ninth episode makes Maggie very unlikable before the pleasantly awkward dipping the toe into dating of “Falling in Love Again.” Maggie admits she isn't ready to remarry in a fine, mature take that should have come much earlier in the season. Unfortunately, Earl Boen (The Terminator) is almost nonexistent as cranky, offended by leftovers chef Dennis Hubner before his spotlight in the eighth episode “Jealousy or Mildred Fierce” when his wife leaves him. We know so little about Dennis that this may as well have been a guest star.
Director John Bowab (The Facts of Life) helms ten episodes this season alongside seven credited writers – including multiple women – but too many hands in the pot contribute to the lack of cohesive humor in this sophomore shake-up. At twenty-one odd minutes per episode, it's tough to tell what was then too short or what is new syndication cuts. The laugh track is also loud compared to low voices sans subtitles, and the flat print is obviously not HD quality. Thankfully, the classic theme tune remains classy good fun, and new tone on tone purple uniforms contrast the black and white styles better than the more risque fashions in the First Season. Off work ruffles, boots, chokers, and peasant blouses accent feathered hair, classic cars, and listening to a ballgame on the transistor radio nostalgia. I swear though, Maggie's house set is young Sophia's Brooklyn apartment from The Golden Girls! Sadly, after a brief streaming stint that seemingly resolved any rights issues holding the series back, It's A Living is again unavailable on Prime and TubiTV – leaving retro network reruns and a full DVR as the rare option to watch. The short Making A Living re-brand has a few gem episodes, but the poorly written humor misfires and never uses the stellar ladies to their best potential.
