It's A Living Season 6

 

It's A Living Season 6 is Ready to End

by Kristin Battestella

The final twenty episode Sixth Season of It's A Living concludes in 1989 – limping to an uneven finish despite pivotal moments for our Above the Top waitresses when Jan (Barrie Longfellow) feels fat and stressed in “The Jan's Pregnant Show.” Her HVAC husband Richie (Richard Kline) considers moving to North Dakota and Jan was ready to have their teenagers out of the house in a few years. A lot is happening in this episode and it's surprising It's A Living would commit to a growing bump throughout the season, but the character focus brings the home and work life changes together.

Similar to Season Four's Psycho spoof, “Rear Window” has waitress/actress Dot (Gail Edwards) spying from the restaurant lounge window on a suspected murderer. Binocular visuals of the crime accent the nonbeliever cops, and this dialogue driven caper shows what the ensemble can do. Of course the apparent culprit comes to the restaurant, and the humorous horrors continue in “A Very Scary It's a Living.” Dot's researching for a slasher part and falls asleep in the lounge – dreaming of black and white point of view knives, screams, and evil hostess Nancy (Marian Mercer). Heavy breathing, shadowed lighting, ominous cues, lightning, and exaggerated zooms maximize the kitchen cauldrons and chainsaws as It's A Living goes for broke with all the horror cliches in one of the series' wittiest episodes. A piano playing guest is shocked at the badness of Above the Top's lounge singer Sonny (Paul Kreppel) in “Mike Fright” and temporarily fills in for him in what may be the highlight of this re-watch for me. The difference is superb as staff and guests are captivated by a true musical talent. The irony of course, is that such performance is bad for business because the customers order less drinks without having to listen to Sonny. Although “It's Dark at the Top of the Top” seems like it should have come at the beginning of the season instead of tossed in as a routine episode later on, a restaurant power outage and stuck in the elevator mishaps acerbate Nancy's potentially being replaced by a younger hostess, and the waitresses have one last chance to complain about their sexist uniforms. The ladies are in a bad mood for the “A Very Special It's a Living” finale, too – until Jan needs an emergency cesarean and dreams of Danny Thomas (Make Room for Daddy) as Death. She holds the bedpan for his cigar ashes in a lovely mix of humor and poignancy as Nancy says we should choose our words wisely because they might be the last thing we say. Here in the end, It's A Living shows that it can be excellent when it has a care for charming statements and tender moments.

Unfortunately, It's A Living gets off to a very weak start in the “Pistol Packin' Mama” premiere with men's vs women's views on guns and macho showmanship crowded amid a hotel owner degrading the waitresses and a customer dropping dead in his soup. They are there to serve not be abused, chef Howard (Richard Stahl) fears the dead diner – which has happened on the show previously – and this rocky execution does too much and not enough. Either by budget or choice, It's A Living leaves the hotel as little as possible, which means waitress Ginger (Sheryl Lee Ralph) moving out because roommate Amy (Crystal Bernhard) owns a gun is actually barely addressed. “Never Trust Anyone Under 40” grinds to a halt with repetitive nothing burgers at a stinky birthday party for Sonny, and the ensemble doesn't get enough attention thanks to obnoxious, unnecessary recurring characters. Jan fights a snobbish mini mall developer disrupting her neighborhood's playground so Ginger uses a voodoo kit her granny sent her to fix it in “You Do Voodoo.” Ginger's supposed to do love spells to find a man even though she already has a beau, and it's the same old runaround on top of racism instead of Jan making a community statement. After already repeating ideas from The Golden Girls, It's A Living's writing grows very lazy with political quips and pop references, and the cast is often divided in their own busy stories. It's frustrating to see one great episode amid three bad, and the stories often don't resolve – ending on punchlines instead. The series itself doesn't seem to know how to end, going all out four big marriages and births between run of the mill sitcom plots. Barrie Longfellow as Jan Hoffmeyer Gray suffers most, knitting in the lounge between hardly any mention of her pregnancy early in the season and only one opening appearance from her husband. He's said to be on the phone a few times alongside expense worries and gender results reduced to B or C moments that deserved primary attention. Dot even gets Jan a commercial about a pregnant woman with cravings for the pastrami product and we don't get see it.

Marian Mercer's Nancy Beebe warns the waitresses to wise up because they are all too old to work at McDonald's, and she and Richard Stahl's Howard Miller argue over wallpaper, their nest egg, his high blood pressure being her fault, and his mother staying with them. They tell each other off and have heart to hearts – Nancy wonders why people don't do more, if it's ignorance or apathy, but Howard says he doesn't know or care. Despite their banter, this opposites attract relationship grows tiring as It's A Living never shows their experiences but leaves them hating each other in kitchen B plots. Their twofer focus in “The Nancy and Roscoe Show” isn't bad, but Nancy is trying to make Howard jealous and this has been done a dozen times already on It's A Living. Gail Edwards' actress cum waitress Dot Higgins feels guilty for standing up to a groping customer who drops dead, and when she gets a hairspray commercial, she ends up turning it down over the hole in the ozone layer. The girls quote the terrible lines while she rehearses in “Dot Casts Off” but instead of a role, Dot is offered a job at the casting agency. This puts her in direct conflict with another bad actress friend, however it's all easily fixed in a sitcom bow with Dot apparently content at the casting job yet still waitressing at Above the Top. Although by the late in the season baby shower, Dot feels left out and spends her rent money on the titular “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” Unfortunately, she can't force herself to marry the pleasant fumigator who gives her a scarab ring – sadly leaving Dot in the same place where she started.

Crystal Bernard as good girl Amy Thompkins inexplicably thinks Freddy Krueger is cute yet writes religious children's stories that keep getting rejected by the publisher. She meets a traveling minister in “The Amy and Bobby Show,” and what could have been a fitting exit for the character instead goes round and round with whether they are going to be in love and resist temptation or just get married already. The romance is forgotten for most of the season until a rushed Valentine desperation in “Just Say Yes,” where a side plot of free aerobics classes to promote the new gym at the hotel would have been more fun to see than the so virginal Amy suddenly so horny that she's proposing to him. Otherwise, Amy mostly repeats Ginger's stories from home, and it's unfair that Sheryl Lee Ralph's waitress gets engaged off-screen after she crashes her ex-boyfriend's wedding – also off-screen – in “The New Guy Show.” She's ready to get married, then isn't. Once confident, now Ginger's reluctant to date a doctor in more retreads and resets. The roommates argue about how much they'll miss each other when they decide to have a double ceremony in “Wedding, Wedding.” Of course, it's only the second time we see both grooms, and It's A Living rushes over the nuptials as unremarkable. The new wives can't cook and ask Howard to teach them, but neither wants to stick their hand in the chicken and it's clear that It's A Living does not know what to do with Ginger and Amy as individuals. Customers likewise roll their eyes at Paul Kreppel's piano playing Sonny Mann, his butchered knockoffs, contrived clown costumes, and racist performances. He tells Nancy she's an overbearing, terrible dresser, but again It's A Living wastes time with his Sonny's Man Hole local cable access show before he gets a singing partner who won't sleep with him so Sonny complains he's artistically unfulfilled. “I Never Sang For My Father” is clearly an out of order episode with Jan's traditional rather than pregnancy uniform, and her side plot with the kids dialing 1-900 numbers sounds like more fun than Kreppel going split screen to play Sonny's nuisance dad. By time we get to the fake accents and kissing to exchange microfilm while Sonny plays spy in “My Little Red Book,” it's clear It's A Living is out of ideas.

Although the increasingly bigger, longer, feathered hair matches It's A Living's bouncy theme tune, it's a sitcom liberty that waitresses could serve food with such fluffy hair everywhere! The black and burgundy uniforms remain standard, but wild teal and purple colors accent the chunky sweaters, wide belts, boxy blazers, shoulder pads, and big brooches. Nancy's gowns and capes are again downright Gibson Girl, but I really dig a green Edwardian frock she wears. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the ugly wedding dresses! It's A Living finally leaves the hotel locales for Jan's protesting the development, but the work trailer is Stan's mother's trailer as seen in The Golden Girls, and It's A Living also uses the talking heads on a table joke just like it's more memorable sister production. While It's A Living is finally readily available on free streaming services after years of obscurity, the episode numbers or titles are occasionally out of order with several episodes missing altogether. I guess somebody didn't set the timer on their VCR, but when Nancy computerizes Howard's recipe file, she at least saves it on a giant floppy disc! For decades I missed seeing It's A Living, but today one has to accept this is not a groundbreaking eighties hit and ultimately never achieved it's potential. At times It's A Living felt like a chore to watch critically as the series goes through the syndicated sitcom motions even in this Final Year. Although disappointing if you expect deeper comedy commentary among the cringe plots and muddled characterizations, It's A Living is easy to half pay attention to for the occasional nostalgic zeal.

It's A Living Season 5

 

It's A Living Seasons 5 is a Mixed Bag

by Kristin Battestella

By 1987, It's A Living and its Above the Top high rise waitresses are in full syndication swing for Year Five – the series' longest season at twenty-six episodes. Ironically, the second episode “Her Back to the Future” should have been the Season Five premiere, showing how outlandish It's A Living can get with hostess Nancy Beebe (Marion Mercer) dreaming what everything would be like in ten years. Lyle Waggoner (The Carol Burnett Show) guests amid Chippendales, an impeached president Ed Asner, and a few maracas as the waitresses bring down the house. I almost wish It's A Living was always this zany with one plot giving everyone a moment to shine. Even the distorted, dreamy focus, spotlights, jump editing, and music changes provide an extra comedy panache.

Certainly “Sweet Charity” recalls The Golden Girls' “Henny Penny – Straight, No Chaser” as wannabe actress Dot Higgins' (Gail Edwards) children's theater gets sick so our waitresses act out Little Red Riding Hood. Both episodes were written by producer Tom Whedon and half the time is wasted in setting the scene, however this is a rare episode away from the hotel restaurant. Nancy is said to be in her dressing room baying at the moon to prepare playing the big bad wolf, and the costumes, nerves, cardboard stage design, and silly song and dance are so stupid, it's fun when it all goes humorously wrong. By contrast, there's a touch of antagonism and conflicts that would actually happen between coworkers in “Search and Strike” thanks to vengeful miscommunications and invasion of privacy protests when the staff's lockers are searched. When nothing but a cheap tawdry novel is found on naive Amy's (Crystal Bernard) shelf, the waitresses decide to forge a diary from chef Howard (Richard Stahl) for infatuated Nancy to find. Here It's A Living gets right to the point in not making it easy for our ladies. Likewise, “The One About The Tattooed Lady” provides cranky retirees, a funeral party bringing the urn to Above the Top, and Nancy wanting to impress a well to do cousin who it turns out ran away to join the circus. The ladies can't remember the late regular who has left them $5,000, and a lot of nothing is actually happening, but the one night at the restaurant hi-jinks provides lessons, mistaken farce, and twists with It's A Living firing on all cylinders. Dot still thinks being a waitress is temporary after nine years and gets another wannabe actress a job as a dishwasher in “Dot's Hope.” She thinks L.A. will eat up the green newbie, Nancy laughs at Dot's opinions, and Howard thinks a dishwasher is a man's job and overcompensates by being super nice even when Hope makes mistakes. Dot doesn't get the part on a big sitcom but Hope does, and It's A Living posits on the conflict, jealousy, and if being a waitress is the career and it's the dreams that become the hobby on the side.

Unfortunately, It's A Living relies on far too many marriage themed episodes as if there were no other sitcom subjects. Even piano player Sonny Mann (Paul Kreppel) is at the altar in the “Till Death Do Us Part” premiere. No one expects the nuptials to actually happen, and the more mature secondary plot of Howard wearing a toupee to impress his high school girlfriend takes a backseat, setting Year Five off on the wrong tone. Dot realizes her baby clock is ticking in “The Date Show,” but her looking at baby books and making a list of potential fathers is resolved in two scenes. The seriousness of her actually having a pregnancy scare could have been poignant, but once again It's A Living crowds an entry with too many plots that deserved more attention. It's A Living often plays solely for the punchline, and it can be frustrating to watch when so many great events, ideas, and situations are merely said for something to say rather than actually shown. Is It's A Living merely meant to be about that ensemble dialogue producing canned laughter or is it just poor writing that never delves into deeper characterizations? I like the ladies and want to see their ups and downs in and out of the restaurant, but It's A Living gets tiring when the episodes do nothing but talk about things that don't happen. Do I expect too much of the show now compared to the casual catch an episode charm of it then? The performances carry the series, but viewing critically shows how little the ensemble is actually given to do, and Season Five lags mid-season with nonstarter stories, and entwined A and B plots over-reliant on too many visiting relatives come too many episodes in a row late in the season. Sonny shooting a music video overtakes Ginger's visiting Nana in “Ginger's Grandmother Show,” so we don't see the three's a crowd scenarios with Ginger telling her she can't drive and roommate Amy bonding with Nana. The music video itself is also embarrassing and not what I had in mind when I asked for It's A Living to embrace it's song and dance opportunities. Why couldn't a real guest musician rent Above the Top for a shoot? Campaign volunteer Ginger is caught by the newspaper on the lap of a politician but Sonny ditching a one night stand is the priority of “Ginger and the Senator.” Although the resulting conflict between all four ladies is great, everything is resolved because time is up, and a few episodes focusing mostly on one plot without shoehorned in Sonny moments are a marked difference. Dot singing on an adopt-a-pet telethon also waits while Sonny uses saving a choking patron to score in “Healings, Nothing More Than Healings,” but her rehearsal beside the piano shames Sonny and even impresses Nancy. It's A Living seems okay with never letting characters progress, preferring to be syndication ready with no need to see anything before to tune in, and the penultimate filler clip show “The Waiting Game” provides uneven musical highlights for some and mere quips for others. The framing device of a journalist interviewing the waitress about the pros and cons of the job could have been very interesting, for none of the ladies think of waitressing as their primary career. It's A Living has no clips to show when the interviewer asks the women if living together and working together is a conflict or reinforces their relationships, and the staff losing their hotel parking privileges in the season finale is played for stereotypes rather than labor commentary. They protest the problems women face with street parking in the wee hours, but managements puts a television in the lounge as compensation – because the point of the episode is the ladies becoming obsessed with the latest juicy miniseries, not anybody standing up for themselves.

Top billed Barrie Youngfellow's Jan Hoffmeyer Gray has spent five years in law school but quotes legalese she said she heard on Simon & Simon and now knits in the lounge instead of studying. We never see her home life, but Jan supposedly tells her husband Richie about what happens at work and they laugh about it when not arguing over the double standard between her daughter not being allowed to see Madonna while his son is free to go to The Beastie Boys concert. Jan takes piano lessons with her step son, wanting to bond with him and teach him some culture and disciple, yet It's A Living doesn't think that is an important enough plot to show. Her daughter Ellen is now fourteen and dating an older boy in “No, My Darling Daughter,” but again it's all more told rather than seen and mostly about everyone except Jan. She talks about writing up a will with Richie, and Richard Kline actually appears in “Take Back Your Mink,” coming into a big project and splurging on the titular frock for Jan. The girls fawn over it in great ensemble moments properly interwoven not crowding each other, for It's A Living is best when focusing on its down on their luck waitresses and their economic dilemmas. Richie's project falls through amid a hotel blood drive gone awry, and Jan must figure out where they can cut costs – including returning the coat. It's A Living doesn't forget Jan's dad dated Dot's mom when he visits again in “Daddy's Little Girl,” but Jan invites her mom Georgann Johnson (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) to dine with dad, who has actually married again to a younger woman. The awkward, passive aggressive zingers and family surprises earn most of the episode's focus, and even Jan faints. Dot suggests Jan wear a wig to spice up her marriage in “Tune In, Tune Out,” but Jan's upset, even jealous of herself when Richie prefers the wig. The delicious relationship dilemma is crammed into an episode also featuring a labor dispute when both deserved their own slots, not to mention it's all odd because Richie calls Jan 'Red' and this episode is strangely placed as the finale after It's A Living's requisite clip show. Nancy Beebe confides in Jan and almost considers her a friend but refuses to hug her. Marian Mercer's severe hostess kisses up to a hotel stockholder's daughter for her wedding, and the waitresses are suspicious when Nancy is nice. She freely lends Richard Stahl's chef Howard the $900 he owes the loan shark, but of course, the money is said to be under her pillow. Howard has three talents – cooking, magic, and bowling – but he doesn't want Nancy to change him and admits he feels smothered by her advances. Nancy tells Howard he can knock on her door, and their relationship finally matures from sexual harassment to a mutual goodnight kiss. The next day regrets and workplace awkwardness could have continued for multiple episodes as they agree to continue dating, however out of order production and erroneous episode airings play up, reset, or erase their romance. He's not ready to commit and dates others, but guest singer Jack Jones commands the restaurant crowd, puts Sonny to shame, and whisks Nancy to Vegas in “The Vegas Show” two-parter. This probably didn't need to be an hour, yet multiple storylines are fulfilled regarding maneater double standards and mid-life fears, making the case that ongoing arc stories would have better served It's A Living, but that was never going to happen in 1987. Howard flies to Vegas to defend Nancy's honor and asks her to marry him in an excellent moment that ends up rushed alongside other plots before a five minute wedding with an Elvis impersonator. A few scenes per episode in the kitchen provide hear tell of a $465 checkbook mistake because Howard is still renting his old apartment, but their marriage is said to be a balancing act with Nancy going to his Chuck Norris marathon and Howard telling her to behave while at Above the Top.

Crystal Bernard's virginal Amy Tompkins wants five kids and a dog with the white picket fence, but she's shocked when researching her family tree reveals her grandmother was a madam. It's more an aside than a major plot, and It's A Living keeps the character naive with pink bows and denim ruffles like one of the orphans on Jem. Customers roll their eyes at her Snyder, Texas a la St. Olaf stories, and Amy gets obsessed with a food processor until Ginger destroys it but sadly, we don't get to see any of their roommate struggles. The girls have nice heart to hearts about fears and rehabilitation when Amy's prison pen pal visits in “A Pen Pal for Your Thoughts,” however he's not handsome as written, just an old man who uses Amy to rob a liquor store off screen. Too many plots are unnecessarily squashed together while Bernard goes underutilized amid the preposterous pairing of Amy and Sonny's sleazy friend Louie in “The Amy and Louie Show.” Not only do we not get to see Howard buying a boxer (just like on The Golden Girls) and Nancy getting into the gym scene, Amy's awkward bowling date is ultimately about Sonny making Louie choose between them. Most of Gail Edwards' Dot Higgins' acting shenanigans are likewise off screen or a phone call rejection from her latest audition. She wants to be a star but can't afford a new $30,000 car unless she sleeps in it. Dot says she enjoys suppressing her personality to create another character and tries wearing a blonde wig – afterthoughts in the restaurant lounge when we should have seen an episode revolving around her dieting to the extreme for an anorexic role. Dot begins to feel grotesque at serving all the food she can't eat, but it's all a subplot resolved in a few scenes. When Dot lands a soap opera role in “The Killing of Sister Dot,” the episode is largely about Amy and Ginger arguing over planning a party and Howard's nomination for a chef award. Coming after several one plot episodes, this entry proves how the ABC plotting does not work for It's A Living. Dot's playing a nun killed in a tabernacle explosion before also playing her evil twin, but it's all talk rather than us laughing at the show within a shown. It's delightful when the girls play dress up and rehearse in the lounge, and this ludicrous soap could have been a great ongoing in joke. Likewise, “Strictly Personal” is about everything but Dot's posting in the personals column. She chooses against a millionaire with a yacht and instead ends up with the boy who runs Pecos Pete's Chow Wagon on The Golden Girls. Dot does get a decent newspaper boyfriend in “Everyone's a Critic,” but he has to review her new play when we, of course, don't get to see how enthusiastically bad her performance was.

Confident Sheryl Lee Ralph as Ginger St. James intends to run her own fashion business with style and efficiency and enjoys getting back at Nancy. Her steady Jason names his boat after her but she's too stylish to get wet and we don't get to see their sailing mishaps anyway. I'd like to have seen her waiting tables go awry when she gets some crazy sculpted nails and can't open her locker with them, but alas, most of Ginger's excitement is again off camera. She dresses up Amy and is unusually fearful when meeting Jason's parents – until they are glad to see her after roommate Amy is the one to answer the door. It's disappointing It's A Living doesn't maximize Ralph or the character; we don't even find out her name is actually Virginia until late in Year Five. Of course, Ginger rejects Jason's pushy proposal in “The No Guys Show,” but It's A Living forgot that her not being ready to get married also happened near the end of Season Four. Amy gossips to the other girls about Ginger and Jason's ups and downs, cheaply creating backhanded developments we never saw when Phil Morris' (Seinfeld) Jason should have been a recurring character. Instead, we see Ginger dumping him on the phone in the lounge before she calls to take him up again, and it's all a stagnant, unfair nothing burger despite most of the episode focusing on this story – an engagement that's also strung along through most of Season Six. Unfortunately, Paul Kreppel's piano gags as Sonny Mann also waste precious time It's A Living did not have. He butchers the national anthem, scabs when his union goes on strike, and is angry when a fat girl he expects to be easy isn't. Sonny takes an art class for the nude models and wants the girls to sign up so he can finger paint, and he's surprised when his sex book gets rejected by the publisher for his suggestion that a man should start a date with beer and knock out drops. WTF. Sonny thinks sleeping with Amy would make him feel better because his mother berates him in “The Sonny's Mother Show.” She's right that when he acts like a man, he will be treated like one, but rather than any lessons learned, we instead get a Sonny as a kid flashback featuring Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell). When a women's feminist group comes to Above the Top in “Twelve Angry Women,” Sonny deserves every insult they give him for his touch feely and inappropriate songs. They point out how the girls are overworked and underpaid and harassed in their uniforms, but this episode is about Sonny instead. It was enough to stall my re-watch mid-season, and just once I wish there was an episode without Sonny. I don't remember if he was so popular back then, but his antics are insufferable now and I can't fathom why so many plots revolve around him while the waitresses remain largely unexplored.

The swinging theme tune and ritzy opening credits once again set the It's A Living mood even if some episodes are too short at under twenty-one minutes with credits. The black and burgundy uniforms are classy now, but the teased hair in big banana clips rise to the height of eighties deliciousness amid colorful ruffles and high-waisted acid wash jeans. The wedding gowns, however, are hideous, and poor Nancy wears terrible draped gowns with baggy shirts, dropped waists, and giant belts. Late in the season she wears a green ensemble that looks more 1890s than 1980s, but the exaggerate sleeves and ruffled train are actually the best she's worn. The menswear bow tie frocks unfortunately look like cast offs from Dorothy Zbornak's closet. It's A Living borrows incidental music from The Golden Girls as well – they go to the same reused chapel set, and there are so many guests from The Golden Girls making appearances on It's A Living it's almost comical. Honestly, if you are a massive fan of The Golden Girls, it becomes almost impossible to separate re-watching the lesser seen It's A Living from it's beloved sister production. Currently, It's A Living finally has multiple seasons available on several FAST platforms. However, some of the episodes seem mislabeled or out of order, and either by oversight or a deliberate pull, the Season Five episode “Skin Deep” is not available. I started reviewing this series with a full length, episodic focus because I wanted to bring attention to a forgotten show I enjoyed. However, Year Five felt like a chore with few stand out episodes because the production's goal seems to be going through motions for syndication ease while yes of course The Golden Girls received all the attention. It's A Living had the potential to be as great – if their own writers would have paid attention to the ensemble storytelling.

It's A Living Season 4

 

Cast Gels for It's A Living Season 4

by Kristin Battestella

The cast is in place for the twenty-five episode 1986-87 syndicated fourth season of It's A Living with “The Roof Show” premiere introducing Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary) as the series' final waitress Ginger St. James. Arguments and secrets over who's trying to get out of work early lead to the ladies being locked out one by one. Unprepared hostess Nancy is left waiting the tables while the waitresses flail at the Above the Top luxury restaurant windows, and the randomness of each set up is a lot of fun because we don't often see the ensemble outside of the hotel where episodes like “The Bar” do best. Orange juice drinking Amy goes along to the singles bar for a rowdy adventure featuring Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) in another episode about nothing that showcases the ensemble interplay beyond their job. Three days off is also an excuse for a breakdown on the way to Vegas in the obvious Psycho parody “Night at the Iguana.” Creepy mothers and a motel peppered with taxidermy certainly make the ladies paranoid. They're aware of the Psycho similarities but try not to jump to murderous conclusions in the largely one room humor, and the sharing of fears revelations elevate the goofy spoof. Rumors of workplace dalliances in “The Dot and Howard Show” are also intriguing to see thanks to jealousy, clouded judgments, and rules for no restaurant dating that apply to some but not others. Our ladies are both able to talk it out or tell one it's none of her business – keeping an awkward situation mature. Of course, “Farewell, My Sonny” is clearly the precursor to writer Tom Whedon's “The Case of the Libertine Belle” on The Golden Girls with forties fancy dress, a Bogie-esque detective, and a Who Dunnit Society at Above the Top. The staff is supposed to be in on the murderous ruse, but the crime within a crime provides song and dance winks, and once again I wish It's A Living did more of these one plot, all performance episodes.

Our ladies dream of what they will do when they strike it rich in “Sonny's Oil (aka The Oil Show)”– like buying pantyhose without runs and a bathroom with two sinks. Some, however, remain sensible and get out of the prospecting as more drilling drains more money. More financial plots or get rich quick schemes would have been fitting, but piano player Sonny is erroneously leading here instead of the working waitresses relieved to have life a bit easier with just a little extra money in their pockets. This mid-season seems stronger even if “The Evictables” repeats opposites attract roommates from the First Season  when a landlord dispute has Ginger moving in to a YWCA style, no men allowed building with Amy. A great Patty Duke and The Patty Duke Show joke deserved more time, and you'd think more celebrities would dine at Above the Top! Singing bad summer stock tunes, sleeping in the dressing room lounge, sneaking in the kitchen for breakfast, hiding from Nancy in their lockers – a lot's happening in this episode but the character focus brings it together. The waitresses being left with the child they're babysitting in “Ginger's Baby” has certainly been done already, and the similar Golden Girls episode even originally aired the same week! Nancy changes the schedule and couldn't care less about a baby in the restaurant, but Ginger stands up to her unyielding in a moment that feels written for previous It's A Living star Ann Jillian. Despite the derivatives; the ladies sing, Nancy can't handle the baby, and Howard saws Nancy in half for his magic act. The titular fan club of “The Dickie Doodle Show” has the girls acting out their silly childhood memories, singing while they count their tips, and playing with the props after hours. Such shenanigans interfere with critical vice president meetings and hotel promotion opportunities amid the nostalgic reflection of seeing child stars grow old. The well done farce continues in “A Romantic Comedy” as employee of the month Jan wins a free night at the hotel. The rendezvous, however, is hampered by short staffing, knocks at the door, work emergencies, and injuries as It's A Living uses the entire ensemble to full effect. Young Amy and the new bus boy have potential sparks for “Manhandling,” but she's not ready so he moves in on fellow waitress Dot. Although the meat of the story is off camera, the men between ladies and arguments about who puts out or gets hurt conflicts provide new It's A Living growth.

Unfortunately, the former flames and high school reunions of “The Reunion Show” have already had their share on It's A Living. Everyone reminisces about regrets, mistakes, and bad experiences, but it's all crowded and flat rather than personal. Before we really meet Ginger, Amy accuses her of having an affair with Jan's husband in “Surprise.” It's all innocent misunderstands of course in a half hour that ends up meaningless. Dot's mom and Jan's dad hook up in two scenes for “Family Feud,” as It's A Living wastes more time on repetitive romances. A rival of chef Howard turned restaurant critic arrives in “Critic's Choice,” but the focus here is erroneously on gossip about Ginger and Sonny instead of cuisine jokes and Nancy's fear of a bad review leading to her offering herself to secure the restaurant's reputation. Viewers expect one story but then another plot hogs the time, and the frustrating A/B structure shoehorns everyone in when it's more realistic to not have every waitress work in every episode. The ladies refusing to jump out of a cake despite the $200 pay in “Bachelor Party” could have been its own plot, but Howard's reconciliation with his daughter is also saddled with her dating Sonny. For every potential wisdom, there is another stupid turn. Back to back former boyfriend plots begat “Dot's Priest” and her conflicted feelings over his still being cute and leaving the cloth amid car accidents, Jan's goldfish bowl, and more derivative crowding that doesn't give the characters a chance to shine. The white savior cultural conflict is also played for laughs in “The Howie Show” when Polynesian islanders arrive to worship Howard's magic tricks and offer him a woman to give them a little Howie. The in-uniform Nancy ready to get the most tips and win a best waitress contest should have been the majority of the episode rather than a fun high speed montage in the last 5 minutes. Ginger accepts proposals from two men but both fall through in yet another marriage plot for “The Two Guys Show” while Nancy mixes business with pleasure in Howard's contract negotiations. He demands a clause to cease her physical harassment and sexual innuendos, but she sobs until he forgoes his demands – and then invites him to an adult motel. Such a provocative element deserved to be played seriously, and the excellent performances with devious characterizations strangely shows the best and worst of It's A Living at once. Instead of a singular tour de force, “Nancy's Shrink” is another clip show finale. The psychiatrist thinks her sick sexual fantasies are rooted in her relationships with her coworkers, but the humorous clips jar with the potentially serious therapy. Filler episodes like this show how the writing on It's A Living is not on par with the performances as Nancy brings down the house with a “Love for Sale” song and dance dream.

Barrie Youngfellow's Jan Hoffmeyer Gray remains headstrong, believing in shared marital responsibilities and a woman's right to decide if, where, and when. She fills in as hostess and stands up for when she knows she is right. Jan doesn't get along with her visiting mother-in- law, yet just like last season, her blended family home life goes unexplored. Husband Richard Kline is told of more than seen, with “Richie's Sculpture” being a brief moment about his art on the side when not doing HVAC at Above the Top. Richie wants to take his “Red” to Chicago when a business opportunity arises, but her having to work instead of supporting him is relegated to a C plot resolved in two scenes. When admired for work, home, and going to law school, Jan admits she had to quit school for the time being – an important development relegated to a throwaway line as It's A Living underutilizes its now top billed star. Of course, Marian Mercer's Nancy BeeBee says only Sean Penn could take advantage of her, and she's still after the challenge of obtaining the future “Howard Beebee.” Nancy feigns interest in science to flirt with a potentially rich geologist and sucks up to the crusty hotel management. She wants to become restaurant supervisor of all their West Coast hotels just for the power and is annoyed when she's merely named employee of the month. She would never abuse her position, but she wants to know what Howard would do to keep his boss happy. Nancy hopes the girls pass it on when they call her the meanest boss in town, and she wants to be even meaner when the waitresses stop being afraid of her. She's been deprived of celebration in her life and won't discuss age but drops hints in “Nancy's Birthday Party,” testing her friendship with each girl and bonding over bad birthday memories in superb, humorous soliloquies before some fun mistaken doorbells and cake surprises. It's disappointing we don't get to see her roughing it outdoors when following Howard on his fishing trip, but instead her competitive, wealthy, recently divorced sister Gloria visits in “Nancy's Sister.” Gloria throws herself at Howard in more Golden Girls derivatives, but the repressed, unpopular Nancy won't relent and have it out with her sister. Although Nancy insults their advice, she confides in the ladies, and It's A Living is great when it focuses on a character driven plot that ends with Nancy taking over the piano and singing “My Way.”

Wannabe actress Dot Higgins does a one woman Eleanor Roosevelt workshop, but sadly we don't see Gail Edwards' do more than practice with joke teeth and a bad accent or scream when auditioning for a slasher. Though still often late with outlandish excuses, she stands up to Nancy for docking her $180 when a table leaves without paying. She's excited to pay off her car and today we can certainly understand the extra $176 a month feeling. In “The Dot Quits Show,” Dot doesn't get a role on the A Time for Sorrow soap and wonders if she should be a full time actress or give up show business altogether. Though everything usually stays the same on eighties sitcoms and this episode should have come sooner than the end of the season, it's pleasing to have some growth as Dot admits failure and quits while the remaining three waitresses struggle doing the work of four. Crystal Bernard's chaste Texas transplant Amy Tompkins spells out s-e-x, but she's often reduced to innocent redneck platitudes versus Sonny's predatory cons. She returns from her younger pregnant sister's country wedding in “Amy's Rusty” with twenty-two and single cat lady fears interfering with her work. Her old boyfriend asks her to marry him via postcards and phone calls, but the ladies encourage her to not give in to her family's pressure and marry for the wrong reasons. Amy is said to come out of her shell upon moving in with Sheryl Lee Ralph's sassy Ginger St. James. Again her juicy romances seem to have been written with Ann Jillian's moxie in mind, for Ginger won't date cheapskates and knows how to be suave with the high-tipping customers. She learns a nugget on Nancy and uses it as needed and gives hot advice, but it's not until late in the season that we hear of her obsession with shoes, looking good, and designing her own clothing. Ginger's saving up for fashion school, however rather than see her couture sketches and school application, It's A Living falls back on trite romances. Howard Miller has the zingers to keep Nancy at bay, but Richard Stahl's chef is not above teasing Nancy to get a new oven. He likes that she is always trying to catch him but says that he's trying to keep Nancy's virtue because he's a sucker for lost causes. Episodes that should be about their banter are erroneously shared with weaker plots, and his oft off camera magic tricks could have been fun in the kitchen. Howard's angry when Nancy books a weekend honeymoon suite when they go to a half day conference, but it's just another hear tell twofer that I wish we could have seen!

Paul Kreppel's piano player Sonny Mann asks Howard for dating advice and he suggests thinking of the woman's happiness, but Sonny says he wants to score instead. It's A Living's banter drags to a halt with every sleazy Sonny moment, for he cries violence when women push him away and erases single ladies' reservations from the book so they have to drink at the bar where he can pounce on them. Sonny claims he hears yes when a woman says no, begs for phone numbers, and plays the theme from Vertigo for a fear of heights group dining at Above the Top to overcome their fears. Customers request he stop playing and get lost, and his scams take away from better plots. When Sonny says he can't work because it's Ramadan and is told that it's an Islamic holiday, he answers, “I can pass.” This character grates me so much, I'd skip over his scenes if it were possible. J.D. Lobue and Gary Brown direct the majority of episodes, but the numerous writers again crowd the twenty-two minutes or less runtime with their fellow The Golden Girls similarities. In fact, It's A Living feels like two shows for the price of one thanks to so much borrowing from The Golden Girls – the incidental music, the same guest stars, even a Glenn Miller missing joke, and Dot's pink eighties pad is the up to his neck in hock Miami Vice cop's apartment. Most of the brief apartments here are the same room with different enter or exit doors, and the ladies' changing big hairstyles give away the out of order production. Fortunately, the theme song still bops, and the black uniforms and tone on tone burgundy alternative remain classy amid the heights of the eighties denim, shoulder pads, boots, bright colors, and bows. I realize I take It's A Living too critically at times. The series was content as a safe, serviceable sitcom. However it's also unfair that It's A Living is tough to find with reliance on over the air marathons and DVR. Of the time flaws and the simplicity of yore make for pleasant background viewing, and It's A Living now has its final charming cast in place.

It's A Living Season 3

 

It's a Living Season 3 Almost Has it Together

by Kristin Battestella

The 1985-86 twenty-two episode season of It's A Living resets again for the sitcom's first year in syndication – introducing Crystal Bernard (Wings) as transplanted Texas waitress Amy Tompkins alongside Richard Stahl (9 to 5) as Above The Top's new chef Howard Miller. However, the first half of the season is somewhat unfocused, ingratiating the new characters whilst also going for broke for the syndication revival in a busy, trying to do it all hit or miss. Character personalities are enough to sustain the crisis, but the restaurant taken hostage seriousness in “Desperate Hours” jars with out of place humor and the cat having kittens. There are ambassadors in peril and patrons having heart attacks, but Michael Richards aka Seinfeld's Kramer is the bad guy with a terrible accent. Such laughable in the wrong place takes away from the reflections, regrets, and dreams the fearful staff share. Each lady has a moment to stand up to the villains, and fortunately, the courage overcomes the unevenness. Rather than focusing on the whirlwind romance with Richard Kline (Three's Company), “Jan's Engagement” also has a lot happening besides the titular proposal. Thankfully, this recurring arc is important for one of our characters, showing what It's A Living can do when the ensemble is used to full advantage. “The Prom Show” adds balloons and a dance floor at Above the Top as the high-rise waitresses provide the entertainment and problems ensue. Once again, the lead plot is thin while a more important story takes second place – this time showing the series' best with strong characters and musical numbers while illuminating the writing flaws. Likewise “Hail to the Chef” offers insights into our staff's ambitions, personal lives, and histories they'd like to forget even if it's via Secret Service interviews for a stereotypical presidential visit. Anti-war college rallies in the sixties, mooning a cop, worries over spilling chili – ironically, the eponymous pun about Howard's record being a middle initial mistake is the briefest story.

It's A Living is very frustrating when there's no room for A, B, and even C plots in under twenty-two minutes. Deserving secondary stories suffer as nothing burger sitcom retreads take the lead. Some shorting may be due to syndication cuts, but the overcrowded writers room featuring producers Marc Sotkin and Tom Whedon too often falls back on similarities later seen on their beloved The Golden Girls. It's A Living also reuses the same sets and incidental music, as if even then the same audience of both shows wasn't supposed to notice. It's uncomfortable now to see how off the mark “From Russia with Love” is as well with CCCP defections led by Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore), and the women chat about their disturbing worst male encounters in “The Jerks.” Late night inventory excuses frame flashback vignettes full of blackmailing and gaslighting assaults played for laughs. “I won't take no for an answer” and chasings around the sofa sped up like silent film slapstick ruin the chance to see the girls after hours. Even in 1985, who thinks “let's do a highlight show of men assaulting our women” is a good idea? Instead of the “Oddest Couple” being about Ann Jillian's displaced waitress Cassie moving in with Marian Mercer's cranky hostess Nancy for an acerbic twofer, Cassie eventually stays with Paul Kreppel's piano player Sonny. This immediately follows “The Jerks,” and though it's the best behaved Sonny has ever been, he still withholds news of another realty opportunity from Cassie. Somehow, it's all turned around for his sympathy – as if It's A Living doesn't know what to do with our strong ladies when the First Season was so progressive. Fortunately “Gender Gap” comes together with excellent topics and wit despite two important issues crammed in one. The man turned down by Amy's hiring files a discrimination lawsuit, so management caves and gives him a job. The ladies object to men taking the subservient, menial jobs usually resigned to women but no one can afford to strike or lose her job. The new guy is a poor waiter, too, a con artist usually settling out of court. This meaty topic shares time with an early but mistaken transgender plot, for Nancy's former flame felt she was in the wrong body and now she's dating Sonny. She doesn't want him to know, but it's not fair for others to demand she be upfront and tell him against her wishes before playing the operation for laughs and again inexplicably making the issue about Sonny.

The misunderstandings are better handled in “Jealous Wife” as missing ingredients and the titular accuser have everyone coming and going in the kitchen. It would be fun to see an entire episode just set in kitchen, and the mistaken identities, public confrontations, and truths will out have It's A Living firing on all cylinders as the multiple happenings work together. Bemusing standout Danny Thomas is supposed to operate on Nancy's hernia for “The Doctor Danny Show,” but Sorkin's episodes are often the thinnest derivative “the” and “show” entries rising only on the cast's charm. Nancy both wants sympathy yet doesn't want the staff gossiping about her fears, but the gals are there for her with strength and humor showing what It's A Living can do. Messy friends staying with Barrie Youngfellow's Jan, her taking the kids to a child psychologist, and Amy asking for the sentimental ladies to donate for a church auction are again told for locker room angst rather than seen as a Valley Girl turned princess repeats the hostages and terrorists alongside anti-Asian jokes in “Jewel Heist.” Thankfully, busboy switches, fake hotel doctors, and medication side effects combine for a fun if swift resolution. Likewise “Jump” isn't so much about the rejected actor on the restaurant ledge as it is driving dilemmas, no tip customers, and IRS audits. Everything is strong – underpaid waitresses hassled over $32 owed would be a statement unto itself – but we don't get to the eponymous seriousness via Cyrano until the last eight minutes. A blind date with a goofy cartoonist leads to a relationship played out in the comic strip for “America's Sweetheart.” The medium's dated but a woman not wanting her personal life public is something we struggle with today in what not to share or overshare online. It's another fine nugget not completely explored because It's A Living feels the need to cram everyone in every episode when realistically rotating pairs may have allowed more time. Our waitresses apparently work sixteen hours a day seven days a week when there are count 'em six empty lockers in the lounge!

The season finale “Mann Act” devolves into a clip show wrapped with Sonny's drunken interjections, and it's an infuriating end framing the series as about the wannabe cool piano player not the dynamic waitresses. So many more deserving plots were cut short when It's A Living also knew Ann Jillian was departing the series and could have given her a proper send-off. Jan's family life is also strangely unseen with her daughter only appearing once despite an intriguing hear tell B plot where Ellen shares secrets with babysitter Cassie but not her mother. Barrie Youngfellow is effectively the mom of the group, so her realistic romance and blended family shouldn't be relegated to all talk subplots. Jan's courtship deserved two or three episodes – the whirlwind timing, their not being able to have kids together, her relationship with her stepson, how her still going to college effects the family. However, it's all just there to give Jan something to say in the lounge rather than truly exploring the character changes. Meddling mothers, no judge, and an Above the Top reception gone awry fortunately set off “The Wedding Show” where our Jan finally gets to have it all come together in the kitchen of all places. In “Dinner with Deedee” competitive Jan avoids a former school rival now married to a wealthy executive. Jan insists there's nothing wrong with being a waitress, but she pretends to be a fancy customer and is angry at her embarrassment before realizing she has everything she wants. Such service industry hesitancy, hard working honesty, and character reflections showcase the best of It's A Living. As Cassie Cranston, top billed Ann Jillian can convince any customer to sample the succulent roast beef when they are out of steak. She takes Amy under her wing, donates the men's clothes left in her closet, and secretly volunteers at a senior home – she has to keep her wild dating reputation! A famous billionaire reserves Above The Top – Cassie included – in “Cassie's Cowboy,” and despite her cool facade, Cassie falls easily, happy to make a fool of herself and take a chance. We've seen this plot with her before, but Cassie dislikes becoming a snob and ultimately won't let a man no matter how rich walk all over her. She also accidentally starts dating twins unaware and tells them she has a twin sister and we do not see this plot! I protest.

Gail Edwards' ditsy Dot is always a bridesmaid with typical “Dot's Puppy” half an episode hi-jinks under-utilizing her failing actress when her outlandish lies should be It's A Living's go-to comic relief. Dot decides she must pretend to be a good waitress to become a better actress, but steals food from the kitchen to feed the homeless and shows up early when she's burned out on making excuses. Dot's visiting mother is exactly like her, and they drive each other crazy because neither tells the truth. Dot wishes Above the Top was a dinner theater, and she puts her skills to good use reenacting the crime in “Eleven Angry Men and Dot.” She teases Nancy with jury duty being the best reason for being absent, but deliberation drags on while the shorthanded staff struggles in one of this season's rare outside of the hotel plots. Crystal Bernard's Amy debuts in the season opener “Harassed” with an anonymous caller who says he's been watching her alongside roses, saucy notes, and piano requests. Amy's fears and the maternal protection from the veteran ladies endear her to viewers immediately. Rather then letting their worries on if the stalker is in the restaurant get to them, the girls take action with a few good trips and copying speeches they saw on Miami Vice. Amy's saving herself for her husband and is a terrible gift giver, but asking Sonny to help her rehearse for the church choir means we get to hear Bernard sing, too. Amy does repeat several ingenue plots from the earlier seasons – her father wants her to return home in “Amy Big Girl Now” and we didn't need this repetitive story as the third episode once she has already been introduced. She wants to stay at Above the Top, but two episodes before she wanted to leave, and the claustrophobic elevator confrontations compete with a mishandled overweight conference story. They're cranky, the waitresses yell at them for wanting more, and the staff both admire their efforts yet mock them. By the next episode, Amy yearns for home again, and her wild Snyder, Texas tales are “Back in St. Olaf” precursors about pigs and ditching work to go to a rodeo with her friend Billy Bob. Most of her characterization comes in fish out of water humor like having to take a California driving test, and each of these could have been their own plots rather than just throwaway moments. Amy learns to be assertive, standing up to Nancy over her not being paid to be bossed around on her own time – a surprisingly relevant moment for our current always accessible lifestyle.

Although It's A Living does Mercer a disservice in these Dynasty 1980s meets 1890s football player looking sleeves, waterbed owning, man-eater Nancy insists it's her nature to be unmerciful. She lauds Dot as a bad actress with the chance to be a successful waitress but insists she'll take true praise to the grave. Nancy won't break bad news just so she can see the staff squirm. She dreams of being the First Lady's social secretary but is overwhelmed when having to wait on tables herself, preferring instead the unpopular responsibilities no one else wants. Chef Howard, on the other hand, objects to any substitutions or food being sent back. He takes unsatisfactory dishes off the menu and sides with the understaffed ladies amid the magic tricks and mail in ordinations up his sleeve if the plot requires. Howard's gruff banter with Nancy is superb, but her behavior is clearly sexual harassment right down to the overnight kit she gifts him complete with a perfume called “Pillage.” Only male writers would think it's funny because the genders are reversed, and It's A Living didn't need to lay the crossing the line come ons so thick when the evenly matched twofers do so well. In re-watching It's A Living, Sonny Mann is also in very poor taste – saying he's tired of men preying on young girls...while trying to get a drugged woman up to his apartment. The staff hates him and the customers clap when he leaves, so Sonny's piano slapstick is purely for the audience. He sings terribly rude songs to the overweight group, grovels in a crisis, and hides behind the bar. I'm glad when people slam the piano lid on his fingers. In “I Write the Songs” Sonny gets a record contract and immediately ditches Above the Top with the titular spectacle before obviously crawling back. If It's A Living must have musical episodes, the ladies could do variety larks a la Dick van Dyke and Maude. Their singing is better, and if we already have Nancy's antagonism, we don't his annoying, inappropriate behavior.

Of course, It's A Living's print remains downright fuzzy like the days of yore when luxury dinners at Above The Top cost $50 plus the $10 tip. The repeated wardrobe is also steeped in short skirts with chunky belts, big perms, bigger shoulder pads, tight jeans with tall boots, one earrings, and colorful but ridiculously baggy pantsuits. There are sport coats with the sleeves rolled up on men and women, too, and a terrible off the shoulder, one-off uniform before a red option similar to the standard black ensemble. Although J.D. Lobue (Soap) would go on to be the series' most prominent director, these twenty-two episodes cram in much too much – both under-utilizing the embarrassment of riches and overflowing every act with crowded stream of conscious plots. Season Three has a bumpy start, great middle, and weak back half with uneven writing even within a fine episode. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth reviewing It's A Living thanks to the lack of streaming options, but modern frustrations and dated obnoxiousness aside, It's A Living is a breezy marathon with moxie.