ABC had hoped to catch lightning in a bottle again. The controversial daytime drama spoof, Soap, had yielded a successful spin-off, Benson. While I'm a Big Girl Now wasn't part of the family tree, if you will, its star, second generation actress-singer Diana Canova, had left Soap after three seasons. ABC and Soap's producers, Susan Harris, husband Paul Junger Witt, and Tony Thomas, had built Big Girl around Canova's character, and, with Thomas' father, TV legend Danny Thomas, and Martin Short (SCTV) in the supporting cast, it should've been a hit. Canova even made an appearance on American Bandstand to promote her new show.
It didn't work. Big Girl lasted just 1 season. I don't recall what night the show was on. I want to say Friday, but I'm not 100% certain. There was no room for it on Tuesdays or Thursdays, that I can recall.
Gilmore Box provides the intro. Canova sings the show's theme song.
No rating. Never saw the show.
History Time:
ReplyDeleteIn 1980, Friday nights belonged to CBS: The Incredible Hulk, The Dukes Of Hazzard, Dallas, in that order.
On ABC, Big Girl was slotted in between Benson and the Friday movie; it was a "bubble" show for that whole season.
(For the record, NBC was having a "back up the truck" year - nothing worked at all.)
Big Girl's premise probably didn't help: Diana Canova was a new divorcee whose father (that's Danny Thomas) was going through a split at the same time; he moved in with her and the cute kid, and hilarity ensued (it says here).
Not exactly encouraging …
I seem to recall that they couldn't decide what Diana was supposed to be doing for a living (the great Sheree North was her boss, no matter what).
Also, Deborah Baltzell, the other actress in the titles, had health problems; she died at age 25 not long after the show went out of production.
So there's that …
It's all way more complicated than you realize, isn't it?
Thanks for filling in the blanks. Fridays at my place meant Hulk & the Dukes.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remembered it. I was about 13 when it came on the air. It had a good premise, it just that each episode got more and more obnoxious between Danny Thomas being so damn hammy and the little girl (Rori King) getting brattier each episode, she gave Kaleena Kiff from "Love Sidney" a run for her money! I was surprised to see Martin Short in the cast, I don't even remember him being in the show. Between Diana Canova overacting, I mean it's a sitcom, not a Neil Simon play, and Danny Thomas yelling every line with the little girl being so cute to the point to make you vomit, it was a convoluted mess. And by the way, my mom made me watch this with her, and we only had one TV. We went back watching "Dukes Of Hazzard " after this show was canceled. I eventually got my own TV a couple of years later.
ReplyDeleteI think that was Danny Thomas' final series.
ReplyDelete