''Coming of Age'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

for two seasons from 1988 to 1989.

Premise

''Coming of Age'' features

Paul Dooley Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'', '' Sixteen Candles'', and ''Popeye''. Early life Dooley was born Paul Brown on February 22, ...

and

Phyllis Newman Phyllis Newman (March 19, 1933 – September 15, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Martha Vail in the musical ''Subways Are for Sleeping'' on Broadway, ...

as Dick and Ginny Hale, who lived in a retirement community in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Dick resented his retirement – a former

airline pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, he had been forced to retire by a

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

rule that requires all U.S. commercial pilots to retire by age 60. Dick hated almost everything about his retirement, including his surroundings. He was appalled by the hot climate, the thin walls separating the Hale's apartment from that of their neighbors (

Alan Young Alan Young (born Angus Young; November 19, 1919 – May 19, 2016) was a British, Canadian and American actor, comedian, radio host and television host, whom ''TV Guide'' called "the Charlie Chaplin of television". His notable roles includ ...

and

Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...

), and mostly by the contented attitude of the other residents including Pauline Spencer (

Ruta Lee Ruta Lee (born Ruta Mary Kilmonis; May 30, 1935) is an American actress and dancer who appeared as one of the brides in the musical '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''. She had roles in films including Billy Wilder's crime drama '' Witness for ...

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...

played Brian Brinker, who ran the community but was very inept at his job, with Lenore Woodward playing his elderly and very nosy secretary Wilma Salzgaber. Brinker would also be a love interest to Dick and Ginny's daughter, another wrinkle about The Dunes which raised the ire of Dick. This program was first aired as a

midseason replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

in March 1988. It was not well received and was pulled from the schedule after only three episodes were aired. Nevertheless, it was added to the CBS 1988 fall lineup. It failed again, and was quickly pulled from the schedule. The airing of more episodes in June and July 1989 was a "burn-off", an attempt to recoup at least some of the investment in the show by using it as filler during the traditionally low-rated summer months.

Cast

as Dick Hale *

as Ginny Hale *

as Ed Pepper *

as Trudie Pepper *

as Brian Brinker * Lenore Woodward as Wilma Salzgaber *

as Pauline Spencer

Episodes

Season 1 (1988)

Season 2 (1988–89)

References

General

*Brooks, Tim, and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

External links

* 1988 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series about marriage Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Arizona Television series about old age {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub