''Muggsy'' was a Saturday morning live action television program that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1976–1977.

Synopsis

Filmed on location in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

, the show centered on Margaret “Muggsy” Malloy (Sarah MacDonnell), who lived with her older brother Nick (Ben Masters), a cab driver, in a furnished truck converted into an apartment, behind a gas station. The show followed Muggsy's life in the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

and the problems she faced growing up, including

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

and

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

s. ''Muggsy'' was one of few Saturday morning shows that dealt with the contemporary issues of the time.

David Clayton-Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducte ...

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...

sang the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

Broadcast history

At the start of the 1976-77 television season, ''Muggsy'' was part of a three-hour block of six live action shows that aired Saturday mornings on NBC, alongside '' Land of the Lost'', which was entering its third season, and four other new shows: ''

Monster Squad ''Monster Squad'' is a television series produced by D'Angelo-Bullock-Allen Productions that aired Saturday mornings on NBC from September 11, 1976, to September 3, 1977. It is unrelated to the later film of the same name. Premise The series s ...

'', '' McDuff, the Talking Dog'', ''

Big John, Little John ''Big John, Little John'' is an American Saturday-morning situation comedy, produced by Sherwood Schwartz, which starred Herbert Edelman as "Big John" and Robert "Robbie" Rist as "Little John." The show first aired on September 11, 1976, on NBC, ...

'' and '' The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.'' ''Muggsy'' was cancelled in April 1977; ''The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.'' replaced it after being put on hiatus during a shakeup of the lineup in November, 1976, in which ''McDuff, the Talking Dog'' was cancelled. None of the other shows returned for the start of the 1977-78 television season. Though 13 episodes were made, only 12 of them aired.

Cast

*Sarah MacDonnell as Margaret "Muggsy" Malloy *

Ben Masters Benjamin Masters (May 6, 1947 – January 11, 2023) was an American actor who is best known for his portrayal of Julian Crane in daytime drama ''Passions'' from July 8, 1999, to the show's final episode on August 7, 2008. Early life Masters wa ...

as Nick Malloy * Paul Michael as Gus * Star-Shemah as Clytemnestra * Jimmy McCann as Lil' Man

Episodes

References

External links

Muggsy page

Muggsy
at the Internet Movie Database
Sarah MacDonnell
at the Internet Movie Database 1976 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings 1970s American children's television series NBC original programming Television shows set in Connecticut {{US-child-tv-prog-stub