''The Stockard Channing Show'' 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 ...

television series starring Stockard Channing,

Ron Silver Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Acto ...

, Sydney Goldsmith,

Max Showalter Max Gordon Showalter (June 2, 1917 – July 30, 2000), sometimes credited as Casey Adams, was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. He appeared on more than 1,000 television programs. One ...

and Jack Somack. The show first 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 ...

from March 24 to July 12, 1980, with 13 episodes produced. The series aired at 8:30 P.M. ET, along with ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working ...

'', ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...

'' and '' Flo'' on the Monday night lineup. After the show ended, Channing would not star in another sitcom until ''

Out of Practice ''Out of Practice'' is an American sitcom television series that was produced by Paramount Television and originally broadcast on sister company CBS from September 19, 2005, to March 29, 2006. With producers Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd ...

'' in 2005.

Cast

* Stockard Channing as Susan Goodenow *

as Brad Gabriel * Sydney Goldsmith as Earline Cunningham *

as Gus Clyde * Jack Somack as Mr. Kramer *

Bruce Baum Bruce Baum (born March 18, 1951) is an American comedian. His live act consists of prop comedy as well as more traditional stand-up material. One of his best-known stand-up routines is his diaper-wearing Babyman character. Baum is recognized for h ...

as Alf Serenity

Plot

Susan Goodenow (Channing) was a recent divorcee whose ditzy friend/neighbor Earline got her a job working as a consumer reporter for the local

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

TV show ''The Big Rip-Off''. Headlining the show was Brad Gabriel (

) a tightly-wound journalist who was convinced everything was toxic and bad. Flamboyant Gus Clyde (

), a former Broadway entertainer, was the station owner; Alf (

) was a burnout hippie who landed a job as a security guard at the station after the health food store he owned was targeted by ''The Big Rip-Off''; and Mr. Kramer (Jack Somack) was Susan's landlord. Plots often revolved around Susan's attempts to expose corporations who were swindling consumers, which afforded Channing plenty of opportunities to don various disguises and personas.

Production

After wowing audiences in '' Grease'' and ''

The Cheap Detective ''The Cheap Detective'' is a 1978 American mystery comedy film written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore. It stars Peter Falk as Lou Peckinpaugh, a parody of Humphrey Bogart. The film is a parody of Bogart films such as '' Casablan ...

'',

sets their sights on making Stockard Channing into a TV star. Channing and her then-husband, producer David Debin, were offered ownership and creative control of a movie and television series. The result were the 1979 made-for-TV movie ''Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story'' and series ''

Stockard Channing in Just Friends ''Just Friends'', billed as ''Stockard Channing in Just Friends'' on the title card, is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 4, 1979 to June 24, 1979. Stockard Channing, an accomplished stage actress who had entered ...

''. ''Just Friends'' was moderately successful and was never officially canceled, but it didn't secure a slot on the fall schedule. In March 1980, Channing returned in ''The Stockard Channing Show'', which like ''Just Friends'' debuted as a

mid-season 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 ...

. "I felt last year I became the workhorse, and had to push the show along," Channing told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

in 1980. "In doing this season, I didn't feel I desperately had to do anything to keep the show moving." Although it was a completely different show, there was certainly familiar ground, beginning with the opening theme song (the same on both series). Stockard's character was again named Susan (Susan was Channing's legal first name; her last name in the series was "Goodenow" as opposed to "Hughes" in the previous) and her apartment was simply redressed. In ''Just Friends'', Susan was in a failing marriage; for this series, she is fully divorced. Sydney Goldsmith was retained as Susan's flighty friend/neighbor, now renamed Earline. In addition to the on-screen similarities, many crew members from ''Just Friends'' were also retained.

Episodes

DVD release

The complete series was released on DVD in 2006 by the Canadian company ''

Visual Entertainment Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario. An independent label, it has released several well-known TV series on DVD, some through sub-licensing deals with other labels such ...

'' paired with 10 of the 13 episodes of Channing's previous series, ''

''. The first episode of ''The Stockard Channing Show'' appears at the end of the first disc.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockard Channing Show 1980 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in New York City