''Working Stiffs'' 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 ...

which starred

James Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

and

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in '' Beetlejuice'' ...

as brothers Ernie and Mike O'Rourke. The pair were

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

s who aspired to work their way up in the field of business. The brothers worked in an office building owned by their Uncle Harry. Ernie and Mike also were roommates in an apartment over a

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

where they befriended the owner Mitch and waitress Nikki. Each episode featured slapstick and physical comedy.

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...

directed the

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 ...

. The series 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 ...

. It competed against the highly- rated shows

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 ...

's ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The seri ...

'' and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

The Ropers ''The Ropers'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 13, 1979, to May 22, 1980. It is a spin-off of ''Three's Company'' and loosely based on the British sitcom ''George and Mildred'', which was itself a spin-off of ...

'' in its timeslot. Nine episodes were produced but after four episodes aired, the series was canceled. After Belushi and Keaton became

film star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

s in the 1980s, six episodes of the show were released on

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

Rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

s have also aired on A&E Network,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

and

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

. The syndication package included the previously unaired episodes.

Cast

as Ernie O'Rourke *

as Mike O'Rourke *

Val Bisoglio Italo Valentino Bisoglio (May 7, 1926 – October 18, 2021) was an American character actor primarily known for his work on television. Biography Bisoglio was born in New York City, New York, on May 7, 1926. He may be best known for his recurri ...

as Al Steckler *

Allan Arbus Allan Franklin Arbus (February 15, 1918 – April 19, 2013) was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series ...

as Mitch Hannigan *

Lorna Patterson Lorna Patterson (born October 1, 1956) is an American film, stage and television actress and, more recently, a Jewish cantor. As an actress, her best-known roles were as Randy, the singing stewardess, in ''Airplane!'', and as the lead in the tel ...

as Nikki Evashevsky

Recurring

Phil Rubenstein Philip Martin Rubenstein (August 3, 1940 – June 26, 1992) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Frank Falzone in the American sitcom television series '' Working Stiffs''. Born in The Bronx, New York ...

as Frank Falzone

Episode list

References

Brooks, Tim; Earl Marsh (2003). ''

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 ...

''. Ballantine Books. .

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0078711, Working Stiffs 1979 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Chicago