Foley Square (TV Series)
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''Foley Square'' is an American sitcom starring
Margaret Colin Margaret Colin (born May 26, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Constance Spano in ''Independence Day'', Margo Hughes on ''As the World Turns'' and as Eleanor Waldorf-Rose on ''Gossip Girl''. Early life Margaret Colin ...
which centers on an assistant district attorney in New York City. Original episodes aired from December 11, 1985, until April 8, 1986.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 293.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, Sixth Edition'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 364.


Cast

*
Margaret Colin Margaret Colin (born May 26, 1958) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Constance Spano in ''Independence Day'', Margo Hughes on ''As the World Turns'' and as Eleanor Waldorf-Rose on ''Gossip Girl''. Early life Margaret Colin ...
as Alex Harrigan *
Héctor Elizondo Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series '' Chicago Hope'' (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series '' Last Man Standing'' (2011–2021 ...
as Jesse Steinberg *
Vernee Watson-Johnson Vernee Christell Johnson (née Watson; born September 28, 1949) is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979), as Viola "Vy" Smi ...
as Denise Willums *
Michael Lembeck Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. He is best known as Max Horvath in ''One Day at a Time (1975 TV series), One Day at a Time'' (1979–1984). Life and career Lembeck was born in Brookl ...
as Peter Newman *
Cathy Silvers Cathy Silvers (born May 27, 1961) is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of actress Evelyn Patrick and actor/comedian Phil Silvers. She is best known for her role as boy-crazy teenager Jenny Piccolo in later seasons of the TV ...
as Molly Dobbs * Sanford Jensen as Carter DeVries *
Israel Juarbe Israel Juarbe (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor most well known for portraying Jose Martinez in ''Angels in the Outfield'' and Freddy Fernandez in ''The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film direc ...
as Angel Gomez *
Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Pr ...
as Mole * Richard C. Sarafian as Spiro Papadopolis


Synopsis

Alex Harrigan is a perky, dedicated, unmarried assistant district attorney who works in a District Attorney's office located in New York City on
Foley Square Foley Square, also called Federal Plaza, is a street intersection in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, which contains a small triangular park named Thomas Paine Park. The space is bordered by Worth Street to the ...
in Manhattan. Her boss, District Attorney Jesse Steinberg, is a veteran prosecutor who has seen it all and who she feels overlooks her when assigning the offices important cases to its staff of prosecutors. She also works with Assistant District Attorney Carter DeVries, who is overbearing and ambitious, and young Assistant District Attorney Molly Dobbs, who has just graduated from law school. Alex's secretary is Denise Willums, and the office's messenger is Angel Gomez, a young ex-convict. Mole is the office's investigator. When on break and after work, the co-workers gather across the street from the office at a coffee shop owned and operated by Spiro Papadopolis. Alex lives in an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Peter Newman, a schoolteacher, is her neighbor in the building and a good friend. Alex's social life is prone to ups and downs.


Production

Creator and producer
Diane English Diane English (born May 18, 1948) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. She is best known for creating the television show ''Murphy Brown'' which won multiple awards, including 18 Primetime Emmy Awards from 62 nominations. She also ...
intended ''Foley Square'' and its scripts to reflect what she considered to be the "womens viewpoint." Cast members Cathy Silvers and Michael Lembeck held the unusual distinction of being the second generation of their respective families to appear together in a television show: Their fathers,
Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
and
Harvey Lembeck Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on '' The Phil Silvers Show'' (a.k.a. ''Sgt. Bilko'', a.k.a. ''You'll Never Get Rich'') in the late 1950s, and ...
, had acted together in ''
The Phil Silvers Show ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes wer ...
'' from 1955 to 1959. Writers involved in ''Foley Square'' were Dennis Danziger, Diane English,
Karyl Geld Miller Karyl Geld Miller is an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and political cartoonist and commentator. Her Emmy was for Best Writing for the TV special ''Lily'', starring Lily Tomlin and featuring Richard Pryor (1974). That script and the scr ...
, Bernie Orenstein,
Ellen Sandler Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena, and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * E ...
, Korby Siamis, and
Saul Turteltaub Saul Turteltaub (May 5, 1932 – April 9, 2020) was an American comedy writer and producer. He was nominated for Emmy Awards in 1964 and 1965 as part of the writing team for ''That Was the Week that Was'', and in 1968 for ''The Carol Burnett Show' ...
. Episode directors were Peter Baldwin,
Peter Bonerz Peter Roman Bonerz (, born August 6, 1938) is an American actor and director. Early life Bonerz was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquet ...
, and
Ellen Gittelsohn Ellen Gittelsohn (born April 12, 1945, in New York City, New York) is an American television director. She has also been credited under the name Ellen Falcon, despite the popular belief that she and Ellen Falcon are two different people. Since ...
.tv.com Foley Square
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Broadcast history and cancellation

''Foley Square'' aired on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., paired with
Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...
s sitcom ''
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
'' at 8:00 p.m. Both shows premiered on December 11, 1985, and languished near the bottom of the
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
in the weeks that followed. After the tenth episode of ''Mary'' was broadcast on February 19, 1986, ''Mary'' went into hiatus as did ''Foley Square'' after its eleventh episode aired a week later on February 26, 1986. CBS rescheduled the shows to appear on Tuesdays, with ''Mary'' at 9:00 p.m. and ''Foley Square'' at 9:30 p.m., hoping that this change would improve their ratings, and telecasts of the two shows resumed on March 25, 1986. Despite the change of day and time, ratings remained low, and both shows were cancelled after only three-episode runs in their new times, with ''Foley Square''s fourteenth and last episode airing on April 8, 1986, right after ''Marys thirteenth and last episode. During the summer of 1986, CBS aired prime-time reruns of ''Foley Square'' at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays from June 11 to July 23.


Episodes


Ratings

Source: A.C. Nielsen Company via
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...


References


External links

*{{IMDb title, tt0088520
Opening credits of ''Foley Square'' on Youtube
1985 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms 1980s American legal television series 1980s American workplace comedy television series American English-language television shows Television shows set in New York City Television series created by Diane English CBS sitcoms