The 1984 presidential elections featured, for the first time, a female vice presidential candidate. This show, by the creators of the popular and long running Soap extrapolated on that circumstance. Julia Mansfield is the first female president of the United States after being elected to the office of vice president and having to take over for her predecessor. She has a philandering husband (Ted Bessel), three children (Quinn Cummings, Ricky Paull Goldin & Taliesen Jaffee) and friends and foes in the government and public life including Senator Sam Cotton (Murray Hamilton) and televangelist reverend Billy Joe Bickerstaff (Richard Paul). The plots were similar to those on Soap, with story lines carrying through from episode to episode and focused on both the affairs of state and family dynamics within the first family.
This especially intelligent and funny show ran for only 7 episodes. It's humor was particularly political and had an edge to it that was calculated to push buttons. Julia's secret service officer Randy (Joel Brooks) was gay and made no bones about it with lines like "I'm the most lethal pansy in the US of A, so watch it!" Her young son (Jaffee), in an attempt to get out of going to school claims to have an enlarged prostate. Look for very funny turns by Hershel Bernardi as her head of security and Dick Shawn as Soviet Premier Zolotov.
This series has never made it to DVD, though the pilot is on YouTube. Part one is above, uploaded by PattyDukeTheater.
Obscurity factor: 9 (not on DVD, available on YouTube in part, largely unknown)
OMG! :p What network was this on? I don't remember it :(
ReplyDeleteI don't think they'd be able to get away with saying Homo, Pansy, & Raghead today. It's funny & cute. I hope they do put it out on DVD sometime in the near future :)
Thank you for sharing...
It was on ABC. Yes, the language is potentially incendiary, but very funny...
ReplyDeletePatty Duke kind of reminds me of Nancy Dussault from Too Close for Comfort :)
ReplyDeleteAhh, but Nancy Dussault never won an Oscar!
ReplyDelete"I don't think they'd be able to get away with saying Homo, Pansy, & Raghead today."
ReplyDeleteTrue. But in the 21st Century Patty Duke wouldn't have to settle for merely being vice president.
Ahh, but the conceit was that she was elected VP, but then had to step in when the elected president wasn't able to fulfill his term.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it was the way to get the story told at the time. TV has to be taken in historical context. Some time we'll have to discuss Amos and Andy.
ReplyDeleteor Stepin Fetchit?
ReplyDeleteStepin Fetchit is a little harder for me to swallow, but only because of my sensibilities not my actual knowledge.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's definitely a dark figure in the fight for equality.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked Patty Duke. It is a shame that none of her series since "The Patty Duke Show" were hits. I remember liking this show. I also liked "It Takes Two" with Richard Crenna and "Amazing Grace," in which she played a minister. I thought that was intelligent and well acted, and at the time I felt that NBC dumped it into a lousy time slot where it didn't stand a chance (Saturday at 8:00 PM, if I remember correctly). I was not that fond of "Karen's Song," which was one of the first series on FOX. I seem to recall it being kind of anemic.
ReplyDeleteShe's had a strange career - the Oscar at such a young age, teen idol status playing twins, becoming notorious for her over-the-top performance in Valley of the Dolls and then that string of subsequent TV flops.
ReplyDeleteTrue. She has made an enormous number of TV movies. Some of the early ones were well-acclaimed. I read that the lead role in "Soapdish" was written with her in mind. I wonder why she ended up not starring in it. By the way, I watched it recently for the first time since I saw it in the theater when it was first released. It holds up very well and is still very funny.
ReplyDeleteShe probably wasn't a big enough box office draw to carry the film. It would have been fun to see her in it though.
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, I remember reading her biography while sitting in a hotel outside Disney World, back in the late 80s. I awaited an interview for employment...the next day, I was told that I wasn't "Disney material." Neither was Patty Duke, I suppose...
ReplyDeleteA few years earlier, I was living in a house near USC (LA), along with other grad film students, and the owner was a friend of Duke's. She came by for dinner one night, which I missed, of course. Ah, to discuss "Dolls" with Neely herself!!!
That's kinda harsh... coming right out and saying you weren't Disney material.
ReplyDeleteIt happened twice, actually. And I was such an All-American guy!! (Whatever)
ReplyDeleteI've told this before, but in the same LA house...while I was living there..,they filmed the pilot for "thirtysomething". We were forced to leave during filming. When the pilot "sold" - they built an exact replica at the studio - "Hope" & "Michael's" house. It's very odd to watch the show, now. My room was the "baby's" room...
Before filming, prior to our temporary eviction, the four leads would often rehearse. One morning, I left my room (in my underwear - all guys lived there), I turned around, and there they were, just staring at me. I said "Hey"...they said "Hey", and I continued. Ah, Hollywood!!!!
How surreal to see your home on network television!
ReplyDeleteI tried to get a job as a production assistant on the pilot, but no luck. I did drop by a few times, during filming, to get my mail. My only memory? The actors were so short!!
ReplyDelete