''Arnie'' is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
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 ne ...
that ran for two seasons (1970–72) 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 starred
Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi (October 30, 1923 – May 9, 1986) was an American actor and singer. He is best known for his supporting role in the drama television series ''Peter Gunn'' (1958–1961) and his leading role in the comedy television serie ...
,
Sue Ane Langdon, and
Roger Bowen
Roger Wendell Bowen (May 25, 1932 – February 16, 1996) was an American comedic actor and novelist, best known for his portrayal of Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''.
Bowen considered himself a writer who only moonlighted as an ...
.
Bernardi played the title character, Arnie Nuvo, a longtime
blue collar
A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...
employee at the fictitious Continental Flange Company, who overnight was promoted to an executive position. The story lines mainly focused on this
fish-out-of-water situation, and on Arnie's sometimes-problematic relationship with his well-meaning but wealthy and eccentric boss, Hamilton Majors Jr. (Bowen). Because he still held his union card, Arnie could negotiate tricky management/labor situations that no one else could. Arnie's surname was presumably a pun on
nouveau riche
''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...
(which his promotion effectively made him), and possibly also on
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
.
In addition to Bernardi, Bowen, and Langdon (as Arnie's wife Lilian), cast members included
Del Russel and
Stephanie Steele
Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian "Ste ...
as Arnie's son and daughter, Richard and Andrea;
Elaine Shore
Elaine Shore (March 4, 1929 – March 19, 2007) was an American actress. Born in Chicago in 1929, she studied at the Goodman Theatre.
Family
Moving to Washington, D.C. in 1950, she and her former husband, Alexander Shore, had a daughter, Wendy ...
as Arnie's secretary, Felicia;
Herb Voland
Herbert Maurice Voland (October 2, 1918 – April 26, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his various roles on the sitcom '' Bewitched'', as General Crandell Clayton on the sitcom '' M*A*S*H'' during seasons one and two, and the film ''A ...
as sour-tempered vice-president Neil Ogilvie, and
Tom Pedi as Arnie's loading dock friend, Julius.
Olan Soule
Olan Evart Soule (February 28, 1909 – February 1, 1994) was an American actor, who had professional credits in nearly 7,000 radio shows and commercials, appearances in 200 television series and television films, and in over 60 films. Soul ...
appeared occasionally as Fred Springer, another vice-president.
In its first season, despite being the lead-in to ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...
'' on Saturday nights and winning an Emmy nomination as best comedy series, ''Arnie'' received only fair Nielsen ratings. For its second season, in order to increase its viewership, CBS made a major cast change in the show's format.
Dick Van Patten
Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...
was dropped as the Nuvos' next door neighbor, and
Charles Nelson Reilly
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
joined the cast as Randy Robinson, a TV
chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
who called himself "The Giddyap Gourmet", apparently a reference to
The Galloping Gourmet
Graham Kerr (born 22 January 1934) is an English cooking personality who is best known for his television cooking show ''The Galloping Gourmet'' from December 30, 1968 to September 14, 1973.
Early life
Kerr was born in Brondesbury, London. H ...
.
Also, the network decided to move the show to Monday nights at 10:00 P.M. followed at 10:30 P.M. by a new sitcom that had debuted in January, 1971 on Tuesday nights to mediocre ratings, ''
All In the Family
''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...
''. At the last minute, a switch was made and ''
My Three Sons
''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chronicl ...
'' left its comfortable Saturday night time slot and took over the 10:00 P.M. slot on Mondays with ''Arnie'' slotted at 10:30 P.M. Both shows sank in the ratings. ''All In the Family'' was moved to Saturday nights at 8:00 P.M. where it became the number one show for five consecutive years. At mid-season, ''My Three Sons'' was moved to Thursday nights and ''Arnie'' returned to the Saturday night prime-time schedule. The changes did not help. Both shows were canceled at the end of the 1971–1972 season.
Cast
*
Herschel Bernardi
Herschel Bernardi (October 30, 1923 – May 9, 1986) was an American actor and singer. He is best known for his supporting role in the drama television series ''Peter Gunn'' (1958–1961) and his leading role in the comedy television serie ...
as Arnie Nuvo
*Stephanie Steele as Andrea Nuvo
*
Del Russel as Richard Nuvo
*
Sue Ane Langdon as Lilian Nuvo
*
Roger Bowen
Roger Wendell Bowen (May 25, 1932 – February 16, 1996) was an American comedic actor and novelist, best known for his portrayal of Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''.
Bowen considered himself a writer who only moonlighted as an ...
as Hamilton Majors, Jr.
Episodes
Season 1: 1970–71
Season 2: 1971–72
References
External links
*
* {{epguides, Arnie, Arnie
1970 American television series debuts
1972 American television series endings
1970s American sitcoms
1970s American workplace comedy television series
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Television series about families
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles