''Coming of Age'' 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 ne ...

that aired on CBS in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for two seasons from 1988 to 1989.

Premise

''Coming of Age'' features Paul Dooley and Phyllis Newman as Dick and Ginny Hale, who lived in a retirement community in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Dick resented his retirement – a former airline pilot, he had been forced to retire by a

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

rule that requires all U.S. commercial pilots to retire by age 60. Dick hated almost everything about his retirement, including his surroundings. He was appalled by the hot climate, the thin walls separating the Hale's apartment from that of their neighbors ( Alan Young and Glynis Johns), and mostly by the contented attitude of the other residents including Pauline Spencer ( Ruta Lee). Kevin Pollak played Brian Brinker, who ran the community but was very inept at his job, with

Lenore Woodward Lenore may refer to: __NOTOC__ Arts and entertainment * "Lenore" (poem), by Edgar Allan Poe *Lenore, an unrelated character in the poem "The Raven", also by Edgar Allan Poe * "Lenore" (ballad), a 1773 poem by Gottfried August Bürger * "Lenore" (mel ...

playing his elderly and very nosy secretary Wilma Salzgaber. Brinker would also be a love interest to Dick and Ginny's daughter, another wrinkle about The Dunes which raised the ire of Dick. This program was first aired as a midseason replacement in March 1988. It was not well received and was pulled from the schedule after only three episodes were aired. Nevertheless, it was added to the CBS 1988 fall lineup. It failed again, and was quickly pulled from the schedule. The airing of more episodes in June and July 1989 was a "burn-off", an attempt to recoup at least some of the investment in the show by using it as filler during the traditionally low-rated summer months.

Cast

* Paul Dooley as Dick Hale * Phyllis Newman as Ginny Hale * Alan Young as Ed Pepper * Glynis Johns as Trudie Pepper * Kevin Pollak as Brian Brinker *

as Wilma Salzgaber * Ruta Lee as Pauline Spencer

Episodes

Season 1 (1988)

Season 2 (1988–89)

References

General

*Brooks, Tim, and Marsh, Earle, '' The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows''

External links

* 1988 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series about marriage Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Arizona Television series about old age {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub