''Hail to the Chief'' 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

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 ...

from April 9 to May 21, 1985. It centred around the President of the United States, portrayed by

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. The series was created by

Susan Harris Susan Harris (née Spivak; born October 28, 1940) is an American television writer and producer, creator of Emmy Award-winning sitcoms ''Soap'' (1977–1981) and ''The Golden Girls'' (1985–1992). Between 1975 and 1998, Harris was one of the m ...

, and was produced by

Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions Witt/Thomas Productions is an American television and movie production company run by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The company was consistently productive between its founding in 1973 and 1999, but is still active, producing an ...

. It featured one of the few recurring gay characters in a 1980s television series (Randy, the Secret Service Agent portrayed by

Joel Brooks Joel Brooks (born December 17, 1949) is an American actor, known for his roles in '' Stir Crazy'', ''My Sister Sam'', '' Six Feet Under'', ''The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green'' and ''Phil of the Future''. Brooks also had a recurrin ...

Synopsis

''Hail to the Chief'' is similar in style to the TV sitcom, ''

Soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

'' (from the same producers as this series), in that it was a comedy with open-ended storylines that parodied a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

had the starring role as the President, Julia Mansfield. The show focused on President Mansfield's attempt at balancing her political career with raising her family.

Cast and characters

... President Julia Mansfield *

Ted Bessell TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

... First Gentleman Oliver Mansfield *

Quinn Cummings Quinn L. Cummings (born August 13, 1967) is an American entrepreneur, author, humorist, inventor and former actress. Cummings came to prominence as a child actor, playing Lucy McFadden in Neil Simon's '' The Goodbye Girl'', for which she was no ...

... Lucy Mansfield *

Ricky Paull Goldin Richard Paull Goldin (born January 5, 1965) is an American actor, producer, director and television personality. He is known for his roles in daytime drama as Jake Martin in ABC's '' All My Children''. In May 2013, Goldin joined the cast of ...

... Doug Mansfield *

Dick Shawn Dick Shawn (born Richard Schulefand, December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. During the 1960s, he played small roles in madcap come ...

... Ivan Zolotov *

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

... Secretary of State, LaRue Hawkes *

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 ...

... Helmut Luger *

Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as ''Anatomy of a Murder'', ''The Hustler'', ''The Graduate'', ''Jaws'' and ''The Amityville Hor ...

... Senator Sam Cotton *

Richard Paul Richard Paul (June 6, 1940 – December 25, 1998) was an American actor who was born in Los Angeles, California. Early life Paul was born in Los Angeles, California. Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts in public affairs from Claremont Men's Coll ...

... Reverend Billy Joe Bickerstaff *

John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...

... General Hannibal Stryker * Jonna Lee ... Muffin Stryker *

... Randy

Production

Casting

was cast as President Julia Mansfield.

was cast as First Gentleman Oliver Mansfield.

was cast as Lucy Mansfield.

was cast as Doug Mansfield.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

John J. O'Connor of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote in his review: "''Hail to the Chief'' features

as the first female President of the United States surrounded by assorted misfits in a format that is intended to be, as they like to say, zany and irreverent. This one's sour, to say the least. ..As for ''Hail to the Chief,'' there hasn't been anything so furiously wacky on prime-time television since ''

'' got a broad cross-section of protest groups worked up almost a decade ago - even before the show went on air. Not surprisingly, both series come out of

is the creator and writer.

Paul Junger Witt Paul Junger Witt (March 20, 1941 – April 27, 2018) was an American film and television producer. He, with his partners Tony Thomas and Susan Harris (also his wife), produced such television shows as ''Here Come the Brides'', ''The Partridge ...

and Tony Thomas are the producers. It is perhaps a sign of the times that ''Hail to the Chief,'' which goes several kinky steps beyond the outrageousness of ''Soap,'' is making its debut without so much as a raised eyebrow, even though the advertisements for the ''equal opportunity offender'' promise that you'll say, ''I thought they couldn't do that on TV.''"

Ratings

''Hail to the Chief'', which featured Patty Duke as the President, got off to a very good start, attracting 32% of the available viewers and winning its time period for the April 9 premiere. But it drew only 24% the following week, 23% for the third episode and 22% for the fourth.

Cancellation

''Hail to the Chief'' was canceled in May 1985 after seven episodes. ABC continued to air repeats of the series through July 20, 1985.

References

Citations

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hail To The Chief (Tv Series) 1980s American LGBT-related comedy television series 1980s American political comedy television series 1980s American satirical television series 1980s American sitcoms 1985 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Political satirical television series Television series about families Television shows set in Washington, D.C. White House in fiction American LGBT-related sitcoms 1980s LGBT-related sitcoms