''Kate & Allie'' 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 ...

television series that aired 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 ...

from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, starring

Susan Saint James Susan Saint James (born Susan Jane Miller; August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series ''McMillan & Wife'' (1971–1976) and ...

and

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...

as two divorced women, both with children, who decide to live together in the same house. The series was created by

Sherry Coben Sherry Coben is creator of the 1980s situation comedy ''Kate & Allie'' and the webseries ''Little Women, Big Cars.'' She was also a writer for the soap opera ''Ryan's Hope''. Coben grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and attended Cherry Hill High ...

Overview

The show stars

as the free-spirited Kate McArdle and

as her more traditional childhood friend, Allie Lowell. The two decide to share a brownstone in New York City's

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

after their divorces, and raise their families together. The show also starred

Ari Meyers Ari Meyers (born April 6, 1969) is an American former actress. She played the role of Emma Jane McArdle in the television series '' Kate & Allie'' (1984). Early years Meyers (birth name: Ariadne Meyer) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Jewi ...

as Kate's daughter Emma, and

Frederick Koehler Frederick Koehler (born June 16, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Chip Lowell on ''Kate & Allie'' as well as Andrew Schillinger on the HBO drama ''Oz''. Later life After ''Kate & Allie'', Koehler attended Carnegie Mellon U ...

and Allison Smith as Allie's children Chip and Jennie. Both Kate and Allie dated men regularly, but were portrayed as strong, independent women, which was still a relative novelty on television at the time. Unlike other successful career women portrayed before them, Kate and Allie were shown to be wise to the games men play, but not averse to remarrying if the opportunity presented itself. ''Kate & Allie'' first aired on

as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike (its first episode ranked #4 out of all the television shows airing that week) easily persuaded CBS to commit to a full season in the fall of 1984. The show was one of the most popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms of the 1980s, consistently ranking in the Top 20 shows until its final season. Curtin won two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, while Saint James was nominated in the same category three times. Curtin and Saint James had previously worked together in the 1980 movie ''

How to Beat the High Cost of Living ''How to Beat the High Cost of Living'' is a 1980 American comedy heist film starring Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin, and Jessica Lange. Set in the aftermath of the economic recession of the 1970s, the film follows three women in suburban Oreg ...

''.Lague, Louise. "Real Women Make a Tv Comeback Thanks to Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin in Kate & Allie," ''People'' (magazine), May 7, 1984.
Retrieved November 28, 2017 At the beginning of the series, Kate worked as a

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

, while Allie stayed home and took care of the domestic duties while also pursuing her college degree she abandoned when she married her first husband. Kate's storylines often revolved around her struggles to be taken seriously in the workplace, while Allie's often revolved around learning to be more independent and sure of herself after her years as a housewife. In the show's fifth season, Kate quit her job and teamed up with Allie to start their own

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

service. In the show's second-to-last season, Allie dated Bob Barsky (

Sam Freed Sam Freed (born August 29, 1948) is an American actor who has performed on Broadway and television and in movies. His first major regular role on television was as Bob Barsky in the last three seasons of '' Kate & Allie''. In the short-lived seri ...

), a television sportscaster who proposed to Allie in the season finale. Following their marriage, Allie and Bob moved into a new apartment in the show's final season. Bob, however, took a job which involved regular travel, and Kate moved into the new apartment as well. This plot development, frequently cited as one of the canonical examples of a television show

jumping the shark The idiom "jumping the shark" was coined in 1985 by Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom ''Happy Days'', in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The phrase is pej ...

, led viewers to lose interest,''Kate and Allie
from the website of the

Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...

and CBS chose not to renew ''Kate & Allie'' for a seventh season.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Katherine "Kate" Elizabeth Ann (née Hanlan) McArdle. *

as Allison "Allie" Julia Charlotte (née Adams) Lowell. *

as Emma McArdle, Kate's daughter. Meyers left the show a few episodes into the fifth season to attend

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(although her name remained in the opening credits to the end of the season); she returned for the season-ending 100th episode retrospective, but did not appear in the sixth season. * Allison Smith as Jennie Lowell, Allie's daughter of similar age to Emma. *

as Charles "Chip" Lowell, Allie's son. *

as Bob Barsky, Allie's boyfriend who became her husband in Season 6. He was a sportscaster after retiring as a professional football player. Freed also played different characters in two separate episodes. In the first season he played a married candidate for office named Johnathan Conti who flirts with Allie. At the end of season three he played Keith in the episode "Late Bloomers", which was a

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for a proposed spinoff which would have starred

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series '' The Bionic Woman'' (197 ...

. *

Peter Onorati Peter Onorati (born May 16, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his TV roles as Charlie Howell on ''Civil Wars'' (1991–1993), Mr. Scotto on '' Murder One'' (1995–1997), Stanley Pearson on ''This Is Us'' (2017–2022), and Jeff Mumford ...

as Lou Carello, the superintendent in Kate and Allie's new apartment building in Season 6. He tries unsuccessfully to win Kate's affections.

Recurring cast

Greg Salata Gregory Salata (born July 21, 1949) is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1975 film ''Deadly Hero''. He is an actor, known for ''Weekend at Bernie's'', ''The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise ...

as Ted Bartelo, a plumber whom Kate gets involved with during the second season. The two break up in the season two finale. Ted returns for the fifth season, with he and Kate attempting to rekindle their relationship; by the end of this season, he is gone again. * Paul Hecht as Dr. Charles Lowell, Allie's sometimes pompous ex-husband. *

Harley Venton Harley Venton (born December 28, 1952) is an American actor, originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Biography After graduating from the University of North Dakota and the University of Minnesota, Venton moved to New York City, where he ...

(previously John Heard) as Max McArdle, Kate's ex-husband. *

Jack Gilpin John Mitchell "Jack" Gilpin (born May 31, 1951) is an American actor. He currently portrays Church the Butler in HBO's historical drama series ''The Gilded Age''. He is the father of actress Betty Gilpin. Early life Gilpin was born on May 31 ...

as Roger, Kate & Allie's next-door neighbor during the series' first two seasons. * Michael Countryman as Louis, Chip's adult friend who has an

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signif ...

. *

Wendie Malick Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom '' Dream On'', and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC si ...

as Claire Lowell, Charles' new wife. *

Alan North Alan North (December 23, 1920 – January 19, 2000) was an American actor. Early life North was born in Bronx, New York, and joined the United States Navy during the Second World War. Career After the war, he became a stage manager and made ...

as Mr. Sloan, Kate's boss at the travel agency. Notable guest stars included

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained notoriety and acclaim for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984-1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993-2004), ...

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

, Mercedes Ruehl,

Ricki Lake Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film ''Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for B ...

, Dick Cavett,

Patricia Richardson Patricia Castle Richardson (born February 23, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Jill Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'', for which she was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding L ...

Barbara Barrie Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author. Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film ''One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awar ...

Paul Gleason Paul Xavier Gleason (May 4, 1939 – May 27, 2006) was an American film and television actor. He was known for his roles on television series such as '' All My Children'' and films such as ''The Breakfast Club'', ''Trading Places'', and ''Di ...

Rosemary Murphy Rosemary Murphy (January 13, 1925 – July 5, 2014) was a German- American actress of stage, film, and television. She was nominated for three Tony Awards for her stage work, as well as two Emmy Awards for television work, winning once, for h ...

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

, John Heard,

Debra Jo Rupp Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951) is an American actress best known for her roles as Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' and its sequel series ''That '90s Show'', and Alice Knight-Buffay on the third through fifth seasons o ...

Marilyn Cooper Marilyn Cooper (December 14, 1934 – April 22, 2009) was an American actress known primarily for her work on the Broadway stage. Life and career Born in New York City, Cooper made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the chorus of '' Mr. Wonderfu ...

, Susie Essman, Joe Namath,

Christa Miller Christa Beatrice Miller is an American actress and model who has achieved success in television comedy. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien on ''The Drew Carey Show'' and Jordan Sullivan on '' Scrubs''. She has also appeared in '' Seinfeld ...

(star Susan St. James' real-life niece), and

Peggy Pope Florence Margaret "Peggy" Pope (May 15, 1929 – May 27, 2020) was an American actress of stage, television and film. Early life Pope was born in Montclair, New Jersey. Her father was a notable doctor in the area. She graduated from Smith Col ...

Spin-offs

''Kate & Allie'' gave birth to the spin-off '' Roxie'', a short-lived comedy which aired only twice on CBS' schedule, on April 1 and 8, 1987. ''Roxie'' starred

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

TV programmer Roxie Brinkerhoff, who balanced her professional life at local UHF station WNYV with her married life. Martin had previously appeared as a similar version of the character, named Eddie Gordon, on two episodes of ''Kate & Allie'' ("Stage Mother", which aired December 1, 1986, and in "The Goodbye Girl", December 8, 1986), in which she was a friend of Allie's who worked as a producer on low-viewership public-access Channel G. Another attempted spin-off was ''Late Bloomer'' which was scheduled to be a midseason replacement in January 1987. Based on the similarly named Season 3 episode that guest starred

, the series was scrapped the day before its January 19, 1987 debut which was an encore presentation of its

Production

The test name for the script was entitled ''Two Mommies'' and was seized upon by Saint James who was able to use the show as a way to work without relocating her family from Litchfield, Connecticut. Curtin initially was not interested in doing the sitcom, but after speaking with director Bill Persky she decided to take the role. ''Kate & Allie'' was taped on soundstages constructed at the

Ed Sullivan Theater The Ed Sullivan Theater (originally Hammerstein's Theatre; later the Manhattan Theatre, Billy Rose's Music Hall, CBS Radio Playhouse No. 3, and CBS Studio 50) is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th Streets, in the Theater ...

(CBS Studio 50) and also at the

Teletape Studios Reeves Teletape Studios was a group of television studios located in Manhattan in New York City. Owned by Reeves Communications Corporation, it was formed in 1974 by the merger of Reeves Sound Services (a sound and video post-production company an ...

at West 81st Street and Broadway in New York City, which at the time was the production facility for ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''.

Cold opening A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...

dialog sequences between Saint James and Curtin documenting city life were featured, shot on location in Manhattan with no

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

. The theme song played instrumentally over the title shot of the Empire State Building (the first season's titles opened in a different outdoor location per episode). Closing credits also included vocals with indicative lyrics, "just when you think/you're all by yourself/you're not." Under pressure from higher-ups at CBS to quash the suggestion that Kate and Allie were lesbians, the producers were instructed to show Kate and Allie entering separate bedrooms to sleep at the end of each episode. That pressure may have been the impetus for an episode showing Kate and Allie pretending to be lesbians when they were faced with a large increase in rent. Saint James was pregnant during the taping of the fourth season. Her pregnancy was hidden by taping her behind a desk, under a sheet in a hospital bed, or in a bubble bath. The exception was a 1960s flashback which showed both Kate and Allie pregnant. An episode broadcast in 1987, produced in cooperation with the

Coalition for the Homeless A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, was taped almost entirely outdoors, on the streets of Manhattan. The episode was prompted by the likely absence of Saint James, who had been hospitalized due to kidney stones, and featured Allie struggling to find a way home after accidentally leaving her keys and money in a taxi. The show's final season had been picked up with a number of other returning CBS shows for midseason premieres. The lack of inclusion on CBS' 1989–90 fall schedule announced on May 19, 1989, officially ended the series' run.

Ratings

Following are the Nielsen ratings for the show: * 1983–1984: #8 * 1984–1985: #17 * 1985–1986: #14 * 1986–1987: #19 * 1987–1988: #38 * 1988–1989: #48 According to an essay by Christine R. Catron from the

's Encyclopedia of Television, the decline in ratings for the show's last season is attributable to the fact that the show's premise had been fulfilled at the end of the previous season, when Allie accepted Bob Barsky's marriage proposal.

Syndication

The American syndication rights are held by

NBCUniversal Television Distribution NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUniv ...

; the show aired on RTN. ''Kate & Allie'' previously aired on

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Amer ...

, from 2007 to 2008.

FremantleMedia Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television i ...

owns the international rights, as they own

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and have access to the

Reeves Entertainment Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) was an independent television production company founded by Alan Landsburg in 1971. The company had produced '' In Search of...'' and ''That's Incredible!'', two early examples of reality television decades befor ...

product.

Reboot

In January 2021, it was announced that

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

had given a

put pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

commitment to a reboot of the series. It will be produced by Fierce Baby Production, Propagate, and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

with Erica Oyama writing and co-executive producing with

Nahnatchka Khan Nahnatchka Khan (born June 17, 1973) is an American television writer and producer. She created and executive produced the ABC comedy series '' Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23'' (2012–2013) and '' Fresh Off the Boat'' (2015–2020), a ...

, Ben Silverman,

Howard T. Owens Howard Thomas Owens is an American media executive who is founder and Co-CEO of Propagate Content. Early life Born to Howard T. Owens Jr., an American politician, lawyer, and judge. Before launching his media career, Owens was an attorney in p ...

, Rodney Ferrell, Gregory Lipstone, Peter Principato, Jen Carreras, and Brian Dobbins.

Home media

United States

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

released the first season of ''Kate & Allie'' on DVD exclusively in the United States in May 2006.

Canada

For the Canadian market,

Visual Entertainment Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario. An independent label, it has released several well-known TV series on DVD, some through sub-licensing deals with other labels such ...

(under license from

), has released all six seasons on DVD. On May 4, 2010, VEI released ''Kate & Allie: The Complete Series'', a 16-disc boxset featuring all 122 episodes of the series.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kate and Allie 1984 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Television duos Television series about families Television series by Alan Landsburg Productions Television shows filmed in New York City Television shows set in New York City