''Living Dolls'' 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 ...

featured on the fall 1989 schedule of

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 ...

. It was a spin-off created by a writer from '' Who's the Boss?'' and featuring characters introduced during an episode of that show. The show was the acting debut of

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mis ...

. Both ''Who's the Boss?'' and ''Living Dolls'' were produced by

ELP Communications ELP Communications (formerly known as T.A.T. Communications Company, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Embassy Communications) was an American television production company that originally began in 1974. History Beginning EL ...

through

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

and ABC.

Synopsis

The show featured Charlie Briscoe ( Leah Remini), a friend of Samantha Micelli (the ''Who's the Boss?'' character played by

Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'', Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'', Phoebe Halliwell in ''Charmed'', Billie Cunningham in '' My Name Is Earl'', Sa ...

). Samantha is dabbling in a modeling career and Charlie, a friend from Samantha's old Brooklyn neighborhood, comes to visit. While doing some test shots for a dog food commercial, it is discovered that Charlie is very photogenic. Charlie is then befriended by the owner of a modeling agency for teenage girls, Trish Carlin (

Michael Learned Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939) is a distinguished American actor, known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series ''The Waltons'' (1972–1981). She has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in ...

). Trish is also a friend of advertising executive Angela Bower, one of the main characters on ''Who's the Boss?''. Trish becomes a mother figure to Charlie and the other models.

Reception

''Living Dolls'' was panned by critics and received mostly negative reviews. It was the only series to receive an "F" grade by ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' magazine in its 1989 fall preview issue."Throwing a Curveball: Surprising Spin-Offs"
Screenrush. Retrieved October 28, 2013. ABC canceled the series after 12 episodes in December 1989.

Production

The series began as a back-door pilot on '' Who's the Boss?''. In that episode,

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

played Emily instead of

, and Jonathan Ward portrayed Rick, who came to be known as Eric when

David Moscow David Raphael Moscow (born November 14, 1974) is an American actor, producer and activist. He is best known for his role as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 film '' Big'' and as David in the 1992 musical film ''Newsies.'' Career In 1988, Mosco ...

took over the role for the series. Executives disliked the original cast and held auditions for recasting. The ''Who's the Boss'' pilot first aired in March, but it was rerun directly before the ''Living Dolls'' premiere,Dayton Daily News, September 26, 1989
/ref> illustrating the reasons why Charlie moved in with Trish in the first place.

Cast

as Miss Patricia "Trish" Carlin * Leah Remini as Charlene "Charlie" Briscoe *

Deborah Tucker Deborah Tucker is an actress who appeared in American television and film during the late-1980s and early-1990s. Her first credited appearance as an actress was as a cast member of the short-lived television series ''Living Dolls'' in September ...

as Caroline Weldon *

Alison Elliott Alison Elliott (born May 19, 1970) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for the 1997 film '' The Wings of the Dove''. Her other film appearances include ''The Spitfire Grill'' (1996), ''Birth'' (2004), '' The ...

as Martha Lambert *

as Emily Franklin *

as Eric "Rick" Carlin

Episodes

References

External links

* {{Who's the Boss 1989 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Modeling-themed television series American television spin-offs Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in New York City