''Rags to Riches'' is an American musical

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

that was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

for two seasons from March 9, 1987, to January 15, 1988. Set in the pre-

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

1960s, the series tells the story of Nick Foley, a self-made millionaire who adopts six orphan girls. Each episode included musical scenes of hit songs from the era performed by the girls integrated into the plot (with the lyrics modified to provide commentary on the storyline).

Plot

Nick Foley (

Joseph Bologna Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films ''My Favorite Year'', ''Blame It on Rio'' and ''Transylvania 6-5000 (1985 film), Transylvania ...

), the millionaire owner of Foley Foods, is a streetwise

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

-born businessman who realizes that his

playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

lifestyle has been a liability for his business reputation. In the

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

that launched the series, Foley attempts to develop a family man image by bringing a group of six orphaned girls, who were featured in a newspaper story saying that they refused to be separated from each other, to live in the mansion in Bel Air where he lives with his

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

, John Clapper (

Douglas Seale Douglas Seale (28 October 1913 – 13 June 1999) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Born in London, Seale was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career He m ...

). Foley does this to seal a business deal and does not intend to keep the girls permanently, but Foley's plans change as he grows attached to the girls, and he ends up adopting them as his legal daughters. The adjustment is huge on both sides, as the girls acquire a new father with no parenting experience. Having spent the past few years in a rundown

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

, the girls suddenly find themselves in a life of luxury (hence the series' title). The series follows the trials and tribulations of the girls and a man who has previously never loved anyone but himself, and often struggles to cope with his new family. In the pilot for the series, Foley takes in a group of six girls; however, Foley only adopted five of them for the remainder of the series' run: Rose, 17; Diane, 16; Marva, 15; Patty, 13; and Mickey, 7. The sixth girl, Nina, appears only in the pilot (after the pilot was produced, it was decided that six children was too many for the series cast, so Nina was written out of the series as having been reunited with her birth mother as referenced in the episode "Patty's Mom"). The series differed from regular comedy dramas in that the girls would frequently burst into song to help explain their feelings or move along the plot. Each episode therefore contained at least two musical scenes with covers of popular songs from the early 1960s with the lyrics changed to provide commentary on the storyline of the episode.

Reception

Promoted with the tagline, "If you liked ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'', you'll like ''Rags to Riches''". After very good ratings on Sunday night, it got moved to Friday in the fall of 1987 to make way for ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States f ...

''. Ratings for the series were not strong enough for its Friday night time slot, and NBC canceled the show part way through its second season.

Musical numbers

Mark Mueller Mark Mueller (born July 11, 1957) is an American songwriter. A two-time winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for writing one of the Most Performed Songs of the year, he has had three ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top Ten singles and one #1 Adult Contemporary ...

wrote new comedic lyrics for existing hit songs from the '50s and early '60s that were featured in most episodes of both seasons of the show. He also wrote the lyrics to the show's theme song. Many of the songs used were not around yet during the time frame when the series takes place; 1961-63.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Nick Foley *

Tisha Campbell Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film '' Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the short-lived NBC musical comedy dra ...

as Marva * Blanca De Garr as Patty *

Kimiko Gelman Kimiko Gelman (born February 20, 1966) is an American actress. Gelman is best known for starring in the television series ''Rags to Riches'' from 1987 to 1988, where she played the role of Rose. She has also made appearances on a number of othe ...

as Rose * Bridget Michele as Diane * Heidi Zeigler as Mickey *

as John Clapper

Recurring cast

Heather McAdam Heather McAdam is an American actress. McAdam's major acting projects have included the roles of Catherine "Cat" Margolis in the television series ''Sisters'' (1991–96), Dwana Pusser in '' Walking Tall'' (1981), and Michelle Ryan in '' Salvage ...

as Nina *

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer, formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

as Amy Hillerman * Sue Ball as Marnie * Jeff Harlan as Marty * John Christy Ewing as Mr. Donovan *

Sandy Ward Sandy Brown (July 12, 1926 – March 6, 2005) was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing the recurring role of "Logger Pete" on 11 episodes of the American sitcom television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''. ...

as Al Schweikert

Episodes

Season 1 (1987)

Season 2 (1987–88)

Home media

On June 5, 2012,

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

released ''Rags to Riches: The Complete Series'' on Region 1 DVD. DTP Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Germany. Season 1 was released on May 13, 2011, and season 2 on October 27, 2011.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rags To Riches (Tv Series) 1987 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American comedy-drama television series 1980s American musical comedy television series 1980s American teen drama television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Period television series Television series about orphans Television series about teenagers Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by New World Television Television series set in the 1960s Television shows set in California Television series about adoption