''Just Friends'', billed as ''Stockard Channing in Just Friends'' on the title card, 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 4, 1979 to June 24, 1979.

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...

, an accomplished stage actress who had entered the national consciousness with her role as Betty Rizzo in '' Grease'' a year prior, was the lead.

Gerrit Graham Gerrit Graham (born November 27, 1949) is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a scriptwriter and songwriter. He is best known for his appearances in multiple films by Brian De Palma as well as appearances in two '' Star Trek' ...

Mimi Kennedy Mary Claire "Mimi" Kennedy (born September 25, 1948) is an American actress, author, and activist. Best known for her roles in television sitcoms, Kennedy co-starred in numerous short-lived sitcoms before her role as Ruth Sloan on '' Homefront'' ...

, Lou Crisculo and Sydney Goldsmith co-starred with her on the series. A year after ''Just Friends'' had ended, Channing starred in her self-titled '' The Stockard Channing Show''. Ostensibly, the two series were set in different

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...

s with different character names but were largely identical in premise, with an identical home set, with Channing speaking in interviews as if the two shows were two seasons of the same series.

Plot

This series revolves around health spa assistant manager Susan Hughes, whose marriage is falling apart.

Cast

as Susan Hughes *

as Leonard Scribner *

as Victoria Chasen *Lou Crisculo as Milt D'Angelo *Sydney Goldsmith as Coral * Joan Tolentino as Mrs. Fischer * Albert Insinnia as Angelo D'Angelo *

Liz Torres Elizabeth Larrieu Torres (born September 27, 1947) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Torres is best known for her role as Mahalia Sanchez in the NBC comedy series ''The John Larroquette Show'' (1993–1996), for which she received two ...

as Miranda D'Angelo *

Rhonda Foxx The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 13 U.S. representatives from the state of North Carolina, one from each of the state's 13 congressional districts. The ele ...

as Mrs. Blanchard *

Linda Rose Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

as Miss Yarnell

Production

The pilot for ''Just Friends'' was videotaped before a live studio audience at

CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...

in Hollywood in November 1978. Production relocated to the Goldenwest Videotape Division also in Hollywood for the rest of the series. The series ranked 26th for the season with an average household share of 20.2. The following season, '' The Stockard Channing Show'' replaced ''Just Friends''.

Episodes

DVD release

10 of the 13 episodes of ''Just Friends'' were released on DVD in 2006 by the Canadian company ''

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 ...

'' as part of the DVD set of Channing's following series, '' The Stockard Channing Show''.

References

External links

* 1979 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub