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''The Famous Teddy Z'' is an American
sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, 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 troup ...
that was broadcast 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 Entertainme ...
during the fall of 1989. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and inspired by the true story of Jay Kantor, who was a mailroom clerk at MCA and later became
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
's agent.


Synopsis

The series starred
Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy '' No Small Affair''; his br ...
as Theodore "Teddy" Zakalokis, a young man working in a Hollywood talent agency in order to avoid being stuck in his
Greek-American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greeks, Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the hi ...
family's bakery. When
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
star Harland Keyvo (a caricature of
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
) meets Teddy Z, he is so impressed by his honesty that he makes him his new agent. The humor is derived from Teddy's innocent approach to the business, contrasted with the snake-like behavior of his fellow agents. The cast also included
Jane Sibbett Jane Moore Sibbett is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Heddy Newman on the Fox television series '' Herman's Head'' and Carol Willick on the television series ''Friends''. Early life Sibbett was born in Berkeley, California, t ...
,
Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...
,
Milton Selzer Milton Selzer (October 25, 1918 – October 21, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating fro ...
, Josh Blake, and Erica Yohn.


Cast

*
Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy '' No Small Affair''; his br ...
as Theodore "Teddy" Zakalokis *
Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...
as Albert "Al" T. Floss * Josh Blake as Aristotle "Ari" Zakalokis * Tom LaGrua as Richard "Richie" Herby *
Milton Selzer Milton Selzer (October 25, 1918 – October 21, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating fro ...
as Abe Werkfinder *
Jane Sibbett Jane Moore Sibbett is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Heddy Newman on the Fox television series '' Herman's Head'' and Carol Willick on the television series ''Friends''. Early life Sibbett was born in Berkeley, California, t ...
as Laurie Parr * Erica Yohn as Deena Zakalokis


Recurring

* Dennis Lipscomb as Harland Keyvo * Jack Armstrong as Marty Horn *
Barry Corbin Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award ...
as Zed Westhymer * Tony Di Benedetto as Uncle Nikos *
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 Aunt Angie


Production


Music

The theme song was written by
Guy Moon Guy Vernon Moon is an American composer. Biography Moon was born and grew up in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Arizona in 1980. He moved to California in 1986. Inspired by the musical works of Chick Corea, Moon has wr ...
and
Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Polish, and Russian " ...
and
Steve Tyrell ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...
and performed by
Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...
.


Casting

When the series first went into production,
Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actre ...
was cast as Teddy's pushy mother, Deena Zakalokis. Kazan had appeared in the first six episodes and shot part of the seventh episode but was released from the series due to creative issues. Kazan reportedly sued the producers for $2 million over her dismissal. The role of Deena was promptly recast as Teddy's grandmother, with Erica Yohn being hired. Most of Kazan's scenes were reshot with Yohn before the show made its debut.


''Murphy Brown'' crossover

Rocco's character, Al Floss, made a crossover appearance in the ''
Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'' ...
'' season two episode " And the Whiner Is...", which originally aired on November 13, 1989. In the appearance Floss serves as an agent for several ''Murphy Brown'' characters.


Episodes


Reception

The series
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 ar ...
was seen to be far stronger than subsequent episodes, but the series received two
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
nominations, including one for the pilot, and for Alex Rocco, who won an Emmy as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, but low ratings led CBS to drop it with five episodes unaired. It was later run in its entirety on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programm ...
in 1993 with episodes introduced by Rocco, and by Trio as part of its ''Brilliant But Cancelled'' series.


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Famous Teddy Z, The CBS original programming 1989 American television series debuts Television shows set in Los Angeles 1980s American sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 1990 American television series endings Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series created by Hugh Wilson Television series about show business