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''It's a Living'' (renamed ''Making a Living'' for Season 2) is an American ensemble
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
television series set in a restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. The show aired on ABC from October 30, 1980, until June 11, 1982. After the series was canceled by ABC, new episodes aired in
first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
from September 28, 1985, to April 8, 1989. The series was created by
Stu Silver Stewart Norton Silver (June 29, 1947 – July 18, 2023) was an American screenwriter and television writer best known for such films and television series as ''Throw Momma from the Train'', ''Webster (TV series), Webster'', ''It's a Living'', ' ...
,
Dick Clair Dick Clair (November 12, 1931 – December 12, 1988) was an American television producer, actor and television and film writer, best known for the television sitcoms ''It's a Living (1980 TV series), It's a Living'', ''The Facts of Life (TV seri ...
and Jenna McMahon and produced by
Witt/Thomas Productions Witt/Thomas Productions is an American television and movie production company run by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The company was consistently productive between its founding in 1973 and 1999, but is still active, producing ...
, later in association with Golden West Television (1985–86) and
Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation, Inc. was an entertainment company established on February 19, 1986 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pi ...
(1986–89). The series is now distributed by Paul Brownstein Productions and Warner Bros. Television Distribution.


Plot

The show follows the lives of the waitresses at the posh, fictional restaurant called Above the Top, located atop the Bonaventure Hotel in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California. At the helm is supervisor Nancy Beebe, the restaurant's maître d’, who sometimes fraternizes with the girls but usually gives orders and demands excellence. The plot often involves the harried waitresses annoying Nancy in some minor way. Adding to the elegant but chaotic working environment is wisecracking pianist Sonny Mann, who makes rude and occasionally sexist comments to the waitresses and receives insults in return. The kitchen is first the domain of Chef Mario, then Dennis Hubner and finally Howard Miller. Howard and Nancy eventually fall in love and marry.


Cast

Richard Kline also appears as recurring character Richie Gray, Jan's new husband, in seasons 3 through 6.


Episodes

The show's two broadcast seasons produced 27 episodes. An additional 93 episodes were produced for the syndication run, making a total of 120 episodes.


Title changes

As with many other sitcoms from the 1980–81 television season, ''It's a Living'' felt the effects of the 1980
Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
and
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...
strike, which limited the show to just 13 episodes in its first season. The series was not a ratings success. For Season 2, the cast was largely retooled and the series was renamed ''Making a Living''. Two of the five waitresses from the first season—Lois Adams and Vicki Allen, played by actresses Susan Sullivan and
Wendy Schaal Wendy Schaal (born July 2, 1954) is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films, such as '' Innerspace'', '' The 'Burbs'', and '' Small Soldiers''. Her other film credits include starring in '' Where the Boys Are '84'', '' Creatur ...
, respectively—were removed, and waitress Maggie McBurney, portrayed by
Louise Lasser Louise Lasser (born April 11, 1939) is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', for which sh ...
, was added. However, this iteration also failed to find success, and the show was canceled at the end of the season. In syndication, the second season airs under the original title of ''It's a Living''. Of all the cast members, only Gail Edwards (Dot Higgins), Marian Mercer (Nancy Beebe Miller), Barrie Youngfellow (Jan Hoffmeyer Gray) and Paul Kreppel (Sonny Mann) lasted through the show's network and syndicated runs. Ann Jillian (Cassie Cranston) appeared during the network run and the first year of syndication.
Crystal Bernard Crystal Lynn BernardLeszczak, Bob (2015). From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Record, 1950–2000'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. (born September 30, 1961) is a retired American singer-songwriter and ...
and Richard Stahl appeared during the entire syndicated run.


Syndication

While the show was never a hit on network television, its fortunes would later turn in 1983 when all 27 episodes entered syndication. The series began to attract a following along with surprising ratings for the reruns, which prompted the producers and Golden West Television to revive it. Another factor in its sudden rediscovery was Ann Jillian's 1984 public disclosure that she had been diagnosed with
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. In 1985, the show was revived under its old name for the syndicated market. Most of the cast remained intact from the former version. A new waitress, Amy Tompkins (Crystal Bernard), arrived at the restaurant and was immediately accepted by the group. Jillian, who had committed to just one season in syndication, left the show in 1986 to continue her cancer treatments. Her character was explained to have married and started a family. She was replaced by Ginger St. James (Sheryl Lee Ralph). With these core cast members in place, the show continued to produce episodes for syndication until it ended in 1989. From 2000 to 2001,
TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...
aired the series occasionally for special programming blocks. In April 2018,
Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
began to carry the series in
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
form several times a month.
Antenna TV Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operatio ...
ran the series from January 2, 2020 to August 30, 2021, and it later ran on Rewind TV. It is also available for streaming online on
FilmRise FilmRise is an American media company, headquartered in New York City, that operates a film and television studio and a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network. As of November 2024, the FilmRise app has reported more than 31.5 milli ...
and its partner streaming services
Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...
,
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,
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and
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
(via
Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee (stylized as freevee and fv, also shortened as Freevee, formerly known as IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV, and sometimes spelled FV) is an American Free ad-supported streaming television, ad-supported video on demand, video-on-demand ( ...
), under license from the show's current distributor, Paul Brownstein Productions.


Broadcast

A partial list of stations the show was syndicated to during its revival in syndication:


International broadcast

In Italy, the show aired on
Rai Uno Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting mainstream and general ...
(Rai 1) under the name '' Nancy, Sonny & Co.'' in 1988. It was also known as ''Roof Garden''. In Japan, it was broadcast in 1984 on