Coming of Age (1988 TV series)
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| Coming of Age | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Emily Marshall |
| Written by | Miriam Trogdon Michael Zinberg |
| Directed by | James Gardner |
| Starring | Paul Dooley Phyllis Newman Alan Young Glynis Johns |
| Theme music composer | Louis Prima |
| Opening theme | "Sing, Sing, Sing" performed by Doc Severinsen |
| Composer | Tim Truman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 15 (4 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Barry Kemp |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Bungalow 78 Productions Universal Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | March 15, 1988 – July 27, 1989 |
Coming of Age is an American sitcom that aired on CBS in the United States for two seasons from 1988 to 1989.
Premise
[edit]Coming of Age features Paul Dooley and Phyllis Newman as Dick and Ginny Hale, who lived in a retirement community in Arizona. Dick resented his retirement – a former airline pilot, he had been forced to retire by a Federal Aviation Administration rule that requires all U.S. commercial pilots to retire by age 60. Dick hated almost everything about his retirement, including his surroundings. He was appalled by the hot climate, the thin walls separating the Hale's apartment from that of their neighbors (Alan Young and Glynis Johns), and mostly by the contented attitude of the other residents including Pauline Spencer (Ruta Lee). Kevin Pollak played Brian Brinker, who ran the community but was very inept at his job, with Lenore Woodward playing his elderly and very nosy secretary Wilma Salzgaber. Brinker would also be a love interest to Dick and Ginny's daughter, another wrinkle about The Dunes which raised the ire of Dick.
This program was first aired as a midseason replacement in March 1988. It was not well received and was pulled from the schedule after only three episodes were aired. Nevertheless, it was added to the CBS 1988 fall lineup. It failed again, and was quickly pulled from the schedule. The airing of more episodes in June and July 1989 was a "burn-off", an attempt to recoup at least some of the investment in the show by using it as filler during the traditionally low-rated summer months.
Cast
[edit]- Paul Dooley as Dick Hale
- Phyllis Newman as Ginny Hale
- Alan Young as Ed Pepper
- Glynis Johns as Trudie Pepper
- Kevin Pollak as Brian Brinker
- Lenore Woodward as Wilma Salzgaber
- Ruta Lee as Pauline Spencer
Episodes
[edit]Series overview
[edit]| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 3 | March 15, 1988 | March 29, 1988 | |
| 2 | 12 | October 24, 1988 | July 27, 1989 | |
Season 1 (1988)
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Rating/share (households) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Tony Mordente | Emily Marshall | March 15, 1988 | 11.0/17[1] | |
|
Dick and Ginny, due to Dick's forced retirement from the Federal Aviation Administration, settle in to the retirement community The Dunes, and meet all the new inhabitants, despite Dick's constant consternation. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Sopwith Pup" | Unknown | Unknown | March 22, 1988 | 7.6/12[2] | |
| 3 | 3 | "The Kids Are Coming, The Kids Are Coming" | Unknown | Unknown | March 29, 1988 | 10.1/16[3] | |
Season 2 (1988–89)
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | Rating/share (households) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | "All I Wanted Was a New Car: Part 1" | Michael Zinberg | Sheldon Bull | October 24, 1988 | 15.9[4] | 11.6/17[4] | |
|
Dick is unable to get a loan towards the purchase of a new car because he's considered in an untrustworthy category due to being retired, so he gets a part-time job. Meanwhile, Ed, Trudie, and Ginny decide to compete in a square dancing competition. | ||||||||
| 5 | 2 | "All I Wanted Was a New Car: Part 2" | Unknown | Unknown | October 31, 1988 | 16.0[5] | 11.7/18[5] | |
| 6 | 3 | "Hale to the Chief" | Tony Mordente | Jeffrey Duteil | November 14, 1988 | 14.9[6] | 11.5/17[6] | |
|
Dick campaigns to get cable installed at The Dunes after him and Ed's attempts to install a satellite dish are futile. Bob and Ray (in their final appearance as a duo) guest star as a bullying elderly brother duo who get in the way of Dick and use underhanded tactics to intimidate the rest of the inhabitants of The Dunes. | ||||||||
| 7 | 4 | "Cindy Flies the Coop" | Unknown | Unknown | November 21, 1988 | 13.3[7] | 9.6/14[7] | |
| 8 | 5 | "Todd is My Co-Pilot" | Unknown | Unknown | June 29, 1989 | 7.4[8] | 5.6/10[8] | |
| 9 | 6 | "A Wife in the Theatre" | Unknown | Unknown | July 6, 1989 | 7.4[9] | 5.5/10[9] | |
| 10 | 7 | "Pauline et Rouge" | James Gardner | Sheldon Bull & Emily Marshall | July 20, 1989 | 7.4[10] | 5.4/10[10] | |
|
Ed's brother, Red (Van Johnson), visits The Dunes and gets romantically involved with Pauline. | ||||||||
| 11 | 8 | "Boy Meets Girl" | Unknown | Unknown | July 27, 1989 | 8.3[11] | 6.2/11[11] | |
| 12 | 9 | "Fever" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | N/A | N/A | |
| 13 | 10 | "Christmas at the Dunes" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | N/A | N/A | |
|
Dick and Ginny celebrate Christmas, the one holiday that Dick loves so much that it puts him in a happy enough mood to tolerate everyone at The Dunes. Their daughter and grandkids make plans to visit Dick and Ginny for the holidays, but for Dick nothing goes exactly as planned. | ||||||||
| 14 | 11 | "Daddy's Girl" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | N/A | N/A | |
| 15 | 12 | "Dick's Back" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | N/A | N/A | |
References
[edit]- ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. March 23, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306010273.
- ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. March 30, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 305993024.
- ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. April 6, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306060935.
- ^ a b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 2, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306129406.
- ^ a b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 9, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306136856.
- ^ a b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 23, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306124674.
- ^ a b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 30, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306106502.
- ^ a b "A summer holiday shuffle". Life. USA Today. July 7, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306227507.
- ^ a b "Fox gets a boost from 'Video'". Life. USA Today. July 12, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306223263.
- ^ a b "Fox finally finds a top spot". Life. USA Today. July 26, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306211572.
- ^ a b "Fox in 'Married' bliss Sunday". Life. USA Today. August 2, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306234816.
General
[edit]- Brooks, Tim, and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows
External links
[edit]
 | This article relating to a comedy television series in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1988 American television series debuts
- 1989 American television series endings
- 1980s American multi-camera sitcoms
- American English-language television shows
- Television series about marriage
- Television series by Universal Television
- Television shows set in Arizona
- Television series about old age
- CBS sitcoms
- United States comedy television series stubs