It's a Living (1980 TV series)

It's a Living
Also known as	Making a Living
Created by	Stu Silver Dick Clair Jenna McMahon
Starring	Barrie Youngfellow Ann Jillian Gail Edwards Crystal Bernard Louise Lasser Marian Mercer Sheryl Lee Ralph Wendy Schaal Susan Sullivan Earl Boen Paul Kreppel
Theme music composer	George Aliceson Tipton
Opening theme	"It's a Living" performed by Leslie Bricusse
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	120 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas
Producer(s)	Joel Zwick R.J. Colleary Marc Sotkin Gloria Banta Greg Antonacci Paul Kreppel
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Witt/Thomas Productions
Distributor	Golden West Television (1985–1986) Lorimar-Telepictures (1986–1989) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (1989–present)
Release
Original network	ABC (1980–1982) Syndication (1985–1989)
Original release	October 30, 1980 – April 8, 1989

It's a Living (also known as Making a Living)^[1] is an American sitcom set in a restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.^[1] The show aired on ABC from October 30, 1980 until June 11, 1982. After the series was canceled, new episodes aired in first-run syndication from September 28, 1985 to April 8, 1989. The series was created by Stu Silver, Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions, later in association with Golden West Television (1985–86) and Lorimar-Telepictures (1986–89).

First season main cast

Synopsis

The show follows the lives of the waitresses at the posh restaurant Above the Top, located at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. At the helm was supervisor Nancy Beebe (Marian Mercer), the restaurant's maître d’, who sometimes fraternized with the girls but usually gave orders. More often than not the scheme of the week involved upsetting Nancy in some way because all she wanted was an orderly wait staff. Adding to the chaotic working environment was a wisecracking pianist named Sonny Mann (Paul Kreppel), who made rude comments to the women, Nancy included, and got insulted in return. The kitchen was the domain of Chef Mario (Bert Remsen), then Dennis Hubner (Earl Boen), and finally Howard Miller (Richard Stahl), who eventually married Nancy.

Title changes

Like many other sitcoms that aired during the 1980–81 television season, It's a Living felt the effects of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike that occurred in 1980. This caused the show to have an abbreviated first season and thus it was not a success. The series was retooled extensively, with two of the five waitresses from the first season, actresses Susan Sullivan and Wendy Schaal, who played waitresses Lois Adams and Vicki Allen, respectively, being replaced with actress Louise Lasser, who portrayed waitress Maggie McBurney. Airing in 1981 under the name Making a Living,^[1] this iteration did not catch on either, and the show was canceled after two seasons. In syndication, the second season airs under the title It's a Living.

Of all the cast, only Gail Edwards (Dot Higgins), Marian Mercer (Nancy Beebe), 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.

Syndication

While the show was never a hit on network TV, its fortunes would later turn in 1983 when all 27 episodes went to syndication. The series began to attract a following along with surprising ratings for the reruns, which prompted the producers and Golden West Television to bring the series back. Another factor in its sudden rediscovery was Ann Jillian's public disclosure that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984, the same year as the announcement to bring the show back.

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. When Jillian decided to leave the show in 1986 (she had agreed to do only one season in syndication, plus she wanted to continue her treatments for breast cancer), her character 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 aired the series occasionally for special programming blocks. It joined TV Land's weekly schedule on Monday, January 1, 2001, with back-to-back episodes aired as part of its "Twice as Nice" programming block. However, the network abruptly pulled the series after just one week, and it has not aired on TV Land since.

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.

Main cast

Portrayer	Character	No. of episodes	Seasons
			1 (1980–81)	2 (1981–82)	3 (1985–86)	4 (1986–87)	5 (1987–88)	6 (1988–89)
Barrie Youngfellow	Jan Hoffmeyer Gray	120
Gail Edwards	Dot Higgins	120
Marian Mercer	Nancy Beebe	120
Paul Kreppel	Sonny Mann	120
Ann Jillian	Cassie Cranston	49
Susan Sullivan	Lois Adams	13
Wendy Schaal	Vicki Allen	13
Bert Remsen	Mario	13
Louise Lasser	Maggie McBurney	14
Earl Boen	Dennis Hubner	14
Crystal Bernard	Amy Tompkins	93
Richard Stahl	Howard Miller	93
Sheryl Lee Ralph	Ginger St. James	71

References

1. "Making a Living". The New York Times.

External links

• It's a Living at the Internet Movie Database
• It's a Living at TV.com
• It's a Living at epguides.com
• It's a Living at GailEdwards.com