We Got It Made

*We Got It Made*
We Got It Made
	We Got it Made season-two opening title
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Gordon Farr; Lynne Farr Brao;
Written by	Michael S. Baser; Lynne Farr Brao; Bob Brunner; David Chambers; Chet Dowling; Gordon Farr; Jeffrey Ferro; Ken Hecht; Arnold Kane; Sandy Krinski; Susan H. Lee; Bowie Lennon; C.M. Leon; Laura Levine; Chick Mitchell; Geoffrey Neigher; Kim Weiskopf; Margaret Weisman; Fredric Weiss;
Directed by	James R. Drake; Alan Rafkin;
Starring	Teri Copley; Tom Villard; Matt McCoy; John Hillner; Bonnie Urseth; Stepfanie Kramer; Lance Wilson-White; Ron Karabatsos;
Opening theme	"We Got It Made"
Composer	Tom Wells
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	46
Production
Executive producer	Fred Silverman
Producers	Lynne Farr Brao; Gordon Farr; Alan Rafkin;
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	InterMedia Entertainment Company (1983–1984); The Farr Organization Inc. (1983–1984); MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television; (1983–1984); Twenty Paws Productions (syndicated version; 1987–1988); The Fred Silverman Company (syndicated version; 1987–1988); MGM/UA Television; (syndicated version; 1987–1988);
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 8, 1983 –; March 10, 1984
Network	Syndication
Release	September 11, 1987 –; March 30, 1988

We Got It Made is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 8, 1983, to March 10, 1984, and in first-run syndication from September 11, 1987, to March 30, 1988. It starred Teri Copley as a woman who works as a maid for two bachelors in New York City, played by Tom Villard and Matt McCoy, who was replaced by John Hillner for the syndicated version. The series was created by Gordon Farr and Lynne Farr Brao (credited as simply Lynne Farr during the 1987–88 season). The executive producer was Fred Silverman.

Synopsis

1983 NBC version

The show focuses on Mickey Mackenzie (Teri Copley), a girl in her early 20s who applies for a housekeeping job in Manhattan. Her employers are two bachelors who share the two-bedroom apartment—conservative attorney David Tucker (Matt McCoy) and goofy, idealistic salesman Jay Bostwick (Tom Villard). Mickey is the first — and only — applicant for the job; in fact, both David and Jay are so taken by her beauty, they immediately hire her.

Both David and Jay had girlfriends—David's was attorney Claudia Jones (Stepfanie Kramer, who left after episode #19 and found far greater fame on the NBC crime drama Hunter - Copley and Villard would also later appear as guest stars), while Jay dated kindergarten teacher Beth Sorensen (Bonnie Urseth). Both Claudia and Beth were skeptical about their boyfriends having such an attractive maid living with them, but they eventually grew to accept Mickey as a friend.

When it first premiered, We Got It Made looked to be successful, winning its time slot early in the run.^[1] Before long, though, negative reviews from both critics and the general viewing public eroded its viewership.^{[citation needed]} NBC moved the series from its original Thursday night berth to Saturdays in January 1984. The change in its night and time did little in keeping the series on the air; in March 1984, We Got It Made was cancelled.

1987 syndicated version

After being cancelled in 1984, We Got It Made was revived three years later, for first-run syndication, for the 1987–1988 season as part of NBC's "Prime Time Begins at 7:30" campaign. With this campaign, the network's owned-and-operated stations ran first-run sitcoms in the 7:30–8:00 pm ET/PT (6:30–7:00 pm CT) time slot to counterprogram competing stations' game shows, sitcom reruns, and other offerings. The series was picked up by some non-NBC stations as well, but was not available in all large or medium markets for syndication.

Teri Copley and Tom Villard were the only returning cast members. The characters of Jay and Beth were no longer a couple, as Bonnie Urseth had decided not to participate this time. The character of David was now played by John Hillner. Mickey, Jay, and David had new neighbors as well —policeman Max Papavasiolios Sr. (Ron Karabatsos) and his son, Max Jr. (Lance Wilson-White).^[2] Mickey seemed to allow greater physical attention — and affection - from the now-single Jay and David, but at the same time, she doted on them as if they were her young sons. She also had a special relationship with teenaged Max, who frequently came to her for advice in attracting and dealing with women, although he would have preferred putting that advice to use on Mickey alone.

As they had with the NBC run, critics lambasted the series, and We Got It Made lasted only one season in syndication.^[1] The series' final original episode was released on March 30, 1988, with reruns airing until the week of September 3, 1988, in most markets.

Cast

Teri Copley as Mickey Mackenzie
Tom Villard as Jay Bostwick
Matt McCoy as David Tucker (1983–1984)
Bonnie Urseth as Beth Sorensen (1983–1984)
Stepfanie Kramer as Claudia Jones (1983–1984)
John Hillner as David Tucker (1987–1988)
Ron Karabatsos as Max Papavasilios Sr. (1987–1988)
Lance Wilson-White as Max Papavasilios Jr. (1987–1988)

Notable guest stars included Elaine Joyce (as Mickey's mother), Edie McClurg, Julie Brown, Scatman Crothers, Alice Ghostley, Richard Paul, Billie Bird, Joel Brooks, Jack Bannon, Peggy Pope, and Jean Kasem.

NBC ratings

Season	Episodes	Start Date	End Date	Nielsen Rank	Nielsen Rating^[3]	Tied With
1983–84	22	September 8, 1983	March 10, 1984	73	12.8	Ripley's Believe It Or Not

Syndicated stations (1987-88)

City	Station
Boston	WBZ-TV
Chicago	WMAQ-TV
Cleveland	WKYC-TV
Columbus	WCMH-TV^[4]
Dallas	WFAA-TV
Detroit	WJBK-TV
Houston	KPRC-TV
Indianapolis	WRTV
Johnstown	WWCP-TV
Las Vegas	KVVU-TV
Los Angeles	KNBC^[5]
Miami	WDZL
New Haven	WTNH
New York	WNBC-TV^[6]^[7]
Orlando	WFTV
Philadelphia	WCAU-TV
Pittsburgh	WPGH-TV
Rochester	WOKR
Sacramento	KCRA-TV
Saint Louis	KPLR-TV
Saint Paul	KSTP-TV
San Antonio	KABB^[8]
San Diego	KGTV
Tampa	WTVT
Toledo	WUPW^[9]
Washington, D.C.	WRC-TV
West Palm Beach	WFLX

Episode list

Season 1: 1983–84

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	1	"Pilot"	Alan Rafkin	Gordon Farr & Lynne Farr Brao	September 8, 1983 (1983-09-08)	3120
2	2	"Mickey Sleepwalks"	Alan Rafkin	Chick Mitchell & Geoffrey Neigher	September 15, 1983 (1983-09-15)	3126
3	3	"The Boyfriend"	Alan Rafkin	Gordon Farr & Lynne Farr Brao	September 22, 1983 (1983-09-22)	3127
4	4	"Mickey Goes Topless"	Alan Rafkin	Laura Levine	September 29, 1983 (1983-09-29)	3129
5	5	"David's Birthday"	Alan Rafkin	Jeffrey Ferro & Fredric Weiss	October 13, 1983 (1983-10-13)	3124
6	6	"Mickey the Shoplifter"	Alan Rafkin	Gordon Farr & Lynne Farr Brao	October 20, 1983 (1983-10-20)	3122
7	7	"Mickey's Mom"	Alan Rafkin	Laura Levine	October 27, 1983 (1983-10-27)	3128
8	8	"Mickey Gets Married: Part 1"	Alan Rafkin	Story by : Lynne Farr Brao Teleplay by : Gordon Farr	November 3, 1983 (1983-11-03)	3129
9	9	"Mickey Gets Married: Part 2"	Alan Rafkin	Chick Mitchell & Geoffrey Neigher	November 10, 1983 (1983-11-10)	3130
10	10	"The Super"	Unknown	Unknown	November 17, 1983 (1983-11-17)	3131
11	11	"Am I Blue?"	Alan Rafkin	Arnold Kane	November 24, 1983 (1983-11-24)	3121
12	12	"Mickey's T-shirt"	Alan Rafkin	Arnold Kane	December 1, 1983 (1983-12-01)	3132
13	13	"Sexiest Bachelor"	Alan Rafkin	David Chambers	December 8, 1983 (1983-12-08)	3123
14	14	"Mickey's Misconception"	Alan Rafkin	Sandy Krinski & Chet Dowling	January 7, 1984 (1984-01-07)	3134
15	15	"Mickey's Poster"	Alan Rafkin	Susan H. Lee	January 14, 1984 (1984-01-14)	3135
16	16	"The Other Tucker"	Alan Rafkin	Kim Weiskopf & Michael S. Baser	January 21, 1984 (1984-01-21)	3136
17	17	"The Break-up: Part 1"	Jim Drake	Bob Brunner & Ken Hecht	February 4, 1984 (1984-02-04)	3137
18	18	"The Break-up: Part 2"	Jim Drake	Gordon Farr, Chick Mitchell & Geoffrey Neigher	February 11, 1984 (1984-02-11)	3138
19	19	"Miss Mom"	Jim Drake	Bowie Lennon	February 18, 1984 (1984-02-18)	3141
20	20	"The Fight"	Jim Drake	Story by : C.M. Leon & Margaret Weisman Teleplay by : Bowie Lennon	February 25, 1984 (1984-02-25)	3133
21	21	"A Paige in David's Life"	Jim Drake	Gordon Farr	March 3, 1984 (1984-03-03)	3140
22	22	"Mickey Makes the Grade"	Jim Drake	Chick Mitchell & Geoffrey Neigher	March 10, 1984 (1984-03-10)	3139

Season 2: 1987–88

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
23	1	"Instant Family"	Unknown	Unknown	September 11, 1987 (1987-09-11)	201
24	2	"The Three Faces of Mickey"	Unknown	Unknown	September 18, 1987 (1987-09-18)	203
25	3	"And David Makes Three"	Unknown	Unknown	September 25, 1987 (1987-09-25)	207
26	4	"Mickey Meet Mr. Right?"	Unknown	Unknown	October 2, 1987 (1987-10-02)	202
27	5	"Hello, Dolly"	Unknown	Unknown	October 16, 1987 (1987-10-16)	204
28	6	"Prisoner of Love"	Unknown	Unknown	October 30, 1987 (1987-10-30)	210
29	7	"On the Ropes"	Dennis Steinmetz	Ken Kuta	November 6, 1987 (1987-11-06)	212
30	8	"The Naked Truth"	Unknown	Unknown	November 13, 1987 (1987-11-13)	215
31	9	"Man Around the House"	Unknown	Unknown	December 4, 1987 (1987-12-04)	208
32	10	"Upstairs, Downstairs" "Christmas Clip Show"	Unknown	Unknown	December 11, 1987 (1987-12-11)	224
33	11	"A Dog's Life"	Unknown	Unknown	December 25, 1987 (1987-12-25)	218
34	12	"Save the Last Dance for Me"	Unknown	Unknown	January 8, 1988 (1988-01-08)	219
35	13	"Mickey Times Two"	Unknown	Unknown	January 15, 1988 (1988-01-15)	220
36	14	"Fatal Distraction"	Unknown	Unknown	January 20, 1988 (1988-01-20)	222
37	15	"Jay's on the Roof"	Unknown	Unknown	January 27, 1988 (1988-01-27)	221
38	16	"Centerfold Mickey"	Unknown	Unknown	February 3, 1988 (1988-02-03)	223
39	17	"Confidence Man"	Unknown	Unknown	February 10, 1988 (1988-02-10)	217
40	18	"Not for Love or Money"	Unknown	Unknown	February 17, 1988 (1988-02-17)	216
41	19	"La Vie en Jay: Part 1"	Unknown	Unknown	February 24, 1988 (1988-02-24)	213
42	20	"La Vie en Jay: Part 2"	Unknown	Unknown	March 2, 1988 (1988-03-02)	214
43	21	"Four Loves Have I"	Unknown	Unknown	March 9, 1988 (1988-03-09)	211
44	22	"Crime Busters"	Unknown	Unknown	March 16, 1988 (1988-03-16)	205
45	23	"Temporary Mickey"	Unknown	Unknown	March 23, 1988 (1988-03-23)	--
46	24	"Video Mickey"	Unknown	Unknown	March 30, 1988 (1988-03-30)	--

References

^ ^a ^b Hofstede, David (2004). What Were They Thinking: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History. Back Stage Books. p. 89. ISBN 0-8230-8441-8.
^ "Television Obscurities – The Syndicated Season: 1987–1988". tvobscurities.com. 2005-02-15.
^ "1983-84 Ratings History -- The Networks Are Awash in a Bubble Bath of Soaps".
^ "Retro: Columbus/Zanesville Sat, June 18, 1988". Radio Discussions. June 24, 2010.
^ "The Boob Tube #55: TV Shows for Sale". Retrospace. March 30, 2016.
^ "NEW YORK TV- Late Winter 1988". Radio Discussions. October 3, 2005.
^ "Retro: New York City, Wednesday, March 2, 1988". Radio Discussions. July 28, 2017.
^ KABB-TV 29 Show Promos and ID 1987 on YouTube
^ "90 Nutty Minutes!". THE VINTAGE TOLEDO TV SITE.

External links

[whatwere-1] Hofstede, David (2004). What Were They Thinking: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History. Back Stage Books. p. 89. ISBN 0-8230-8441-8.

[2] "Television Obscurities – The Syndicated Season: 1987–1988". tvobscurities.com. 2005-02-15.

[RATINGS1-3] "1983-84 Ratings History -- The Networks Are Awash in a Bubble Bath of Soaps".

[4] "Retro: Columbus/Zanesville Sat, June 18, 1988". Radio Discussions. June 24, 2010.

[5] "The Boob Tube #55: TV Shows for Sale". Retrospace. March 30, 2016.

[6] "NEW YORK TV- Late Winter 1988". Radio Discussions. October 3, 2005.

[7] "Retro: New York City, Wednesday, March 2, 1988". Radio Discussions. July 28, 2017.

[8] KABB-TV 29 Show Promos and ID 1987 on YouTube

[9] "90 Nutty Minutes!". THE VINTAGE TOLEDO TV SITE.

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