Blansky's Beauties
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Blansky's Beauties was an American sitcom which ran on the ABC network in 1977. It has become a forgotten spin-off of Happy Days.
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[edit] Broadcast History
- First telecast: February 12, 1977
- Last telecast: May 21, 1977
- The show ran on Saturday nights - 8:00pm - 8:30pm on ABC.
- There were a total of 13 episodes produced.
[edit] Overview
Set in the 1970s (like Mork & Mindy), the sitcom was a spinoff of Happy Days.
To provide exposition, Nancy Walker had played Howard Cunnigham's visiting cousin Nancy Blansky from Las Vegas on a February 4, 1977 Happy Days episode, and Blansky's Beauties premiered the following week, on February 12, 1977 .
[edit] Synopsis
Nancy Blansky (Walker) was den mother to a bevy of beautiful Las Vegas showgirls in this short-lived comedy. In addition to keeping order in the chaotic apartment complex where they all lived, Nancy staged the girls' big numbers at the Oasis Hotel.
Emilio (Johnny Desmond), the matire'd, was Nancy's boyfriend. To help Nancy defray costs of her apartment, Sunshine (Lynda Goodfriend) and Bambi (Caren Kaye) shared it with her, along with her nephews Joey DeLuca (Eddie Mekka), a choreographer, and leering, 12-year-old ("going on 28"), Anthony DeLuca (Scott Baio). Anthony was forever trying to impress Bambi, who much to his chargin treated him like a kid brother, as did almost all of Nancy's girls. Also sharing Nancy's apartment was a huge Great Dane named Blackjack who was shown in the opening credits playing blackjack.
[edit] Links to parent show and other spinoffs
The show also implied a link to then-ongoing show Laverne & Shirley; in the episode "Nancy Remembers Laverne", Nancy recalls working with a clumsy girl named Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall's character on Laverne & Shirley) back around 1967. She discovered that, despite her clumsiness, Laverne was a great dancer and Nancy offered her a job on the spot, which Laverne declined.
Eddie Mekka's character Joey announced in another episode that he was going to visit his cousin Carmine (Mekka's character's name on Laverne & Shirley).
Pat Morita, after the failure of his series Mr. T and Tina, was added to the cast as Arnold, the same name (and possibly the same character) he had in the similar supporting role on Happy Days. There he had run a drive-in restaurant, while he ran the coffee shop at the Oasis.
Pat Morita would re-join the cast of Happy Days while Al Molinaro ("Al") joined another spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi.
After the end of Blansky's Beauties, Lynda Goodfriend and Scott Baio would later join the cast of Happy Days.
[edit] Cast
- Nancy Walker as Nancy Blansky
- Caren Kaye as Bambi Benton
- Lynda Goodfriend as Ethel "Sunshine" Akalino
- Johnny Desmond as Emilio
- Eddie Mekka as Joey DeLuca
- Scott Baio as Anthony DeLuca
- George Pentecost as Horace "Stubbs" Wilmington
- Taaffe O'Connell as Hillary S. Prentiss
- Rhonda Bates as Arkansas
- Bond Gideon as Lovely Carson
- Gerri Reddick as Jackie Outlaw
- Shirley Kirkes as Gladys "Cochise" Littlefeather
- Antoinette Yuskis as Sylvia Silver
- Jill Owens as Misty Karamazov
- Elaine Bolton as Bridget Muldoon
- Pat Morita as Arnold
[edit] Episode List
- 1 Blansky's Biking Beauty
- 2 Nancy's Cover-Up
- 3 Blansky for the Defense
- 4 Nancy's Magic Moment
- 5 Anthony Falls In Love
- 6 Nancy Goes Sheik
- 7 Nancy Meets Francis
- 8 Nancy Remembers Laverne
- 9 Nancy Meets Pa Bates
- 10 My Nephew's Debut
- 11 To Nancy With Love
- 12 Dear Nancy...
- 13 Nancy Breaks A Leg
[edit] Trivia
- The theme song, "I Want It All", was performed by Cyndi Grecco, who also performed the theme song for the series Laverne & Shirley.
- A running gag had Nancy's boss never speaking. He would have his assistant speak for him, or sometimes would lean down, as if to whisper something to Nancy, open his mouth, then pass her a note with his instructions written on it. Eventually, he did speak: a ladder slips, leaving him hanging from a stage light. Nancy says she will help him; all he needs to do is "say the word". After a long pause, he squeaks the word, "Help!"
- Several members of the cast went on to better fortune on the originating series, Happy Days. For example, Scott Baio played Fonzie's cousin Charles "Chachi" Arcola, and Lynda Goodfriend played Richie's girlfriend (and later, wife) Lori Beth.
- Blansky's Beauties co-star Caren Kaye went on to star in the 1983 film My Tutor, and Rhonda Bates went on to co-host the short-lived 1980 series Speak Up America.
