| It's a Living | |
|---|---|
Series title card |
|
| Also known as | Making a Living |
| Format | Sitcom |
| 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 |
| 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 | 22–24 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC (1980-1982) Syndication (1985-1989) |
| Original run | October 30, 1980 – September 1, 1989 |
It's a Living is an American sitcom set in a restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. The show aired on ABC from 1980 to 1982. After the series was canceled, new episodes aired in syndication from 1985 to 1989.
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The show follows the lives of the waitresses who worked in a posh restaurant, called "Above the Top", located at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. At the helm was their supervisor Nancy Beebe (Marian Mercer), the restaurant's maitre'd, who sometimes fraternized with the girls but usually gave orders. More often than not, the scheme of the week involved Nancy in some way, which upset her because all she wanted was an orderly 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.
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 a short 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, this incarnation 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 all the way through the show's network and syndicated runs. Ann Jillian (Cassie Cranston) lasted the network run and the first year of syndication.
While the show was never a hit on network TV, its fortunes would later turn around 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), 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.
As of this writing, It's a Living has not been released on home video. Gail Edwards wrote, “To re-negotiate the music licensing rights to the many popular songs that Paul Kreppel performed would probably not be financially advantageous to the producers.”
The show's first two seasons produced 27 episodes. An additional 93 episodes were produced for the syndication run, making a total of 120 episodes.