Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Angie”

"Angie" was a Gary Marshall produced Cinderella-like sitcom about a bold young Italian American coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Donna Pescow) who finds her handsome and very rich "prince" in Bradley Benson (Robert Hays), a pediatrician who she eventually marries.  The series also starred Doris Roberts and Debralee Scott as Angie's mother and sister.

The series was ABC's answer to "Rhoda," in which the character of Angie Falco was seen as an Italian-Catholic version of Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper).  Both Angie and Rhoda wanted to break away from their ethnic, close-knit families to find their own voice in the world. The constant presence of Angie's mother and sister was seen as similar to Rhoda's family setup of mother Ida (Nancy Walker) and sister Brenda (Julie Kavner). Angie's father being absent was also comparable to the later Rhoda plotline, in which Rhoda's father Martin (Harold Gould) separated from Ida.

One of the best parts of the show was the theme song "Different Worlds," which peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart.  To hear it click HERE.

The show was canceled in its second season. Viewers apparently lost interest in Angie and Brad after they were married and many critics noted that much of the previously feisty chemistry that Pescow and Hays demonstrated on screen was apparently compromised once their characters were wed.  Thirty-six episodes in total were produced.

Now that I think about it....the show is very much like "The Nanny" that came many years later.

There was another show around the same time that I also loved called "Makin' It" which was another Gary Marshall show and was a thinly disguised TV adaptation of "Saturday Night Fever." "Makin' It" was about a boy named Billy, played by David Naughton, who by day was a college student and by night was a disco superstar who frequented the local nightclub Inferno in Passaic New Jersey.  They just don't make good sitcoms about New Jersey or Disco anymore.  As a kid I loved this show so much..but apparently, it was really bad.  In 2002 TV guide ranked it as the #40 on its 50 worst tv shows list....but come on the THEME SONG is EVERYTHING...even better than Angie's.

Back to Angie....wonder what happened to the cast?  Take a look:

Ah, Angie "Love it seeks and love it finds. Love it conquers, love it binds"....we ❤️ya.