High Society (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = High Society


caption =
genre = Sitcom
creator = Robert Horn
Daniel Margosis
writer = Lisa Albert
Pat Dougherty
Markus Flanagan
Robert Horn
Daniel Margosis
director = Stan Daniels
Iris Dugow
Ellen Gittelsohn
Michael Lembeck
starring = Jean Smart
Mary McDonnell
theme_music_composer = Howard McCrary
Mark Stevens
opentheme = "The Lady Is a Tramp" by Chaka Khan
composer = Frank Fitzpatrick
David Tobocman
country = USA
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 13
executive_producer = Gary Dontzig
Markus Flanagan
Robert Horn
Daniel Margosis
Steven Peterman
producer = Lisa Albert
Barbara Dorio
asst_producer = Holli Gailen
runtime = 30 mins.
channel = CBS
first_aired = October 30, 1995
last_aired = February 26, 1996

"High Society" is the title of a short-lived American television sitcom that borrowed much of its comedic format from the campy British comedy series "Absolutely Fabulous". The series aired Monday nights on CBS in 1995 and early 1996; it was entered into the CBS schedule as a replacement for "If Not for You", a sitcom starring Elizabeth McGovern which was quickly canceled by the network. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00EED81739F935A35752C1A963958260|title=Television Review; It's Monday, So It Must Be Women|last=James|first=Caryn|date=1995-11-06|publisher="The New York Times"|accessdate=2008-08-23]

toryline

The series revolved around two New York City women who acted in an outrageous, campy, and decadent manner. Ellie Walker (Jean Smart) was a successful author of trashy romantic novels, and her best friend and publisher was Dorthy 'Dott' Emerson (Mary McDonnell). Emerson was a divorced mother with a preppie college-aged son, Brendan Emerson (Dan O'Donahue), a College Republican, who rejected the relentless sexual advances of Ellie, but who otherwise appeared to be heterosexual. In the pilot episode, the women's small-town former college friend, Val Brumberg (Faith Prince), arrived and moved in with Dott. At the publishing house, the women worked with a flamboyant gay male secretary named Stephano (Luigi Amodeo) and a sleazy publisher partner named Peter Thomas (David Rasche).

Aside from the situational comedy that arose from Ellie and Dott's campy antics, the storylines often centered around the notion of family. Val started to become something of a mother figure to Brendan. Stephano was often seeking a boyfriend and was seen more as a family member than a mere secretary, and in the final episode Ellie decided that she wanted to have a baby and she scouted out possible fathers.

Cancellation

Despite garnering good ratings and being a part of CBS's victory in one of the sweeps week in the 1996 television season [cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/features/96/03/06/tv.html|title=CBS wins final week of sweeps|last=McDaniel|first=Mike|date=1996-03-05|publisher="The Houston Chronicle"] , the series was canceled after 13 episodes.

Cast

* Jean Smart...Ellie Walker
* Mary McDonnell...Dorothy "Dott" Emerson
* Dan O'Donahue...Brendan Emerson
* David Rasche...Peter Thomas
* Faith Prince...Valerie "Val" Brumberg
* Luigi Amodeo...Stephano
* Jayne Meadows...Alice Morgan-DuPont-Sutton-Cushing-Ferruke

Episodes

Award nominations

References

External links

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