Princesses (TV series)

Princesses was a short-lived American situation comedy that aired on CBS in 1991. The series was produced by Universal Television and only lasted four episodes because of low ratings undoubtedly due to direct competition from ABC's Top 30 hit Family Matters. The series also aired in Germany on RTL in 2004. The series theme song, "Someday My Prince Will Come," was written by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey, and was sung by The Roches.

ynopsis

The series chronicled the lives of three female roommates in New York City, each with a different background and upbringing, thus the series' title: Tracy Dillon (Julie Hagerty), an English teacher who just dumped her fiance after learning that he been married twice and still involved with one of the ex-wives (who also was his business partner); Princess Georgina "Georgy" De La Rue (Twiggy, in her first American television series), a recently widowed English princess (and whose previous occupation was that of a showgirl) who arrived to the States to challenge her late husband's contested will; and Melissa Kirshner (Fran Drescher), Tracy's longtime best friend, an outspoken Jewish American who sold cosmetics at a department store. In addition to the three, there was also Tracy's sister Debra (Leila Kenzle).

The idea of the three being roommates in the same apartment was by accident, thanks to the apartment's owner Tony, who promised Tracy and Georgy the use of the rent-free building without telling either one who would use it or who he had loan it to.

Behind the scenes

In an effort to downplay the behind-the-scenes turmoil on "Princesses", CBS execs initially touted the series as "promising" to advertisers. However, prior the show's premiere, entertainment media outlets such as Entertainment Tonight began publicizing the show's behind-the-scenes woes. "Princesses" was visibly destined for failure by the time it went to production. The first tell-tale sign came when Julie Hagerty walked off the set after filming the first four episodes, which were followed by profoundly negative reviews, off-camera problems, and rumors that CBS affiliates might never air the episodes. Upon its premiere, "Princesses" placed last place Nielsen ratings. At one point, CBS programming head Jeff Sagansky expressed interest in re-tooling the show and replacing all of the show's cast members. Drescher soon became aware of this and immediately arranged a meeting with Sagansky. During the meeting, Drescher tried to compromise with Sagansky by suggesting he only re-cast Hagerty's role. In the end, CBS decided against Drescher's wishes and axed the entire show. Two years after its cancellation, Sagansky came to Drescher's aid when she needed to expand upon her Television series repitoire. Sagansky subsequently gave Drescher the starring role in "The Nanny". Ironically, both Fran Fine from "The Nanny" and Melissa from "Princesses" sold cosmetics, albeit in different settings.

External links

*imdb title|id=0101172|title=Princesses