Brassy Cassie (Ann Jillian), virtuous Vicki (Wendy Schaal), enterprising Jan (Barrie Youngfellow), starstruck Dot (Gail Edwards) and levelheaded Lois (Susan Sullivan) were waitresses at Above the Top, an upscale restaurant on the 30th floor of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles offering ‘Sky High Dining’. Nancy (Marian Mercer) was the snobby, no-nonsense maitre d’.
Sexy Cassie was born in Kansas and dropped her real name (Katie-Lou) so people would not think of her as a hick. She lived in Los Angeles at the Sun Palace Condominium Complex.
Vicki was the most sensitive and virtuous of the girls. She was born in Pocatello, Idaho, and now lived at 102 North Brewster Place in Los Angeles. She had worked as a waitress in Idaho before moving to California to better her life (but had no immediate goals).
Philadelphia native Jan Hoffmeyer was divorced and the mother of Ellen. She was registered at North Los Angeles Law School (“I plan to do more with my life than hand out menus”) and eventually married Richard Grey in 1985 (when the series began its syndicated run).
Dot was a hopeful actress. She was born in Detroit and majored in theatre at Baxter College. She made her TV debut in a commercial for Autumn Years dog food and played triplets on the soap opera All My Sorrows.
Lois Adams lived at 8713 Mercer Street and was married to the never-seen Bill (a salesman). They had two kids, Amy and Joey.
All five also had a penchant for comic predicaments.
The show ran on the ABC network for two seasons but was plagued by low ratings and moved into syndication.
New, younger cast members were introduced, with Barrie Youngfellow, Gail Edwards, and Wendy Schaal staying and adding Crystal Bernard as Amy Tompkins and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Ginger St. James.
Amy (from Snyder, Texas) was the most outrageous of the waitresses. She was a member of the American Gun Association and owned a .357 Magnum with a six-inch barrel. She lived at the Carrie Nation Hotel for Women, would not let anyone take advantage of her and always spoke her mind. She shared an apartment with Ginger, the only African American waitress, who had a flair for fashion design.
Additional comedy came from the resident piano player, Sonny (Paul Kreppel), who thought of himself as the “Singing Sex Symbol” and was a wonderful comic foil.
Dorothy “Dot” Higgins
Gail Edwards Jan Hoffmeyer Gray
Barrie Youngfellow Sonny Mann
Paul Kreppel Nancy Beebe
Marian Mercer Amy Tompkins
Crystal Bernard Howard Miller
Richard Stahl Virginia “Ginger” St. James
Sheryl Lee Ralph Katie-Lou “Cassie” Cranston
Ann Jillian Lois Adams
Susan Sullivan Vicki Allen
Wendy Schaal
Dot was a hopeful actress. She was born in Detroit and majored in theatre at Baxter College. She made her TV debut in a commercial for Autumn Years dog food and played triplets on the soap opera All My Sorrows.
