Goodnight, Beantown

1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 4 (USA)
18 x 30 minute episodes

Bill Bixby, who had several successful series, and Mariette Hartley, who hadn’t any but was nationally known in the USA for her Polaroid commercials with and without James Garner, were trapped in this series.

“Goodnight, Beantown,” was the signoff for Boston news anchor Matt Cassidy (Bixby), but his programme’s ratings had gone down. So management hired a co-anchor and it turned out to be a lady, Jennifer Barnes (Hartley), who just happened to be his neighbour as well. So much for the premise.

The plots were very simple: the pair were always backbiting, she was a Women’s Libber, and you knew he secretly loved her.

The stories and dialogue were so mundane that neither Bixby nor Hartley could save the series.

Matt Cassidy
Bill Bixby
Jennifer Barnes
Mariette Hartley
Susan Barnes
Tracey Gold
Frank Fletcher
Jim Staahl
Albert Addelson
G.W. Bailey
Valerie Wood
Stephanie Faracy
Dick Novak
George Coe

Episodes

The Out-of-Towner | The Source | Custody | Please Stand By | Hooking for Mr. Goodbar | What’s Good for the Goose | A Felon Needs a Girl | Invasions of Privacy | Popsicle | Our Man in the Slammer | Looking Forward to the Past | Valerie’s Fan | Happy Medium | Peace on Earth | The Consumer’s Best Friend | Lost and Foundering | An Old Flame Flickers

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