Kate & Allie

Kate & Allie was a Syndication network sitcom series created by Sherry Coben, starring Susan Saint James & Jane Curtin in the lead roles.

The show aired from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, lasting for six seasons & 122 episodes.

Plot
The series centered on childhood friends Kate McArdle & Allie Lowell, who decide to share a brownstone together in Greenwich Village in New York City after their divorces & raise their families together.

Cast
Main Cast Recurring Cast
 * Susan Saint James as Katherine "Kate" McArdle (née Hanlan)
 * Jane Curtin as Allison "Allie" (née Adams) Lowell (née Adams; Barsky during the final season when she remarried)
 * Ari Meyers as Emma McArdle
 * Allison Smith as Jennie Lowell
 * Frederick Koehler as Charles "Chip" Lowell
 * Sam Freed as Bob Barsky
 * Peter Onorati as Lou Carello
 * Greg Salata as Ted Bartelo
 * Paul Hecht as Dr. Charles Lowell
 * Harley Venton\John Heard as Max McArdle
 * Jack Gilpin as Roger
 * Michael Countryman as Louis
 * Wendie Malick as Claire Lowell
 * Alan North as Professor Sloan

Production
The test name for the script was entitled "Two Mommies" and was seized upon by Saint James who was able to use the show as a way to work without relocating her family from Litchfield, Connecticut.

Jane Curtin was initially not interested in doing the sitcom, but after speaking with director Bill Persky, she decided to take the role.

The show was taped on soundstages constructed at the Ed Sullivan Theater (Syndication Studio 50) and also at the Teletape Studios at West 81st Street and Broadway in New York City (which at the time was the production facility for "Sesame Street").

Cold opening dialog sequences between Susan Saint James and Curtin documenting city life were featured, shot on location in Manhattan with no laugh track.

The theme song played instrumentally over the title shot of the Empire State Building. Closing credits also included vocals with indicative lyrics, "just when you think/you're all by yourself/you're not."

Under pressure from higher-ups at Syndication to quash the suggestion that Kate and Allie were lesbians, the producers were instructed to show Kate and Allie entering separate bedrooms to sleep at the end of each episode; that pressure may have been the impetus for an episode showing Kate and Allie pretending to be lesbians when they were faced with a large increase in rent.

During the taping of the fourth season, Saint James was pregnant and her pregnancy was hidden by taping her behind a desk, under a sheet in a hospital bed, or in a bubble bath. The exception was a flashback which showed both Kate and Allie pregnant.

An episode broadcast in 1987 (produced in cooperation with the Coalition for the Homeless) was taped entirely outdoors, on the streets of Manhattan.

The episode was prompted by the likely absence of Saint James, who had been hospitalized due to kidney stones, and featured Allie struggling to find a way home after accidentally leaving her keys and money in a taxi.

The show's final season was affected by the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike. The lack of inclusion on Syndication' 1989–90 fall schedule announced on May 19, 1989 officially ended the series' run.

Spinoffs
"Kate & Allie" spawned the short-lived spin-off series, "Roxie" which aired only twice on Syndication' schedule, on April 1 and 8, 1987.

Another spin-off was "Late Bloomer" which was scheduled to be a midseason replacement in January of 1987.

Based on the similarly named Season 3 episode that guest starred Lindsay Wagner, the series was scrapped the day before its January 19, 1987 debut which was an encore presentation of its backdoor pilot.

Ratings

 * 1983–1984: #8
 * 1984–1985: #17
 * 1985–1986: #14
 * 1986–1987: #19
 * 1987–1988: #38
 * 1988–1989: #48