Blansky's Beauties

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Blansky's Beauties
Genre sitcom
Starring Nancy Walker
Caren Kaye
Lynda Goodfriend
Opening theme "I Want It All"
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run February 12, 1977 – May 21, 1977
Chronology
Preceded by Love, American Style
Happy Days
Related shows Laverne & Shirley
Mork & Mindy
Out of the Blue
Joanie Loves Chachi
The New Love, American Style
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Blansky's Beauties was an American sitcom which ran on the ABC network in 1977. It was a spin-off of Happy Days.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Set in the 1970s (like Mork & Mindy), the sitcom was a spinoff of Happy Days.

To provide exposition, Nancy Walker had played Howard Cunningham's visiting cousin Nancy Blansky from Las Vegas on a February 4, 1977 Happy Days episode, and Blansky's Beauties premiered the following week, on February 12, 1977 .

[edit] Synopsis

Nancy Blansky (Walker) was den mother to a bevy of beautiful Las Vegas showgirls in this short-lived comedy. In addition to keeping order in the chaotic apartment complex where they all lived, Nancy staged the girls' big numbers at the Oasis Hotel.

Emilio (Johnny Desmond), the maître d', was Nancy's boyfriend. To help Nancy defray costs of her apartment, Sunshine (Lynda Goodfriend) and Bambi (Caren Kaye) shared it with her, along with her nephews Joey DeLuca (Eddie Mekka), a choreographer, and leering, 12-year-old ("going on 28"), Anthony DeLuca (Scott Baio). Anthony was forever trying to impress Bambi, who much to his chagrin treated him like a kid brother, as did almost all of Nancy's girls. Also sharing Nancy's apartment was a huge Great Dane named Blackjack who was shown in the opening credits playing blackjack.

[edit] Links to parent show and other spinoffs

The show also implied a link to then-ongoing show Laverne & Shirley; in the episode "Nancy Remembers Laverne," Nancy recalls working with a clumsy girl named Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall's character on Laverne & Shirley) back around 1967. She discovered that, despite her clumsiness, Laverne was a great dancer and Nancy offered her a job on the spot, which Laverne declined.

Eddie Mekka's character Joey announced in another episode that he was going to visit his cousin Carmine (Mekka's character's name on Laverne & Shirley).

Pat Morita, after the failure of his series Mr. T and Tina, was added to the cast as Arnold, the same name (and possibly the same character) he had in the similar supporting role on Happy Days. There he had run a drive-in restaurant, whereas he ran the coffee shop at the Oasis on this show.

Pat Morita would re-join the cast of Happy Days while Al Molinaro ("Al") joined another spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi.

After the end of Blansky's Beauties, Lynda Goodfriend and Scott Baio would later join the cast of Happy Days.

Kaye, Goodfriend, and Baio would appear in a similarly-plotted pilot, Legs, for NBC in 1978, using different character names. This project would be revised further and appear on the network as Who's Watching the Kids in the fall of that year, lasting half a season.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episode List

  1. Blansky's Biking Beauty
  2. Nancy's Cover-Up
  3. Blansky for the Defense
  4. Nancy's Magic Moment
  5. Anthony Falls In Love
  6. Nancy Goes Sheik
  7. Nancy Meets Francis
  8. Nancy Remembers Laverne
  9. Nancy Meets Pa Bates
  10. My Nephew's Debut
  11. To Nancy With Love
  12. Dear Nancy...
  13. Nancy Breaks A Leg

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • A running gag had Nancy's boss never speaking. He would have his assistant speak for him, or sometimes would lean down, as if to whisper something to Nancy, open his mouth, then pass her a note with his instructions written on it. Eventually, he did speak: a ladder slips, leaving him hanging from a stage light. Nancy says she will help him; all he needs to do is "say the word". After a long pause, he squeaks the word, "Help!"
  • Several members of the cast went on to better fortune on the originating series, Happy Days. For example, Scott Baio played Fonzie's cousin Charles "Chachi" Arcola, and Lynda Goodfriend played Richie's girlfriend (and later, wife) Lori Beth.