Princesses (TV series)
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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.
[edit] Synopsis
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.
[edit] Behind the scenes
The series was touted as a promising hit at first, but there were signs that this show were destined for failure by the time it went to production. The first blow came when Julie Hagerty walked off the set after filming the four episodes, which would be followed by negative reviews, off-camera problems, fears of CBS affiliates dropping the show and last place Nielsen ratings. At one point Drescher and then-CBS programming head Jeff Sagansky suggested that the producers recast Hagerty's role. But in the end CBS decided that this program wasn't 'royalty' for its schedule and abruptly cancelled it. Two years after its demise, and thanks to her friendship with Sagansky, Drescher was promised a series of her own. It was called The Nanny. Ironically her Fran Fine character and that of her Melissa charatcer on this series both sold cosmetics, but in different settings.
