"Who's the Boss?" celebrates 30 years
When "Who's the Boss?" first hit the TV airwaves in September 1984, it didn't perform well in the ratings despite having tested "off-the-charts" prior to its premiere. So, ABC decided to do a little airtime juggling, and soon the viewers followed.
"They moved us around a lot...We were opposite the 'Cosby' lineup on Thursday nights when we first started and of course we were just dying in the ratings," actress Judith Light, who played Angela Bower on the sitcom, told CBS News. "And then they said, 'We're going to take you off the air and we're going to put you back on.' And that's exactly what they did. Summer re-runs we came back and we were a bonafide hit."
The first episode began with Tony Micelli (Tony Danza) showing up on Angela's doorstep in Connecticut alongside his daughter Samantha (Alyssa Milano) to apply for a housekeeping job. Tony, a one-time second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, was forced to retire early because of a shoulder injury. He was also left to raise his daughter alone after his wife died.
Committed to fostering a good environment for his daughter, Tony decides to leave Brooklyn, New York, and take a job as a live-in housekeeper for Angela, a divorced ad exec, who resides in upscale Connecticut with her son Jonathan (Danny Pintauro) and her man-crazy mother Mona Robinson (Katherine Helmond).
Tony was the carefree, outgoing guy, while the career-oriented Angela had a more serious tone. Their connection, though, was undeniable and gave viewers a reason to tune in every week.
"The sexual chemistry -- that's what they wanted to keep going," Light said about the producers and writers of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning show.
The series ended in 1992 -- just as it started: with Tony at Angela's doorstep. Although their friendship eventually turned romantic near the end of the series, there were no wedding bells in the finale, leaving their future as a couple up to interpretation.
"It was time to go," Light said. "And the way they wrote the ending was so beautiful, the way they book-ended it from the beginning. It was really lovely."
Light says she still keeps in touch with the cast, particularly Danza. "He and I became really good friends," she said.
