ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Associates

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted on season or less. Today I am looking at late 1970s flop The Associates!

THE ASSOCIATES

Programming Details:

September 23, 1979 - April 17, 1980

9 episodes
ABC

Starring: Wilfrid Hyde-White, Martin Short, Alley Mills, Joe Regalbuto, Shelley Smith, Also Starring Tim Thomerson

Created by: James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, Charlie Hauck and Ed. Weinberger

Plot: Centered on a group of associates at a Wall Street law firm as well as senior partner Emerson Marshall (Hyde-White). There are three new associates: Tucker Kerwin (Short), Leslie Dunn (Mills) and Sara James (Smith) while Eliot Streeter (Regalbuto) is vying for a partnership. Rounding out the main cast is established associate Johnny Danko (Thomerson).

Brief Pilot Review:

The Associates came from people who were involved in really excellent shows both before and after this show aired. You can see that it's a smart sitcom with a lot of potential in the pilot even as it does seem perhaps slightly ahead of its time. The all-star cast looked like they absolutely had the ability to gel and become a great ensemble if they had more time. Wilfrid Hyde-White had a very funny delivery style. A young Martin Short doesn't quite have some of the mannerisms that Short has become famous for but showed glimpses of great comedic talent. It was also fun to see a young Alley Mills and Joe Regalbuto, who both hit it later hit it big on long running shows. While Regalbuto seems pretty similar to his Murphy Brown character, Mills is entirely different in a much younger role than the mom character she played on The Wonder Years a decade later. 

The biggest problem with the pilot is a huge part of the episode focused on a character, William Simmons (John Getz), who ends up not getting a partnership and not appearing in any more episodes. He seemed like a lead in the show for a lot of the episode and a lot of the plot centered around his character. It seemed like a poor choice to focus so much on energy on a character who was not going to be a regular. I would have spent more time with the young and new associates.

What Went Wrong:

There were high hopes for The Associates in the Fall of 1979 because it was a new project from the Taxi creators and Taxi was coming off a first season where it placed in the Nielsen Top 10 ratings and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. The Associates received a lot of critical praise in its abbreviated freshman season but it wasn't enough to save the show. It was scheduled on Sunday nights after Mork & Mindy, which had been a Top 3 show on TV the previous season. ABC famously moved Mork to Sundays after its breakout first season on Thursdays to try to compete with CBS. But their plan backfired terribly. Mork was crushed by Archie Bunker's Place and ABC ended up returning Mork to Thursdays though it was never the same. The Associates didn't get the same grace though as it was pulled after just five episodes before returning in late spring for another four. 

Despite the quick hook by ABC, it was nominated for two Emmy Awards for writing as well as a Golden Globe for Outstanding Comedy Series. Of course this is often mentioned in the "gone too soon" category because of the pedigree on and off camera. The creative team and many of the actors have gone on to have sustained success. Taxi was notable for being the attempt to bring MTM-style shows to ABC and The Associates was supposed to be the next great show in that vein. But it didn't happen and ABC never really got into the prestige sitcom game aside from Taxi. James L. Brooks said later that the series was tapping into the "yuppie" concept years before it became a more notable thing on shows like Thirtysomething. It does feel like it was the wrong time and wrong network. It could have worked on CBS a few years earlier or NBC a few years later.

Tomorrow: A look at the eighth and final season of That 70s Show!

Next Wednesday: A look at 1980s flop The Ellen Burstyn Show!