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"Jennifer Slept Here" 1983 sitcom

Ann Jillian haunts a teen boy!

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by Anonymousreply 5June 2, 2020 7:39 AM

I can't believe this shit made it on the air.

This was also the year NBC gave us We Got It Made, Mr. Smith (about a talking chimp) and Manimal.

The previous year they put on Fame, Cheers and St. Elsewhere, all of which got rock-bottom ratings. So it was kind of like they said, "You don't like quality? We'll give you some of the shittiest shows ever, how about that?"

by Anonymousreply 1May 25, 2020 2:59 AM

I'm watching The Ann Jillian Story starring Ann Jillian on one of the mesothelioma channels and if there's any mention of this show I missed it. Come on, Ann! The fans want to know the behind the scenes dish! Actually I didn't hear any reference to It's A Living either but I tuned in late.

Also, Tony Lo Bianco was a fucking HOT daddy!

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by Anonymousreply 2June 2, 2020 6:31 AM

The Ann Jillian Story didn't mention Sugar Babies (her big break on Broadway, which led to a contract with ABC), It's a Living (her TV big break, when she became a household name), and Mae West, which got her an Emmy nomination.

The NYTimes reviewer was nonplussed by the omission of basically her entire career in a so-called biopic.

[quote]The puzzling part of 'The Ann Jillian Story' has to do with the performer's career. We see her in the first scenes as a kind of show-business gypsy, traveling wherever a song-and-dance gig can be found. But she is not, apparently, your ordinary chorine. She stays in luxury hotels, even when she is down to her last couple of dollars and eating nothing but pizza. When she finally sings for Sergeant Murcia, played by Tony Lo Bianco in what looks like an homage to Tony Danza, Ms. Jillian appears to be a kind of nightclub chanteuse, in the manner of Hildegard or Edith Piaf.

[quote]Later, she gets her big break in both the road and Broadway productions of 1979's 'Sugar Babies,' starring Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, who aren't even mentioned here. The show was, of course, an exuberant tribute to the irrepressible vulgarity of vaudeville and Ms. Jillian's success stemmed as much from her statuesque figure as from her ability to sing and dance. Not long after, however, she would quite capably play the lead in television's 'Mae West Story.' But that movie, another celebration of pop vulgarity, isn't mentioned here either. Instead, we get, at appropriate intervals, Ms. Jillian as elegant singing star. The casual viewer is likely to come away with the impression that she was the 1980's answer to Barbra Streisand.

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by Anonymousreply 3June 2, 2020 6:41 AM

They did mention Sugar Babies, r3. They were in a scene discussing negotiations for that show when I first turned it on.

by Anonymousreply 4June 2, 2020 6:55 AM

I wanted to like "Jennifer Slept Here" because I really liked Ann Jillian and I love old Hollywood ghost stories, like Topper, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Blithe Spirit, Heaven Can Wait, etc. But this series was neither funny nor witty. And it could've used a dose of camp. She was supposed to be an old Hollywood actress after all.

by Anonymousreply 5June 2, 2020 7:39 AM
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