Living Dolls


Living Dolls is an American sitcom featured on the fall 1989 schedule of ABC. It was a spin-off created by a writer from Who's the Boss? and featuring characters introduced during an episode of that show. The show was the acting debut of Halle Berry. Both Who's the Boss? and Living Dolls were produced by ELP Communications through Columbia Pictures Television and ABC.

Synopsis

The show featured Charlie Briscoe, a friend of Samantha Micelli. Samantha is dabbling in a modeling career and Charlie, a friend from Samantha's old Brooklyn neighborhood comes to visit. While doing some test shots for a dog food commercial, it is discovered that Charlie is very photogenic. Charlie is then befriended by the owner of a modeling agency for teenage girls, Trish Carlin. Trish is also a friend of advertising executive Angela Bower, one of the main characters on Who's the Boss?. Trish becomes a mother figure to Charlie and the other models.

Reception

Living Dolls was universally panned by critics and received mostly negative reviews. It was the only series to receive an "F" grade by People magazine in its 1989 fall preview issue. ABC canceled the series after 12 episodes in December 1989.

Production

The series had a back-door pilot on Who's the Boss? before turning into a series. In that episode, Vivica A. Fox played Emily instead of Halle Berry.
Two pilots were made for the series. The first, in which Berry, David Moscow, and Tucker did not appear, was produced to introduce Living Dolls as a spin-off. Their roles were portrayed by other actors. Executives disliked the original cast and held auditions for recasting. Another pilot was shown directly before the Living Dolls premiere, which illustrates the reasons why Charlie moved in with Trish in the first place.

Cast