Kate & Allie
Kate and Allie was a comedy than ran from 1984 to 1989 on CBS. The show starred Susan Saint James as Kate McArdle and Jane Curtin as Allie Lowell (the two had worked together previously in a 1980 movie titled How to Beat the High Cost of Living). Air Meyers starred as Kate’s daughter Emma, Frederick Koehler as Allie’s son Chip, and Allison Smith as Allie’s daughter Jennie. Nielsen ratings were very good for the first four seasons, but began dropping off for seasons 5 and 6 after Allie accepted a marriage proposal.
Fans of this show will remember that after divorcing their husbands, childhood friends Allie (Curtin) and Kate (Saint James) decide to share an apartment in NYC. They both had children, and the blending of the two families provided plenty of comedy. The two ladies were portrayed as strong and independent, which was not the norm for 1980’s television. Although there were some rumors that the two were a couple on the show, this was not the intention of the writers. Both women dated men regularly and would report to their own bedrooms at the end of an episode.