I novellini

The Associates was a wonderful comedy with a great ensemble cast that just seemed to mesh from the start of the first episode.

If there are any television producers or network executives out there looking for a prime example of a truly funny show that was dropped for no good reason, this is the show. Any students out there looking for examples of how a network can manhandle and kill good programming should be given the entire run of this show to watch.

If James Burroughs is out there looking for something from his "vault" to bring out on DVD... this is the one!

Martin Short showed what a brilliant comedic actor he was going to turn out to be in this show. His timing, as well as that of the writing, was spot on. No one actor dominated with each one being given lines and situations that just seemed to fit like a comfortable glove. Even the list o guest stars is amazing: John Housman, Cloris Leachman and others.

Wow. How this one ever "got away" is a wonder.

Here is a rarity: a one season wonder that should have lasted more than one season.

"The Associates", a sitcom about the young lawyers at a prestigious law firm, came from the pen of James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger, the same geniuses behind the classic "Taxi". But whereas "Taxi" took place in the blue-collar world, this series tackled the white-collar side of the fence.

Short played the Alex Regar-type, the guy who always tried to get things done right but found that things don't always don't work out so smoothly. Every episode found the lawyers faced with dilemmas such as freedom of speech, inner-office romance, fighting to move ahead in the firm, etc. All of this, naturally, handled with the same deft aplomb that Brooks, Daniels and Weinberger gave to taxi drivers.

Consider, too, the fact that such comic pros also were on hand as Regalbuto, as the sniveling Streeter, Thomerson as the hip-yet-loose Danko, Mills as the office cutie Dunn and Smith as the more-sensible female James. Then there was Hyde-White, who played the dottering head of the firm. His constant stream-of-consciousness ramblings were a show highlight.

It's amazing how well I remember this series, not having seen it for so long. But I guess that if a show's that good, it's worth remembering. I'm sure that somewhere in the world, someone is watching "The Associates" and thinking the exact same thing.

Ten stars for "The Associates", good TV worth more than one rerun! Case closed!

'The Associates' was a short-lived American sitcom, from the producers of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and striving for the same ensemble chemistry as that series, but failing. The setting was a law firm, and the main characters were the firm's new associates: fresh out of law school but already imprinted with the personalities - idealistic or cynical - that they will carry into their careers.

Although an ensemble series, the focal character here was earnest young Tucker, played by Martin Short in a manner that barely hinted at his later success. More interesting is the performance of Joe Regalbuto, who later gave a brilliantly sustained performance as a neurotic balding nerd on 'Murphy Brown'. Here, he plays Tucker's cynical rival, already with an eye towards a junior partnership.

Alley Mills had the thankless role of Tucker's dumpy plain-jane colleague, given few chances to display her skill at physical comedy. In one episode, she caught Martin Short in a flying tackle on the law firm's staircase. If there had been more of this sort of humour, the show might have lasted longer.

Some definite visual appeal was provided by the incredibly sexy Shelley Smith as the incredibly sexy associate Sara James, a blonde ice-princess who is able to get anything she wants (such as a private office) on the basis of her looks. During the brief original Stateside run of 'The Associates', Shelley Smith (a former model) was also starring in some big-budget commercials for Revlon, flogging Lip Quenchers lipstick and other cosmetics. This created the disconcerting effect of the same actress playing a supporting role in the series while starring in the commercials: certainly no visual liability in Shelley Smith's case.

'The Associates' attracted some slight interest in Britain due to the presence of Wilfrid Hyde-White, here playing the law firm's patriarch with a genial touch of senility, in a performance resembling 'young Mr Grace' of 'Are You Being Served?'. In the debut episode of 'The Associates', Hyde-White's character Emerson Marshall tells Tucker a long rambling story about Margaret, the girl he'd loved many years ago in England. The romance ended so embarrassingly that Marshall moved to America and became a successful lawyer. After a long pause, Tucker asks Marshall to tell him what happened to Margaret. He replies: 'She became Prime Minister of England.'

The opening credits of 'The Associates' were accompanied by the distinctive voice of B.B. King singing 'The Wall Street Blues'. a ditty that sounded more appropriate for the Delta than for a New York law firm. (Not least because the name 'Wall Street' evokes the stock market, not a law practice.) Like another sitcom from the same production company - 'Taxi' - this series featured an African-American theme tune for stories about an all-white cast in a white-bread setting ... and in both cases the contrast was a jarring one. There's not much to offer here except an early glimpse of Joe Regalbuto's original hairline, and some (phwor!) eye-catching shots of Shelley Smith in slit skirts.

The single funniest scene I have seen in my many years of television viewing took place in an episode of The Associates, a series which died way too soon. The scene featured two magnificent veterans, Wilfred Hyde-White and John Houseman in his Professor Kingsfield persona, alone in a conference room debating the true meaning of the word "crapulence". I will leave the rest to the readers imagination except to volunteer that the word refers to sickness resulting from excessive indulgence or intemperance.

The Associates was a gem featuring a group of very talented up-and-comers, gifted veterans and an impressive array of guest stars. James Burrows directed and the show was written by a staff whose collective resume includes work on many of the elite television comedies including The Mary Tyler Moore Show and spin-offs, The Cosby Show, Taxi, Frasier and many more.

Can anyone tell me why the show ended so soon and so abruptly?

It was 1979. The Alphabet Network was coming off of a critical and commercially successful season, including a new show by one of the creators of "Mary Tyler Moore," James L. Brooks. That program was called "Taxi," and that show, like this one, is on the list of The 400 Most Notable TV Shows Set in New York City. Brooks was responsible for this ensemble piece, and it had all of the elements of a classic Brooks comedy and another tremendous hit.

We have a show with a title that was eventually duplicated. THIS version of "The Associates" was about a group of three brand new lawyers, hired by a Wall Street area firm to help research and try their cases. Tucker Kerwin was played by Martin Short (who appeared on this list at 359's "Mulaney" ), Leslie Dunn was played by Alley Mills and Sara James was played by Shelley Smith.

Tucker was an idealist, who always took the side of the underdog, and the side of what was morally right. That typically ran in direct counterpoint to the cases the firm, headed by Emerson Marshall, as played by Wilfrid Hyde-White, were handling, as their clients were faceless corporations or super wealthy clients.

Right away, we have some really interesting subtextural storylines happening as the facts of being a lawyer and representing a client because they hired you to do that job can challenge your personal belief system.

Another interesting dynamic is the triangle created with the three associates, as Leslie was somewhat sweet on Tucker, while Tucker (and, essentially all the men depicted in this series) were focused on Sara. That included the clerk for the firm, Johnny Danko, played with 70s Disco Lounge Lizard style by Tim Thomerson.

What's great is that James L. Brooks always fostered incredibly strong and intelligent female characters and the chauvinistic Johnny was continually put in his place by Sara, even as he tried to make a move on her.

All of the associates butted heads with the brand new promoted partner in the firm, Eliot Streeter, played by Joe Regalbuto. He was a by the book sort but was also the biggest brownnose to Emerson Marshall, which also explains how he got the job.

Mr. Hyde-White was his own walking-talking sitcom, with his Brit accent, his hilariously long-winded stories and his distractions, mannerisms and affectations. He probably could have done a soliloquy and been an hilarious triumph!

Martin Short was about to explode and there were some hints about it here, though nothing as broad as we would see when he eventually joined the cast of "SCTV" (which was already running in syndication at the time). And Alley Mills was pleasant, poised and firm when she was right, slightly reminiscent of Mary Richards, in that way.

New York played a part because these cases were related to big names, both companies and individuals that were situated in The City, and they challenged the team with those topics. And the program's theme song, performed by Jazz legend B. B. King, was "Wall Street Blues," a reference to the neighborhood where the law firm was located.

It seemed like ABC didn't really know what to do with this program, and that's all to do with the network execs running things at the time. A show this smart, this funny, that even had some elements of slapstick and farce included, along with that brilliant scripting, maybe was too much for them to handle. They pulled it from the schedule, re-inserted it some weeks later, then finally killed the show at the end of the season, despite the continual high praise from critics.

But remember, about the same time, ABC eventually canceled "Taxi," only to have it be snapped up by NBC and have that series become the start of their comedy success on Thursday nights.

Sometimes it's not the show, it's the suits.