All Is Forgiven

I loved the plot of this sitcom: a woman gets a job as a secretary at a soap opera then because of a sudden power vacuum becomes the producer during her first day on the job. Bess Armstrong is a fine actress, but the character was too average--she needed to be either crazier or stiffer. Either would have made for more comedy. One scene, however, has stuck in my memory, a comedy classic: the head writer of the show (Carol Kane) is visited by her great lost love from the past, a man she never got to dance with. She is meeting with him in an office while the others wait outside, and she asks them to hum "The Tennessee Waltz" over the intercom so the couple can dance. The music starts out VERY tentatively and they begin to dance. As the music builds and gets more confident, the dancers talk, agree to go somewhere else to get better acquainted, and leave. The hummers continue their song to the empty office, adding harmonies, counterpoints and flourishes, never knowing they're playing to an empty house.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who remembers this show. I enjoyed it a lot, not to mention I'm the same age as Shawnee Smith and had a thing for her. Two lines in the show that stick out for me are when Carol Kane's character said, "You've caught me between social engagements; my debutant party and my funeral." There's also the exchange between Bess Armstrong and her husband, when Bess has booked a vacation to Mexico, but he says he has some news for her. Enthused for her planned trip, she insists he sings the news to her, so to the tune of "Aye Yai Yai Yai," they sing:

Matt: You know my daughter.

Paula: Her name is Sonia Russell.

Matt: Well she got kicked out of school again and she's come to live with us forever.

I think of this show often and I too wish I could see it again. I thought it was very funny and had some very memorable characters. I think it was a victim of not being in a good time slot. As I recall it was on Saturday nights. It was in reruns of cable for a while after it left NBC but had some obvious cuts so the channel could add more commercial time. Cant believe it was back in 1986. So many shows are out on DVD now but I guess there is no market for a short-lived TV series of so long ago. THere are always good shows that get canned because of bad ratings or bad time slots or being bounced around to different days. IF a show doesn't grab an audience right away the axe falls and there is no hope for it.

Bess Armstrong is newly married to Terrence KNox and he has a daughter from his first marriage. Shawnee Smith (currently on Becker) was the scene stealing daughter, Sonia. Things were very tense between Armstrong and her new step daughter. Armstrong: "I'm going down to the studio. The video machine just chewed up tomorrow's episode." Smith: "Why? are you going to thank it?"

The other scene Stealer was Carol Kane as the southern Nicholette Bingham, the writer of the show. "The old producer and I used to have heated arguments about the contents of the show. Yes. I felt the show should HAVE some."

Armstrong was to be the center of this universe, but sadly, when neither Smith nor Kane were onscreen, it was boring. ONe episode that guested Gwen Verdon was especially dull. I did not know David Alan Grier was the repair man who got promoted to writer on the show.

The never seen Creator of "All Is Forgiven" the Agnes Dixon/Gloria Monty type overseer who was never shown, we always heard her on the intercom system, asked Armstrong who had just come in for the secretary job, "How long have you been with us, dear?" before she made Armstrong the new producer. Judith Marie-Bergin did what she was supposed to do as the soap diva. The table reading where the terrorist turned out to be (gasp!) Arthur, her psychologist, was hilarious. Deborah Richter, who auditioned in the first episode, spoke to Armstrong. "Are you here for the part of the prostitute turned Senator?" Later, Richter's character obviously got popular, so she giggly informed Armstrong that she needed a dressing room now, because "Today, . . . I have to change!" All I can say is Shawnee Smith and Carol Kane were leagues ahead of the rest. Grier might have been able to contribute but at that time it apparently wasn't clear what he was capable of doing. Still would be good to see this show again tho.

I remember "All is Forgiven" mostly because I was going through a "aren't VCRs neat" phase, and decided it would be cool to tape all of the opening theme songs from the 1986 TV season. Since I've watched that tape a few times over the years, the cast of the show remains clear in my head.

I think the show would've grown on people, but they probably would have had to iron out the kinks between the home life and the work life (like "Barney Miller" did), because they didn't mesh very well.

One scene that stuck with me was a fight between stepdaughter Shawnee Smith and stepmother Bess Armstrong. They were fighting, and Bess thought she had the upper hand, shouting: "When you're old, I'm going to be there, dancing on your cake!" And Shawnee replied, "GOOD, because you certainly won't be able to CHEW it!" Did I mention I love Shawnee Smith? Though the "Saw" films made me see her in a whole new light.