The Associates

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?

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.

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.

Wilfred W-H in this show is probably one of the top 3 all time best actors ever to appear on a sitcom. Everything about the show is great but he is a standout and it is worth watching just you see his amazing talent.

I would just echo what the first reviewer suggested; I found the combination of Martin Short and Wilfred Hyde White just amazing; Wilfred used to paraphrase his lines and it looked like the actors geniuinely didn't know what he was going to say. Magic stuff. I haven't seen this series in 20 years, shame it's not on DVD or TV.