Paula Russell, newly married and newly appointed the producer of a TV show, must balance the demands of her personal and professional lives.Paula Russell, newly married and newly appointed the producer of a TV show, must balance the demands of her personal and professional lives.Paula Russell, newly married and newly appointed the producer of a TV show, must balance the demands of her personal and professional lives.
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
Browse episodes
Featured reviews
It's New York City. Paula Winters (Bess Armstrong) is marrying Matt Russell (Terence Knox) and meeting his 16 year old daughter Sonia Russell (Shawnee Smith) for the first time. He has a rising health donut company. She interviews for the producer's assistant job at the soap opera "All Is Forgiven" and gets the producer boss job. Nicolette Bingham (Carol Kane) is the head writer. Oliver Royce (David Alan Grier) is the new writer hire in episode two.
This is a late-season NBC sitcom replacement show. They burnt through the nine episodes and dropped it. The workplace sitcom part works pretty well especially with Carol Kane and David Alan Grier. They are really great individually and combined. The home part only half-works. Paula trying to be Sonia's mother is good story material. I've never considered Terence Knox as a sitcom actor. His St Elsewhere character really sticks and he works better in drama. This should really be a workplace sitcom. Maybe Shawnee Smith can be a teen actor on the show.
This is a late-season NBC sitcom replacement show. They burnt through the nine episodes and dropped it. The workplace sitcom part works pretty well especially with Carol Kane and David Alan Grier. They are really great individually and combined. The home part only half-works. Paula trying to be Sonia's mother is good story material. I've never considered Terence Knox as a sitcom actor. His St Elsewhere character really sticks and he works better in drama. This should really be a workplace sitcom. Maybe Shawnee Smith can be a teen actor on the show.
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.
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.
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 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.
All Is Forgiven was one of the funniest sitcoms of the 80's and almost no one saw it. Yanked by NBC after only a few episodes to make room for the insipid (and thankfully short lived) 'The Tortellis', it had a brief rerun on cable (A&E?) and now, alas, is gone. I'm happy to say that I have most of the episodes on tape. This had the potential to be another "Cheers" or "Murphy Brown" with an outstanding cast including Bess Armstrong, Terence Knox, Shawnee Smith, David Alan Grier and the WONDERFUL Carol Kane. In the unlikely even it pops up again on cable, watch it, TAPE IT! and LAUGH!
- How many seasons does All Is Forgiven have?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content