Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tuesday's Forgotten TV: Rags to Riches


Hi, remember me?  I'm back from my trip to Walt Disney World (which I may blog about in the near future), and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things here.

For this week's overlooked audio/video, I choose a particular childhood favorite of my wife's:  the short-lived NBC family musical series Rags to Riches.  The series, set in the early 1960s, starred longtime character actor Joe Bologna as Nick Foley, a self-made millionare and confirmed bachelor who takes in five orphan girls as a ruse to help him appear as a family man to close a lucrative business deal.  Although Foley only intends to keep the girls temporarily until the deal is sealed, the crusty man's heart falls for the girls and he adopts the girls permanently.  Throughout the series, the girls (and sometimes Bologna) would burst into song using classic pop songs from the era to desribe their feelings or thoughts.

Although the series had a loyal following, the series was never highly rated, and was cancelled during its second season.  But thanks to the Internet, you can enjoy the pilot right here!  Fans of Glee or High School Musical (don't know how many of those read this blog, if at all) would have loved this show.












For more forgotten favorites, please see here.  Thanks!

5 comments:

Jamie Ghione said...

I remember this somewhat. I remember that the little girl Heidi Ziegler (sp?) went on to the "Growing Pains" spinoff "Just the Ten of Us," immediately after "Rags to Riches" was cancelled.

Unknown said...

Hope you had an awesome time at Disney!

Ooh, I remember this show! Er... kinda.

I remember "Just the Ten of Us" much better. The theme song is stuck in my head forever, I think, because I found myself *singing* it the other day.

"Life is a race and I know I can win it, 'cuz I'm learnin' the rules of the ga-a-ame. If I can stay on the ball, take it minute-by-minute, I just might make the hall of fame!"

I could go on, but I'll spare you. If I could just get rid of all the useless crap in my head and stuff some actual, USEFUL stuff in there in its place.... I would rule the world.

Phillyradiogeek said...

Jamie: thanks for the info. I love to find little connections between shows like that.

Lady J: as for getting out all of the useless facts from your head, that's what blogging is for. It works wonders for me :)

Todd Mason said...

So, what do you think...more influence by COP ROCK or by PENNIES FROM HEAVEN or by ANNIE?

Hm. Or did COP ROCK flash by later on...?

Phillyradiogeek said...

I believe COP ROCK came out in 1990, a year or two after Rags was canceled. I'd be interested in how Rags developed, whether from PENNIES or ANNIE. It seemed like an unusual idea for a show at the time.