"Kate & Allie" (1984) TV series 1984-1989

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Creator:

Sherry Coben

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

19 March 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When Allie Lowell divorces her husband and gets custody of their two children, she moves to New York City and moves in with her best friend...

Plot Keywords:

Friendship Between Women | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 24 nominations

Cast

Susan Saint James	...	Katherine 'Kate' McArdle (122 episodes, 1984-1989)
Jane Curtin	...	Allison 'Allie' Lowell (122 episodes, 1984-1989)
Frederick Koehler	...	Charles 'Chip' Lowell / ... (96 episodes, 1984-1989)
Allison Smith	...	Jennie Lowell (93 episodes, 1984-1989)
Ari Meyers	...	Emma McArdle (87 episodes, 1984-1988)

Runtime:

30 min (122 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Alan Landsburg Productions

Trivia:

John Loeffler, who sings the signature theme song at the end of the show, appears as a piano teacher in the second series episode "Piano Lesson." He sings a few other songs during the course of the episode, in addition to the regular end theme.

Quotes:

Allie Lowell: I can't alter my feelings to suit your lifestyle.
Bob Barsky: Why not? You want me to alter my lifestyle to suit your feelings.
Allie Lowell: Only if they're your feelings too.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Harry Anderson/Bryan Adams (#10.13)" (1985)

A good quality show with a great cast!

Kate & Allie was one of my favorite shows when I grew up. It was also one of the few NYC based sitcoms filmed in New York City. Jane Curtin and Susan St. James play divorced best friends who live together after their divorces with their children in a Greenwich Village apartment. Of course, the apartment is unrealistically huge and is only affordable for the millionaires. The writing is genuinely funny and worth while to watch. It was one of the best comedies in the eighties. I remember when CBS's Monday Night was the place to be with shows like this on the air. Those days are long gone now. As for the rumors that they were supposed to be a couple, maybe that would be on television today. Sadly, it's not uncommon for sisters with their children to live together. I always assumed that Kate and Allie were more like sisters rather than best friends. Back in 1984, two divorced women living together with their children would not have sparked the controversy. They went to high school together and they dated men as well. Their arrangement was platonic but they were family without anything offensive. Maybe they should have written them as sisters to avoid the controversy. The network insisted the show ending with them going to separate beds at the end of each episode to avoid that speculation.