Hail to the Chief (1985– )

Julia Mansfield is the first woman to be elected President of the United States. In addition to dealing with the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, spies in the cabinet, and ... See full summary »

Creator:

Susan Harris

Stars:

Patty Duke, Ted Bessell, Quinn Cummings

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Patty Duke	...	President Julia Mansfield (7 episodes, 1985)
Ted Bessell	...	Gen. Oliver Mansfield (7 episodes, 1985)
Quinn Cummings	...	Lucy Mansfield (7 episodes, 1985)
Ricky Paull Goldin	...	Doug Mansfield (7 episodes, 1985)
Dick Shawn	...	Ivan Zolotov (6 episodes, 1985)
Richard Paul	...	Rev. Billy Joe Bickerstaff (6 episodes, 1985)
Burton Gilliam	...	Clovis Montgomery (3 episodes, 1985)
Pat Hingle	...	Lamar Montgomery (3 episodes, 1985)
Reuven Bar-Yotam	...	Nikita (2 episodes, 1985)
Alexa Hamilton	...	Darlene Lubin (2 episodes, 1985)
Rose Marie	...	Sylvia (2 episodes, 1985)
John Vernon	...	Gen. Hannibal Stryker (2 episodes, 1985)
George Wyner	...	Irving Metzman (2 episodes, 1985)

Storyline

Julia Mansfield is the first woman to be elected President of the United States. In addition to dealing with the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, spies in the cabinet, and personal attacks by a conservative religious leader, she also has to handle such personal problems as an impotent husband and a sex scandal involving her son.

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Plot Keywords:

female politician | female president of the united states | u.s. president

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 April 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vad har hänt, fru president?

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actors who auditioned for the role of Gen. Oliver Mansfield include Dick Shawn (who was cast instead as Zolotov) and Spalding Gray.

User Reviews

So-so Series, But One Great Joke

In her autobiography, Patty Duke claimed that this series failed because "Viewers couldn't accept the idea of a woman President." Not hardly, it just wasn't a very good show overall. But it did have one great comedy scene in one episode that I still remember and laugh inside when I do.

The scene took place at KGB headquarters in an office where two Russian agents were talking about something or other. People were going in and out of the office and every time the door was opened you would hear someone off-camera screaming in pain (obviously some poor soul being interrogated in one of the KGB's torture chambers.) The conversation between the two agents went on until finally someone opened the door and there was no screaming to be heard. When that happened, one of the two KGB men jumped up, ran to the door and shouted down the hallway, "Get back to work!" Immediately the screaming resumed.

Priceless.