Sara (1985 TV series)

This article is about the 1985 NBC situation comedy. For the 1976 CBS western series, see Sara (1976 TV series).

Sara is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 23 to May 8, 1985. Starring Geena Davis in the title role, the series features early performances from several actors who went on to greater acclaim, including Alfre Woodard, Bronson Pinchot and Bill Maher. Sara featured one of the earliest regular gay characters on an American television series, Dennis Kemper, played by Pinchot.^[1][2]

Sara
The cast of Sara
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Gary David Goldberg Ruth Bennett
Directed by	Will Mackenzie
Starring	Geena Davis Alfre Woodard Bill Maher Mark Hudson Bronson Pinchot Ronnie Claire Edwards Matthew Lawrence
Composer	Tom Scott
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer	Gary David Goldberg
Producers	Merrill Markoe Linda Nieber
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Ubu Productions NBC Productions
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	January 23 (1985-01-23) – May 8, 1985 (1985-05-08)

Plot

Sara McKenna, a young lawyer living in San Francisco, works at the Legal Aid law office with an eclectic cast of characters.

Cast

• Geena Davis as Sara McKenna
• Alfre Woodard as Rozalyn Dupree
• Bill Maher as Marty Lang
• Mark Hudson as Stuart Webber
• Bronson Pinchot as Dennis Kemper
• Ronnie Claire Edwards as Helen Newcomb
• Matthew Lawrence as Jesse Webber

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"David Returns"	Will Mackenzie	Ruth Bennett	January 23, 1985 (1985-01-23)
2	"Sara's Mom"	John Pasquin	Merrill Markoe	January 30, 1985 (1985-01-30)
3	"Dueling Lawyers"	Will Mackenzie	Michael Kagen	February 13, 1985 (1985-02-13)
4	"Helen Steps Out"	John Pasquin	Merrill Markoe	February 20, 1985 (1985-02-20)
5	"You Can't Win 'em All"	John Pasquin	Ruth Bennett	February 27, 1985 (1985-02-27)
6	"A Date with Keith"	John Pasquin	Merrill Markoe	March 13, 1985 (1985-03-13)
7	"Rock 'n' Roll Father"	Will Mackenzie	Michael Kagan	March 20, 1985 (1985-03-20)
8	"27 Candles"	John Pasquin	Ruth Bennett	March 27, 1985 (1985-03-27)
9	"Sara's Short Story"	Will Mackenzie	Gail Honigberg	April 10, 1985 (1985-04-10)
10	"Meet Mr. Cooper"	Will Mackenzie	Douglas Wyman	April 17, 1985 (1985-04-17)
11	"Girls Just Want to Have Fun"	Will Mackenzie	Susan Seeger	April 24, 1985 (1985-04-24)
12	"A Night at the Ballet"	Unknown	Unknown	May 1, 1985 (1985-05-01)
13	"Brief Encounter"	Will Mackenzie	Frederick Weiss & Jeffrey Ferro	May 8, 1985 (1985-05-08)

Reception

Because it was scheduled opposite Dynasty, which was then the most popular series on the air, Sara failed to attract an audience and was cancelled after 13 episodes, although NBC did re-air the series in 1988.^[3] According to TVTango.com's ratings database, Sara ranked 48th out of 104 programs that aired during the 1984–85 season, with an average household rating of 14.44.