The Associates (American TV series)

For the Canadian series of the same name, see The Associates (Canadian TV series).

The Associates is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from September 23, 1979, to April 17, 1980. Despite being cancelled after nine of its thirteen episodes aired, it was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

The Associates
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	James L. Brooks Stan Daniels Charlie Hauck Ed. Weinberger
Developed by	Michael Leeson
Directed by	Tony Mordente James Burrows Charlotte Brown Tom Trbovich [tr]
Starring	Wilfrid Hyde-White Martin Short Alley Mills Joe Regalbuto Shelley Smith Tim Thomerson
Theme music composer	Albert Brooks
Opening theme	"Wall Street Blues" performed by B.B. King written by Albert Brooks[1]
Composers	Albert Brooks Craig Safan
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (4 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	James L. Brooks Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger
Producer	Michael Leeson
Production location	Paramount Studios
Cinematography	Leonard J. South
Editors	Douglas Hines C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	John-Charles-Walters Productions Paramount Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23)[2] – April 17, 1980 (1980-04-17)

Synopsis

The show is centered on a group of three young novice lawyers who worked at a Wall Street law firm. Based on the novel of the same name^[3] by John Jay Osborn Jr., the series stars Martin Short, Alley Mills, Shelley Smith, as associates, Joe Regalbuto, as partner, Wilfrid Hyde-White, as senior partner, and Tim Thomerson, as mailboy/gofer.

Cast

• Martin Short as Tucker Kerwin
• Joe Regalbuto as Eliot Streeter
• Tim Thomerson as Johnny Danko
• Alley Mills as Leslie Dunn
• Shelley Smith as Sara James
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Emerson Marshall

Production

The series was based on the book, The Associates, by John Jay Osborn, Jr., author of The Paper Chase, but he was "not intimately connected with it".^[4] Episode six featured guest star John Houseman reprising his role as Professor Kingsfield.^[5]

Release

The Associates, from the producers of Taxi, was critically acclaimed in the fall of 1979. But, ABC-TV fell from its ratings perch that fall when they moved their schedule around. Mork & Mindy was moved to Sunday night to challenge CBS's most established night of the week. The Associates was scheduled to follow Mork & Mindy as a promising new comedy series.^[6] Mork & Mindy, however, was crushed by CBS's Archie Bunker's Place.^[7] ABC moved Mork & Mindy back to Thursday, but it would never recover its ratings glory. One Day at a Time was the direct competition to The Associates. After five episodes of The Associates, a later four weekly episodes were shown in 1980 on Thursdays at 9:30.^[8] The press heavily criticized ABC for not giving the show a chance.^{[citation needed]}

Episodes

Nº	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The First Day"	James Burrows	Story by : Charlie Hauck Teleplay by : Michael Leeson	September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23)
The associates learn the ropes on their first day at the firm while the founder decides between two attorneys seeking partnership.
2	"Is Romance Dead?"	Tony Mordente	David Lloyd	September 30, 1979 (1979-09-30)
Tucker uses tips from a book on romance to try and impress Sara.
3	"Tucker's Courtroom Coup"	Tony Mordente	David Lloyd	October 7, 1979 (1979-10-07)
Marshall asks Eliot to defend a client whose ex-lover is suing him.
4	"Mr. Marshall's Love Affair"	Tony Mordente	David Lloyd	October 14, 1979 (1979-10-14)
Marshall's intended helpmate flirts with Eliot.
5	"The Deadly Serve"	Tony Mordente	John Steven Owen	October 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)
Eliot accidentally kills a partner in a game of squash.
6	"Eliot's Revenge"	James Burrows	Story by : Rich Reinhart Teleplay by : David Lloyd	March 27, 1980 (1980-03-27)[5]
Eliot argues with his former professor about a case.
7	"Danko's a Daddy"	James Burrows	David Lloyd	April 3, 1980 (1980-04-03)
Johnny tries to see his illegitimate son over the mother's objections.
8	"The Censors"	Tony Mordente	Stan Daniels & Ed. Weinberger	April 10, 1980 (1980-04-10)
Tucker defends a network censor being sued by a producer.
9	"The Party"	James Burrows	Earl Pomerantz	April 17, 1980 (1980-04-17)
Leslie falls for a teacher who despises conservative lawyers.
10	"A Date with Johnny"	Tony Mordente	Earl Pomerantz	N/A
Johnny goes on a date with a married co-worker.
11	"Tucker's Co-Op"	Charlotte Brown	David Lloyd	N/A
Tucker moves into a co-op apartment, Marshall buys the penthouse above, and shows up unexpectedly.
12	"Inferno"	Charlotte Brown	David Lloyd	N/A
The lawyers try to find escape routes when a fire starts in the building.
13	"The Out of Town Trip"	Tom Trbovich	Rich Reinhart	N/A
The associates defend the head of a tire company accused of misusing funds, while Leslie quits the firm thinking it represents criminals.

Syndication

The series had a complete run on BBC Two in the UK in 1982.^[9] The series was rerun on USA Network in 1985,^[10] A&E in 1988, followed by reruns on Comedy Central and TV Land in the 1990s.^[11]

In Italy, the series aired on Rete 4 as I novellini (Newbies) in 1982.

Award nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1980	Emmy Award	Nominated	Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series	Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger (for episode "The Censors")
			Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series	Michael Leeson and Charlie Hauck (for episode "The First Day")
	Golden Globe Award		Best TV-Series - Musical/Comedy	-
			Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy	Wilfrid Hyde-White

Further reading

• Osborn, John Jay Jr. (1979). The Associates. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-27097-4. Retrieved September 3, 2024 – via archive.org.