Going Places (American TV series)

For other uses, see Going Places (disambiguation).

Going Places is a situation comedy aired by the ABC television network as part of its 1990-91 prime time schedule. The show was created by Howard Adler and Robert Griffard. Going Places was developed by Robert L. Boyett and Thomas L. Miller of Miller Boyett, the production company that also created the ABC Sitcoms Full House, Perfect Strangers and Family Matters among others. And it, like the other Miller/Boyett sitcoms, was heavily inspired by a previous ABC sitcom, in this case Bosom Buddies.

Original premise

Going Places has been described as American television's ultimate expression of navel-gazing, as it was a program written by young television comedy writers about the lives of young television comedy writers. The show's original premise was that four young writers, Charlie Davis (Alan Ruck), his brother Jack (Jerry Levine), Alex Burton (Heather Locklear), and Kate Griffin (Hallie Todd) were the writing staff of Here's Looking at You, a Candid Camera-type program featuring real people caught in their unawares. Their professional lives were essentially indistinguishable from their personal ones as all lived together in a Los Angeles beach house. Dawn St. Claire (Holland Taylor) was their boss at the studio, who was at turns tyrannical and neurotic. The foursome's neighbor, teenager Lindsay (Staci Keanan), also shared in the many misadventures they found themselves in, both in and out of work.

Second premise

The producers and ABC apparently had a lot of confidence in this program. The original concept failed to garner much of an audience, but rather than cancelling the show, the fictional Here's Looking at You was cancelled instead and the four went to work as the production team for a manic talk show host, Dick Roberts (Steve Vinovich). Kate's eight-year old nephew Nick Griffin (J.D. Daniels) moved into the beach house, adding an even more youthful appeal to the show. Dick Roberts' assistant and producer was frazzled Arnie (Philip Charles McKenzie), and in the last few episodes, the talk show host's son Sam Roberts (Christopher Castile) showed up and became best friends with Nick. Only when this format also failed to find an audience was Going Places cancelled.

After cancellation

Interestingly, two supporting cast members of Going Places remained employed by Miller-Boyett as the show was cancelled. Staci Keanan, who had played the gang's teenage neighbor the whole season, was cast as Suzanne Somers' daughter Dana Foster on Step by Step, the ultimately more successful Miller-Boyett sitcom that premiered in September 1991 (although not in Going Places' old time slot). Christopher Castile, who joined Going Places mid-season as talk-show host Dick Roberts' son Sam, also ended up on Step by Step playing Keanan's brother Mark.

Trivia

• In the pilot, Charlie and Jack's last name was Baker, but afterwards it was changed to Davis. Miller-Boyett kept the idea of two related people named Baker, and the following season on Step by Step, Carol Foster's (Suzanne Somers) mother and sister, played by Peggy Rea and Patrika Darbo respectively, were both named Ivy and Penny Baker.

References

Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows

External links

• Going Places at IMDb