Tattingers (later Tattinger's) is an American comedy-drama television series that aired by the NBC television network from October 26, 1988, to April 26, 1989, as part of its 1988 fall lineup. After failing in the Nielsen ratings as an hour-long program, the plot and characters were briefly revived in the spring of 1989 as the half-hour sitcom Nick & Hillary.

Tattingers
Also known as
  • Tattinger's
  • Nick & Hillary
GenreComedy drama
Created byBruce Paltrow
Tom Fontana
John Masius
StarringStephen Collins
Blythe Danner
Patrice Colihan
Chay Lentin
Jessica Prunell
Jerry Stiller
Mary Beth Hurt
Roderick Cook
Zach Grenier
Rob Morrow
Sue Francis Pai
Yusef Bulos
Robert Clohessy
Simon Jones
Chris Elliott
Anna Levine
Theme music composerJonathan Tunick
Opening theme"Anybody's Guess" by Brock Walsh (Nick & Hillary run)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodesTattingers - 11 (2 unaired) Nick & Hillary - 4 (2 unaired)
Production
ProducersBruce Paltrow
Tom Fontana
John Masius
Running time60 minutes/30 minutes
Production companiesPaltrow Group
MTM Enterprises
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseOctober 26, 1988 (1988-10-26) –
April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26)

An unaired episode, "Screwball," aired on TV Land on April 4, 1999.[1]

Synopsis

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Tattingers is the story of a divorced couple, Nick and Hillary Tattinger (Stephen Collins and Blythe Danner), along with their 2 daughters: Nina and Winnifred. They had remained co-owner partners in a posh Manhattan restaurant until Nick was shot by a drug dealer, which prompted them to sell the restaurant and move to Paris. Their successors, however, proved incapable of properly running the restaurant, so Nick reclaimed the restaurant from them to give it another go. Real-life Manhattan celebrities often appeared in cameo roles as themselves as Nick's exclusive clientele.

Cast

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Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
Tattingers
1"Pilot"UnknownUnknownOctober 26, 1988 (1988-10-26)20.5[2]
2"The Sonny Also Rises"UnknownUnknownNovember 2, 1988 (1988-11-02)12.5[3]
3"Nouvelle York"UnknownUnknownNovember 9, 1988 (1988-11-09)12.2[4]
4"Virgin Spring"UnknownUnknownNovember 16, 1988 (1988-11-16)11.0[5]
5"Rest in Peas"UnknownUnknownNovember 30, 1988 (1988-11-30)11.3[6]
6"Death and Taxis"UnknownUnknownDecember 7, 1988 (1988-12-07)9.7[7]
7"Two Men and a Baby"UnknownUnknownDecember 14, 1988 (1988-12-14)11.4[8]
8"Broken Windows"UnknownTom FontanaJanuary 4, 1989 (1989-01-04)9.9[9]
9"Wall Street Blues"Gwen ArnerPeter McCabeJanuary 11, 1989 (1989-01-11)10.6[10]
10"Screwball"TBDTBDUnaired (Unaired)N/A
11"Ex-Appeal"TBDTBDUnaired (Unaired)N/A
Nick & Hillary
12"Half a Loaf..."Art WolffTom Fontana & Channing Gibson & John TinkerApril 20, 1989 (1989-04-20)21.0[11]
13"El Sid"Don ScardinoStory by : Tom Fontana & John Tinker
Teleplay by : Channing Gibson
April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26)13.3[12]
14"Tour of Doody"TBDTBDUnaired (Unaired)N/A
15"Money Matters"TBDTBDUnaired (Unaired)N/A

Reception

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This program was a ratings failure and was cancelled in January 1989. However, NBC was apparently unwilling to give up totally on the characters or the concept, and the program was revamped into a half-hour sitcom, Nick & Hillary. This new series premiered on April 20, 1989,[13] but proved even less successful than its predecessor and was cancelled after only two episodes.

References

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  1. ^ Starr, Michael (March 26, 1999). "TV Land at 'Junction,' Heeds Fontana's Call". New York Post. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  2. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 2, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306129406.
  3. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 9, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306136856.
  4. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 16, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306140699.
  5. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 23, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306124674.
  6. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. December 7, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306146398.
  7. ^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. December 14, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306143538.
  8. ^ "A very 'Brady' ratings hit". Life. USA Today. December 21, 1988. p. 3D. ProQuest 306159082.
  9. ^ "NBC, laughing all the way". Life. USA Today. January 11, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306165080.
  10. ^ "NBC clinches season's ratings title". Life. USA Today. January 18, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306171627.
  11. ^ "Sitcom rewards ABC's faith". Life. USA Today. April 26, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306174966.
  12. ^ "We loved CBS' 'Lucy' tribute". Life. USA Today. May 3, 1989. p. 3D. ProQuest 306197470.
  13. ^ O'Connor, John (April 20, 1989). "Review/Television; NBC Series Is Changed From Soap Into Sitcom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-04-24.

General