Blansky's Beauties was an American sitcom which ran on the ABC network in 1977. It is a spin-off of Happy Days.

Broadcast History

First Telecast: February 12, 1977

Last Telecast: May 21, 1977

The show ran on Saturday nights - 8:00pm - 8:30pm on ABC

Total 13 Episodes

The show never rated in the top 10

Synopsis

Although a spin-off of Happy Days, the show took place in the 'present' (1970's).

Nancy Blansky (Nancy Walker) was den mother to a bevy of beautiful Las Vegas showgirls in this short-lived comedy. In addition to keeping order in the chaotic apartment complex where they all lived, Nancy staged the girls' big numbers at the Oasis Hotel.

Emilio (Johnny Desmond), the matire'd, was Nancy's boyfriend. To help Nancy defray costs of her apartment, Sunshine (Lynda Goodfriend) and Bambi (Caren Kaye) shared it with her, along with her nephews Joey DeLuca (Eddie Mekka) (a choreographer) and leering, 12-year-old ("going on 28") Anthony DeLuca (Scott Baio). Anthony was forever trying to impress Bambi, who much to his chargin treated him like a kid brother, as did almost all of Nancy's girls. Also sharing Nancy's apartment was a huge Great Dane named Blackjack who was shown in the opening credits playing...blackjack.

Nancy has been working with dancers for a very long time. In the episode Nancy Remembers Laverne, she recalls working with a clumsy girl named Laverne DeFazio (Laverne and Shirley) (Penny Marshall) back around 1967 (Nancy states that she knew this girl "around 10 years ago"). She discovered that, despite her clumsiness, Laverne was a great dancer and Nancy offered her a job on the spot. (Laverne turned her down, having her own plan for her life... something Nancy greatly admired.)

Pat Morita, after the failure of his series Mr.T. and Tina, was added to the cast as Arnold, the same name (and possibly the same character) he had in the similar supporting role on Happy Days. There he had run a drive-in restaurant, while he ran the coffee shop at the Oasis.

Cast

Nancy Walker as Nancy Blansky

Caren Kaye as Bambi Benton

Lynda Goodfriend as Ethel "Sunshine" Akalino

Johnny Desmond as Emilio

Eddie Mekka as Joey DeLuca

Scott Baio as Anthony DeLuca

George Pentecost as Horace "Stubbs" Wilmington

Taaffe O'Connell as Hillary S. Prentiss

Rhonda Bates as Arkansas

Bond Gideon as Lovely Carson

Gerri Reddick as Jackie Outlaw

Shirley Kirkes as Gladys "Cochise" Littlefeather

Antoinette Yuskis as Sylvia Silver

Jill Owens as Misty Karamazov

Elaine Bolton as Bridget Muldoon

Pat Morita as Arnold

Episode List

1 Blansky's Biking Beauty 2 Nancy's Cover-Up

3 Blansky for the Defense

4 Nancy's Magic Moment

5 Anthony Falls In Love

6 Nancy Goes Sheik

7 Nancy Meets Fransis

8 Nancy Remembers Laverne

9 Nancy Meets Pa Bates

10 My Nephew's Debut

11 To Nancy With Love

12 Dear Nancy...

13 Nancy Breaks A Leg

Trivia

• Blansky's Beauties is a spin-off of Happy Days. Nancy Blansky is supposed to be Howard Cunningham's cousin from Las Vegas, who introduced Howard to his future wife, Marion. (This information was presented on The Third Anniversary Show on Happy Days. That episode aired on 02/04/77 and Blansky's Beauties then premiered on 02/12/77.)

• The theme song, "I Want It All", was performed by Cyndi Grecco, who also performed the theme song for the series Laverne and Shirley.

• A running gag had Nancy's boss never speaking. He would have his assistant speak for him, or sometimes would lean down, as if to whisper something to Nancy, open his mouth, then pass her a note with his instructions written on it. Eventually, he did speak. A ladder slips, leaving him hanging from a stage light. Nancy says she will help him; all he needs to do is "say the word". After a long pause, he squeaks the word, "Help!"

• Several members of the cast went on to better fortune on the originating series, Happy Days, for example, Scott Baio who went on to play Fonzie's cousin Charles 'Chachi' Arcola, and Lynda Goodfriend who played Richie's girlfriend (and later, wife) Lori Beth.

1970s TV shows in the United States | Sitcoms