Too Close for Comfort

need i say more, this show is from the 80s, its already a classic. this show is hilarious. this show was also the most popular show in 1981.

Henry Rush, a conservative San Francisco cartoonist of children's comic book heroine, Cosmic Cow, resided in the upstairs apartment of a two story home with wife, Muriel, a former big band singer, (which allowed us to occasionally hear Nancy Dussault's terrific voice), and free-lance photographer. Their college-aged daughters, pretty brunette Jackie, a bank teller and sexy blonde Sara, a freshman at San Francisco State, wanting independence, moved into the downstairs apartment. Guys came and went and Henry agonized over his 2 "little girls".Other characters in the show included Henry's boss, tiny Mr. Wainwright, Monroe, Sara's goofy school friend and thorn in Henry's side, Mildred Rafkin, the sister of the deceased former transvestite downstairs resident and Henry's Cosmic Cow puppet, which he always wore when he was drawing.During the subsequent seasons, Henry's hippie niece April stayed with the family for a year, Muriel became pregnant and gave birth to son, Andrew, Henry's hated mother-in-law Iris was a semi-regular, Jackie became a fashion designer and was engaged to a policeman, Brad, but broke the engagement, and went to Italy to pursue her career. Sara became a TV weather girl and eventually Monroe and she graduated from college.When the show's title changed from "Too Close for Comfort" to "The Ted Knight Show", there was a huge format change. Henry purchased a 49% share in a weekly newspaper, the Marin Bugler, and Muriel, Andrew and he moved to Mill Valley, CA to be closer to his new business. Jackie and Sara were not seen as they were now on their own. Monroe, who had lived with the Rush family in San Francisco and worked as a security guard, worked for Henry at the newspaper, but had his own place, which was never seen. The Rushes' gained a Hispanic housekeeper, Lisa, and the publisher of the Bugler, 51% owner, Hope Stinson, who enjoyed her conflicts with Henry, the editor. Muriel worked as a staff photographer. "The Ted Knight Show" was due to go into its second season of production when its star, who was ill with cancer, passed away.

This was a break out hit for its time. Fans of the old Mary Tyler Moore Show knew that Ted Knight was a valuable talent, and changing him from an unbearable idiot newsman to an overprotective likeable father of two gorgeous daughters was a great stretch for him. One made even more likeable by making him a cartoonist for the fictional Cosmic Cow cartoon. Making the series even more enjoyable was the casting of sexy Lydia Cornell and adorable Deborah Van Valkenburgh as his daughters who tried to prove that they could live on their own in the bottom half of their duplex. The jokes ran rampant over Cornell's incredible figure: "Don't overload the washing machine again." "It was Jackie's blue jeans that did it." "It wasn't my jeans; it was your bra !" The series probably would have worked equally as well as a vehicle more for the daughters than Knight as Jackie contemplated cosmetic surgery for herself and Copley turned out to be smarter than her character, but then in walked one annoyingly grating actor named Jm J. Bullock. Hired for a one-shot performance as an idiot who followed Cornell home, he stayed and stayed and stayed and stayed..... The jokes got worse instead of better, and the show was given the final nail in the coffin by having the mom, played by Nancy Dussault, get pregnant. Reworking the show for syndication didn't help. The girls vanished, the baby became five years old and Bullock stayed to get in the way and ruin the show. What a lousy end to a once good show.

Ted Knight played cartoonist, Henry Rush, who lives with his photographer wife, Muriel, in a two family home in San Francisco, California. The series opens up with the loss of their downstairs tenant, Mr. Rafkin, who was a transvestite. Selma Diamond played his sister. Henry and Muriel's adult daughters, Jackie and Sara, lived with them in their two bedroom apartment upstairs. It would be sensible for the girls as they were called to move downstairs. The actresses who played the daughters were fine. Nancy Dussault is ideal as Muriel. Jim J. Bullock played the annoying Monroe Ficus. While there were plenty of memorable moments between Monroe and Henry, there were tender moments between him and Muriel and his daughters. Audrey Meadows joined the show as Muriel's adopted mother. There were lots of friendly, light moments mixed with heavy issues as well. But there was a general tenderness there that isn't in today's sitcoms.

"Too Close For Comfort" is one of the best hilarious TV comedy series I have ever seen. When I first saw the show on a TV station in the northeast, it made me laugh a lot. That Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock) is so funny, and the fact of the matter is the show could have stayed on the air a few years more, but due to the fact the main actor of the show, Ted Knight, who played Henry Rush on this show, and as anchorman Ted Baxter, on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show", had passed away in August of 1986 of Cancer, and that was a blow to both the TV series and also its favorite viewers. This show should be on syndication all the time, because this show is the best comedy show of the 1980's.

I notice most of the negative reviews,based on dates posted come from a generation of those not use to what quality television was.. Don't get me wrong,shows like Friends to Big Bang Theory are enjoyable in their own right.. I'm sure kids years later will find it,as lame or lacking in some regards too.

I feel the(overall)casting & acting was fine,as was the cinematography & although outdated in some aspects it does continue to be as enjoyable when it first started airing.. Only thing that made me curious & although siblings can be different which did get used in episodes,it never made sense as neither were adopted into the family was Jackie's ethnicity.

Also why do people feel when a baby enters the picture,that means a show is dying & so forth? In this instance on the show it was prevalent because it shows an average family & a couple becomes parents again,at a later age with all that unfolds versus a younger couple just starting off in life.

Have seen it said in reviews also a poor version,trying to be another Three's Company? Really! Not even close,lol.

Enjoyed this years back & still watch reruns today,worth checking out.