Kate And Allie 11-15

Candidate

This episode premiered on November 5th, 1984. The lead in show was Scarecrow and Mrs. King and was followed by Newhart. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Redskins 27-Falcons 14) and a movie on NBC (Airplane)

Allie loses her wallet, two minutes after she cancels her credit cards someone shows up with it. The woman who returns the wallet invites Kate and Allie to come down to a campaign office where she works. Allie visits and gets drafted into stuffing envelopes and then falls for the candidate, they end up kissing. The next day Allie meets the candidates wife and quits the campaign. The candidate wins the election. 

Dated References

Allie loses her wallet and has to cancel her cards. Today you could just block them and if they turned up in 24 hours you could reactivate them

Allie has a Gimbels card. The store officially closed in 1987.

When Allie tries to uncancel her credit cards Kate says "This should be on That's Incredible". This was a TV show that ran from 1980 to 1984.

The campaign office has a bank of pay phones.

And on a side note, the name of the Washington DC team has been changed to the Commanders.

Kate And The Plumber

This episode premiered on November 12th, 1984. It ran in its usual time slot. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Seahawks 17-Raiders 14) and a movie on NBC (Victims For Victims-The Theresa Saldana Story)

Kate breaks the faucet and Allie hires Ted the plumber, he has arachnophobia so Kate has to hang out with hi while he works on the water heater. After chatting Ted asks Kate out on a date but she turns him down. The next day the handle on the kitchen faucet falls off and Ted just happens to be in the neighborhood. Kate agrees to go out on a date, he takes her to an avant-garde play. The two have a fight over how they perceive each other, Kate walks out of the play. Ted follows her home and insists she go to dinner. They have a fight at the restaurant but end up making out in the living room. Kate goes with Ted on an uptown emergency, she doesn't get back until 6:45 the next morning.

Dated References

Kate complains that a payphone costs a quarter. Today you'd be hard pressed to find a payphone. 

Kate complains about all the new phone companies. In 1982 AT&T agreed to avoid a federal lawsuit and break up their company into what became known as the Baby Bells. As a result other companies began offering phone services. 

The family plays Trivia Pursuit. The game was released into the U.S. market in 1983 and became beloved and hated by people all over America.

Ted has a beeper for emergencies. 

Ted charges them $42.50 for fixing their sink and adjusting the pressure. Today it would cost you $45 for a plumber to walk through your door.

When Kate spends the night with Ted Allie gets a shocked look while Kate has a "winky winky" look. Nobody actually says anything but we know what they were doing all night. 

Gregory Salata plays Ted Partelo, the plumber. He'll become a regular on the show.

The Safe Caper

This episode premiered on November 19, 1984. It ran in its usual time slot. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Saints 27-Steelers 24) and a movie on NBC (Fatal Vision)

While trying to hang a painting Allie finds a safe behind the plaster. Kate calls Ted, the plumber from the previous episode, to come over and drill out the lock. They find an old letter, a guy was breaking up with the recipient of the letter because he lost all his money in the stock market crash of 1929, but he never mailed it. Kate decides to track the woman down based on the address on the letter. It turns out the woman had gotten engaged and was going to break it off with the guy. Kate tracks down the guy who wrote the letter, he's living in a nursing home in Brooklyn. They schedule a meeting but he decides that he doesn't want to see her because she planned on dumping him. Kate convinces him to come to the apartment, the couple decide to go and talk. They don't hit it off and decided to go their separate ways, they both ask Kate and Allie to talk to the other person for them. 

Dated References

The letter in the safe has a 02¢ stamp from 1929. Today a stamp costs 78¢

Allie mentions that love stories only happen on The Late Show. Those were movies that would run after the late news. Today you can stream movies any time you want. The Late Show With David Letterman would premier in 1993.

The couple in the letter were going to meet at the Biltmore Hotel in 1929. It closed in 1981 and was torn down. 

Using the name and address on the letter Kate looks up the woman's number in the phone book but it turns out to be her brother. He gives them the woman's current phone number. Do they even print phone books in the modern world? Who in the modern world would give out someone's phone number to a complete stranger?

The classic Hollywood actors mentioned in this episode: June Allyson, Irene Dunne, Greer Garson, Dorothy McGuire, Mary Pickford and Douglass Fairbanks senior. 

The classic films: Waterloo Bridge and An Affair To Remember 

Pirates

This episode premiered on November 26, 1984. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Dolphins 28-Jets 17) and a movie on NBC (Rearview Mirror)

Jen is up for the lead in the school production of Pirates Of Penzance, however so is Emma. Emma is a better actor but Jen is a great singer. Neither of the girls can dance. Jen gets the part and the girls get into a "girl" fighting. Kate and Allie sleep in the girl's bunk beds so the girls can sleep in separate rooms. The two girls talk and they sound just like their mothers. In the end Jen plays the lead and Emma is an extra.

Dated References

Jen says she up for the Linda Ronstadt part in Pirates. The movie version came out in 1983

Country Dog

This episode premiered on December 3, 1984. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Chargers 20-Bears 7) and a movie on NBC (Children In The Crossfire)

Wednesday is Chip's birthday, but it's also Charles night with him, Clair is planning a party. Charles agrees to swap out and see Chip on Tuesday. Charles takes the kids to the circus for Chip's birthday and has a clown greet them at the door. Charles sends Chip a computer for his birthday so Allie gets Chip a dog. The dog use to live in the country and wants to go out for the night. All the neighbors start complaining about the dog barking too much. Allie tells Chip that she's going to have to give the dog away to a farm. Allie gets mad at Charles, he says he has to buy expensive gifts to make up for not being there so Allie suggest he spend more time with the kids. Charles volunteers to keep the dog at his place. The dog is going upstate to live on a farm, hmmmm.

Dated References

The home computer costs $1500. A top of the line computer in the modern world costs $1200.

Chip is happy that his new computer comes with floppy discs. 

There weren't a lot of references to things specifically in the 80's in these episodes. I hope that changes in the next five.

The Lottery Experiment, March

 Week 11

This week's Sunday temptation was the game #666, I kid you not, that is the official game number. I was doing a count to see if I needed to order more tickets and I realized the game is down to its last 13 tickets and the game is in slot #13. This was the universe telling me the ticket was evil but probably a winner. However, I'm trying to stick to the rules so I didn't buy it. By the way, later in the week a regular bought the ticket but he didn't come back in so I'm guessing that he didn't win. Saved $5.

Someone won the Powerball so I don’t have to buy one for at least three months.

A guy came in and wanted to buy 6 lottery tickets, however the first ticket in the display was jammed, it was not coming out. I went and got the key for the rack and opened it up, somehow the ticket was folded back in on itself and really stuck in the feed wheels. I got out the 6 tickets behind the jammed one and then worked it out. It was in bad shape and nobody was going to buy it. I figured what the heck and got $5 out of the Alternate Funds to pay for it. The jackpot is $200 and I won...$5, so basically it was a push. I decided to put the money back in the Alternate Funds to save for another future purchase. I guess that worked out in the end.

So I was asking myself the usual question, since I already bought a ticket this week should I still buy a Saturday ticket? On the one hand the mid week ticket was a push, I won back what I spent, but on the other hand I generally only win once a week so if I buy a second one I'd probably lose. Turns out the Fates intervened and there was a problem at the station, the place is closed for the weekend I have Saturday off, I don't have access to the tickets. I could go to another retailer but I'd have to scratch off the whole ticket to see if I was a winner and if so I'd have to cash it in at that station. In the end I accepted this week's win and didn't buy a Saturday ticket. 

Week 12

Someone hit both the Powerball and the Mega Millions so I won't have to worry about those for a long time.

Work has been a disaster lately, first the tanks got shut down because the accountant forgot to file important paperwork about the last inspection. So we can't accept a load of fuel until they pass a new inspection, and it's a pain to get a certified inspector to show up. While we were shut down they moved me to a different station that doesn't sell lottery, I started to wonder if I was going to miss this week's ticket, or would I have to go somewhere else and then cash it out there. But then a relay between the register and the pumps locked up and they need to get a technician to come check it out, so the boss moved me back to my station even though I can't sell fuel. So after all that I worked on Saturday morning and was able to buy a ticket for this week. 

On Saturday I had $9.60 in the Tip Jar. There are three tickets I haven't bought yet, one $10 ticket and two $5 tickets.Two weeks ago I planned on buying a $5 ticket so I figured I would get it. It has a potential jackpot of $10,000, which would be nice. And, I actually Won...$5. So, for the second week in a row it's a push, I got back the same amount I spent. I haven't lost anything but I haven't come out ahead either. Well, next week I'll have a choice between a $5 ticket and a $10 ticket. Work is slow so unless someone loses 40¢ I'm probably have to dip into the Alternate Funds.

Week 13

It's Temptation Sunday, when I start thinking "these numbers are good, I should buy a ticket" or "the calendar date lines up perfectly for a Powerball ticket, after all it's just for fun" and then I violate my rules and end up in the negative. Today things were different, a guy came in and started buying tickets, he won some, he lost some. He wanted to tip me a $5 ticket, I would have preferred the cash but I wasn't going to be rude to him and took the ticket. It was one I was planning on buying in the future so I could check it off my list. It has a potential jackpot of $5000 so I waited until the guy left before I checked it, so he wouldn't get mad if I won big. It turned out to be a winner, $10. However this created a new problem, how did I count this in my overall totals. I didn't buy the ticket, it was a tip. I don't have to add the $5 into the amount I spent but do I include the cost of the ticket into my earnings? I decided that I would treat it the same as a found ticket. I'm marking down that I got a tip ticket but not into my earnings, and the $10 into the win column.

Also on Sunday one of the games was down to the last ticket and as soon as it was gone I could put out a new pack. I was tempted to buy it, especially since I was $10 up today, but sticking to the rules has been good to me this month and I don't want to mess with it, so I didn't. A customer came in and bought the ticket and it was a winner, $10. It would have been another push so in the end it was all even. And I still have Saturday's ticket to look forward to.

Crap, I came up with a good idea, I'm doing a collage out of old lottery tickets. I've been saving and chopping them up and will be gluing them down to form an image. The problem is I need more blue, and the only blue tickets are the cheap ones that people don't buy. I want to start on the project this week and so I decided I was going to do something, buy some blue tickets, I went ahead and bought 10 one dollar tickets which should be enough for what I want to do. The game has a potential jackpot of $900 so I checked them, I won a dollar on one and a free ticket. I got another of the same game and didn't win so I have 11 blue tickets for my project. This would have been good enough but there is another ticket with a lighter shade of blue that will really mix well. It's a two dollar ticket so I went ahead and bought 5 of them, they are twice as big as the $1 ticket so that will work out. The jackpot is $2100 but when I checked them and all I got was $2 back. In the end I spent $20 on tickets, got $3 back and one free ticket. I printed off a receipt in case I sell the collage and I can write the $20 off on my taxes as an expense. Now I have to cut them up and start laying everything out. Also since this is outside of the regular game I decided to take the money out of the Alternate Fund and keep track of the costs separately. You never know, they may put out another ticket that has a perfect color and I'll have to buy it too. 

This week I didn't have to buy a ticket. Heck I don't have to buy tickets for the next four months. But, I've decided to keep my other project separate from my lottery experiment. I'm still going to count the wins and the losses but if I somehow turn a profit off the other project I'll roll the lost money back into the Alternate Funds and count it towards my wins, since it would be lottery based money. So this week I bought the last ticket I needed to complete the "buy one of every ticket" thing. That means next week I can buy a dollar ticket and stop spending so much money. There was only $7.57 in the Tip Jar and it is a $10 ticket so I dipped into the Alternate Funds for the extra $2.43. The ticket has a potential payout of $500, it doesn't seem like much but the odds are 1 in 7 as compared to most tickets, the odds are generally around 1 in 200,000. The ticket wasn't a winner by the way but I do like the color, it will work well in my project. OK, back to normal next week.

Week 14

We have a new lottery machine. When I set it up it wouldn't go on line. I spent an an hour messing with it but nothing. Then the boss called, he needed me to go work at another location so he told me to lock,  I figured I would put it off until the next day. The woman who works the afternoons came in and opened the place. When I came in the next morning the machine was up and running. I thought it would be fun to buy the first ever ticket issued by the new machine but the system probably had come on line and she sold the first tickets during the night. However it turns out that it still wasn't working when she left, it was a state wide problem with the main system. This meant that I could still buy the first ticket, but which game. I shouldn't have done it but I decided to buy the $10 combo which includes the Powerball, MegaMillions, LottoAmerica and the Roadrunner, the state game. There was a grand total of 38¢ in the Tip Jar so the money came out of the Alternate Funds. I swore I was going to stick to the rules this time around and now I've violated them three times in two weeks. Well, maybe next week.

Powerball- no, Roadrunner-no, Lotto America-no, MegaMillions-no.

Despite wasting money on this week's draw games I went ahead with my usual weekly scratch ticket. I had a grand total of 97¢ in the Tip Jar so I took 03¢ out of the Alternate funds and bought a dollar scratcher, I picked it because I like the color and it will work well in my side project. The jackpot is $500 and I could use that money. I lost. Oh well, it's a really nice shade of purple.

Then a series of off things happened, first I found a twenty dollar bill by the pumps. The Tip Jar went from zero to $20 just like that. Then someone prepaid but they drove off without coming in to get their change. I now had $24.12 to buy tickets with. A problem came up, we got a new lottery machine, and they've been working through the bugs and things have been a mess. Well someone bought the last ticket out of a pack so I had to put out a new one. When I start a new pack I have to authorize it by scanning the bar code on the machine, but when I did it today it said the pack was already authorized, that ain't right. So, to make sure things were done right I had no choice but to buy a ticket. It was a $5 game with a potential jackpot of $10,000. The machine worked and, I Won! $5, it was a push. What a strange day.

And so ended March. I swore I wasn't going to break the rules and then did it multiple times. I need to dedicated myself to my side project so I can at least justify my extra purchases. We'll see what happens next month. 

My March Total

I spent $62 on scratch tickets.

$14 on Powerball tickets.

Won $69

Found a ticket good for a free $2 ticket

Was tipped a $5 ticket.

No cash lottery related tips.

I entered 15 Second Chance tickets on line

At the end of the month I am down $6 in the regular lottery experiment. 

I also have $180.00 in the Alternate Fund

The Art Project

I spent $20 on tickets.

I got one free ticket

I won $3

I'm down $17 but it's for art so....

So overall I'm down a total of $23 thanks to art.

Kate And Allie episode 6-10

 A Weekend To Remember

This episode premiered on May 7th, 1984. It ran between Scarecrow And Mrs. King and Newhart. It ran opposite the movie The Last Day Of Pompeii on ABC and the miniseries V on NBC.

Kate is going on a ski trip in Vermont with her ex husband Max, she thinks he's changed. Allie is going to be alone for an entire weekend for the first time in her life and the first thing she does is accidentally lock herself outside but thankfully Roger, the upstairs neighbor is nearby. The restaurant Max works at want to move him into a management position but he considers himself an actor and doesn't want the promotion, however he hasn't done any notable acting in years. Kate and Max decide to remain separated, meanwhile Allie starts thinking about "finding herself"

Dated References

Allie reads through the paper to see what is going on in the city for the weekend. Today you could Google the information. 

While alone Allie tries to call up old friends, by looking them up in her book and then leaving messages on their answering machine. Today you'd have them in your phone and just send a text.

Allie can't find anything to watch on TV when she is alone and wonders "where are the Honeymooners when you need them?" The Honeymooners was the Jackie Gleason sitcom that ran from 1955 to 1956. In the modern world Allie probably could have watched the show on streaming and since it only had 22 episodes she could bing watch it over the weekend. 

Allie calls her mother when she feels alone. Her mother tells her that women weren't meant to be alone, they are suppose to get married and have kids, you couldn't say that in the modern world and not get angry emails. Mom mentions Phil Donahue, he had a popular daytime talk show that featured people and their problems. She also says she watches the $25,000 Pyramid, a game show that ran until 1988.

John Herd appears as Max, Kate's ex husband. He is probably best known for playing the father in Home Alone or Paul in the movie Big.

Since Kate And Allie was a replacement series it only had 6 episodes in the spring. The next one picked up in fall season.

Baby

This episode premiered on October 8th 1984. The lead in show was Scarecrow and Mrs. King and it was followed by The Country Music Association Awards. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (49ers 31-Giants 10) and the movie The Burning Bed on NBC

One of the women at Kate's office is pregnant, not married and having the kid alone, Allie is shocked that a woman would do such a thing. She talks Kate into holding a baby shower, Kate starts to get baby fever. In the middle of the shower the woman goes into labor, Kate volunteers to be the coach since the real one is in Europe. Kate takes care of the baby for the weekend and remembers how hard it is. The father of the baby shows up, he tells Kate that the mother has cut him out of the baby's life and not being there was a giant mistake. Kate decides that it would be selfish to have a baby to fill a hole in her life.

Dated References

Allie says she "wants" Mel Gibson. This was before the arrest and turning into a right wing kook. 

Jennie is upset because she's the only kid in her class who hasn't seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This was back in the day of the Midnight Show where the audience would wear costumes and act out the parts.

When Kate says "guess who came into the office today" Allie says Sidney Poitier. This is a reference to the movie Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner.

One of the women at the baby shower is played by Kelly Bishop, she would go on to play Emily Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls. 

In the 80's the choice to be a single mother was still considered a shocking thing. 

As divorce and single motherhood became a bigger issue in the 1980's so did the Father's Rights movement.

Landlady 

This episode premiered on October 15th 1984. It ran between Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Newhart. It was opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Broncos 17-Packers 14) and a movie on NBC (the site I check didn't have the name listed)

The landlady shows up, she has found out that Allie is living in the apartment and wants to increase the rent. They need to come up with $1900 to pay for the previous three month. Kate happens to be dating a lawyer so he tells her she has no choice but to pay since it's stipulated in the lease agreement. Kate comes up with a plan to get out of the rent increase by claiming her and Allie are a Gay couple. It turns out the landlady has been in a Gay relationship for years and starts being friends with the women. Kate has to pretend that her lawyer boyfriend is also Gay so he says he's in a relationship with his roommate Bill, who is his dog. When they are invited to a special dance they feel guilty and after they get caught talking about the deception they tell the truth, but point out that even though they aren't in an actual relationship they are still a family and shouldn't have to pay more rent. The landlady cuts them a break since they are all friends now. 

Dated Reverence

Allie isn't happy that some guy is listening to a giant boom box in Central Park. Today the guy would be listening to music on ear buds from his cell phone.

The rent for two families in in a two story, four bedroom brownstone apartment in Manhattan is $648.95 a month. Today a two bedroom apartment would cost you around $5000.

Kate's boyfriend wants to see Sunday In The Park With George, a Broadway musical about Georges Seurat's painting.

When Kate suggests they pretend to be a Gay couple Allie says she refused to live "Three's Company". The show was about a guy who pretends to be Gay in order to live with two women and it ran from 1977 to 1984.

Allie says she's never danced with a woman, Kate reminds her that they danced together in summer camp. She sings California Dreamin' by The Mamas And The Papas. The song was released in 1965.

Allie's ex tells her "If ever a woman needed a man it's you". This kind of sexist comment wouldn't fly in the modern world. 

This storyline aired mostly because some of the audience questioned the two women's relationship and they wanted to establish that they were not a lesbian couple. 

Diner

This episode premiered on October 22nd 1984. It episode ran in its usual time slot. It was opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Rams 24-Falcons 10) and the movie Aurora on NBC

Allie applies for a job at an art gallery but she doesn't get it because she never graduated from college. When Charles comes by he tells her that their renters want to buy the old house, she is upset because it was her home however Charles doesn't give her the opportunity to say no. She calls his service and when they talk he is very condescending. When Allie finally decides to sell the house she asks Kate to come along while she signs the papers. Allie looks around the old house and can't sell it because of too many memories. They talk with the woman who runs the diner where they use to hang out and learn that her husband had always planned on moving to Florida but died before they could do it since he always put everything off. Allie talks to an old friend from Connecticut and realizes that she doesn't want to be part of that world anymore. She decides to sell the house and make plans to go back to school.

Dated References

Jennie is very excited, her dad bought her the new Go Go's album, on cassette. Talk Show was released in 1984.

Allie tries to call her ex but has to leave a message on his service. In the modern world she'd just text.

The kids have to find batteries for their cassette player. In the modern world you'd have to find your charging cord.

When Allie gets passed over for the job Kate says there are only two jobs in NYC. In 1984 the unemployment rate was 7.1%.

When Allie thinks of going back to college she says can't be in class with people who never heard of Jay and the Americans. The band was around in the 1960's with a few minor hits and cover songs but never reached a number one spot. They broke up in 1973.

Kate visits the diner she use to hang out at while she lived in Connecticut. The roast beef dinner special is $3.95

When Allie has the flashback Kate is listening to Little Help From My Friends, the Joe Cocker cover version. The song was released in 1969.

Lottsa Luck

This episode premiered on October 29th 1984. It ran in its usual time slot. It ran opposite Monday Night Football on ABC (Seahawks 24-Chargers 0) and the movie Shattered Vows on NBC.

Kate gets a singing telegram, her aunt Ophelia died and the will reading is coming up. Kate inherits her aunt's "lucky monkey paw" necklace. First Kate gets the big travel account, then Emma passes her test, the cute guy flirts with Jenna and Chip just misses getting hit by a falling light. Each family member makes a wish on the paw (I guess they never read the story). They give the paw to Roger for his court case, but he loses it and their luck instantly turns bad. Later they see the winner of the lottery on TV and she's wearing a Monkey's Paw, they think it's theirs until Roger shows up with Kate's. He says he was going to buy them a new one, there is a shop in Time's Square that sells them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Dated References

Allie is cutting coupons. Liver is on sale for 89¢ a pound. Today it runs from $3 to $15 a pound.

Allie is telling Kate about the goings on at the apartment and adds "and the Beaver broke the neighbor's window!" This is in reference to Leave It To Beaver, the classic sitcom that ran from 1957 to 1963 and was in a regular syndication in the 80's. 

Kate puts on her aunts lucky charm and gets a tour account back. The kids do the Twilight Zone theme. 

Allie's wish is to reduce the national debt. We're still waiting on that one.

Kate wishes to win the New York State lottery, it's up to $25 million dollars. In 1984 states would run their own lottery but today we have the Powerball and it starts at $20 million. 

Jenny wants to go on a date with the cute guy to see Duran Duran in concert. They were the first big MTV band.

Kate has three numbers in the lottery. That should be worth a few bucks.

So that's the next 5 episodes. I'm having a few flashbacks while watching. I can't wait to see what other forgotten memories will pop up. 

Kate And Allie episode 1-5

It was March of 1984. Ronald Reagan was President and in an election against Walter Mondale, the former Vice President and perhaps the worst candidate the Democrats could have chosen, I would often say that if by some miracle Mondale had been elected he would have been the first President forgotten in office. CBS was airing AfterMASH, a spinoff from the popular show MASH, it featured the post Korean war adventures of Colonel Potter, Klinger and Father Mulcahy, who were working in a VA hospital. After a year of low ratings and bad reviews the show was cancelled. The networks had began a new programming plan, mid season replacements, instead of showing reruns or fillers they would introduce new programs to take over the time slot. In this case it was the sitcom Kate And Allie. The show was about two recently divorced women sharing an apartment in New York City and jointly raising their kids.

Kate was played by Susan Saint James, who was best known for her roll of Sally in the crime drama McMillan And Wife, it was part of the NBC Mystery Movies, a rotating series that included other shows such as Columbo and McCloud.

Allie was played by Jane Curtain. She had risen to fame as one of the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players on Saturday Night Live. After the producers had replaced the whole cast she did various movies and TV show until she landed the part on the new sitcom. Both her and Saint James appeared together in How To Beat The High Cost Of Living, a movie about a group of suburban women who plot a robbery. 

Kate's daughter Emma was played by Ari Meyers, Allie's daughter Jennie was played by Allison Smith (who had just come off of a Broadway run playing Annie), and Frederick Koehler played Allie's son Chip.

The early episodes also featured the reoccurring character of Roger, played by Jack Gilpin. He would show up in later seasons but only for a coupe of episodes. 

The show is an interesting time capsule of the 1980's. It's both a reflection of how situations were handled and how the network dealt with the balance between humor and the issues of the day, especially during the Reagan ideology. It also features pop culture and technology from, wow, 40 years ago. So, lets take a look at the series and see what life was like in the latter half of the 20th century.

Allie's First Date Episode one, Season one.

The first episode premiered on March 19th 1984, it ran between The Scarecrow And Mrs. King and  Newhart. It ran opposite the ABC Movie, Rich And Famous and the NBC movie Mr. Roberts.

In the first episode Kate rushes home to get ready for a date but leaves him, David, waiting in the living room with Allie, who is busy putting up wallpaper in a closet. The two have a great conversation while waiting, Kate and David have a so-so date and decide to pass on any future outings, however David then asks if he can ask Allie out instead. Kate, reluctantly, agrees and then helps Allie get ready, since it will be her first date since her divorce. She schedules it on the night her ex, Charles, is picking up the kids, she wants him to see her going out. The date turns into a disaster when Allie can't stop talking about her ex, her dreams of what life would have been and the divorce. When she gets home she hides in the laundry room while her ex drops off the kids so he'll think she's still out. Afterwords her and Kate talk about disastrous dates and plans for the future. 

Dated References

The show starts with Kate and Allie coming out of the movie An Unmarried Woman. It is a 1978 film about a woman who after going through a bad divorce finds herself having to make a choice between two men but in the end decides to go it alone. The plot of the movie is a reflection of the plot of the series itself. It's also interesting that theaters use to reshow older movies. Today you'd just stream it at home.

Kate works at a travel agency. In the 80's that was how you made travel plans but today you'd book your trip on line. 

When Kate comes home from her date Allie has prepared brandy and coffee for her and David. After Kate comes home alone Allie joins her for a cup of coffee and says "Cafe Amaretto, for times like these" The joke made sense back in the day thanks to the Taster's Choice instant coffee commercials.

Kate tells Allie her plan on getting rid of guys, ignore his calls, tell him she's busy and then make plans "for the future" that will never happen and hope that he'll get the hint and go away. Today people call that "Ghosting" however this was before the internet and the social media.

Jennie is on the phone several times during the episode on a land line. In 1984 cell phones were known as The Brick. They were expensive, had limited range and battery power. And they were only good for one thing, making calls.

Kate and Allie go to the laundry room to discuss the dating David situation, in the background there is a cardboard box with a real address and phone number for an art gallery that handled auctions and appraisals in the 80's, the real company went out of business in 1994. The number is real too, not a Hollywood 555 number and is active today however now it's a construction company that specializes in fixing up retail space in NYC.  The current occupant of the address is a wine shop.

When Allie's ex shows up she tries to make him jealous by introducing him to David. She starts talking dramatically and overacting. Kate makes the comment "She's doing Loretta Young", an actress that the kids didn't know. Well, some things don't change. 

While on the date Allie compares herself to the women on Phil Donahue, his show ran in syndication from 1970 to 1995 and was the top daytime talk show before Oprah came along.

At the end of the episode Allie asks Kate if she wants to get married, as in the two of them, Gay marriage wasn't legal in those days, except for "Domestic Partnership" in Berkeley California.

David is played by Kelsey Grammer, the same year he first appeared on Cheers as Fraser Crane. The character represented the idea of what men were like in the day, a professional businessman who has one date with Kate, decides she's not the woman for him, asks to go out with Allie instead and after one date moves on from her. He's kind of shallow and self centered. One hopes the male figures in the show get better as it goes along, hopefully.

The Very Loud Family

This episode premiered on March 26th 1984 in the same time slot as last week. It ran opposite movies on both NBC (Best Kept Secrets) and ABC (Neil Simon's Only When I Laugh)

The kids have projects for school. Chip is making a map, Jennie is doing fashion through the decades by making dresses of the various years for her Barbie dolls. Emma, glued leaves into a book. Allie suggests that Kate is being too lenient and should push her, so she ends up doing a video of a "modern family", hers. Jen gets a bad haircut and refuses to take off her hat, she's got an Annie Hall look going on, Chip wears his Spiderman costume. After a week Kate and Allie want Emma to wrap up her film but she wants to keep going, she gets mad and tells off her mother for pushing her. Allie has Kate keep going with the film behind Kate's back. The top projects are shown at a parents night, including the film. While videoing Emma's father calls and cancels their Saturday plans, Emma keeps it in the film because it's real.

Dated References

Kate is looking through old photos of their trip to Central Park. Actual physical photos, not digital on a phone. And she's pasting them in an album, not saving them to the Cloud. 

The girls are excited because they got the new Michael Jackson cassette at the record store. A little bit of history, Jackson didn't put out any albums in 84, he had put out Thriller in 82 and would follow up with Bad in 87 but nothing in 84. You know it was a name the writers knew and the audience would too. Kate compares the girl's excitement to when Sgt. Pepper came out. The girls are listening on a Walkman with the two headphone option, wired headphones.

For school Kate said she made a movie about Cesar Chaves and the grape boycott of 1970. 

The camera has a separate VHS recorded attached to it by a cord and it has to be carried around with a shoulder strap. Today you could record it on your phone without 10 pounds of equipment. 

Chip compares Jen's haircuts to Mr. T. In the day everyone knew who he was and his famous Mohawk.

While shooting her movie Emma filmed Allie coming out of the shower, she refers to it as "The remake of Porky's" The movie had come out two years earlier and was known for the infamous shower scene.

Emma's video is shown to the parents meeting on a big console TV with a built in VCR. That was high tech in 1984.

To convince Jen that there's nothing wrong with a bad haircut the family wears Groucho Marx glasses, with the big nose and mustache, to dinner. When Allie tries to take a bite she has to take them off and makes the comment "How does Gene Shalit eat?" He was a film critic for The Today Show and was known for his giant mustache.

Odd Boy Out

This episode premiered on April 16th, 1984. The lead in show was a Daffy Duck cartoon and it was followed by Newhart. It ran opposite moves on ABC (It's My Turn) and NBC (Jesus of Nazareth Part 2)

Chip comes home from school with a black eye. He's upset because his father never taught him how to fight back. Kate shows him how to fight, the world has really changed. Allie calls Charles, her ex, to tell him to take Chip and his friends to a hockey game so the guys at school will quit calling him a sissy, he offers to take the boys camping over the weekend. Chip says he wants to move in with his father, Allie is upset since the ex's new wife doesn't want anything to do with the kids. Surprise, Charles has an emergency and can't go camping so Kate and Allie host a "campout" in the living room. 

Dated References

Kate and Allie come out of the subway, a payphone is ringing. A working payphone, on the street. 

Chip gets into a fight at school but this is the pre zero tolerance era so nobody gets suspended. They explain it as Boys Will Be Boys. You can't say that anymore thanks to the Me Too movement. 

Allie is worried her son is growing up to be a "sissy". Wow, that wouldn't fly today.

Chip says he wants to be a Wookie and wants to call up the spirit of Darth Vader at a seance, boy, remember that movie Star Wars? Oh wait, that's still popular. 

The Family Business

This episode premiered on April 23rd, 1984 in its regular time slot. It ran opposite movies on ABC (A Long Way Home) and NBC (A Doctor's Story)

Kate is up for a promotion at the travel agency but gets passed over for the boss's son in law, so she quits. Allie decides that she should do something with her life but realizes she has no experience (we will find out why in a later episode). Kate gives a piece of Allie's cake to a local gourmet shop and they offer to buy two cakes a week. More places keep ordering cakes and things get out of hand, soon they are overworking because neither Allie or Kate will admit that this isn't what they wanted. Allie has a complete meltdown over the cakes so Kate gets her job back at the travel agency. 

In this episode we find out Roger, the upstairs neighbor, is married. 

Dated References

Allie calculates how much she can make off her cake baking, $70 a week, the cakes cost her $3 each to bake. She's really excited about that.

While baking cakes the family sings "Mammy's Little Baby". Wow, that would be called racist in the modern world. 

Kate is excited to date a guy who looks like Clint Eastwood. You have to remember that this was 40 years ago.

Dear Diary

This episode premiered on April 30th 1984. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite That's Incredible on ABC and the movie Adam on NBC.

Allie is reading an article about how men feel threatened when a woman moves her stuff into his place, she wants to move her stuff from her storage unit in Connecticut. She moves everything and overruns the house, Kate is not happy. Allie takes Kate's coffee cup, she's really not happy since it's her favorite mug. The kids find Allie's old diary, Kate finds out that Allie kissed her high school boyfriend. They have a fight over everything in the house so they come to a compromise, they have a tag sale and get rid of all the excess. 

Dated References

Subway $1.80 (in the modern world it's only $3.00 so it's actually a bargain) Cab Fare $5.40 (a cab will cost anywhere from $10 to $70 today) A candy bar costs 50 cents, in the modern world it's $2.00. When you do the math the inflation rate on candy bars is twice that of transportation costs. 

Kate compares Allies oversized salt and pepper mills to the World Trade Center. The 9/11 attack wouldn't happen for another 17 years, it was 25 years ago by the way.

Allie is mad that Kate stole her autograph book but all that was in it was Soupy Sales and Pinky Lee (tv personalities from the 1950’s)

Jennie does an imitation of Crazy Eddie, an appliance and electronic wholesaler known for his catchphrase “my prices are insane”. The Security and Exchange Commission discovered the company was using fraudulent accounting, Eddie fled the country but was brought back and eventually wound up in jail. His company was liquidated for bankruptcy in 1989.

So that’s the first five episodes of Kate And Allie. Watching this show is like going through an old scrapbook and saying “remember when…” I’m looking forward to what else I forgot about from way back when.