Working (TV series)
| Working | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Michael Davidoff Bill Rosenthal |
| Directed by | Robert Berlinger Linda Day David Owen Trainor Fred Savage Andrew Tsao James Widdoes Steve Zuckerman |
| Starring | Fred Savage Arden Myrin |
| Opening theme | "Working in the Coal Mine" performed by Devo |
| Composer(s) | Craig Jerris Mark Mothersbaugh |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (4 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael Davidoff Bill Rosenthal |
| Producer(s) | Sy Rosen Noah Taft Andrew Tsao Werner Walian Mark Wilding |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Davidoff/Rosenthal Productions NBC Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 8, 1997 – January 25, 1999 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Working is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1997 to 1999. The series was created and executive produced by Michael Davidoff and Bill Rosenthal.
Contents
Synopsis
Working took a satirical (and sometimes over-the-top) look at office life within a big corporate company. The show starred Fred Savage as the naive Matt Peyser, whose ideals are constantly challenged by his boss, Tim Deale, played by Maurice Godin. Other characters included dim-witted Jimmy (Dana Gould), under-appreciated secretary Hal (Sarah Knowlton), overly perky Abby Cosgrove (Arden Myrin), acerbic Delaney (Steve Hytner), and no-nonsense manager Evelyn (Yvette Freeman).
Due to faltering ratings, the network attempted to breathe new life into the show during the second season with some cast changes. This included writing out the characters of Jimmy and Hal. They were replaced by Debi Mazar as the ruthless Liz and Rebecca McFarland as Val (As an in-joke, when Matt first sees Liz and Val he mistakenly calls them Jimmy and Hal). During the series run, Danica McKellar, formerly Savage's costar in The Wonder Years, made two guest-appearances playing a woman Savage's character meets in a bar, and of whom he says "she reminds me of a girl I grew up with!"
Ratings for the series didn't improve, however, and NBC canceled Working in January 1999. 35 of the 39 episodes produced were aired. Working was later reaired on the USA Network, including the never-before-seen episodes.
Theme song
The show used a cover of the song "Working in the Coal Mine" performed by Devo, set over top of scenes of work, including marching workers from the film Metropolis, frantic work scenes from Terry Gilliam's Brazil and office scenes from Billy Wilder's The Apartment. The vocals of the theme song were removed for the USA Network broadcasts.
Cast
- Fred Savage ... Matt Peyser
- Maurice Godin ... Tim Deale
- Yvette Freeman ... Evelyn Smalley
- Steve Hytner ... John Delaney
- Arden Myrin ... Abby Cosgrove
- Dana Gould ... Jimmy Clarke (1997-1998)
- Sarah Knowlton ... Hal Blum (1997-1998)
- Rebecca McFarland ... Val Gibson (1998-1999)
- Debi Mazar ... Liz Tricoli (1998-1999)
- Kate Hodge ... Chris Grant (1998)
Episode list
Season 1
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | Pilot | October 8, 1997 |
| 1-2 | "Close Quarters" | October 15, 1997 |
| 1-3 | "Rumoring" | October 29, 1997 |
| 1-4 | "Quick Out of the Gate" | November 5, 1997 |
| 1-5 | "Sexual Harassment" | November 12, 1997 |
| 1-6 | "Lost Weekend" | November 19, 1997 |
| 1-7 | "Creative Matt" | December 3, 1997 |
| 1-8 | "Top O' the World Ma" | December 10, 1997 |
| 1-9 | "Medieval Christmas" | December 17, 1997 |
| 1-10 | "The Breakfast" | January 7, 1998 |
| 1-11 | "Enemies: A Love Story" | January 14, 1998 |
| 1-12 | "Sam I Am" | January 21, 1998 |
| 1-13 | "Boys Club" | January 28, 1998 |
| 1-14 | "Hatchet Man" | February 4, 1998 |
| 1-15 | "Mum's the Word" | February 25, 1998 |
| 1-16 | "As Bad As It Gets" | March 18, 1998 |
| 1-17 | "Labor Pains" | March 25, 1998 |
| 1-18 | "The Gold Digger" | April 1, 1998 |
| 1-19 | "Equality" | April 15, 1998 |
| 1-20 | "The Lying Game" | April 29, 1998 |
| 1-21 | "Due Process" | May 6, 1998 |
| 1-22 | "The Brown Noser" | May 13, 1998 |
Season 2
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2-23 | "Home-O-Apathy" | September 22, 1998 |
| 2-24 | "The Closer" | September 29, 1998 |
| 2-25 | "Armageddon Outta Here" | October 27, 1998 |
| 2-26 | "Performance Review" | November 3, 1998 |
| 2-27 | "Good Val Hunting" | November 10, 1998 |
| 2-28 | "Networking" | November 17, 1998 |
| 2-29 | "A Boy, A Girl, And His Bird" | December 1, 1998 |
| 2-30 | "The Consultant" | December 8, 1998 |
| 2-31 | "Greenery" | December 18, 1998 |
| 2-32 | "The Christmas Party" | December 22, 1998 |
| 2-33 | "Romeo and Julie" | January 11, 1999 |
| 2-34 | "The Retreat" | January 18, 1999 |
| 2-35 | "The Prodigy" | January 25, 1999 |
| 2-36 | "Manifesto Destinyf" | Never aired |
| 2-37 | "The Other Executive" | Never aired |
| 2-38 | "She Loves Me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" | Never aired |
| 2-39 | "Sliding Doors" | Never aired |
Awards
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Young Artist Awards | Won | Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Young Performer Age Ten or Under | Sara Paxton |
External links
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Working at IMDb
- Working at TV.comLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Working at epguides.com
- Pages using infobox television with unknown parameters
- 1990s American television series
- 1997 American television series debuts
- 1999 American television series endings
- 1990s American comedy television series
- American television sitcoms
- Office comedies
- English-language television programming
- NBC network shows
- Television series by Universal Television
