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Charles In Charge aired from October 1984 until July 1985 on CBS and in first run syndication from January 1987 until December 1990.
For more on Charles In Charge go to Charles In Charge Online right here at Sitcoms Online.
Here's an Article On Charles In Charge which ran in my local newspaper in September 1984.
Baio delighted with new series
By Jay Carmen
Probably the last place you would look for Scott Baio is behind the apron, right? Wrong. That's just where he'll be this season in Charles in Charge, a promising new sitcom on CBS.
Baio may be only 24 but he's considered a hot enough property in Hollywood to be trusted with his own series. When Happy Days finally went off the air last spring, the Brooklyn-born actor, who played the popular character Chauchi on the show was attracting some 5,000 fan letters per week. He was considered to be well worth every penny of his $30,000 weekly salary.
Although Baio misses working with the Happy Days crowd, especially his friend Henry Winkler, he say's he's delighted with his new series. It's premise is that Charles is a college student who, in return for his room and board, agrees to work as a live-in helper in a family with three lively children. The humor will come from the young man's inept attempts at housekeeping and his difficulties in juggling his studies, his job and a budding love life.
In real life, Baio says he has little trouble handling all the pressures and obligations that come with being a hot young star. Still single, he choses to live with his parents in Los Angeles and relies on his father-a former car dealer -to manage his career. He's curently dating Heather Locklear of T.J. Hooker and Dynasty, but denies that the relationship is headed in the direction of the alter.
Whatever time is left after shooting and learning new lines he devotes to a variety of activities that he insists are more fun than work. An enthusiastic athlete he relaxes by playing pickup basketball with friends and volunteering for every event he can in the " Battle of the Network Stars," which airs on an occasional basis.
Baio works with his feet firmly on the ground, is extremely matter-of-fact about a career that's been almost consistently active since he was 9 years old. " I love this business," he says, " and I've been very, very lucky. If for some reason I couldn't act tomorrow, I'd simply find work behind the camera doing something else. I think it's important to try to finish college although it's pretty hard with my schedule, but I'm trying.
" But, when you get right down to it, I'm having the time of my life.
Another Article On Charles in Charge
'Charles in Charge' looking strong for CBS; Dreams appears weak
October 3, 1984
New York ( AP)-Two back-to-back sitcoms with roots in other entertainment media debut on CBS tonight.
" Charles in Charge," created by a playwright with several off-Broadway credits has the smart sassy feel of a Neil Simon jokeathon. " Dreams," inspired by cable's popular MTV, is so-so as music and abysmal as video.
For years ,CBS has failed in the first prime-time hour on Wednesday nights. " Charles in Charge," starring Scott Baio from " Happy Days," offers a good start in the timeslot. But " Dreams," starring John Stamos from " General Hospital," is a weak link to the follow-up " CBS Wednesday Night Movie."
Baio plays Charles, a 19 year old college student who becomes a live-in nanny to three children: Lila, 14, Douglas, 12, and Jason, 10. The parents in this suburban family are white-collar executive types. Jill ( Julie Cobb) and particularly Stan Pembroke ( James Widdoes) come across as bufoons who are too eager to delegate child-raising responsibilities to Charles.
For example, Stan is concerned about Lila's male friends, but he's too blustery to articulate any guidlines. Always speaking in generalities, he says, " Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Invariably, Charles does.
Despite this weakness, clever writing and the exuberant Baio elevate " Charles in Charge" above TV's standard family fiction, in which the kids are a cross between Dr. Benjamin Spock and Joan Rivers and the adults are about as intelligent as Donald Duck.
In " Charles in Charge," you won't find flesh-and-blood kids, as in NBC's " The Cosby Show," but playwright Michael Jacobs ( " Cheaters") has crafted some riotous one-liners and some quirky caricatures.
Jason ( Michael Pearlman) is a video-game nut who wears a monster mask at the dinner table. Douglas ( Jonathan Ward) is a precocious know-it-all who is one step from sexual awareness-as are most video age kids. " The children know everything," says Jill. " We have cable TV."
Part adolescent and part adult, Charles is faced with a dilemma. While still growing up himself, he's saddled with being a sarrogate parent. Balancing those two worlds produces much of the show's comedic possibilities.
Like tonight, when Charles has an eagerly awaited stay-at-home date with the school's beauty Gwendolyn Pierce ( Jennifer Runyon from " Ghostbusters") and is torn between making advances and acting properly in front of the kids. At the same time, he's playing parent because Lila ( April Lerman)is doing homework in her room with a good-looking guy.
The plot gets a little slapsticky, but is rescued by sophisticated writing and Baio's immense charm and credibility. The former Chachi from " Happy Days" can definately carry his own series.
A Review from The New York Times
'Charles In Charge'
By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: October 3, 1984
FOR years, a situation comedy called ''Happy Days'' gave ABC a ratings stranglehold on the Tuesday night schedule. It was the most popular kid show on television. Now that ''Happy Days'' has gone to cancellation heaven, CBS is quickly moving forward to fill what it perceives as a promising gap. With an eager eye on the Wednesday schedule, the network is bringing forth two new situation comedies aimed at young audiences: ''Charles in Charge'' at 8 P.M., and ''Dreams'' at 8:30.
''Charles in Charge'' has a carefully generalized suburban setting located near an unspecified major college (actually, it started out to be East Brunswick, N.J., near Rutgers, but then production on the show, which was developed in New York, was moved to Los Angeles). Charles is a 19-year-old college student who has a live-in helper job with a family that includes three children, ages 10 to 14. The demographics are impeccable.
Charles is not unlike Richie in ''Happy Days.'' He is a nice, clean- cut, unpretentious, boyishly lovable sort of guy. Even better, he is played by Scott Baio, who played Chachi Arcola on ''Happy Days'' for six years and then starred in the spinoff series ''Joanie Loves Chachi.'' Mr. Baio is now closer to 25 than to 20, but he passes easily. At a distance, he could be taken for a mature 16.
Just about the entire premiere episode is devoted to adolescent preoccupations with ''making out.'' Charles has managed to get a date with a prominent campus beauty named Gwendolyn (Jennifer Runyon), which prompts a good deal of playful banter with his close friend Buddy (Willie Aames). Meanwhile, Lila (April Lerman), the oldest of the Pembroke children, has invited home a young man who is known as the ''most excellent'' boy in her eighth grade. When the senior Pembrokes (Julie Cobb and James Widdoes) suddenly have to go out that evening, Charles is forced to have his big date at home where he has to cope with Lila and her mischievous young brothers.
With the highly sweetened, if not completely artificial soundtrack providing a cascade of audience oohs and aahs, the amiable farce leaves a harassed Charles running between his puzzled date and the closed door on Lila's upstairs bedroom. Should he insist that she and her friend keep the door open? Will he dare to assert his authority? But will he then, horror of horrors, start to become old? Charles discovers that it isn't too bad having a reputation for being sincere. And Gwendolyn likes being treated as something other than a sex object. As Charles explains, making the most of his sincerity, ''I watched and listened, and you became real.'' At curtain, Charles and the gang head for the local ice cream parlor.
The territory is familiar, and some of the gimmicks - such as a comic Chinese man delivering food - are questionable. But ''Charles in Charge'' is breezily likable. The show was created by Michael Jacobs, a New York playwright who also produced and wrote the premiere. Al Burton is the executive producer, Alan Rafkin the director. Mr. Baio's teen-ager persona is still appealing and he may be able to retain his legions of young fans with this new effort. It does look as if ''Happy Days'' is here again.
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