Arnie is an American television sitcom that ran for two seasons (1970–72) on CBS. It starred Herschel Bernardi, Sue Ane Langdon, and Roger Bowen.

Arnie
Herschel Bernardi as Arnie
Created byDavid Swift
Developed byE. Duke Vincent
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes48
Production
ProducerRick Mittleman
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time25 minutes
Production company20th Century-Fox Television
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1970 (1970-09-19) –
March 11, 1972 (1972-03-11)

Bernardi played the title character, Arnie Nuvo, a longtime blue-collar employee at the fictitious Continental Flange Company, who overnight was promoted to an executive position. The story lines mainly focused on this fish-out-of-water situation, and on Arnie's sometimes-problematic relationship with his well-meaning but wealthy and eccentric boss, Hamilton Majors Jr. (Bowen). Because he still held his union card, Arnie could negotiate tricky management/labor situations that no one else could. Arnie's surname was presumably a pun on nouveau riche (which his promotion effectively made him), and possibly also on Art Nouveau.

In addition to Bernardi, Bowen, and Langdon (as Arnie's wife Lilian), cast members included Del Russel and Stephanie Steele as Arnie's son and daughter, Richard and Andrea; Elaine Shore as Arnie's secretary, Felicia; Herb Voland as sour-tempered vice-president Neil Ogilvie, and Tom Pedi as Arnie's loading dock friend, Julius. Olan Soule appeared occasionally as Fred Springer, another vice-president.

In its first season, despite being the lead-in to The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Saturday nights and winning an Emmy nomination as best comedy series, Arnie received only fair Nielsen ratings. For its second season, in order to increase its viewership, CBS made a major cast change in the show's format. Dick Van Patten was dropped as the Nuvos' next door neighbor, and Charles Nelson Reilly joined the cast as Randy Robinson, a TV chef who called himself "The Giddyap Gourmet", an obvious reference to The Galloping Gourmet.[1]

Also, the network decided to move the show to Monday nights at 10:00 P.M. followed at 10:30 P.M. by a new sitcom that had debuted in January, 1971 on Tuesday nights to mediocre ratings, All In the Family. At the last minute, a switch was made and My Three Sons left its comfortable Saturday night time slot and took over the 10:00 P.M. slot on Mondays with Arnie slotted at 10:30 P.M. Both shows sank in the ratings. All In the Family was moved to Saturday nights at 8:00 P.M. where it became the number one show for five consecutive years. At mid-season, My Three Sons was moved to Thursday nights and Arnie returned to the Saturday night prime-time schedule. The changes did not help. Both shows were canceled at the end of the 1971–1972 season.

Cast

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Episodes

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Season 1: 1970–71

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No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
11"Pilot"David SwiftDavid SwiftSeptember 19, 1970 (1970-09-19)E-101
22"An Urge to Splurge"Allen BaronUnknownSeptember 26, 1970 (1970-09-26)E-106
33"Change of a Lifetime"Jay SandrichUnknownOctober 3, 1970 (1970-10-03)E-107
44"Wife vs. Secretary"Allen BaronUnknownOctober 10, 1970 (1970-10-10)E-104
55"The Friendship Gap"Allen BaronUnknownOctober 17, 1970 (1970-10-17)E-105
66"Swinging Sixties"Russ MayberryDavid SwiftOctober 24, 1970 (1970-10-24)E-108
77"Trouble in the Air"Gary NelsonBetty BonaduceOctober 31, 1970 (1970-10-31)E-110
88"Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"Don RichardsonRick MittlemanNovember 7, 1970 (1970-11-07)E-102
99"Why Spy?"Don RichardsonUnknownNovember 14, 1970 (1970-11-14)E-113
1010"For Whom the Whistle Blows"Don RichardsonUnknownNovember 21, 1970 (1970-11-21)E-112
1111"One Strike and You're Out"Gary NelsonUnknownNovember 28, 1970 (1970-11-28)E-111
1212"Sell Mates"Don RichardsonUnknownDecember 5, 1970 (1970-12-05)E-103
1313"Let Them Eat Cookies"Gary NelsonBruce HowardDecember 12, 1970 (1970-12-12)E-109
1414"To Buy or Not to Buy?"Don RichardsonUnknownDecember 19, 1970 (1970-12-19)E-114
1515"Second Honeymoon"Alan RafkinUnknownJanuary 2, 1971 (1971-01-02)E-115
1616"You Can't Lose for Winning"Coby RuskinUnknownJanuary 9, 1971 (1971-01-09)E-116
1717"Hello, Holly"Allen BaronUnknownJanuary 16, 1971 (1971-01-16)E-117
1818"Father Meets Daughter"Don RichardsonRichard BaerJanuary 23, 1971 (1971-01-23)E-118
1919"Stand Up for Julius"Russ MayberryUnknownJanuary 30, 1971 (1971-01-30)E-120
2020"Citizen Pain"Bruce BilsonUnknownFebruary 6, 1971 (1971-02-06)E-119
2121"Feud for Thought"Jay SandrichUnknownFebruary 13, 1971 (1971-02-13)E-122
2222"Strangeness in the Night"Russ MayberryUnknownFebruary 20, 1971 (1971-02-20)E-121
2323"My Sister's Keeper"John ErmanUnknownFebruary 27, 1971 (1971-02-27)E-123
2424"No Harmony in Trying"Richard KinonUnknownMarch 6, 1971 (1971-03-06)E-124

Season 2: 1971–72

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No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
251"Nuvo Riche"Don RichardsonArt Baer,
Ben Joelson
September 13, 1971 (1971-09-13)F-302
262"Well, There Goes the Neighborhood"Don RichardsonUnknownSeptember 20, 1971 (1971-09-20)F-303
273"Honey, I'm Sorry, But..."David SwiftUnknownSeptember 27, 1971 (1971-09-27)F-301
284"The Maid"Bruce BilsonUnknownOctober 4, 1971 (1971-10-04)F-307
295"Welcome to the Club"Bruce BilsonUnknownOctober 18, 1971 (1971-10-18)F-309
306"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blew"Allen BaronUnknownOctober 25, 1971 (1971-10-25)F-304
317"A Poem from 'Guess Who'"Bruce BilsonUnknownNovember 1, 1971 (1971-11-01)F-308
328"The Return of 'Fingers' Ferguson"Don RichardsonUnknownNovember 8, 1971 (1971-11-08)F-310
339"Et Tu, Arnie"Don RichardsonUnknownNovember 15, 1971 (1971-11-15)F-311
3410"Pushing Pinky Out of the Treehouse"Don RichardsonUnknownNovember 22, 1971 (1971-11-22)F-306
3511"This Land Is My Land"Roger DuchownyUnknownNovember 29, 1971 (1971-11-29)F-312
3612"Let Ham Put You in the Driver's Seat"Roger DuchownyUnknownDecember 6, 1971 (1971-12-06)F-313
3713"The Gift of the Majors"Don RichardsonArt Baer,
Ben Joelson
December 18, 1971 (1971-12-18)F-314
3814"Boom or Bust"Allen BaronUnknownJanuary 1, 1972 (1972-01-01)F-305
3915"The Only Way to Go"Don RichardsonUnknownJanuary 8, 1972 (1972-01-08)F-315
4016"Guess Who's Coming to Our House?"Roger DuchownyUnknownJanuary 15, 1972 (1972-01-15)F-316
4117"What's Up, Doc?"Don RichardsonUnknownJanuary 22, 1972 (1972-01-22)F-317
4218"The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth"Roger DuchownyUnknownJanuary 29, 1972 (1972-01-29)F-318
4319"Room at the Top"Don RichardsonUnknownFebruary 5, 1972 (1972-02-05)F-319
4420"Surprise, Surprise"Roger DuchownyUnknownFebruary 12, 1972 (1972-02-12)F-320
4521"Uncle Nikko"Don RichardsonUnknownFebruary 19, 1972 (1972-02-19)F-321
4622"Wilson Tastes Good Like a Candidate Should"Don AppellUnknownFebruary 26, 1972 (1972-02-26)F-322
4723"Now You Take Teddy Roosevelt"Don RichardsonUnknownMarch 4, 1972 (1972-03-04)F-323
4824"Star Trekking"Roger DuchownyUnknownMarch 11, 1972 (1972-03-11)F-324

References

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  1. ^ "TV ACRES: Nicknames - "G" (Celebrity & Character Monikers, Pseudonyms & Aliases)". wayback.archive-it.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2009-03-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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