Hot l Baltimore
Hot l Baltimore is an American sitcom adapted from an off-Broadway play of the same name by Lanford Wilson.
| Hot l Baltimore | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Lanford Wilson |
| Written by | Ron Clark Decia Baker Woody King Lanford Wilson |
| Directed by | Bob LaHendro |
| Starring | Richard Masur Conchata Ferrell James Cromwell Al Freeman, Jr. Jeannie Linero Gloria LeRoy Robin Wilson Stan Gottlieb Lee Bergere Henry Calvert Charlotte Rae |
| Composer | Marvin Hamlisch |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Norman Lear |
| Producer | Rod Parker |
| Editor | Terry M. Pickford |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | T.A.T. Communications Co. |
| Distributor | Columbia TriStar Television Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | January 24 – April 25, 1975 |
Premise and run
The show took place in the fictional Hotel Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, and drew its title from the cheap establishment's neon marquee which had a burned-out letter "e". The half-hour series premiered January 24, 1975,[1] and was produced by Norman Lear for ABC. It was the first Lear property to air on ABC.
The series had several controversial elements, including two primary characters who were prostitutes, one of whom was an illegal immigrant, and one of the first gay couples to be depicted on an American television series. Because of the subject matter, the show was the first ABC network show to have a warning at its opening, cautioning viewers about mature themes. (All in the Family, also produced by Lear, ran a similar disclaimer when it debuted in 1971 on CBS, but ceased doing so with its second telecast.) The network supported the show and gave it a full publicity campaign, but it failed to win an audience and was canceled after 13 episodes. Its last telecast was June 6, 1975.
WJZ-TV, then ABC's Baltimore affiliate, never carried the show, but instead, carried alternative programming, leaving Baltimore viewers to have to watch the show on WMAL (now WJLA), ABC's Washington, D.C. affiliate.[1]
This series is notable as the first failure for Lear after a streak of mega-hit TV series, beginning with All in the Family (1971) and continuing with Sanford and Son (1972), Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), and The Jeffersons (1975), the last of which premiered six days before this show. It finished the season in 69th place out of 84 shows with an average 14.7 rating.[2]
Cast
- James Cromwell as Bill Lewis, the hotel's desk clerk
- Richard Masur as Clifford Ainsley, the hotel's young manager
- Conchata Ferrell as April Green, a prostitute
- Jeannie Linero as Suzy Marta Rocket, a prostitute
- Al Freeman Jr. as Charles Bingham, a wise black man
- Gloria LeRoy as Millie
- Robin Wilson as Jackie, a young tomboy
- Stan Gottlieb as Mr. Morse, a grouchy old man
- Lee Bergere as George, a middle-aged man
- Henry Calvert as Gordon, George's middle-aged boyfriend
- Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Bellotti, an eccentric woman with a never-seen psychotic son
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Suzy's Wedding" | Bob LaHendro | Ron Clark & Rod Parker | January 24, 1975 | |
| Suzy announces she is going to marry a Hollywood producer. | |||||
| 2 | "Millie's Beau" | TBA | Rudy De Luca & Barry Levinson | January 31, 1975 | |
| Millie's new boyfriend turns out to be one of Suzy's clients. The residents try to figure out a way to tell Millie. | |||||
| 3 | "Suzy's New Job" | Bob LaHendro | Woody Kling & David Swift | February 7, 1975 | |
| After she loses her job as a dance teacher, Suzy decides to complain to the White House. | |||||
| 4 | "The Rent Increase" | TBA | Barry E. Blitzer & Jack Kaplan | February 14, 1975 | |
| Ainsley's mother issues an unexpected rent increase to the tenants. On the verge of being evicted, the residents are moved to protests, with a highly imaginative maneuver by Moose. | |||||
| 5 | "George and Gordon" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Woody Kling | February 21, 1975 | |
| George and Gordon's latest spat promises to blossom into a hotel-wide fray. | |||||
| 6 | "The Date" | Bob LaHendro | Ron Clark | February 28, 1975 | |
| Just to prove that he's not afraid of anything, Bill agrees to take April out on a date. | |||||
| 7 | "The Deportation of Suzy" | Bob LaHendro | Elias Davis & David Pollock | March 7, 1975 | |
| Suzy is threatened with deportation as an undesirable alien. | |||||
| 8 | "Mrs. Bellotti's Boyfriend" | TBA | Charlie Hauck | March 14, 1975 | |
| Mrs. Bellotti has fallen deeply in love with Chapman Packer, but her first love is her son Moose, and everything hinges on a very successful meeting of the two men in her life. | |||||
| 9 | "Bingham's Con" | TBA | Jay Sommers | March 21, 1975 | |
| Ex-convict Mojo Thompson arrives at the hotel in search of his old buddy Charles Bingham. Mojo soon enthralls the residents with wild tales of his former shenanigans, but in the process he also happens to divulge a few secrets from Charles' past, things Bingham would rather keep dead and buried. | |||||
| 10 | "Historic L Baltimore" | TBA | Douglas Arango & Phil Doran | March 28, 1975 | |
| Ainsley's mother has successfully targeted the Hotel Baltimore for a wrecking ball. Hoping to save the building from an untimely demolition, Clifford manages to have it declared a historic landmark. However, the scheme quickly backfires; with the building now more valuable ever, a Japanese corporation decides to purchase it, but the unlikeliest of residents may prove to be the hotel's ultimate savior. | |||||
| 11 | "Ainsley Loves April" | TBA | Woody Kling | April 4, 1975 | |
| An armed gunman invades the hotel lobby and threatens the residents, but is defeated by April. Having witnessed April's heroism, Clifford Ainsley suddenly sees her in a very different light; he falls head over heels in love with her, giving April a rare opportunity to be treated like a queen. | |||||
| 12 | "Suzy's Problem" | TBA | Charlie Hauck | April 11, 1975 | |
| 13 | "Ainsley's Secret" | TBA | Elias Davis & David Pollock | April 25, 1975 | |
| Evie, a woman from Ainsley's past, arrives at the hotel and accuses him of being the father of her child, which he vehemently denies. Ultimately, he agrees to settle the problem with a payoff to Evie. Although he couldn't possibly be the father, the reason he couldn't forms the crux of Ainsley's secret. | |||||
References
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (Oct 1995) [1979]. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present (trade paperback) (Sixth ed.). New York: Ballantine Books, a Division of Random House, Inc. ISBN 0-345-39736-3.
- http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2020/02/1974-75-ratings-history.html