I have a special place in my heart for syndicated comedies. I don't really know what it is, because a lot of them can be quite terrible, but I seem to like them more than the next person. Maybe it's the fact that I watched a lot of them as a kid and that has stuck with me. You don't really get syndicated comedies that much anymore, but here's one I remember fondly from the mid-80s.It was called Throb, and it was about the goings-on at an indie record label. It focused mostly on a single mom, played by Diana Canova, who was cute and always good in everything she did. I can't remember one single plot from the show, other than the basic plot that ran throughout the whole show, Canova's attempt to juggle being a single mom and also running a business (and dealing with the cast of characters at the label, of course).
Like most sitcoms of the 80s, it's fun to see what actors appeared on the show before becoming famous, and this one had several. Canova's 12 year-old son was played by Paul Walker, long before The Fast and the Furious (he was replaced in the second season). Her co-workers at the label included Jane Leeves (Frasier), Maryedith Burrell (Fridays, Seinfeld), and Jonathan Prince, an actor who appeared in everything in the 80s and 90s and is now a producer on The Cleaner and was a producer on Cane and American Dreams. George Clooney made an appearance on one episode. (Update: found the video below. Thanks YouTube!)
This is another one of those shows, along with It's A Living (another syndicated sitcom I loved, which ran around the same time) that I can't imagine ever appearing on DVD. But let's hope someone at YouTube or Hulu or AOL Video decides to upload a few episodes one day.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-12-2008 @ 2:58PM
Ginny said...
I loved Jane Leeves in this show! I don't even remember the single mom thing - it's the single girl in the working world that I remember. She was great.
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8-12-2008 @ 4:59PM
Doug Nelson said...
Did Clooney get a nose job? He looks different (besides being young).
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8-12-2008 @ 5:15PM
teague182 said...
Tina Toxoid in that clip is Kathleen Wilhoite...I instantly recognized her as Luke's sister Liz from Gilmore Girls. Not exactly famous, but interesting!
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8-12-2008 @ 6:31PM
Stvlvn said...
Jane Leeves character's name was Blue, and I liked this almost as much "It's a Living"
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8-12-2008 @ 7:43PM
garbonzo said...
I had completely forgotten about Throb until I saw this posting. Ah...many wasted afternoons of syndicated fun are returning to me!
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8-12-2008 @ 9:00PM
Brian said...
What killed the syndy-sitcom anyway? Was it "What a Dummy"? It might have been "What a Dummy."
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8-12-2008 @ 9:18PM
pumpkinhead said...
Jeez. I had not thought of or spoken of this show in years, and then just two days ago I was telling my wife about it, and here you are with it. Quick, Bob, give me some Powerball numbers!
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8-13-2008 @ 7:47AM
dave said...
And it you remember the original title for "It's a Living" was "Making a Living". But they thought it conveyed the thought those girls were prostitutes and thus the name change.
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8-13-2008 @ 1:26PM
Beth said...
One of the best things about this show was the theme song. "Feel the beat, feel the beat, feel the heartbeat, THROB."
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8-14-2008 @ 6:30PM
Jenny said...
Wow! I had totally forgotten about Throb. But I definitely loved this show. Why can't they release shows like THIS on DVD? Who could possibly need all of the seasons of crap like Charles in Charge?
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