Before Sex in the City, there was Caroline in the City. Here's a look at a beloved and must-see comedy from the 90s.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of what was and still is one of the most underrated and beloved comedies of the 90s, Caroline In The City. The series debuted on Thursday, September 21, 1995, on NBC in the golden timeslot between two powerhouse shows, Seinfeld and ER.
To show how big that was, the series debut, Seinfeld, was the #1 show, while ER was the #2 show in the previous 1994-1995 season. Must-See TV Thursday was the powerhouse of shows; it was the best of the best, and Caroline was given the golden ticket.
The series premise is simple: a successful cartoonist, Caroline Duffy (Lea Thompson), who lives in New York City, draws her life experiences in her daily comic strip "Caroline in the City." Along with her in the quest for love and material are a few friends and co-workers that include the commitment-shy hunk of a boyfriend, Del (Eric Lutes), her sarcastic but secretly smitten assistant, Richard (Malcolm Gets), and her best friend and neighbor, Annie (Amy Pietz). And let's not forget Del's partner in crime, Charlie (Andy Lauer).
The pilot was of Caroline trying to find an assistant but also dealing with the recent break from Del. As soon as Caroline hires her assistant, Richard, she learns that Del has moved on, and soon, the two will have separate dates at their favorite restaurant. To prove to Del that she has a date, Caroline, along with Annie, found one, and soon she was set.
But she learned little after waiting and waiting while seeing Del have fun on his young date. Richard shows up and tells her that her date isn't coming (due to being married). But Richard saves Caroline by pretending that he is her date and makes Del very, very jealous. After dinner, Caroline learns a bit about Richard; coming from a failed relationship, the two seem to grow close until Del comes running by.
As soon as Richard leaves, Caroline and Del talk about what they want as it is each other. Soon, the episode ends, and as they go to bed, Richard is walking past the apartment, thinking he has feelings for Caroline.
As the show premiered on Thursdays for the 1995-1996 season, it finished in the Top 4 along with ER, Seinfeld, and Friends. They even won two People Choice Awards for Favorite New TV Comedy and Favorite Actress in a New TV Series 1996 and an Emmy for their title sequence.
In the first season, we had some fantastic guest stars like Florence Henderson, Jean Stapleton, Sharon Lawerence, Lauren Graham, Rose Marie, and Morty Amsterdam, along with Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing in a crossover.
After the first season, the series was moved to Tuesdays behind Frasier during its second season run and soon moved to Monday nights during its third and fourth seasons. Shortly after the 1999 season, it was canceled, missing its 100th episode milestone.
Today, fans still talk and hope for the show to make a reboot or revival to see where these characters are in this world today. Heck, when Michael J. Fox had his mask on NBC in 2014, I was so hoping that his character could be interviewing Caroline. But sadly, that show, too, got canceled.
Caroline in the City is a light-hearted comedy that, while it may not match up to shows like today. This series was well written and had such funny characters that played so strongly to the cast that had played them. Lea Thompson is so brilliant in how she can make you laugh while also winning your heart at the same time. The rest of the cast plays as strong as Thompson, too.
Growing up, I used to watch this show. I also used to watch it on Lifetime in the later years until they took off and placed something else that I can remember. A few years ago, I found out about the series being on DVD (only the first two seasons). Still, after sending emails to CBS Entertainment about releasing the rest of the series (because CBS All Access didn't have all of it and was out of order), they finally released the third and fourth seasons on DVD.
I highly recommend checking out Caroline in the City. It's just a feel-good, heart-warming, romantic comedy. They'll make you laugh, cry, and feel better watching it. It's something that we could use a lot more these days. Indeed, Caroline in the City is a must-see comedy classic.
