Who's the Boss?

1984–1992 · Comedy · 8 seasons · ★ 7.4

Ended

+13

Synopsis of Who's the Boss?

Tony Micelli is a former Major League Baseball player who was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury. A widower, he is raising his teenage daughter, Samantha, in Brooklyn, but he wants to keep her away from an environment he considers unsuitable. To that end, he moves to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he takes a job as a house manager at the home of Angela Bower, a divorced advertising executive who lives with her son Jonathan and her mother, Mona. Tony handles the cooking, cleaning and childcare, while Angela financially supports the household. The title refers to that role reversal, which challenges stereotypes about young Italian Americans. Each of them tries to adjust to living together, in a household where nobody quite gives up control.

«Father doesn't always know best!»

8seasons

196episodes

23 minper episode

7.4audience scoreTMDB · 314 votes

6.6IMDb rating17,538 votes

Seasons of Who's the Boss?

Season 11984 · 22 ep. · ★ 7.2

Season 21985 · 26 ep. · ★ 7.4

Season 31986 · 24 ep. · ★ 7.6

Season 41987 · 24 ep. · ★ 7.8

Season 51988 · 25 ep. · ★ 7.0

Season 61989 · 26 ep. · ★ 7.5

Season 71990 · 25 ep. · ★ 7.3

Season 81991 · 24 ep. · ★ 7.5

Cast by Who's the Boss?

Tony DanzaTony Micelli196 episodes

Judith LightAngela Bower196 episodes

Alyssa MilanoSamantha Micelli196 episodes

Danny PintauroJonathan Bower196 episodes

Katherine HelmondMona Robinson196 episodes

Shana Lane-BlockBonnie22 episodes

Jonathan HalyalkarBilly Napoli21 episodes

Rhoda GemignaniCarmella Rossini21 episodes

Ralph P. MartinErnie10 episodes

Curnal Achilles AulisioHank Thomopolous9 episodes

Billy GalloAl9 episodes

Nicole EggertMarci Ferguson7 episodes

Angela Lee SloanJulia7 episodes

Robin ThomasGeoffrey Wells6 episodes

Earl BoenJim Peterson5 episodes

Dori Brenner5 episodes

Vic Polizos5 episodes

James Naughton4 episodes

James Coco3 episodes

Josh Byrne3 episodes

Tonya Crowe3 episodes

Scott Bloom3 episodes

James Hampton2 episodes

Walter OlkewiczTiny McGee2 episodes

Alan Oppenheimer2 episodes

Sam McMurray2 episodes

Fran Drescher2 episodes

Troy Slaten2 episodes

Leah Remini2 episodes

Franklin Cover2 episodes

Betty White2 episodes

Richard Sanders2 episodes

Suzanne Barnes2 episodes

Beau BillingsleaChef2 episodes

Pat Buttram2 episodes

Bill Erwin2 episodes

Leah Ayres2 episodes

Joe RegalbutoDon2 episodes

Fern Fitzgerald2 episodes

Scott Grimes2 episodes

Technical Details

Created by: Blake Hunter
Address: Asaad Kelada, Jim Drake, Linda Day, Michael Zinberg, George Tibbles
Writing: Clay Graham, Gene Braunstein, Danny Kallis, Prudence Fraser, Robert Sternin
Production: Danny Kallis
Production companies: ELP Communications
Network or Platform: ABC
Country: United States
Original Language: English
Premiere: September 20, 1984
Last Episode: April 25, 1992 (8x24)
Status: Ended
Type: Fiction
Awards: Won 1 Emmy Award; 18 wins and 30 nominations in total.
Links: IMDb · TMDB

Trivia about Who's the Boss?

In early development, the series was called You're the Boss, centered on Angela hiring Tony. The producers renamed it before the fall 1984 premiere.

The pilot was shot in November 1983, about 10 months before the series went on the air. ABC wanted to air it in January 1984, but creative differences delayed it.

Mark J. Levin won the 1989 Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Comedy) for his work on the episode "Two on a Billboard."

In 1987, the producers planned a spin-off titled Mona, but ABC changed its mind over concerns about what the character's departure could mean for the series.

The third spin-off to become a series was Living Dolls, starring Leah Remini, Michael Learned and Halle Berry, which premiered and ended in 1989.

The series ranked among the top ten final prime-time ratings between 1985 and 1989, a result that made it a major ratings hit.

Tony Danza was ABC's first choice to play Tony Micelli, after Columbia offered him three projects: a New York detective, a helicopter pilot and a house manager.

The sequel project, announced in 2020 with Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano, was supposed to air on Amazon Freevee, but in October 2024 it stalled there and began looking for another network or platform.

Sources: Wikipedia (English)