Foley Square Information

Foley Square is a 1985-1986 United States comedic television series starring Margaret Colin which centers around an assistant district attorney in New York City. It was Colins first starring role. Original episodes aired from December 11, 1985, to April 8, 1986.

Cast

• Margaret Colin....Assistant District Attorney Alex Harrigan
• Hector Elizondo....District Attorney Jesse Steinberg
• Vernee Watson-Johnson...Denise Willums
• Michael Lembeck....Peter Newman
• Cathy Silvers....Assistant District Attorney Molly Dobbs
• Sanford Jensen....Assistant District Attorney Carter DeVries
• Israel Juarbe....Angel Gomez
• Jon Lovitz....Mole
• Richard C. Serafian....Spiro Papadopolis

Synopsis

Alex Harrigan is a perky, dedicated, unmarried assistant district attorney who works in a District Attorneys office located in New York City on Foley Square in Manhattan. Her boss, District Attorney Jesse Steinberg, is a veteran prosecutor who has seen it all and who she feels overlooks her when assigning the offices important cases to its staff of prosecutors. She also works with Assistant District Attorney Carter DeVries, who is overbearing and ambitious, and young Assistant District Attorney Molly Dobbs, who has just graduated from law school. Alexs secretary is Denise Willums, and the offices messenger is Angel Gomez, a young ex-convict. Mole is the offices investigator. When on break and after work, the co-workers gather across the street from the office at a coffee shop owned and operated by Spiro Papadopolis.

Alex lives in an apartment building on Manhattans Upper West Side. Peter Newman, a schoolteacher, is her neighbor in the building and a good friend. Alexs social life is prone to ups and downs.

Production

Creator and producer Diane English intended Foley Square and its scripts to reflect what she considered to be the "womens viewpoint."

Cast members Cathy Silvers and Michael Lembeck held the unusual distinction of being the second generation of their respective families to appear together in a television show: Their fathers, Phil Silvers and Harvey Lembeck, had acted together in The Phil Silvers Show from 1955 to 1959.

Writers involved in Foley Square were Dennis Danziger, Diane English, Karyl Geld Miller, Bernie Orenstein, Ellen Sandler, Korby Siamis, and Saul Turteltaub. Episode directors were Peter Baldwin, Peter Bonerz, and Ellen Gittelsohn.

Episodes

Season #	Episode #	Title	Plot/Notes	Original air date
1	1	"Personals"	Alex feels that her boss, Jesse, is giving her too many cases to prosecute that are beneath her, such as that of an 85-year-old man who attacked a grocer, even though there are a number of murder cases that he could have assigned to her. Meanwhile, her friends pressure her into placing a personal ad to try to get some romance into her life.	December 11, 1985
1	2	"Make My Day"	Alex cancels her date with Mark so that she can convince a witness to testify in the murder case she is working on.	December 18, 1985
1	3	"Hey, Landlord"	After a series of assaults occur in her building, Alex suspects her landlord.	December 25, 1985
1	4	"Court-ship"	Alex finally starts dating a man, but has to put the relationship on hold because he is a reporter covering a case she is prosecuting.	January 8, 1986
1	5	"The Star"	Alex develops a love interest in a movie star who is trying to sue his dishonest business manager. Andy Garcia guest-stars.	January 15, 1986
1	6	"The Longest Weekend"	Alex is on call and the only one without plans for the weekend.	January 22, 1986
1	7	"The Prosecution Never Rests"	Jesse finally grants Alex her wish and assigns her to an important case, but she feels undervalued and underappreciated as it progresses.	January 29, 1986
1	8	"Nobody's Perfect"	Stressed out at work, Alex sees a doctor who recommends that she take some time off work and relax – but she ignores his advice out of a fear that she would be letting her co-workers down if she did.	February 5, 1986
1	9	"Where Angel Goes"	After Angel is arrested for a robbery he did not commit, Alex bails him out of jail – but she needs him to tell her the truth for her to keep him out of prison.	February 12, 1986
1	10	"Kid Stuff"	Alex must convince a pregnant teenager to testify against the man who raped her.	February 19, 1986
1	11	"Jack's Back"	Alex receives presents from a secret admirer, then discovers that he is a paroled ex-convict who she had prosecuted and put in jail.	February 26, 1986
1	12	"Judgment Call"	The judge in Mollys first felony case makes an indecent proposal to Alex.	March 25, 1986
1	13	"24 Hours"	A reporter writing a story watches the District Attorneys office closely, and Alex is frightened when she comes home and walks in on a burglar.	April 1, 1986
1	14	"Someone to Watch Over Me"	After Alex gets a letter threatening her life, Jesse hires a bodyguard to protect her.	April 8, 1986

Cancellation

Foley Square aired on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., paired with Mary Tyler Moores situation comedy Mary at 8:00 p.m. Both shows premiered on December 11, 1985, and languished near the bottom of the Neilson ratings in the weeks that followed. After the eleventh episode of Foley Square aired on February 26, 1986, both shows went into hiatus. CBS rescheduled them to appear on Tuesdays, with Mary at 9:00 p.m. and Foley Square at 9:30 p.m., hoping that this would improve their ratings, and telecasts of the two shows resumed on March 25, 1986. Despite the change of day and time, ratings remained low, and both shows were cancelled, with Foley Squares fourteenth and last episode airing on April 8, 1986, right after Marys thirteenth and last episode.

During the summer of 1986, CBS aired prime-time reruns of Foley Square at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays from June 11 to July 23.