Charles in Charge: Season One

There have been literally hundreds of sit-coms on television over the years. Some have tried to push the envelop like ‘All in the Family’, others are just enjoyable. They are like a hot cup of chocolate on a cold winter’s night, hardly substantial but offering some comfort. ‘Charles in Charge’ was like that warm cup. It may have had a moral lesson in each episode but it was light faire. That’s completely okay. Sometimes we need a show we can watch with the family and just enjoy. While some of the younger, more modern members of the audience may think this series are too trite, those of us that watched the show twenty years ago will get into the nostalgia this set provides.

Charles (Scott Baio) is the typical nineteen year old college student. He has to balance his desire for good grades with the always present need for money. His solution is to become a live in nanny for a family. They would provide room and board and a salary in return for his watching the kids. Such a family comes in the form of the Pembrokes. The father Stan (James Widdoes) and mom Jill (April Lerman) have three precocious children; Lila (April Lerman) age 14, Douglas (Jonathan Ward) who is 12 and ten year old Jason (Michael Pearlman). It is Charles’ job to keep the house in order and the kids in line while mom and dad do whatever it is kid oriented parents on sit-coms do. Helping Charles cope and more often than not get in trouble are his best friend Buddy (Willie Aames) and his girlfriend Gwendolyn (Jennifer Runyon).

None of the episodes have anything near real conflict. In the series opener Charles has a big date with Gwendolyn but the Pembrokes have to go out for the evening requiring Charles to watch the kids. Now since this is actually his job there should be no issue. In comes Buddy with his ever present schemes. Invite Gwendolyn over to the house and have the date while watching the children. As this is also Charles’ residence this should be alright but a twist is thrown in when Lila winds up studying with the Junior High heart throb Alexander Morgan (Michael Sharrett). Now Charles has to try to be romantic with Gwendolyn while keeping Alexander and Lila from being alone in her room. To make matters worse Gwendolyn and Alexander come to the conclusion that they are just objects for status and Charles now has to resolve that issue.

When Lila is frustrated with her try outs for cheerleading and Douglas is trying to become the triangle player for the school band the parents delegate helping their children through these angst filled times by telling Charles to resolve everything. Once again Charles has issues of his own as Gwendolyn wants him to try out for the school play while Buddy wants him to join the swim team. Charles finally helps out the kids while letting his friends know that his nanny chores are his extracurricular activities.

In another episode the Pembrokes appear to be the trend setters of the neighborhood. Their neighbors hire a live in student of their own and the suggestion is made that Charles mentor her in the finer points of the job. It turns out that Jane is an attractive young woman with a completely different view of raising children. She would rather let them resolve their own differences even if it means a constant state of hostilities reigns in her house. Take a look at who plays Jane here; it is a very young Meg Ryan. She also shows up later in the season in the same role.

As bland as some of these plots may seem the show does have its merits. ‘Charles in Charge’ was light entertainment for the whole family with just a little life lesson thrown in. In some ways it is a variation on ‘Who’s the Boss’, a young man taking on the responsibilities of running a household, typical felt to be a female role. Now, some twenty years after this show aired it may seem impossible that a family would like this young man stay with them and help raise their children but the mid eighties were far less skeptical than present. With so much hard driven drama on television it’s a welcomed diversion to go back to some of the silly fun this show represented.

Brooklyn born Scott Baio practically grew up before our eyes on television. He was on Happy Days as Chachi which resulted in the spin off ‘Joanie Loves Chachi’. His first big screen role done when he was only in his early teens was Buggy Malone where he acted opposite fellow child star Jodie Foster. This long list of performances helped to provide Baio with a sense of professionalism at a very young age. This was reflected in his work here as Charles. No matter what silly situation he is in Baio gives it is all. Having logged so many hours on the screen the audience felt familiar with Baio, it was like watching someone we have known for years; someone we are comfortable with. Many will recognize James Widdoes from his role in the comedy classic ‘Animal House’. He fits the bill for a sit-com dad, present as the straight man, setting things up and then coming back at the end to reinforce the life lesson. Collectively the children do well in their roles. They are basically good kids just trying to find their way through the task of growing up.

This release is part of Universal Studio’s commitment to release some of the television series we watched in the seventies and eighties. While some of these series where never top ten faire there are enough people that remember them fondly to make these releases something we can look forward to. This box set contains all twenty two episodes that ran on CBS in their 1984-1985 season. It was cancelled after this run but picked up in 1987 for first run syndication. The full screen video is fairly clean, typical of Universal television season sets. There are a few hints of age present, mostly in the form of an occasional white speak but over all it holds up. The color balance is acceptable as is the contrast. The audio is mostly in the center speaker but does the job. The episodes are distributed over three double sided discs. The extras include an episode from season two and a little featurette about television in the eighties. Over all this is good old fashion fun show to watch.

Posted 2/15/06