Rags to Riches is an American musical comedy drama that was shown on NBC for two seasons, from March 9, 1987, to January 15, 1988. The show is set in the 1960s, before the British Invasion. It follows the story of Nick Foley, a man who becomes rich on his own and takes in six orphaned girls. Each episode includes musical performances of popular songs from that time, sung by the girls. These songs are part of the story, and the lyrics are changed to reflect events in the plot.
Plot
Nick Foley (Joseph Bologna), the wealthy owner of Foley Foods, is a practical businessman from New Jersey who realizes his carefree lifestyle has harmed his business reputation. In the TV movie pilot that started the series, Foley tries to create a family image by bringing six orphaned girls, who were reported in the news to refuse being separated, to live in his Bel Air mansion with his butler, John Clapper (Douglas Seale). Foley does this to help make a business deal and does not plan to keep the girls permanently. However, his plans change as he grows close to the girls and eventually adopts them as his legal daughters.
This change is challenging for both Foley and the girls. The girls gain a new father who has no experience raising children. After years in a poor orphanage, they suddenly live in a wealthy home (which is why the series is named The Partridge Family). The series shows the challenges faced by the girls and a man who has never loved anyone but himself, as he learns to care for his new family.
In the pilot, Foley takes in six girls. However, for the rest of the series, only five are adopted: Rose, 17; Diane, 16; Marva, 15; Patty, 14; and Mickey, 8. The sixth girl, Nina, appears only in the pilot. After the pilot was made, it was decided having six children was too many for the series, so Nina was removed from the story, with the episode "Patty's Mom" explaining she was reunited with her birth mother.
The series was different from other comedies because the girls often sang songs to express their emotions or advance the story. Each episode included at least two musical scenes with versions of popular 1960s songs, with lyrics changed to relate to the episode’s events.
Reception
The show was promoted with the tagline, "If you liked Annie, you'll like Rags to Riches." After receiving very good ratings on Sunday nights, the show hosted Saturday Morning Cartoons, a 2-hour Las Vegas TV movie, and a Christmas special. It was then moved to Friday in the fall of 1987 to make room for the series Family Ties. The show's ratings were not high enough for the Friday night time slot, and NBC canceled the program during its second season.
Musical numbers
Mark Mueller created new humorous lyrics for popular songs from the 1950s and early 1960s that were used in most episodes of both seasons of the show. He also wrote the lyrics for the show's theme song. Many of the songs used in the show were not available during the time the series was on television, which was from 1961 to 1963.
Cast and characters
- Joseph Bologna as Nick Foley
- Tisha Campbell as Marva
- Blanca De Garr as Patty
- Kimiko Gelman as Rose
- Bridget Michele as Diane
- Heidi Zeigler as Mickey
- Douglas Seale as John Clapper
- Heather McAdam as Nina
- Sarah Buxton as Amy Hillerman
- Sue Ball as Marnie
- Jeff Harlan as Marty
- John Christy Ewing as Mr. Donovan
- Sandy Ward as Al Schweikert
Home media
On June 5, 2012, Image Entertainment released Rags to Riches: The Complete Series on Region 1 DVD. DTP Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Germany. Season 1 was released on May 13, 2011, and Season 2 on October 27, 2011.