The show follows the lives of the waitresses at the posh, fictional restaurant called Above the Top, located atop the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. At the helm is supervisor Nancy Beebe, the restaurant's maître d’, who sometimes fraternizes with the girls but usually gives orders and demands excellence. The plot often involves annoying Nancy in some minor way. Adding to the elegant but chaotic working environment is wisecracking pianist Sonny Mann, who makes rude comments to the women and receives insults in return. The kitchen is first the domain of Chef Mario, then Dennis Hubner and finally Howard Miller. Howard and Nancy eventually fall in love and marry.
The show's two broadcast seasons produced 27 episodes. An additional 93 episodes were produced for the syndication run, making a total of 120 episodes.
The series was not a ratings success. For Season 2, the cast was largely retooled and the series was renamed Making a Living.[1] Two of the five waitresses from the first season—Lois Adams and Vicki Allen, played by actresses Susan Sullivan and Wendy Schaal, respectively—were removed, and waitress Maggie McBurney, portrayed by Louise Lasser, was added. However, this iteration also failed to find success, and the show was canceled at the end of the season. In syndication, the second season airs under the original title of It's a Living.
Of all the cast members, only Gail Edwards (Dot Higgins), Marian Mercer (Nancy Beebe Miller), Barrie Youngfellow (Jan Hoffmeyer Gray) and Paul Kreppel (Sonny Mann) lasted through the show's network and syndicated runs. Ann Jillian (Cassie Cranston) appeared during the network run and the first year of syndication. Crystal Bernard and Richard Stahl appeared during the entire syndicated run.
Syndication
While the show was never a hit on network television, its fortunes would later turn in 1983 when all 27 episodes entered syndication. The series began to attract a following along with surprising ratings for the reruns, which prompted the producers and Golden West Television to revive it. Another factor in its sudden rediscovery was Ann Jillian's 1984 public disclosure that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 1985, the show was revived under its old name for the syndicated market. Most of the cast remained intact from the former version. A new waitress, Amy Tompkins (Crystal Bernard), arrived at the restaurant and was immediately accepted by the group. Jillian, who had committed to just one season in syndication, left the show in 1986 to continue her cancer treatments. Her character was explained to have married and started a family. She was replaced by Ginger St. James (Sheryl Lee Ralph). With these core cast members in place, the show continued to produce episodes for syndication until it ended in 1989.
From 2000 to 2001, TV Land aired the series occasionally for special programming blocks. In April 2018, Logo TV began to carry the series in marathon form several times a month. Antenna TV ran the series from January 2, 2020 to August 30, 2021, and it later ran on Rewind TV.
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