I’m so glad to find this here! I’m a retired studio singer and got a call from George Tipton who wrote this tune to contract six girls to sing this. We had a great time! Many years ago
Eric Purkey same here! I just had this pop in my head and had an urge to look it up... haven’t thought of it for 30 years! I would love to watch reruns!
My god same here. I vaguely remember this show but i remember the theme was catchy and i thought Ann Jillian was hot. The first season is available on Tubi TV, i hope they get the whole series. Also strange seeing Susan Sullivan on this before she joined the vast of Falcon Crest.
Growing up on Long Island as a little kid in the 80's I enjoyed this show. At the time I could never imagine that I would one day move to LA and actually get engaged in the restaurant on the top floor.
I used to watch this show in syndication whenever I could find it. At such a young age pretty much everything was lost on me, but I enjoyed seeing the general chaos and humorous incompetence in the restaurant.
I used to watch this show all the time as a kid. I think it came on friday or saturday nights in the 80s and I'd watch it when my folks dropped me off at my grandparent's house for the weekend. Such fond memories. Also, Ann Jillian....good lord.
I love this show!! I used to watch this in the early 90's with my mom when I was a little girl. I fell in love with the theme song when I was 4 and always love singing it. Dot is always my favorite because she's the nicest and sweetest. I miss this show. I hope there is a DVD now or coming soon.
It's not out on DVD and Blu-Ray disc because of royalty payments that have to be made out to the estates of the composers of the songs played on the show.
One of my favorite shows growing up in the 80s. Dreaming of being independent making my own money and living in sunny LA. That was just a fantasy as a teenage girl back then. Brings back a lot of memories. Like to go back there. Peace everyone!!
Fun fact, one of the creators of this show, Stu Silver, would later go on to be creator and executive producer of "Webster", while the other two creators, Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon, previously created "The Facts of Life" and would later go on to create "Mama's Family."
This is one of my favorite childhood shows!! I crack up because this theme song out of nowhere gets stuck in my head and I can only come to RU-vid to hear it!! I need them to release this show on dvd so I can own it!! Great nostalgia tv 📺
Beautiful TV series. I liked watching on weekends when our local UHF station, Channel 29, in Philadelphia would run two or three of these on Saturday afternoons.
I found this addictive guilty pleasure in reruns on LOGO a few months ago. I record the episodes late at night and enjoy the entertainment of "It's A Living's, "talented cast and story-lines whenever I want. Paul Kreppel as obnoxious, wolf, Sonny, sometimes full of pathos was an incredibly talented musician. I also heard that a year after Ann Jillian survived a battle with cancer and a partial mastectomy, you can see a slight change in the actress's bodices from peeking cleavage to a slightly raised neckline. They seemed to dress the flamboyant and beautiful Cassie in the biggest sack they could find, like the bridesmaid pantsuit Cassie wore at perky, Jan's wedding. Sheryl Lee Ralph was amazing during the 81-82 period as the very sassy Ginger. It's well written just like Golden Girls and Soap, whose actors like Richard Mulligan went on to Empty Nest, Billy Crystal, on to crazy fame, and Crystal Bernard on to "Wings". I raise my glass to Nancy, Dot, Jan, Cassie, Paul, Lois, Vicki, Mario, Maggie, Dennis, Amy, Howard, Ginger and Richie. Thank you for a wondrous show! A fan has meticulously copied every episode story line for "It's a Living," and "Making a Living" on Wikipedia. Click and enjoy memories. I heard that when put against monster shows like Falcon Crest and Dynasty the gentler show lost some viewership and network endorsement. Those were the days of stupendous greed, big, big money, big, big hair and big shoulder pads. Those block busters are so dated now! It's a Living stands up much better against the test of time in 2019. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_It%27s_a_Living_episodes
I was the pianist entertainer at the Westin Bonaventure during the time of the show. Can't believe It's A Living is not out in commercial dvd release. Tragic. I had the opportunity to accompany Ann Jillian a few times. Such a lovely lady. Fun show. Also miss the LA arts music arts scene of the 80s.. god knows it is abysmal now which is why I'm an agent/artist developer www.jamesrspencer.com
+Jim Spencer You're absolutely right! I never missed this show back then (was working as a waiter, could always relate!) & it was always so well done even through the cast changes. It deserves to be out on DVD....How else could we get to see Ann Jillian so much?
Not out on DVD because of all the royalties that would have to be paid for the songs used by the pianist during the show. One of the cast members discussed it someplace. Any 10 second piece he played would require a license and royalty.
God bless the internet. LOL How did we ever live without it? I'm sitting here thinking, "What was that show about the waitresses?" But a quick Google search answered my question.
I wouldn't call it "literally last" billing (although technically correct). She was "and Barrie Youngfellow as Jan", which is a billing people often get to keep them from getting lost in the middle somewhere. One thing I've never seen anywhere else is an "and" in the middle of the credits, for Ann Jillian.
Long theme... both represent their time very well... The second montage of clips is much better and the first. Funny I remember hearing about this show, but for some reason I didn't watch it at the time... long run, too. Seeing it for the first time makes me miss this time period... and it brings up the feeling of the 80s for me... Lots of things I miss.
At Last I Thought I just Dreamed this show had a whole different theme song as well as was called by a different name when it first got started!!!! Thanks for your post letting me know I was right all along!!!!! The show is being shown on Antenna TV where I live as I am posting this!!!!! from South Louisiana.
I remember watching this show during its first 2 season run when I was in high school back in 1980. Don't recall watching or really being interested in the syndication version. Cute show. Writing was not that great. But, the cast made it work. Ann Jillian was the stand-out and got the best lines. Antenna TV is running the show at 8:00 pm on weeknights, currently.
Great show. The first season was good, but the syndicated version really shined in terms of character development and making the best use of the whole cast. It was pre-Baywatch, which led to an explosion of first-run syndicated shows.
A watered down version of Alice & with less class was TBG. Inspired by the '08 crash, I guess it at best was Whitney Cummings tribute to pink collars everywhere.
Yes, I really enjoyed Throb, too. Diana Canova, who never became as famous as she should have, and Jane Leeves (who happened to be in one episode of It's a Living).
I used to watch this on Saturday evenings...I matched the tempo of the theme to the women walking down the walkway to the elevator while I was humming an "unk, onk, unk, onk, unk, onk" Ending with a rather loud one as the face of Sheryl Lee Ralph appeared and the theme ended.
🙋 When I was a young kid back in the 1980 I use to watch to other shows as well and they were both called my sister Sam and too close for comfort. All three shows were excellent back then. I wish they were still doing them but you know how they are.
If they really wanted to be realistic they could show customers being really rude vile and obnoxious to the waiting staff and snapping fingers in the air, and show waiting staff spitting on the food behind the swing doors.
I LOVED this show!!!!! Sheryl Lee Ralph & Ann Jillian were my favorite characters! Many may not remember that this show was originally called Making A Living & changed to Its A Living. Either way, loved it! This show should be picked up by METv/RetroTv/Antenna TV, it'll be a great addition to the lineup.
This show has the most elaborate sets and props (in detail) of any TV show I ever seen! Unless of course it was filmed in an actual operating restaurant. Ya think?
Great show. Does anyone know why this show has barely been in syndication since it ended in 1989? I read it was on TV Land years ago for a minute and abruptly pulled from the network. No airings since. :(
These actresses were literally so young and healthy in the opening of this series. Wonder why the gal who played Cassie bailed from the show after two seasons? She was one of the better characters in the show! Not the best sitcom yet I always dug the opening credits and theme song!
That actress, Ann Jillian, did the first two seasons on ABC, plus the first season it went into syndication. The reason she left after season 3 was because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and wanted to focus on her treatments.
I'm glad it's a living is back on the rumor is they lost the DVD for the episodes that's why it hasn't been on sooner in my opinion they need to get the 80 to 82 episodes finish the ones with Sheryl Lee Ralph and making a living with Louise lasser
They always show the waitresses walking into the building together but at the beginning of each episode, they all walk in at different times. NEVER together.
Loved this show! I could see Ann Jillian was already a big star! I followed her career, Golden Globe winner and a few Emmy nominations later, she proved me right. I loved her!
The music is the problem. Sonny played a lot of current and old songs and to get the DVD release and reruns they have to re-negotiate all the music rights and it's too big a deal.
I vaguely remember the show as I was 6 as the 80's was ending. In retrospect, from what I remember as a kid, was that the show's quality writing degenerated down to them just talking in a break room during lunch. Remembering that critical detail, has me realizing what became of a probably hilarious show, that just turned into them cracking jokes about their personal lives in basically scenes they opted to never film and we were supposed to believe that could be funny. That's probably exactly why the thing hasn't been reran for most of it's existence as a known TV show. I once complimented the man who was the piano player on Facebook!
Who remembers the original title of the show was "Maggie" the character Susan Sullivan played. Then she left the show to do Falcon Crest then they changed the name of the show to Making A Living?
Used to watch this back in the day on the weekends when I was a kid growing up in the 80s. Had the biggest crush on crystal bernard. She looked really hot back then before she dyed her hair blonde and went on to star on wings.
Speaking as someone who has worked in restaurants, banqueting halls and at large functions for years , I would be very happy to go to work if I worked in a small restaurant like that and there were about 6 waiting staff ! Everywhere I worked we were run off our feet. We didn't have time to think let alone smile.
Back when people were able to afford an apartment with near minimum wage pay, when going out was all the rage to see what was going on in life, and a gig like this payed some big bucks! Granted, it wasn't all that perfect....
