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Baby talk
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Baby Talk is the name of an ABC sitcom that aired from 1991 until 1992 as part of ABC's TGIF lineup. The show was loosely based on the popular Look Who's Talking movie series and was adapated for television by Ed. Weinberger. Amy Heckerling created original characters for the series while using key elements from Look Who's Talking.
Synposis & Changing FormatsBaby Talk featured the adventures of Baby Mickey (played by Paul & Ryan Jessup, voiced by Tony Danza), as he commented to the audience on the misgivings and new wonders of his world. Mickey's mother, Maggie Campbell, was played by two different actresses -- Julia Duffy during the spring 1991 run, and Mary Page Keller for the show's only full season -- at different points during the series' short existence. In the first season, Ms. Duffy's Maggie Campbell was adjusting to life as a single mother from the start. It was explained that Mickey's father, of which whom got Maggie pregnant while unmarried, had never separated from his supposed ex-wife. Maggie left the cad, but obviously she decided to keep her baby as the one positive centerpiece from the failed relationship. Little Mickey quickly expressed out loud to viewers his realization that there was no daddy around when Maggie responded to the amorous advances of many of the single men who passed through - namely that of Joe, one of the construction workers renovating the Campbell's not-yet-finished New York loft. Mr. Fogarty was the crew's foreman, and Howard, another construction worker who was always underfoot. Dr. Elliot Fleisher was Mickey's pediatrician, who also had eyes for Maggie. The doctors' office was another frequent setting in the first season, where Mickey interacted with other infants who had active, adult-like thoughts of their own. Andrea was one of Dr. Fleisher's attending nurses.
When Baby Talk returned in September 1991 for a full season order, drastic changes took place. In addition to Mary Page Keller now being in the role of Maggie, mother and son had moved, now residing in a trendy, uptown apartment in Manhattan. All other cast members, including George Clooney, were dropped from the show except for the baby Jessup twins. Polly Bergen joined the cast as Maggie's meddling mother Doris Campbell, who took great joy in co-raising Mickey while snooping around in her daughter's affairs. Scott Baio also signed on, sharing star billing with Ms. Keller, as James Halbrook, the building superintendent who became Maggie's new potential love interest. Living next door to the Campbells was sarcastic single mom Anita Craig, whose infant daughter Danielle (played by Alicia and Cecelia Johnson, voiced by Vernee Watson-Johnson) also had her thoughts featured regularly in play with Mickey's. Tony Craig was Danielle's older brother, while Susan Davis was Maggie's best friend and co-worker at an accounting firm.
DevelopmentConnie Sellecca was the first actor cast in the role of Maggie, but, dissatisfied with the role, she quit after a few episodes had been taped. This caused Baby Talk to be delayed from its intended fall 1990 premiere to March 1991 (by then, enough episodes had been reshot with Duffy). Rare footage of the mostly unseen Sellecca version was featured in the 1990 ABC Fall Preview Show.
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