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*Fay*
Fay
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Susan Harris
Directed by	Alan Arkin; James Burrows
Starring	Lee Grant; Joe Silver; Audra Lindley; Margaret Willock; Stewart Moss; Bill Gerber; Norman Alden; Lillian Lehman
Opening theme	"Coming into My Own" performed by Jaye P. Morgan
Composer	George Tipton
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producer	Paul Junger Witt
Producer	Jerry Mayer
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Danny Thomas Productions; Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 4, 1975 –; June 2, 1976

Fay is an American sitcom starring Lee Grant as the title character, a divorced woman pursuing a swinging-singles lifestyle in San Francisco. The series aired on NBC from September 1975 to June 1976.^[1]^[2]

Cast

Lee Grant as Fay Stewart
Audra Lindley as Lillian
Joe Silver as Jack Stewart
Margaret Willock as Linda Stewart Baines
Stewart Moss as Dr. Elliot Baines
Bill Gerber as Danny Messina
Norman Alden as Al Cassidy
Lillian Lehman as Letty Gilmore

Synopsis

Fay Stewart is a 43-year-old woman in San Francisco who divorces her philandering husband, attorney Jack Stewart, after 25 years of marriage. She takes a job as a secretary in a law firm run by two eccentric attorneys, her boss Danny Messina and his partner Al Cassidy, where she befriends another secretary, Letty Gilmore. She then moves into her own apartment and begins dating, leading the life of a swinging single and getting involved in rather risqué situations. Jack keeps trying to win her back, and her conservative daughter Linda and stuffy son-in-law Elliot disapprove of her new lifestyle. In contrast, her tactless, unhappily married neighbor and friend Lillian lives vicariously through Fay's romantic adventures.^[1]^[2]

Production

Susan Harris created Fay, Paul Junger Witt was its executive producer, and Jerry Mayer was it producer.^[1] Episode directors included Alan Arkin and James Burrows. The show was a production of Danny Thomas Productions and Universal Television.

Jaye P. Morgan performed the theme song,^[1] "Coming into My Own," composed by George Tipton.

Fay had a notably unsuccessful run.^[1] Harris criticized NBC for the show's failure, saying that it had been intended as a sophisticated adult comedy, but the network scheduled it to air at 8:30 p.m. in the middle of the "family viewing hour." The network then had ordered many changes to the show's characterization and dialogue to make it suitable for family viewing, weakening Fay′s intended import.^[1] The series is notable for Lee Grant's lashing out at NBC executives on The Tonight Show on October 30, 1975, for the network's poor scheduling and quick cancellation of Fay.^[3]^[4]

At the 28th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1976, Grant was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Fay but lost out to Mary Tyler Moore for Moore's performance in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Broadcast history

Fay first aired on September 4, 1975, and ran for eight episodes at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursdays before it was pulled from NBC's lineup after the episode of October 23, 1975 (along with The Montefuscos, which aired in the time slot immediately before Fay). It returned for two more episodes on May 12 and June 2, 1976, both on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, for a total of ten episodes.^[1]^[2]

Man Trouble

Four episodes of Fay ("Jack Remarries", "Mr. Wonderful", "Danny Falls In Love", and "Not Another Mother's Day") eventually were re-edited into an overseas theatrical feature, Man Trouble. Man Trouble later was included in a syndicated package of other MCA/Universal "movies" stitched together from episodes of various short-lived television series.

Episodes

Nº	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Air date
1	"Fay"	Alan Arkin	Susan Harris	September 4, 1975 (1975-09-04)
Series pilot: Fay admits to having an affair.
2	"Jack Remarries"	Alan Arkin	Susan Harris	September 11, 1975 (1975-09-11)
Fay's ex-husband Jack is marrying a young stewardess.
3	"Mom's Realization"	Richard Kinon	Gail Parent	September 18, 1975 (1975-09-18)
Fay's mother wants to bring her and Jack back together.
4	"Mr. Wonderful"	Unknown	Dick Clair & Jenna McMahon	September 25, 1975 (1975-09-25)
Fay's childhood friend (Renée Taylor) is getting married, but her intended begins making passes at Fay.
5	"Jack's Heart Attack"	Unknown	Susan Harris	October 2, 1975 (1975-10-02)
Thinking he's dying of a heart attack, Jack confesses to Fay about his cheating ways.
6	"Not with My Husband You Don't"	James Burrows	S : Jerry Mayer T : Susan Harris & Sybil Adelman and Jerry Mayer	October 9, 1975 (1975-10-09)
Fay is ecstatic at the prospect of accompanying one of her firm's attorneys to Washington, D.C.
7	"Lillian's Separation"	James Burrows	S : Dennis Klein T : Susan Harris & Sybil Adelman	October 16, 1975 (1975-10-16)
Lillian walks out on her husband (Norman Fell) and moves into Fay's apartment, where she does some unwanted redecorating.
8	"Danny Falls in Love"	Unknown	S : Max Pisk T : Susan Harris	October 23, 1975 (1975-10-23)
Fay's lovelorn boss Danny (Bill Gerber) comes to her apartment for some motherly comfort.
9	"Fay and the Doctor"	Richard Kinon	Susan Harris	May 12, 1976 (1976-05-12)
Fay falls in love with a doctor; the only problem is he is married with children.
10	"Not Another Mother's Day"	Joan Darling	Jerry Mayer	June 2, 1976 (1976-06-02)
Linda wants to wait until she graduates from college to have a second child, but her husband doesn't want to wait that long.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 281.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, Sixth Edition, New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39736-3, p. 348.
^ Leszczak, Bob (2012). Single Season Sitcoms, 1948–1979. McFarland. p. 48.
^ "TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON, THE {LEE GRANT, BERT CONVY, CHARLES NELSON REILLY, JAY PRESSON ALLEN} (TV)". paleycenter.org. The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved August 15, 2024.