House Calls (1979)

On this day in 1979: HOUSE CALLS debuted on CBS-TV.

Produced by Universal Television and based on the 1978 film of the same name, this sitcom focused on hospital administrator Ann Atkinson (Lynn Redgrave) and the doctors she managed. The main character dynamic was her relationship with Dr. Charley Michaels (Wayne Rogers), with whom she had a romantic tension, while Dr. Solomon (Ray Buktenica) acted as Dr. Michaels's pal and a counterbalance to his headstrong nature, and Dr. Weatherby (David Wayne) was an older, mean-spirited doctor close to retirement. Other characters included Head Nurse Bradley (Aneta Corsaut), Mrs. Phipps (Deedy Peters), a somewhat over-the-hill but enthusiastic candy striper, and Conrad Peckler (Mark L. Taylor), who served as the antagonist trying to bring order to the hospital.

Notably, Lynn Redgrave was fired from the series after the birth of her child because she insisted on bringing her daughter to work to breastfeed on schedule. The studio interpreted this as her holding out for more money and being disruptive, leading to a lawsuit, which she ultimately lost. Halfway into the third season, Redgrave was replaced by Sharon Gless, who also had a love/hate relationship with Dr. Michaels, but the show's ratings suffered from the transition. Despite still finishing the season in the Top 25, the show was cancelled.

Still, House Calls received awards and nominations. Lynn Redgrave was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981, and she and Wayne Rogers were nominated for Golden Globes. House Calls enjoyed limited reruns in the 80s, but since then is one of the many shows that simply disappeared, never to surface on DVD or streaming.
57 episodes were produced over 3 seasons.