5 Shows to Watch if You Like ‘Who’s the Boss?’
One of the classic TV comedies that doesn’t get much love anymore is Who’s the Boss? Maybe that’s because it’s not streaming anywhere so it’s hard to binge like Friends or The Office. Also, it’s all the more reason you might need other recommendations to get your Who’s the Boss? fix while you wait for your DVD of the complete first season to arrive.
Who’s the Boss? starred Tony Danza as Tony Micelli, the housekeeper for the Bowers. Tony’s flirtations with Angela Bower (Judith Light) became one of TV’s all time will they or won’t theys. Along the way, Tony dispensed wisdom to his daughter, Samantha (Alyssa Milano) and Angela’s son, Jonathan (Danny Pintauro). Here are five shows you might also like if you’re looking for Who’s the Boss?
If you like ‘Who’s the Boss?,’ meet ‘Mr. Belvedere’
Mr. Belvedere was another TV sitcom about that special relationship between a family and their housekeeper. Lynn Belvedere (Christopher Hewitt) was British, so it provided even more culture clash with the American Owens family. Mr. Belvedere’s nemesis was the youngest son, Wesley Owens (Brice Beckham).
The Mr. Belvedere legend has grown beyond the show. In a Saturday Night Live sketch, Tom Hanks played a member of the Mr. Belvedere fan club who proposed calling him Brocktoon. There is also a story about production shutting down while Hewitt healed from a testicle injury, according to Mel. Mr. Belvedere isn’t streaming either. Must be something about shows about housekeepers. You can find seasons on DVD.
If you liked ‘Who’s the Boss?’ try the gender flipped ‘The Nanny’
The Nanny is another sitcom about a housekeeper, with a romantic flirtation with her boss. Fran Drescher played Fran Fine, who went to work for the Sheffields. This time, it’s a distinctly New Yorker American working for a very proper British family. The Nanny is streaming on HBO Max and Tubi.
‘Gimme a Break’ is another housekeeper comedy
Gimme a Break was a vehicle for Nell Carter who played Nell Harper, a housekeeper to the Kanisky family. There wasn’t a romance between Nell and widower Carl Kanisky (Dolph Sweet) and the show would mourn Sweet’s death in 1985. Nell would also adopt her own son, Joey (Joey Lawrence).
Racial issues weren’t necessarily at the forefront of ‘80s sitcoms, but Gimme a Break did address them in some episodes. There was an episode about blackface and another where Joey’s hero turned out to be racist. Gimme a Break is streaming on Tubi.
‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ had a significant housekeeper too
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air wasn’t about the butler, but the butler played a major role. Geoffrey (Joseph Marcell) was the Banks family butler and he was basically a member of the family. He was an important enough character that Jimmy Akingbola plays the new Geoffrey in the drama revival Bel-Air, and has a major subplot about his mysterious son.
The Will Smith version of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a traditional sitcom filmed in front of a studio audience. As Will clashed with the uptight Bel-Air culture, Geoffrey could provide comic relief and words of wisdom. The show is streaming on HBO Max.
If you liked ‘Who’s the Boss?’ ‘Cheers’ captures one specific aspect
In researching this list, we mostly looked for other shows about humorous housekeepers. But, another aspect of Who’s the Boss? gave it a connection with the classic sitcom Cheers. Tony was a retired baseball player. So was Sam Malone (Ted Danson).
Sam opened a bar for his second career. So Tony went into housework, but both are valid career paths and offer lots of comic potential. Both also had will they/won’t they romances, though Sam’s left the show after season 5.
