History Series / CharlesInCharge

In 1986, a year after CBS cancelled the series following its first season due to insufficient ratings to earn a sophomore season, Universal Television (then owned by MCA) partnered with series co-creator Michael Jacobs (later known for creating ''MyTwoDads'', ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' and most notably, ''BoyMeetsWorld'') and original production company Scholastic Productions to revive the series for first-run syndication, relaunching in 1987.

* ActingForTwo: Ellen Travolta played Charles' mother Lillian and her character's own sisters Vanessa and Sally in separate episodes; however, neither character appeared on-screen at the same time.
** Nicole Eggert played Jamie Powell and her cousin Amanda in the episode "Fair Exchange", again both characters never appeared in the episode in the same scenes.

* TheCasanova: Buddy likens himself to this, although he has had few girls actually accept dates with him.
* Catchphrase: Charles' "You had to (something that results in some sort of foul-up), didn't you?!", which is more often said to Buddy but occasionally said to other characters.

* SpinOff: The series had three proposed spin-offs, all three aired as backdoor pilots towards the end of season five (neither being picked up to series) and fell under the trope PoorlyDisguisedPilot. Each featured a main cast member playing a new character:

* SpinOff: The series had two proposed spin-offs, both aired as backdoor pilots towards the end of season five (neither being picked up to series) and fell under the trope PoorlyDisguisedPilot:
** The backdoor pilot for the proposed ''Almost Family'' had Charles travel to visit the car wash owned by Lillian's sister Sally, which is in danger of closing.

* RomanceOnTheSet: By most reports, Scott Baio and Nicole Eggert dated towards the end of the show's run (by this point, Eggert was barely a legal adult, although not more than a year or two older than her character Jamie, who was still in high school in the final season).

* TheOtherDarrin: Jill Pembroke was originally played by Julie Cobb in the first season, however the role was recast with Lisa Donovan for the character's final appearance in the second season premiere "Amityville" (the first episode of the syndication run). It's odd when you consider that Michael Pearlman reprises his role as Jason Pembroke in that same episode.

* HeyItsThatGuy!: MegRyan played a rival that was critical of Charles' child-rearing techniques (while being interviewed for a position in Charles' nanny agency) in "Charles 'R' Us".
** The guy who Stan and Jill oh, so mistakenly thought was Lila's date in "The Wrong Guy" was [[Series/{{Friends}} Chandler Bing]].
** PaulWalker and JerryOConnell have played the respective love interests of Jamie and Sarah.
** Buddy's sister Bunny in "The Buddy System" was [[Series/TheFactsOfLife Natalie]].
** Melanie (Jamie, Sarah and Adam's youngest cousin in the episode "Fair Exchange") later became [[TheTorkelsons Dorothy Jane Torkelson]].
** [[HappyDays Ralph Malph]] won the lottery instead of Walter (thanks to Charles) in "It's a Blunderfull Life".
** [[LeaveItToBeaver Wally Cleaver]] played Adam's music teacher who crashed their house party (and whom Sarah took in, mistakenly believing he was a homeless man, whom he looked a lot like) in "Summer Together, Fall Apart".
** Well-known character actor Charles Nelson Reilly played the leader of a religious cult in "Cure for the Common Cult".

* DawsonCasting: Averted with most of the pre-teen/teenage cast members, the oldest of any of the Powell or Pembroke children in the series (in real life) was Nicole Eggert (born in 1972), who was never more than a year at the very least than her character Jamie.
** Played straight with Scott Baio and Willie Aames, who were in their mid-20s (although, it is assumed that Charles and Buddy are supposed to be college freshmen in the first season); the year-and-a-half gap between seasons one and two left Baio and Aames still playing college students (presumably seniors, though the slowed timeline and the lack of mentions of their characters' advancement in school make this unclear) while they were right around 30 in the fifth and final season (both were born in 1960, the series ended in 1991).

* An Aesop: In addition to giving advice (which, most of the time, is pretty sound), Charles occasionally drops life lessons to his charges; these instances, in a sense, make him TheObiWan of the show.

** Buddy's sister Bunny in "The Buddy System" was [[TheFactsOfLife Natalie]].

Seconds later, Sarah threatens to Adam that she will tell Walter about "that stash of girlie magazines" hidden under Adam's mattress if he breathes a word to anyone about her reasons in entering the contest.

Walter throwing Buddy out results in the other young people in the diner leaving as well (Walter issued an ultimatum to all the diner's patrons earlier in the episode, to act with decorum or go home, which led to everyone leaving).

** The guy who Stan and Jill oh, so mistakenly thought was Lila's date in "The Wrong Guy" was [[Series/Friends Chandler Bing]].

* AnnoyingYoungerBrother: Douglas in the CBS run.

* GirlOrGuyOfTheWeek: Most of the characters, except for the parents of Charles' charges, has had at least a couple of these.

** Played straight with Scott Baio and Willie Aames, who were in their mid-20s (although, it is assumed that Charles and Buddy are supposed to be college freshmen in the first season); the year-and-a-half gap between seasons one and two left Baio and Aames still playing college students (presumably seniors, though the slowed timeline and the lack of mentions of their characters' advancement in school make this unclear) while they were right around 30 in the fifth and final season (both were born in 1960, the series didn't end until 1991).

** Played straight with Scott Baio and Willie Aames, who were in their mid-20s (although, it is assumed that Charles and Buddy are supposed to be college freshmen in the first season); the year-and-a-half gap between seasons one and two left Baio and Aames still playing college students (presumably seniors, though the slowed timeline and the lack of mentions of their characters' advancement in school make this unclear) while they were right around 30 in the fifth and final season (both were born in 1960).

** Played straight with Scott Baio and Willie Aames, who were in their mid-20s (although, it is assumed that Charles and Buddy are supposed to be college freshmen in the first season); the year-and-a-half gap between seasons one and two left Baio and Aames still playing college students (presumably seniors, though the slowed timeline and the lack of mentions of their characters' advancement in school make this unclear) while they were right around 30 in the fifth and final season.

* DawsonCasting: Averted with most of the pre-teen/teenage cast members, the oldest of any of the Powell or Pembroke children in the series (in real life) was Nicole Eggert (born in 1992), who was never more than a year at the very least than her character Jamie.

* DawsonCasting: Averted to some degree in the first season as Scott Baio and Willie Aames were in their early 20s, but the year-and-a-half gap between seasons one and two left them playing college students (presumably seniors, though the slowed timeline and the lack of mentions of their characters' advancement in school make this unclear) while they were approaching their late 20s in the fifth and final season.

** In the season three episode, "Berkling Up is Hard to Do," [[note]]in which Buddy hosts a show on Copeland College's radio station[[/note]] Sarah tries to help a nervous Adam with his issues fitting in in junior high and being the smallest kid in school, an inversion of something Sarah has dealt with, as she is taller than most of the kids ("including the boys", Sarah's words exactly) in ''her'' junior high school class; Adam exclaims to Charles his interpretation that Sarah has volunteered to pound on anyone who picks on him. Charles then gives Sarah his own reinterpretation of the phrase "guys don't make passes at girls in molasses":

''Charles In Charge'' was a DomCom that starred Scott Baio as a college-age "nanny" to the children of the families he lived with in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It debuted in 1984 in Creator/{{CBS}}, with the original premise of Charles being employed by the Pembrokes, headed by working parents Jill and Stan (the parents were played by Julie Cobb and eventual sitcom director James Widdoes) who hired a caretaker to handle their kids due to their work schedules – teenage daughter Lila (April Lerman), smart middle brother Douglas (Jonathan Ward) and youngest child Jason (Michael Pearlman). Charles held the responsibility of handling his charges' problems, often finding ways to fix them before the episode's end; even still, the children/teenagers he takes care of sometimes are quick to overreact when a plan of Charles to help them goes wrong. When the series originally aired on CBS, the show debuted the same season as another DomCom about a man employed by a family Who'sTheBoss (although that series featured a male housekeeper instead of a male nanny). In turn, he attempted to balance a normal social life alongside his college courses and role as a live-in caretaker. His best friend was Buddence "Buddy" Lembeck (Willie Aames), a girl-crazy underachiever; Charles' love interest in the series was the fair-haired Gwendolyn Pierce (Jennifer Runyon).

In 1986, a year after CBS cancelled the series following its first season due to insufficient ratings to earn a sophomore season, Universal Television (then owned by MCA) partnered with series co-creator Michael Jacobs (later known for creating ''MyTwoDads'', ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' and most notably, ''BoyMeetsWorld'') and original production company Scholastic Productions to revive the series for first-run syndication, relaunching in 1987. The show was then retooled for the second season, with only Baio and Aames returning; five new cast members were added (Sandra Kerns as married mother-of-three Ellen Powell, whose husband was serving in the Navy; James T. Callahan as Walter Powell, a gruff but well-meaning war veteran and grandfather of the three Powell kids; Nicole Eggert as Jamie Powell, the popular, boy crazy eldest child; Josie Davis as smart but self-conscious Sarah Powell; and Alexander Polinsky as Adam Powell, the youngest child and only boy of the three Powell offspring). It was during the syndication run that Buddy's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn personality begins to change]], increasingly [[TookALevelInDumbass decreasing in intelligence]] to the point of being TooDumbToLive. The show's primary setting remained in the house inhabited by the Pembrokes, who leased the house to the Powells after the Pembrokes "moved to UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}" in the season two premiere "Amityville". The show became successful under its new syndicated format, and ran for five additional seasons, ending in 1991.

** In the season three episode, "Berkling Up is Hard to Do," [[note:in which Buddy hosts a show on Copeland College's radio station]] Sarah tries to help a nervous Adam with his issues fitting in in junior high and being the smallest kid in school, an inversion of something Sarah has dealt with, as she is taller than most of the kids ("including the boys", Sarah's words exactly) in ''her'' junior high school class; Adam exclaims to Charles his interpretation that Sarah has volunteered to pound on anyone who picks on him. Charles then gives Sarah his own reinterpretation of the phrase "guys don't make passes at girls in molasses":

** In the season five episode, "Buddy Flips a Disc," [[note:in which Buddy hosts a show on Copeland College's radio station]] Buddy prods Charles into rapping on-air (accompanied by Buddy beatboxing), leading to this line rapped by Charles:

** In "La Cage Aux Fools," Sarah, Jamie and Adam wear costumes to go see the ''RockyHorrorPictureShow''[[note:Charles was supposed to take them, since neither could go to the R-rated film without an adult, but he and Buddy ended up trapped in a cage after Buddy stated to Sarah that Charles would protest of animal testing at Copeland College by locking himself in the cage]]. Jamie wears a maid's outfit, which for the most part is rather conservative, other than the fact it came with garterbelt hosiery (visible only by the straps that are visible in the short distance between the costume's skirt and the hose).

* SheCleansUpNicely: Lila in a couple of season one episodes, particularly the latter half of the pilot. Sarah in the later seasons, particularly in the episodes "Judge Not Lest Ye Beheaded", "The Boy Who Loved Woman" and "The Organization Man"[[note:In the latter two episodes, Sarah models herself after Jamie (which Adam quips in "The Boy Who Loved Woman", "it's the invasion of the Jamie clones!"); she first made herself over to attract a boy – who is also interested in Jamie – in "The Boy Who Loved Woman" and as part of a plan thought up by Jamie to prevent the possibility of another boy Sarah is interested in from being attracted to Jamie by having both sisters adopt the other's personalities for the night in "The Organization Man"]].

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Ben Stein pops up as Stanley Willard, an ObstructiveBureaucrat in various settings, who first appears in season two's "The Loan Arranger"[[note:In which Charles' student loans are up for renewal, leading him to worry he won't be granted an extension and be forced to drop out of school and resign from his job]]. [[spoiler:In his penultimate appearance in the season five episode "Daffy Doc," it is revealed that Stanley is a mental patient, as he "mentally promoted himself right out of reality" to jobs he couldn't get promoted to quickly enough on his own merits.]]

''Charles In Charge'' was a DomCom that aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1984-5 and and then in syndication from 1987-90, starring Scott Baio as a college-age "nanny" to the children of the families he lived with -- first the Pembrokes and later the Powells (after the show moved to syndication and the Pembrokes "moved to UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}").

* AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption: In the first episode, as Mr. Pembroke is trying to give Charles some dating advice before driving Mrs. Pembroke to work:
-->"I'm sure the last thing you want to hear is..."
-->"Honey, I'm late."

* BeautifulAllAlong: Enid in the episode "A Date with Enid"
* CanCrushingCranium

* ExpositoryThemeSong: The tune very finely summarizes the show itself, and the feelings of the children he looks after, saving many a fan from having to explain the program, so much as just show a friend the intro.

* {{Flanderization}} Buddy Lembeck; he starts out as a quasi-BookDumb guy who thinks more about girls than studying, but as the series goes on, Buddy's intelligence substantially decreases.
* IdentityAmnesia

* NoNameGiven: Charles and his mother. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the final episode ("Did you ever wonder why he had no last name?").
* {{Retool}}: Upon moving to syndication, Charles' employers the Pembrokes were replaced by the Powells. Also, a prominent recurring role was added for Charles' mother Lillian, as portrayed by Ellen Travolta.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Series/TheNanny'' to this show, as both shows feature broadly similar premises (fish-out-of-water becomes a nanny) and by way of Pamela Eells O'Connell, who wrote for both shows (and co-executive produced the later series for a time).

** The NickAtNite DomCom ''Series/SeeDadRun'' is a Spiritual Successor to ''Charles in Charge'' in that both feature Scott Baio as someone finding themselves in a new role as father figure.
* SweaterGirl: Some of the ladies Charles dates.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Ben Stein pops up as an ObstructiveBureaucrat in various settings.

** Australian pop singer Samantha Fox, portrayed Samantha Steele, who Charles becomes involved with [hidden: before finding out she's married, which turns out to be a fake story to create publicity and controversy] in "Paper Covers Rock".

** Australian singer Samantha Fox, portrayed Samantha Steele, who Charles becomes involved with [[hidden: before finding out she's married, which turns out to be a fake story to create publicity and controversy]] in "Paper Covers Rock".

** Also ''Series/{{Jessie}}'' on Creator/DisneyChannel being a DistaffCounterpart, which was created by Pamel Eells O'Connell.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Series/TheNanny'' to this show, as both shows feature broadly similar premises (fish-out-of-water becomes a nanny) and by way of Pamela Eells O'Connell, who wrote for both shows (and co-executive produced the later show).

* BeautifulAllAlong (Enid in the episode "A Date with Enid")

* CosmeticCatastrophe (Happens when Lila attempts a makeover on her friend Enid in "A Date with Enid")

* DumbassHasAPoint (Buddy, who does this to ''himself'').

* {{Flanderization}} (Buddy Lembeck)

* NoNameGiven (Charles and his mother. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the final episode ("Did you ever wonder why he had no last name?")).
* {{Retool}}: Upon moving to syndication, Charles' employers the Pembrokes were replaced by the Powells. Also, a prominent recurring role was added for Charles' mother Louisa, as portrayed by Ellen Travolta.
* SpecialGuest (Olympic gymnast Julianne [=McNamara=] and [[http://www.samanthasmith.info/ Samantha Smith]], the girl who wrote to Yuri Andropov, in "Slumber Party")
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Series/TheNanny'' to this show, as both shows feature broadly similar premises (fish-out-of-water becomes a nanny) and by way of Pamela Eells O'Connell, executive producer of both shows.
** Also ''Series/{{Jessie}}'' on Creator/DisneyChannel being a DistaffCounterpart, also created by Pamel Eells O'Connell.

* SweaterGirl (Some of the ladies Charles dates.)

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs (Ben Stein pops up as an ObstructiveBureaucrat in various settings).

** The new Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} DomCom ''SeeDadRun'' is a Spiritual Successor to ''Charles in Charge'' in that both feature Scott Baio as someone finding themselves in a new role as father figure.