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“The Two of Us”
by Cary O'Dell
Like “All in the Family” and “Sanford & Son” before it, the 1980s TV sitcom “The Two of Us,” has its origins overseas.
In England, this tale of a stuffy English butler working for an “uncouth” American woman was known as “Two’s Company” and starred the irrepressible Elaine Stritch as - guess what? - the American. It aired for four seasons on the UK’s ITV network.
In 1981, it got re-envisioned and brought to the USA (CBS, to be exact) as “The Two of Us” starring Peter Cook and Mimi Kennedy.
Though the name got changed (to of course avoid confusion with the already airing series “Three’s Company”), the general premise of the program stayed the same.
In the American version, Mimi Kennedy starred as Nan Gallagher, a rather easy-going NYC talk show host who, though quite good at her job, could not quite manage her house or her teenage daughter so ably. Hence, this required the assistance of some live-in help. And so, one day, arriving on her doorstep, was one Robert Brentwood, a most posh and most correct English butler, played by the already-legendary British comic Peter Cook.
The set-up of the series is a bit of a classic. Years later, Fran Drescher’s “The Nanny” would switch up the accents but keep some of the premise the same. Meanwhile, all the domestics of TV’s earlier eras - “Hazel,” “Benson,” “The Farmer’s Daughter,” et.al. - laid the groundwork for this 1980s twosome.
These various servant-led series are often a comment on, among other things, the American class system. For all these small-screen bosses, though they often have the money and supposedly the know-how to be well-off enough to be able to afford full-time, usually live-in help, they often lack the common touch and common sense it takes to handle their day-to-day lives and even raise their own progeny.
“The Two of Us,” though adhering to many of tenets of this sub-genre, differed a bit from the norm in its execution. For example, as indicated by the title, the focus on the series was firmly on BOTH of the leads, rather than just one. Thus, both were allowed to be laugh-getters; no one was the “straight man.” Both were free to have foibles. And there was the occasional hint of an opposites-attract, workplace romance, a type of relationship that prefigures such later-day workplace flirtations that would be found on “Cheers,” “Moonlighting,” and a host of other primetime programs.
“The Two of Us” began on the air on April 6, 1981, as a mid-season replacement slotted into CBS’s then powerful Monday-night sitcom line-up. It debuted the same night as the TV version of “Private Benajmin” with Lorna Patterson and Eileen Brennan.
“Two” gave American audiences its first high-profile, regular exposure to Peter Cook. As mentioned, in the UK, Cook was already a household name renowned for being every bit the equal of comedic partner Dudley Moore, among other accomplishments. Not long after the program launched, Cook - weary of many by-the-book US comedies of the era--admitted that he shot the pilot for the show mainly because he never thought the show would get picked up. But, once underway, Cook greatly warmed to the endeavor. He said, “It’s an amusing spoof of all haughty British butlers going back to Arthur Treacher. I’ve studied them all in my preparation for the series.”
When the show debuted, critics practically fell all over themselves in their praise of the droll Cook and seemed surprised that such a gifted individual would do a “US sitcom.” On critic at the time compared it to Meryl Streep jumping onboard the “Love Boat.” Cook’s arrival on the small screen in the States seemed to be part of a proper-gentlemen theme occurring around that time. Wilford Hyde-White was part of the cast of ABC’s “The Associates” in 1979 and Ron Moody bowed on the US airwaves in “Nobody’s Perfect” in 1980.
Critics also quickly became fond of the “sharp and entertaining” and “perfectly cast” Kennedy. Cook, too, quickly became enamored of his American co-star. He said, “[I]t’s a delight working with Mimi Kennedy. Probably because of her improvisational theater training, she is much like the young ladies with whom I work back home. I am, shall we say, an idiosyncratic actor, but I’ve never been able to upset her aplomb with my little tricks.”
Often reviewers just sang the praises of both of them with one writer saying that they harkened back to the witty and urbane film comedies of the 1930s and another saying they were the best new duo on the small screen since Lucy and Desi!
For Kennedy, by the time “Two of Us” started, she was already a welcomed TV presence having been one of the trio of talented women (alongside Debbie Allen and Ellen Foley) on NBC’s “3 Girls 3” in 1977. Then, she co-starred with Stockard Channing as Channing’s uppity sister, Victoria, on the 1979 sitcom “Stockard Channing in Just Friends” and then as part of the rep company on NBC’s attempt to revive the variety show format with “The Big Show” in 1980.
Rounding out the initial cast for “The Two of Us” was actress Dana Hill as Nan’s daughter Gabby and Oliver Clark as Nan’s agent, Cubby.
“The Two of Us” aired four episodes in April of 1981 and CBS then picked it up for its fall line-up.
The series returned in October of 1981, the same month that Cook and Kennedy made the cover of America’s “TV Guide.”
When the series returned, prolific character actor Tim Thomerson was added to the cast as Nan’s obnoxious on-air co-worker Reggie Cavanaugh (a name intended as a send-up of the real-life Regis Philbin).
Twenty more episodes aired between October of ’81 and February of 1982.
Throughout its lifespan was short, during its time on the air, the two leads got to share a fun bit of repartee with much of the comedic crux being as old as “The Odd Couple’s” slob vs. neat freak and as timeless as British formality vs. American…whatever. For example: when Brentwood first enters Nan’s townhouse, he asks, “Madame, are you preparing for a rummage sale?”
But Nan won’t apologize nor act like she cares. Later, when a frankfurter turns up in the sofa cushion, Nan nonchalantly says, “Oh, that’s where I keep them.”
Though Brentwood could be biting with his comments, Nan could give it back. Once Brentwood boasted, “There was a woman who threatened to throw herself under a train if I left England.”
To which Nan replies, “Mothers can be difficult.”
Throughout the series Brentwood worked out often as part of his beloved British Butler’s Soccer League and he often gambled with the household food budget. (“Please…that’s practically what it’s for!”) Brentwood also, very early in the series run, got to oversee his first American slumber party! Oh, those lucky girls!
A later installment has Nan dog-sitting her agent’s pup. Brentwood does not care for the creature and, to get the pooch out of the way, pops it in one of the metal garbage cans in the back. Oops, is today trash day?! (Though all ends happily, don’t tell PETA about this episode.)
Unfortunately, despite the good will around the series and its positive ratings in its springtime head-start, when the show returned in the fall, CBS seemed to lose faith in the series and eventually moved it from its Monday slot to Wednesday (with CBS deciding to keep “Private Benjamin” on Mondays) and the “Two” lost much of its audience. After airing the fall-winter allotment of 20 additional episodes, CBS cancelled the series.
Sadly, since the series’ run, two of its stars have left us. Peter Cook returned to England after the end of his state-side series and continued to enjoy a prolific, media-hopping comedy career. Unfortunately, a lifelong smoker, Cook’s habit greatly affected his health and he died in 1995 and the tender age of 57.
Dana Hill, sadly, suffered from diabetes. But while her illness stunted her growth, it did nothing to dimmish her talent. Along with her prolific work on series TV, she gave memorable performances in a 1982 TV version of “The Member of the Wedding” and in the acclaimed 1984 TV movie “Fallen Angel.” On the big screen, she had roles in “Shoot the Moon,” “Cross Creek,” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” Later, she became a popular talent for cartoon voices. But her diabetes curtailed her career and her life. She slipped into a diabetic coma in May of 1996 and died two months later. She was 32 years old.
Thankfully, Kennedy, Thomerson, and Clark are still very much with us. Kennedy has gone on to become a beloved TV mainstay thanks to her work on “Homefront,” “Dharma & Greg” and “Mom,” among other credits. Her memoir is titled “Taken to the Stage: The Education of an Actress.” It is a very good book and, if you haven’t read it, well, as Brentwood might say, “I suggest you get on.”
In 1981, it got re-envisioned and brought to the USA (CBS, to be exact) as “The Two of Us” starring Peter Cook and Mimi Kennedy.
The set-up of the series is a bit of a classic. Years later, Fran Drescher’s “The Nanny” would switch up the accents but keep some of the premise the same. Meanwhile, all the domestics of TV’s earlier eras - “Hazel,” “Benson,” “The Farmer’s Daughter,” et.al. - laid the groundwork for this 1980s twosome.
The series returned in October of 1981, the same month that Cook and Kennedy made the cover of America’s “TV Guide.” 