ShelleyHack: September 2009

Jack and Mike

Show Type: Comedy/Drama
First original episode telecast: September 16, 1986
Last original episode telecast: March 24, 1987

Premise:

Shelley Hack is Jackie Shea, a well-read, glamorous and dynamic newspaper columnist for a big-city daily, The Mirror. She is always after a hot lead for an expose or just a warm human interest story.

Tom Mason is Mike Brennan who owns and runs two of the city's trendiest clubs and is in the process of opening another.

Two well-heeled yuppies, a journalist and her restaurateur husband, form Chicago's hottest couple. But unknown to most, they are living fast paced lives with their careers often interfering with their plans to find romance. Though they are married and very much in love, their careers keep getting in the way.

Other cast members include: Nora Adler, Jackie’s editor of The Mirror; Anthony Kubecek, Jackie's assistant at The Mirror; Carol, the head waitress at Mike's new restaurant Brennan's Grill; and Rick Scotti, an attorney who appears occasionally.

The series, created by Sara Davidson, was filmed on location in Chicago, Illinois.

Cast:

Shelley Hack as Jackie Shea
Tom Mason as Mike Brennan
Holly Fulger as Carol
Jacqueline Brookes as Nora Adler
Kevin Dunn as Anthony Kubecek
Vincent Baggetta as Rick Scotti

Episodes:

1 Pilot Episode (Sept 16,1986)
Episode Detail:
Jackie is a popular Chicago columnist and her husband Mike is a successful restaurateur. In the opener, Jack goes to bat for a man who claims he was unjustly convicted of rape, while Mike frets over the opening of a new eatery.
Guests:
As convicted man: Gary Cole
As Charlotte: Carol Rossen
As Holly: Rosalind Chao
Councilman Kazan: Dennis Farina

2 Change of Heart (Sept 23,1986)
Episode Detail:
Jackie suspects a heart-transplant patient may have been passed over on the operating list for a man who donated a new wing to the hospital; and an old friend of Mike's makes himself an unwelcome house guest.
Guests:
As Louie: James Sloyan
As Nelson Kimball: Byrne Piven

3 Personal Foul (Sept 30,1986)
Episode Detail:
A college professor is suspended for trying to flunk the school's star basketball player, and Mike is upset that Jackie's covering the story, since it's his alma mater and he's the team's No. 1 supporter.
Guests:
As Andrew Taylor: Anthony Griffin
As Prof. Powell: Marlena Paulette

4 Ready or Not (Oct 21,1986)
Episode Detail:
Jackie finds out she's pregnant just as a radical who's been a fugitive for 14 years agrees to sell her the exclusive rights to his story. Jackie eventually loses the baby.
Guests:
As Matthew Pearson: Steven Keats
As Jerry: Gerry Becker
As Gil: William Dick

5 Quality of Mercy (Oct 28,1986)
Episode Detail:
Mike's friend is on trial for killing his terminally ill wife, which he contends was a mercy killing, but Jackie doesn't believe the man's story.
Guests:
As Malcolm: Stuart Whitman
As Leslie: Lara Flynn Boyle
As Hogan: Tom Irwin

6 High Anxiety (Nov 11,1986)
Episode Detail:
A promising young comedian dies of a suspected cocaine overdose behind Mike's restaurant, and Mike blames himself for not being tougher on the kid when he caught him snorting.
Guests:
As comedian: John Scott Clough
As Sammy: Lycia Naff

As Belinda: Noelle Bou-Sliman

7 Cry Uncle (Nov 18,1986)
Episode Detail:
Mike discovers that the 15-year-old boy his sister abandoned to his care is actually a missing child being sought by his father.
Guests:
As Evan: Chris O'Donnell
As Kathleen: Carol Potter
As Brian Moore: Al Nuti

8 The Mentor (Nov 25,1986)
Episode Detail:
A famous journalist and former college teacher that Jackie greatly admires is cited for contempt of court when he refuses to reveal his sources to a grand jury.
Guests:
As college teacher/journalist: Jack Bannon
As Stan Danzig: Vince Viverito
As Amy: Marcella Tate

9 Taste of Chicago (Dec 9,1986)
Episode Detail:
Jackie gets an exclusive interview with a gangster released from prison after 30 years; and the mayor's office makes Mike an offer he can't refuse.
Guests:
As Jake Tompkins: Cesare Danova
As Artie: Ernie Winstanley
As Manny Pinero: Harry Gorsuch

10 Separate Lives (Jan 6,1987)
Episode Detail:
Mike is unhappy that Jackie is interviewing for a job in New York, and Jackie is upset that Mike's expanding business is taking up all his time (This is the1st part of two episodes).
Guests:
As Alex: Rosemarie Thomas
As Barbara: Tricia O'Neil

11 Come Together (Jan 13,1987)
Episode Detail:
Conclusion: Jackie and Mike find it difficult to cope alone after their separation, especially when the news of their breakup becomes public.
Guests:
As Barbara: Tricia O'Neil

12 Charity Ball (Jan 20,1987)
Episode Detail:
Jackie is puzzled by the odd behavior of a wealthy sorority sister; Mike contemplates his own mortality after a contemporary dies of a heart attack.
Guests:
As Constance: Mary Ann Burger
As Cassidy: Richard Baird
As Maxie: Tom Towles

13 Till Death Do Us Part/Deadly Admirer (Feb 3,1987)
Episode Detail:
Jackie is against Mike getting a shotgun for protection, but she does an about-face when a psychotic secret admirer keeps calling her.
Guests:
As Colleen: Valerie Mahaffey
As Durbin: John Mueller
As Polaski: Chelsie Ross

14 Fire and Ice (Feb 24,1987)
Episode Detail:
Mike agrees to help Federal agents nab a drug kingpin who wants to launder his money by becoming partners in the restaurant business with Mike.
Guests:
As Vaander: Joe Regalbuto
As Damion: Terry Green
As Barrett: Jack Callahan

15 Light My Fire (Mar 3,1987)
Episode Detail:
A time capsule is scheduled to be opened prematurely and Mike isn't the only anxious person who put something inside figuring it wouldn't be seen for a hundred years.
Guests:
As Max: Jeremy Slate
As Reid: Joel Bailey
As Barbara: Tricia O'Neil

16 Spirits in the Night (Mar 10,1987)
Episode Detail:
Mike has to put his mother up and bail his alcoholic father out of jail; and Jackie adjusts to a hard-nosed new editor.
Guests:
As Mike’s mother: Beatrice Straight
As Mike’s father: James Green
As Max Firestone: Mills Watson

17 Dreamland (Mar 17,1987)
Episode Detail:
A city inspector pressures Mike to make Jackie drop her probe of a dance studio that's swindling elderly women out of their life savings; and the Shea home needs expensive repairs.
Guests:
As Johnson: Harry Groener
As Elsie: Fern Persons
As Barney: Alex Sopenar
As Alice: Dorothy Hutton

18 Reluctant Hero (Mar 24,1987)
Episode Detail:
Jackie tries to identify a mystery man who saved a boy's life and doesn't want anything for it---especially publicity; Mike gets investment tips from a street bum.
Guests:
As Stevens: Steve Marachuk
As Dalton: Bert Remsen
As Rachel: Meg Thalken

Comments from the internet:

Nick & Nora: Tom Mason (appears as the slim agent on the TV movie “The Return of The Man from Uncle) and Shelley Hack (“Charlie Girl”, Charlie’s Angels) are terrific as a modern, married couple attempting to mix the opening of his new restaurant, her journalism career and their marriage. It has a charming mix of “The Thin Man” (William Powell & Myrna Loy) mystery and conflict. It was a woefully underrated series with wonderful repartee and great Chicago scenery. Unique and wonderful, if you can get it, watch it!

"They talk like David and Maddie, they argue like David and Maddie, but they're not quite David and Maddie" so starts one TV critic's review of the show. Jack and Mike (which followed the show “Moonlighting” on the ABC sked) set out to give viewers more of the romantic tension associated with the David and Maddie characters. Rather than becoming a pale copy of the more popular “Moonlighting”, however, “Jack and Mike” developed its own character and style and became an endearing companion piece to ‘Moonlighting”. Even their detractors grudgingly admit that Shelley Hack and Tom Mason were very good in the show, with one writer saying that with good TV vehicles; even lesser known actors like Shelley and Tom could shine. The show looked like it was headed for a long run (at least longer than its one season run) but Moonlighting went thru many production problems and delays--and ABC surprisingly axed Jack and Mike?!?

But it was in 1986-87 that Shelley had another shot at stardom and a vehicle to prove that she was a strong lead performer. The series was Jack & Mike with Tom Mason. ABC gave the show a running start by scheduling it immediately after the immensely popular Moonlighting. The ratings for the first few episodes were respectable. "She's a treat," says her co-star, Tom Mason. On the set Shelley earned a reputation for being a kind person, who was like a sister to the crew and staff. When a grip finds a sparrow with a broken wing, Hack calls a vet. When a crewmember can't decide whether or not to end a romance, Hack takes out a pad and says, "Let's make a list of what you like and don't like about the relationship."

Any time you are near her motor home, which is de facto "Jack & Mike Control," (a place so folksy strangers walk up and peer in - the antithesis of the icy sanctuary of the reclusive star), she offers you a chewable vitamin C tablet. "Most star actresses have this veneer - for some reason they need to keep their distance, but not Shelley." recalls an assistant director from the one-time series. "The work is grueling, but Shelley actually makes the 16 hour days fun," says Kim Phillips (Shelley's former make-up artist). About the only thing that might make Hack lose her cool, it seems, is belaboring questions about her past. "Not another article about Charlie's Angels," she moans whenever the subject comes up. "Every interviewer talks to me like I'm back from the dead. I became famous overnight and I hadn't done anything. One day I woke up and my face was on the cover of every magazine in America. If that happens again, at least I will feel like I've done something to cause it."

Awards:

Nan Schwartz
1987 Emmy Award Nominee
Outstanding Dramatic Underscore for a Series
Episode(s): Come Together

Nan Schwartz
1987 Emmy Award Nominee
Outstanding Music and Lyrics
Episode(s): Fire & Ice for the song "This Love’s for Real"