a closeup of Shelley
from a promo pic from the 1980s
Shelley Hack starred in her third TV series Jack and Mike in 1986. The series was initially called Jackie O'Shea; and Shelley was going to play the title role. It was to be about a high-profile journalist's life, a working woman who had a supportive husband waiting at home - a kind of role reversal situation. But the story was further developed and the husband was given a bigger role. It was retitled Our Kind of Town and Tom Mason, Shelley's co-star in the TV movie Kicks, came aboard to play Jackie's husband Mike Brennan. Shelley and Tom had great chemistry and the series was going to take advantage of that. When it aired, it was retitled Jack and Mike and both characters got equal billing.
a fun newspaper encircle-the-word game/puzzle
about Jack and Mike, 1986
Jack and Mike was about a busy married yuppie couple who lived in Chicago and found it hard to find time to be with each other. Jackie Shea was the star columnist at a fictional newspaper called The Mirror. Jackie's husband, Mike Brennan, was a successful restauranteur who owned and managed three restaurants around Chicago. The series aired right after the hit Moonlighting and debuted to decent ratings. It also received decent reviews, with a few scathing writeups here and there. The series looked like it was in for a long run when it was suddenly canceled to the disappointment of fans.
Shelley in a promo pic from the 1980s
