Hail to the Chief (TV series)

Hail to the Chief is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from April 9 to May 21, 1985. It centered on the President of the United States, portrayed by Patty Duke. The series was created by Susan Harris, and was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions. It featured one of the few recurring gay characters in a 1980s television series (Randy, the Secret Service Agent portrayed by Joel Brooks).

Synopsis
Hail to the Chief is similar in style to the TV sitcom, Soap (from the same producers as this series), in that it was a comedy with open-ended storylines that parodied a soap opera. Patty Duke had the starring role as the President, Julia Mansfield. The show focused on President Mansfield's attempt at balancing her political career with raising her family.

Cast and characters

 * Starring
 * Patty Duke as President Julia Mansfield
 * Ted Bessell as First Gentleman Oliver Mansfield


 * Also starring
 * Herschel Bernardi as Secretary of State Helmut Luger
 * Joel Brooks as Randy
 * Quinn Cummings as Lucy Mansfield
 * Murray Hamilton as Senator Sam Cotton
 * Taliesin Jaffe as Willy Mansfield
 * Dick Shawn as Ivan Zolotov
 * Maxine Stuart as Lenore
 * Glynn Turman as United Nations Ambassador LaRue Hawkes
 * Ricky Paull Goldin as Doug Mansfield (eps. 2–7)
 * Chick Vennera as Raoul (eps. 2–5)
 * Raechel Donahue as Announcer (eps. 2–7)


 * Recurring guest stars
 * John Vernon as General Hannibal Stryker
 * Richard Paul as Reverend Billy Joe Bickerstaff
 * Jonna Lee as Muffin Stryker

Critical response
John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote in his review: "Hail to the Chief features Patty Duke as the first female President of the United States surrounded by assorted misfits in a format that is intended to be, as they like to say, zany and irreverent. This one's sour, to say the least. [...] As for Hail to the Chief, there hasn't been anything so furiously wacky on prime-time television since Soap got a broad cross-section of protest groups worked up almost a decade ago - even before the show went on air. Not surprisingly, both series come out of Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions. Susan Harris is the creator and writer. Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas are the producers. It is perhaps a sign of the times that Hail to the Chief, which goes several kinky steps beyond the outrageousness of Soap, is making its debut without so much as a raised eyebrow, even though the advertisements for the equal opportunity offender promise that you'll say, I thought they couldn't do that on TV."

Ratings
Hail to the Chief, which featured Patty Duke as the President, got off to a very good start, attracting 32% of the available viewers and winning its time period for the April 9 premiere. But it drew only 24% the following week, 23% for the third episode and 22% for the fourth.

Cancellation
Hail to the Chief was canceled in May 1985 after seven episodes. ABC continued to air repeats of the series through July 20, 1985.