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Kate & Allie
1984 - 1989 5.9 (22 votes) 6 Seasons
Genres
Comedy Drama Family
Networks
CBS
Created By
Sherry Coben

Kate & Allie

FORGET YOUR PROBLEMS... THEIRS ARE FUNNIER!

Overview

Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984, to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS to commit to a full season in the fall of 1984. The series was created by Sherry Coben.

Key Crew

Producer: Bernie Orenstein, George Barimo, Bill Persky, Bob Randall

Top Cast

Susan Saint James
Susan Saint James

Katherine "Kate" McArdle

Jane Curtin
Jane Curtin

Allison 'Allie' Lowell

Allison Smith
Allison Smith

Jennie Lowell

Frederick Koehler
Frederick Koehler

Charles "Chip" Lowell

Ari Meyers
Ari Meyers

Emma McArdle

Seasons

Season 2 poster
Season 2 (1984)

No overview available.

22 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Baby
1984-10-08

Excited about a co-worker's pregnancy, Kate seriously considers having another baby.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Landlady
1984-10-15

Kate and Allie face a rent increase when their landlady realizes that there are two families occupying a one-family dwelling.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Diner
1984-10-22

Allie finally has someone who wants to buy her house... but, is she willing to sell?

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Lottsa Luck
1984-10-29

Kate's elderly aunt Ofelia dies, leaving behind a cryptic will

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Candidate
1984-11-05

Allie offers to be a campaign volunteer to a would-be congressman

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Kate and the Plumber
1984-11-12

Kate's relationship with plumber Ted runs hot and cold -- the only thing they can agree on is a mutual attraction.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: The Safe Caper
1984-11-19

After finding a 55-year-old love letter hidden in the wall, Kate and Allie try to rekindle the romance by mailing the letter.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Pirates
1984-11-26

When Jennie and Emma vie for the same part in the school production of ""Pirates of Penzance,"" their friendship is tested along with their acting skills.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Country Dog
1984-12-03

Chip's birthday causes problems when Charles goes overboard on presents.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Piano Lesson
1984-12-10

When Max leaves for L.A., Emma inherits the piano, complete with a handsome piano teacher who soon has the whole family interested in ""music"" — but who strikes a note of discord when he becomes more interested in Kate than in his pupil.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: New Year's Eve
1984-12-31

Dateless, Kate and Allie spend New Year's Eve at home together.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Back to School
1985-01-07

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Charles Marries Claire
1985-01-14

Allie has new hope of a reconciliation after ex-husband Charles becomes suddenly attentive because he has broken up with girlfriend Clare.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: If She Goes, I Go
1985-02-04

Despite Kate's doubts about working with her friend, Allie gets a job at Sloan Travel and quickly fouls up so completely that she is fired—whereupon Kate threatens to quit.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 15: Rear Window
1985-02-11

Chip's imagination could get him into trouble when he ""witnesses"" a murder from his bedroom window.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 16: Lovely Rita
1985-02-18

Guess who's coming to dinner? Kate's potential step-mom. But when Kate takes an instant dislike to her father's fiancée, he calls the engagement off.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 17: Sons and Lovers
1985-02-25

Allie begins dating Steven, a cute graduate student, but resists getting serious. Her doubts about age-differences are confirmed when she accidentally meets Steven's mom at his apartment and finds she has more in common with her that with her son.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 18: Author, Author
1985-03-04

Kate and Allie's crush on an old college professor is rekindled when each imagines she is the inspiration for his recently published romantic novel.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 19: Dead Cat
1985-03-11

Kate brings a stray kitten home.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 20: The Bad Seed
1985-03-18

Jenny falls into bad company but finds herself all alone at the police station.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 21: Goodbye, Plumber
1985-04-08

Ted proposes to Kate.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 22: My Dinner With Kate and Allie
1985-05-06

After Allie's ex Charles remarries and Kate breaks up with Ted, they try to cheer themselves up with a lobster dinner.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 3 poster
Season 3 (1985)

No overview available.

23 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: The Reunion
1985-09-30

Invited to their 20th high school reunion, Kate & Allie both go determined to settle old scores.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Make Mine Mink
1985-10-07

Kate "inherits" a lovely mink coat from a lover's quarrel and finds that it changes her lifestyle.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Whatever Happened to Romance?
1985-10-14

Allie's advertisement for part-time work ends up in the Personals Column by mistake, and the return mail brings such bizarre responses that she is appalled.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Evening in Paris
1985-10-21

On a free trip to Paris, Allie comes down with the flu while Jennie plans a rendezvous with a Frenchman.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Picture of An Affair
1985-10-28

Allie receives devastating news about her father.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: The Maltese Chotchke
1985-11-04

Max sends Emma a mystery for her birthday, and Allie is soon in on it, catching up the family in an exotic world of menacing art dealers and homicidal maniacs.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Allie's Affair
1985-11-11

Allie's new professor from Ohio begins visiting on ""academic business"" but their relationship soon heats up, with surprising results.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Thanksgiving
1985-11-25

Kate and Allie invite a crowd for Thanksgiving dinner/disaster.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Max's New Girlfriend
1985-12-02

Kate is worried that Max's new girlfriend, Darla, is turning Emma's head in a glamorous world of celebrities and premieres.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Kate's Friend
1985-12-16

Kate's old friend Betsy visits, and far outstays her welcome.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Dress to Kill
1985-12-23

Invited to the Russian Ballet, Kate searches frantically for the perfect dress. She finds it, but it costs more than Kate and Allie's combined monthly salaries.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Dark Victory
1986-01-06

Trapped in her dentist's office during a blackout, Kate makes a date with a stranger—and then discovers he's black.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Grand Central Station
1986-01-13

A singing telegram provided more information than intended when Kate and Allie referee another family's dispute.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: Chip's Divorce
1986-01-20

Chip feels he's being replaced when he finds out Charles' girlfriend Claire is pregnant.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 15: Too Late The Rebel
1986-01-27

A protest rally gives Allie a taste of what she missed during the '60s, while for Kate it's a march down memory lane.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 16: The Croissant Jungle
1986-02-03

Jenny gets more than she bargained for in her new job: a bonus of sexual harassment.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 17: Privacy
1986-02-10

Allie jumps to conclusions when she discovers Kate with a former boyfriend who's now married.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 18: High Anxiety
1986-02-17

Allie is so afraid of appearing on a talk show about modern families that she follows Kate's advice and goes to a hypnotist.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 19: Thank You, Shirley
1986-02-24

Kate and Allie are both attracted to the same lawyer.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 20: Ted's Back
1986-03-03

Faced with a lonely Saturday night, Kate calls former boyfriend Ted on the pretense of returning a sweater.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 21: Chip's New Friend
1986-03-17

Chip befriends a mentally handicapped man who's homeless and invites him to sleep in the basement.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 22: Winning
1986-04-07

Emma questions the importance of being elected class president when she learns that her opponent has leukemia.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 23: Late Bloomer
1986-05-12

Kate takes a cooking class given by a woman who also teaches acting, and studies psychology when not arguing with her mother about moving home.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 4 poster
Season 4 (1986)

No overview available.

25 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: The Trouble With Jason
1986-09-22

Brash new transfer student Jason Crawford takes a shine to Emma and won't accept her lack of interest in him, muc h to the amusement of the rest of the family -- particularly when he showers her with gifts of food deliveries. Jennie advises Jason to back off a little, but he shows up again with flowers -- for Jennie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Found Money
1986-09-29

Kate and Allie find a wallet containing $5,000 in cash, and the grateful owner gives them a $500 reward -- so Kate challenges Allie to spend her half on something frivolous she will enjoy.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: The Bully
1986-10-06

Chip's scrapes are not all due to baseball: he's being bullied at school, but is embarrassed to admit that his tormentor is an apparently sweet little girl.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: General Hospital
1986-10-13

Kate's surprise birthday party is delayed while she recuperates in hospital, so Allie checks in to keep her company.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Rx for Love
1986-10-20

His bedside manner's irresistible, so Kate's in love...

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Halloween II
1986-10-27

The kids plan a Hallowe'en haunting -- and so do their mothers.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Jennie and Jason
1986-11-03

Jennie's boyfriend is pressing her to go all the way, so it looks like time for the dreaded mother-daughter conversation.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Bringing Up Charles
1986-11-10

Allie gives Charles a lecture on responsibility when Chip and Jenny feel he has abandoned them for his new family, but Allie discovers that Clare and baby Stuart aren't seeing much of him either.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Emma's Coming Out Party
1986-11-24

Kate and Allie recall their most famous fight, seventeen years ago -- during which Kate went into labour.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Stage Mother
1986-12-01

Jennie gets a chance to sing on cable tv -- if she can leap the hurdle of Allie's excessive enthusiasm.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: The Goodbye Girl
1986-12-08

Allie and her boss Eddie are stranded in the studio by a blizzard -- and must keep the show on the air.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Dates of Future Past
1986-12-15

While Kate's away on a business trip, an ex-football player makes a play for Allie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Gift of the Magi
1987-01-05

Kate and Allie buy each other third-anniversary gifts, but with an O. Henry twist: Allie pawns her camera to buy a shade for Kate's antique lamp, while Kate sells the lamp to buy Allie a camera lens.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: Allie's Graduation
1987-01-26

Allie triumphantly graduates from college, but learns that a diploma isn't necessarily a ticket to the job of her choice.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 15: Upstairs, Downstairs
1987-02-02

Jennie arranges a date for Emma. Kate and Allie interfere in Jennie and Emma's latest spat.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 16: Emma Goes to College
1987-02-09

Emma has to decide between going to college at Columbia or UCLA.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 17: Allie and the Three Wolves
1987-02-16

At a singles bar, Allie becomes the target of a bet between three men on the prowl.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 18: Louis in Love
1987-02-23

Kate tries to explain love to Louis. The family meet Louis' mentally challenged friend Catherine, who clearly has a crush on him, so Kate tries to persuade Louis that a woman really likes him and he assumes she means herself.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 19: Reruns
1987-03-02

Allie dreams that she and Kate are characters in ""I Love Lucy."" Mail forwarded to Allie from Connecticut contains a perfumed envelope addressed to Charles, marked ""Private and Personal"". Struggling to keep from opening it, Allie falls asleep in front of late night TV and dreams herself and Kate into old episodes of ""I Love Lucy"" and ""Mary Tyler Moore.""

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 20: Send Me No Flowers
1987-03-16

The arrival of a bouquet with a card saying simply ""I'm sorry"" prompts everyone to recount how badly they were treated that day -- by clerks, bank personnel, schoolmates -- and to speculate on who exactly is apologizing to whom.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 21: Dearly Beloved
1987-03-23

To dig up enough money for a date, Chip opens a pet cemetery. To finance a date, Chip starts a pet-burial service.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 22: Allie on Strike
1987-04-06

Fed up with constant demands from the kids and Kate, feeling overworked and unappreciated, Allie goes ""on strike"" -- then gets worried when the others start to cope without her.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 23: Kate Quits
1987-05-04

Emma asks Kate to talk about her work as a travel agent for her school's ""Women's Career Day,"" causing Allie to realize how much she hates her job at the movie theatre -- until it burns down. When Kate encourages her to find a job she wants, such as the museum job she has always wanted, Allie finds a position in the gift shop of the ""Museum of Contemporary Art"" -- and her happiness causes Kate to realize how much she hates her job. Kate's talk turns into a rant about needing the courage to quit her job & then Allie arrives home to say the Museum's sprinklers causes a flood and she is unemployed too.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 24: Charles' Dinner
1987-05-11

Kate and Allie cater Charles' and Claire's anniversary dinner.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 25: Allie's Surprise Party
1987-05-18

Kate and Allie deal with a demanding socialite's children's party, while Allie mopes over turning 39 without a surprise party of her own.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 5 poster
Season 5 (1987)

No overview available.

24 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Fathers and Sons
1987-09-14

An adult Chip brings his son Scotty to the old apartment just before the building is demolished, and reminisces a bout the day he tried to conceal a report card showing that he had failed science -- convincing him that he would always be a failure.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: The Dilemma with Emma
1987-09-21

Everyone has date problems: Emma has no date for the college dance and must go with Jennie and Jason & Jennie breaks up with Jason & Chip has a fight with Amy upstairs because she was drooling over Matt Dillon in the movie they rent ed & Kate's chiropractor date was a self-centered bore; and Allie has no date at all. But Emma meets someone at the dance: a self-satisfied, arrogrant business major whom everyone else hates on sight.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Kate and the Cab Driver
1987-09-28

Kate falls for a charmingly immature cab driver who quit his job as an advertising executive to become an artist -- and who wants Kate to go on impulse with him to Brazil.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Mother's Day
1987-10-05

Resenting their daughters' taking them for granted, Kate and Allie guiltily invite their own mothers to lunch -- then regret it when Marion won't stop talking about the food on her recent cruise and Joan won't stop criticizing Allie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Return of Bob Barsky
1987-10-12

After an unexplained absence, Bob Barsky calls to ask Allie out on a date and explains that he is moving back to New York -- and is also seeing someone else.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1987-10-19

While Kate and Dennis take old clothes to Goodwill, Allie rushes across town to pay Jennie's school fees but l eaves her purse in the cab and is left stranded and penniless in Manhattan.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Ted's Fix-Up
1987-10-26

Kate and Angela fix each other up with each other's ex's, with surprising results.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Jennie's New Deal
1987-11-09

After Emma moves into the college dorm, Jennie feels cooped up living at home under her mother's rules.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Hired Wife
1987-11-16

Businessman Bill Connor comes with a startling proposition: he is single but pretending to be married in order to get a promotion, and needs someone to impersonate his non-existent wife at an executive party. Kate agrees with his stand against prejudice on the basis of marital status but then is attracted to a man who turns out to be a co-worker of Bill's. The whole farce turns out to be moot when Bill finds out the promotion was never available--the company was hiring from the outside--and quits, leaving Kate free to date Peter.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: The Marriage Counselor
1987-11-23

Bob suggests marriage counseling for the constantly bickering Kate and Allie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: The Triangle Has Four Sides
1987-12-07

Kate tries to date Dennis and Peter at the same time, but they end up finding out about each other. When Kate realizes they don't care she is dating other men, she dumps them both and starts dating Ted, again.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: The Nightmare Before Christmas
1987-12-14

Kate, Allie and the kids work overtime buying and wrapping gifts for the catering clients, promising themselves a skiing vacation in Vermont & but the apartment is burgled and everything stolen, leaving them to redo it all in just one day.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: A Catered Affair
1988-01-04

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: The Band Singer
1988-01-11

Jenny is enamored of classmate Howard, auditions for his band, and becomes their lead singer. While the band rehearses in their basement, Kate and Allie give combined French dinners/French lessons and worry that Jenny is not willing to be herself with Howard -- to the point where she won't admit she can't rollerskate when he wants her to sing dressed as a skating '50s carhop.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 15: Almost Married (a.k.a.) And Then There Were None
1988-01-18

Ted invites everybody to his friends' cabin in the Adirondacks, but there's an escaped convict on the loose.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 16: My Day with Paul Newman
1988-02-01

A film crew asks to use the front door in a movie

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 17: The Namath of the Game
1988-02-03

Sports nut Kate becomes Joe Namath's personal assistant

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 18: The Mouse That Squeaked
1988-02-08

Kate and Allie panic when Chip's mouse gets loose.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 19: Inside Park Avenue
1988-02-15

Kate and Allie get a taste of how the other half lives---and loves---when they cater a society couple's 25th-anniversary party.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 20: Working Women
1988-02-22

Arrogant businessman Jack Brompton hires the women to cater ""an authentic early American dinner for 24"" at his place in the Hamptons, then repeatedly changes the theme and menu from American Civil War to Victorian England. Jenny's video project on working women for her women's study course prompts fantasy sequences with Kate and Allie as immigrant women in a sweatshop and as WWII factory workers. Inspired to stand up for themselves, they confront Brompton about his shoddy treatment of them -- and discover that he is a henpecked husband only obeying his shrewish wife's whims.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 21: I Don't, I Don't
1988-03-14

Bob is in a panic because he feels he's not ready for marriage---which no one has mentioned.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 22: Bob Smells the Roses
1988-03-21

Shaken by a friend's heart attack, Bob decides he should live life to the fullest---with Allie as his wife. Part 1 of two.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 23: Allie Makes Up Her Mind
1988-03-28

Conclusion. Allie can't decide whether to accept Bob's marriage proposal.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 24: The Clip Show
1988-05-23

The series' 100th episode is celebrated with clips from past shows.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 6 poster
Season 6 (1988)

No overview available.

22 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Wedding Belle Blues
1988-12-11

As the nervous bride-to-be, Allie has nightmares about meeting her fiancé's parents.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Kate Gets Dumped
1988-12-12

While honeymooners Allie and Bob fly off to Hawaii, Bob dumps Kate.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Allie Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1988-12-19

As Allie moves into her new high-rise condo, Kate interviews a potential housemate.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: The Odd Couples
1988-12-26

Kate is saved from perky Haven and Blair when Allie suggests that Kate move in.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Anchor Away
1989-01-09

Watching a tape of Bob's sportscast, Allie notices an attractive anchor making an on-air play for her husband.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Better Never Than Late
1989-01-16

Bob's mother questions Allie about having another child.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Moving On
1989-01-23

Kate spends her 40th birthday wondering what she has done with her life -- and, shaken by Emma's transfer to UCLA, decides to join the Peace Corps.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: A Tree Grows on West 56th Street
1989-01-30

Kate organizes a block association to save a park.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: The Nearlyweds
1989-02-06

Allie's reaction upon hearing that Jennie and her boyfriend are sharing a dorm room doesn't compare with her reaction when they announce they're getting married.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Wanted: One Husband
1989-02-13

A rich neighbour offers a hefty sum to Kate and Allie if they can find her ""a Bob..""

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: What's Love Got to Do with It?
1989-02-20

Kate is dating a man with no charm, looks or personality, yet everyone loves him -- except Kate.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: I've Got a Secret
1989-02-27

Kate has trouble keeping quiet about Bob's broadcasting future.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Chip's Notes
1989-03-06

Chip is so thrilled to be associated with the ultracool Mike Sheridan that he becomes his partner in a scam.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: Love Thy Neighbor
1989-03-13

Trying to mend a broken romance, Kate feigns love in front of the woman who dumped her neighbor -- but he thinks Kate's serious.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 15: Trojan War
1989-03-20

Allie discovers a condom in Chip's pocket.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 16: Loan-some Bob
1989-03-27

Kate and Allie get a loan from Bob.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 17: The Review
1989-04-10

When Allie's sushi draws a bad review from a critic, Kate determines to please the man's palate to gain a retraction.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 18: The Wedding
1989-04-24

Kate reluctantly agrees to accompany Lou to his cousin's wedding.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 19: The Last Temptation of Allie
1989-05-01

While Allie prepares her entry for Cousin Cabot's Country Cookbook contest, Kate cooks up a way to help Lou.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 20: Hockey Team
1989-05-08

Bob lets Chip join the hockey team without consulting Allie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 21: My Boyfriend's Back
1989-05-15

Allie's ex-boyfriend returns to New York for the opening of his off-Broadway play, which turns out to be based on their romance. Unfortunately for Allie, he has eyes only for Kate.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 22: What a Wonderful Episode (a.k.a. It's a Wonderful Episode a.k.a. Kate and Allie Go to Hell)
1989-05-22

A job offer and a $2000 check from a man named Gabriel prompt Kate and Allie to take account of their lives.

Runtime: 30 min

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