Guys, how’s this for a sure fire pick-up line? Appropriate even in these #YouToo days. Margaret Colin is a fine actress. You’ve seen her on many things I’m sure. Recently you've seen her in THE GOOD WIFE, NURSE JACKIE, and GOSSIP GIRL. She’s been in INDEPENDENCE DAY, THREE MEN AND A BABY, and SOMETHING WILD among other features. In the late 80s and early 90s she was very hot in television. She starred in such series as FOLEY SQUARE, LEG WORK, SIBS, and CHICAGO HOPE.
Her first series was FOLEY SQUARE, a comedy that aired on CBS in 1985 right after THE MARY SHOW, which was our series (and could have easily been entitled FOLLY SQUARE). Neither show fared well and by early ’86 they were both cancelled.
Flash forward a few months. I’m on vacation at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara. Hanging out at the pool. And I see Margaret Colin. Actually, every guy saw Margaret Colin. (Back in those days we were still allowed to look.)
At one point we’re both in the pool. I swim up to her and with a panache that the Fonz himself would approve of, say, “Hi there. Y’know, you and I have something in common.” She rolls her eyes. Another schmuck. “What?” she asks warily.
I said, “You and I both killed Wednesday night for CBS”.
She was not expecting that. She laughed, I explained who I was and we had a nice chat bitching about the network.
A few years later she starred in SIBS for ABC and I did punch-up for that series. She told me that was the greatest pick-up line she had ever heard (and I’m sure she’s heard many).
So fellas, as a public service I offer the line to you. Best of luck with it. Let me know how it goes... with both women and HR.
Well, that's not a line that I'd be using on Margaret Colin again any time soon. She's age appropriate for me (although I have to admit I had never heard of her until now) but her politics, especially when it comes to abortion, is not something I could abide. That and her marriage since 1988 but I digress.) When I saw she's an honorary board member of Feminists for Nonviolent Choices, who think there's a life at conception so therefore no abortion no matter what because that's violence on another human being, that was all I needed to know.
ReplyDeleteWish you hadn't told me that, I always liked her. Shucks.
DeleteWho are we to protect if not the most defenseless among us?
DeleteWho are we to protect if not the most defenseless among us?
DeleteI had a massive crush on Margaret back then, and was always disappointed that none of her shows ever caught on. My VHS recordings of "Leg Work" original broadcasts survive to this day. Wikipedia states that it it was rerun on TV Land, but my memory keeps telling me it was Lifetime. Or maybe it was Foley Square that was rerun on Lifetime?
ReplyDeleteAnd to follow up -
ReplyDeleteCBS moved you both to Tuesday night ... and together you tried to kill that night as well.
I wondered if this was similar to William Golding's Starlet By The Swimming Pool anecdote and if Mrs Levine would call in the middle of the conversation.
ReplyDeleteFun story!
ReplyDeleteI once met one of the celebrities on my "List of 5", Amy Pietz. Sadly, it turned out I was not on her "List of 5"
ReplyDeleteFriday question: Does your wife read your blog?
ReplyDeleteUgh. Regardless, I remember her from the early 80s, on "As the World Turns." There are some recent interviews with her on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI always got Margaret Colin mixed up with Margaret Whitton.
ReplyDeleteI'm drawn more to Margaret Colin knowing that she's pro-life, but especially because she's a fellow Long Islander. She grew up in Baldwin, one hamlet (town) west of Freeport, where my parents grew up and I lived through 6th grade*. She even went to Hofstra University, the same college as my dad. (He later went there for law school.) The Baldwin Wikipedia entry lists other "notable people." If your opinion on Margaret has soured, you'll be happy to know she is not on the list of notable people. I was surprised to see Jack Tramiel (tra-mell) of Commodore lived there, as did Martha Wash.
ReplyDelete*I lived in Baldwin Harbor (south part of Baldwin) until I was 8 months old.
Always been a huge fan. Also saw her on Broadway a number of times, most notably as Jackie Kennedy, whom she absolutely nailed.
ReplyDeleteLet's not turn this into a debate on abortion, shall we? Abortion comments from here on -- pro or con -- will not post.
ReplyDeleteKen - Are you able to block the Deb, Dave, Dingus boob ? They contribute nothing to the discussion here.
DeleteGreat suggestion on the pickup line, only… does it have to be CBS?
ReplyDeleteMargaret Colin -- now that's a name I haven't heard in quite some time! When "Foley Square" and "Mary" were paired in 1985, she must have been thrilled to "team" with a legendary fellow leggy Long Islander in native Brooklynite MTM. (Margaret's pins were pretty good too, although promo pics for "Leg Work" turned out to be more sizzle than steak.) Does she still act, presumably in character roles, since she's now roughly 60? (Beth Broderick, best known as the lovely, magical Aunt Zelda on "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," still gets her share of work at about that age.)
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, Ms. Colin turned 64 on May 26.
DeleteAs the Fonz would say (if memory serves), I was always warm for her form
ReplyDeleteGreat story
@Chris - The Fonz was paraphrasing Sig Rumann, if memory serves.
ReplyDelete@kent
ReplyDeleteAmy Pietz might be best known as the bar manager who cheated on her husband with Michael Scott on The Office.
@Ken
It was a great pick-up line, but you didn't tell us if it worked or not...
For me she's best remembered from the lobby at Finian's Wake in Redondo Beach. She was going by Mary-Amy that night.
DeleteChris 6/04/2022 10:29 AM
ReplyDeleteAs the Fonz would say (if memory serves), I was always warm for her form
maxdebryn 6/04/2022 11:04 AM
@Chris - The Fonz was paraphrasing Sig Rumann, if memory serves.
Max, you might want to ask for another server.
as any school child could tell you that:
“Women fight for Conrad Veidt,
Laddies stiffen for Pamela Tiffin, and
Siegfried Rumann liked to do men.”
Nary a summer passes without the sound
of young girls reciting that refrain when
jumping rope.
@Ted - Thanks for the correction. It made me guffaw.
ReplyDeleteAmy Pietz was magnificent as Annie Spadaro, Caroline's actress neighbor on Caroline in the City. She was nominated for a SAG award. Her mom was played by the hilarious and underrated Candace Azzara. She was also in a memorable episode with David Hyde-Pierce who was a tax auditor she sneaked into a performance of Cats. I think there are episodes of CITY on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteShe was in the 7th season finale of Mom, not much of a role but maybe could have been more if Anna Faris hadn't left the show.
I've loved her since she was on As the World Turns. She brought a lot of personality and comedy to her role, and the chemistry between her and her on-screen love interest Justin Deas crackled, guess why. He also has great comic timing, and the two of them together were so much fun to watch. As far as I know, they're still married in real life. I've watched pretty much everything she's done since, and none of it really did her justice.
ReplyDeleteFamous quote by Sig Ruman, playing Colonel Ehrhardt in the Lubitsch classic To Be or Not to Be:
ReplyDeleteJosef: Her husband is that great, great Polish actor, Josef Tura. You've probably heard of him.
Colonel Ehrhardt: Oh, yes. As a matter of fact I saw him on the stage when I was in Warsaw once before the war.
Josef: Really?
Colonel Ehrhardt: What he did to Shakespeare we are doing now to Poland.
I remember insisting to Heidi that SIBS sounded way to much like SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome—a poor name for a sitcom. At Upfronts we didn’t have any clips from the show, but we did have a very classy documentary-style presentation touting the pedigree and provenance of SIBS. It was quite impressive. Then in the Fall… the debut.
ReplyDeleteWatched a BRILLIANT episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" tonight. "Edie Gets Married." I remember viewing in in 1975, when I was thirteen. With my family. We were all crying. It is still so emotional. Sitcom gold. In 2022, I was watching it, with my ex Mexican boyfriend. I only say that, because he has had limited exposure to historic television. He was SO affected by it. To me, that implies a magnificent script.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the next two nights, Fathom Events is presenting "The Wizard of Oz," at a theater near you! If you haven't seen it on "the big screen," NOW is your chance. I have. And it is epic. It's always as wonderful as you remember. DAMN, that movie is amazing.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us who spend a lot of our TV viewing time on retro channels, one of the comments above reminded me.
ReplyDeleteYou so rarely see more than one person on a series who is north of 40 or 50 years old. I know we don't matter to advertisers but I'd love to see a few more series led by someone like a Margaret Colin or anyone in her age group. Shirley Booth had killer ratings for a few seasons. Lucy did alright, too. Eddie Albert was 60 when Green Acres debuted.
Margaret Colin was great in THE DEVIL'S OWN.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised no one mentioned her terrific work in the science fiction series "Now and Again." It's on YouTube to watch for free and it's great.
ReplyDeleteI liked Once and Again. Can't say that I remember Now and Again.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Margaret Colin, so this post was informative to me.
Apropos of nothing Ken, except that you're a big music fan, thought you might like this song from jazz singer Veronica Swift. The whole album is terrific but this is quite something.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M84bYs8mQFY
@benson
ReplyDeleteShirley Booth is terrific as the multitalented domestic engineer/world-class buttinsky Hazel. I've been watching the show on Roku and love it. There are a lot of wonderful older actresses in the "Hazelverse," including Maudie Pricket, Norma Varden, Louise Lorimer, Dee J. Thompson, and
Lurene Tuttle (who played Ted Baxter's agent on the Mary Tyler Moore Show).
And there's a gallery of petulant manbaby executives appearing throughout the series, topped by the clownish and neurotic Mr. Griffin (Howard Smith). It must have been some kind of release for company men who had to deal with these creeps at the office to have them sent up in a satirical way on the show.
Maplewood Murders with Paula Pell is on Roku now and it's bawdy and fun. I want to see Girls5Eva soon.
I always think of Margaret Colin as Jane Watson in the funny, clever The Return of Sherlock Holmes. That was before giving Holmes a female sidekick became hip and fashionable.
ReplyDeleteCount me as another who has loved Margaret Colin (and her husband, Justin Deas) ever since the two were Tom and Margo on "As the World Turns." And her successor, Hillary Bailey Smith, wasn't too bad either.
ReplyDeleteWhen Foley Square was on the air, Margaret Colin was the first person I ever heard "The Five Stages of an Actress' Career" applied to:
ReplyDeleteStage 1 -- Who's Margaret Colin?
Stage 2 -- This role needs Margaret Colin.
Stage 3 -- We need a Margaret Colin-type.
Stage 4 -- We should get a young Margaret Colin.
Stage 5 -- Who's Margaret Colin?
I believe the original of that went back to Mary Astor.