31:
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This show presents the afterlife as a steam bath in which recently deceased souls continue to obsess about the same petty concerns that obsessed them in their lives. Ultimately, they are cast into another room offstage which is represented by a dark void by God, the steambath's Puerto Rican
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as Morty - Also known as God and Morte, Morty is an eccentric Puerto Rican who finds comfort in the menial labor of being a steambath attendant. He frequently takes detours from custodial duties and speaks commands into his computer to both do good for and wreak havoc upon the lives of
280:
to create a script. Greenburg loosely adapted the play and added the character of
Blanche to serve as a "romantic interest" for Morty, although their relationship was never explored by David Pollack and Elias Davis, who wrote the rest of the episodes. It was picked up by
333:
Neil J. Schwartz & Patrick Spohn as The Two Young Men - Reprising their roles from the PBS production, these unnamed flamboyant gay characters make quips in unison and randomly break into a song-and-dance number (which
Schwartz also choreographed) in every
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When beloved baseball player Chuck
Skerrit is criticized for throwing his life away with drugs, Morty conjures scenes from Skerrit's past to prove to everyone that his life wasn't easy. Meanwhile, a reverend finds it impossible to believe that Morty is God.
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Morty agrees to let Tandy attend a gala that he'd been anticipating, but the mood is ruined when former coworker Paul, who had an affair with Tandy's wife, unexpectedly arrives at the steambath. Meanwhile, Davinci rekindles an old romance with a
271:
Producer Joe Byrne caught the 1973 PBS television production and saw the potential for a weekly series, so he convinced an executive at Warner Bros. to option the rights. All three
American TV networks loved it and were keen on keeping
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Meredith throws a surprise party to cheer up Morty, which only upsets him more, so he decides to destroy the Earth. Meanwhile, Blanche schemes to take advantage of the services of a recently deceased plastic
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concedes
Showtime has voiced some concern, resulting in some skillfull editing especially of nude scenes. "There's some nudity, but not total nudity and no frontal nudity," said Pollock.
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as Rodney Tandy - A P.R. executive with a 6-year-old daughter who recently got divorced, Tandy was excited about beginning a new chapter of his life, only to discover it was cut short.
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Janis Ward as
Meredith - A free-spirited young woman who lacks sexual hangups but has never had an orgasm, Meredith was electrocuted in her bathtub while attempting to adjust her TV.
835:
830:
820:
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In addition to Perez, Neil J. Schwartz & Patrick Spohn returned from the PBS adaptation as the flamboyant songsters simply known as The Young Men, and
302:. As with the play and PBS special, profanity and nudity were included, but this caused concern at Showtime, which insisted on whittling some of it out.
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as God, but Byrne refused to tone down the material so the project sat in limbo until 1983 when Warner Bros. commissioned author
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In this reworked version of the play, Rod Tandy finds himself in a steambath and grapples with the discovery that he's dead.
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directed three of the six episodes. Although created as a standard sitcom, the show was shot on a closed set and included a
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Morty collects taxes, feuding comedy partners arrive, and Tandy is smitten with a horny woman until he learns how she died.
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A combative radio psychologist tries to analyze Morty. Meanwhile, Meredith has her first orgasm with a
Russian cosmonaut.
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751:
524:(Juanita), David Eric (Scott), Ted Chapman (The Drunk), Tanya Fenmore (Tandy's Daughter), Leslie Morris (The Waiter)
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attendant. The characters who originated in the play are allowed to stay as various others pass through each week.
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Rita
Taggart as Blanche - Morty's assistant is an original character created for this series.
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Allen
Williams as Gottlieb - Morty's personal butler who caters to his every frivolous whim.
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as
Davinci - A crotchety old cab driver with a penchant for speaking in sexual innuendo.
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and featured three cast members and the director from the 1973 PBS TV adaptation.
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that presented the afterlife as a steam bath. It was adapted from the
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686:(The Fan), Rob Monroe (The Bartender), Paul Tuerpe (The Player),
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Libby Boone (Barbara), Charles Lanyer (Walter Ackerman)
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1980s American LGBTQ-related comedy television series
682:(Chuck Skerrit), Michael Prince (Reverend Fallows),
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724:"Showtime Backstage "Steam Bath" August (1984)"
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397:(uncredited - adapted from his play)
771:"Steaming Out of Limbo for Pay-TV"
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734:from the original on 2021-12-28.
600:David Pollock & Elias Davis
495:David Pollock & Elias Davis
846:American LGBTQ-related sitcoms
769:Kay Gordella (July 31, 1984).
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184:Joe Byrne/Falrose Productions
750:Steve Knoll (July 8, 1984).
552:September 27, 1984
498:September 20, 1984
448:September 13, 1984
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660:October 11, 1984
16:1984 TV series or program
696:I'm Just Wild About Harry
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530:You Make Me Feel So Young
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466:Richard Brestoff (Yuri),
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594:"Madison Avenue Madness"
424:Just One of Those Things
651:"A Preacher and a Jock"
470:(Dr. Blossom Jennings)
826:1980s American sitcoms
96:Theme music composer
775:New York Daily News
638:Lullaby of Broadway
437:"A Visit from Yuri"
306:Cast and characters
143:Executive producers
395:Bruce Jay Friedman
382:"In the Beginning"
371:Original air date
252:Bruce Jay Friedman
181:Production company
168:George Spiro Dibie
50:Bruce Jay Friedman
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632:(Frankie Melnick)
628:(Wanda Blakely),
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581:Ain't We Got Fun?
546:Burt Brinckerhoff
386:Burt Brinckerhoff
296:Burt Brinckerhoff
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730:. 2019-10-21.
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619:Guest Stars:
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492:Terry Hughes
476:I Got Rhythm
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441:Terry Hughes
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416:Guest Stars:
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365:Directed by
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245:Off-Broadway
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173:Running time
160:Jerry Madden
110:Artie Butler
86:Rita Taggart
22:
677:Guest Star:
575:(Dr. Eglin)
549:Elias Davis
512:prostitute.
445:Elias Davis
368:Written by
300:laugh track
150:Elias Davis
130:of episodes
810:Categories
705:References
684:John Mahon
664:1984-10-11
630:Dick Shawn
622:Alex Rocco
607:1984-10-04
556:1984-09-27
502:1984-09-20
452:1984-09-13
404:1984-08-16
312:Jose Perez
274:Jose Perez
267:Production
221:1984-10-11
211:1984-08-16
138:Production
119:of seasons
89:Janis Ward
70:Jose Perez
46:Created by
796:Steambath
325:Al Ruscio
232:Steambath
207:August 16
146:Joe Byrne
78:Al Ruscio
23:Steambath
732:Archived
566:surgeon.
520:(Paul),
354:overall
345:Episodes
334:episode.
288:Brothers
283:Showtime
241:Showtime
198:Showtime
157:Producer
106:Composer
66:Starring
56:Based on
728:YouTube
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359:season
315:humans.
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362:Title
357:No. in
237:sitcom
41:Sitcom
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473:Song:
421:Song:
38:Genre
801:IMDb
248:play
799:at
352:No.
250:by
239:on
128:No.
117:No.
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