About a year ago, Tony Danza expressed some strong resistance to rebooting the megahit sitcom that he starred in during the ’80s, “Who’s the Boss?”
The actor told “Good Day New York” that he has “never been a big fan of these reboots.” Danza added that he also wouldn’t be interested in reviving the show because it would be missing a key cast member, Katherine Helmond, who died on Feb. 23, 2019.
“[But] no, we can’t reboot [‘Who’s the Boss?’] because we’ve got no Katherine Helmond, that’s why not,” Danza stated at the time. “That’s it.”
Well, as is the case with so many classic TV shows that hold the potential for a nostalgia-laden renaissance, resistance is futile. A sequel series to “Who’s the Boss?” is now officially in the works, as Danza and his costar, Alyssa Milano, confirmed via social media on Aug. 4.
Danza tweeted about the news with an adorable photo of himself with Milano from the show’s heyday, featuring the then-popular feathered bangs that some of us might have coveted with all our hearts:
Excited to bring The Micelli family back to television! #WhosTheBoss pic.twitter.com/LWQYStybMa
— Tony Danza (@TonyDanza) August 4, 2020
The ABC sitcom ran from 1984 to 1992 and followed Danza’s character, Tony, a former Major League Baseball player, after he and his young daughter, Samantha (Milano) moved from Brooklyn to a wealthy Connecticut suburb so Tony could work as a live-in housekeeper for Angela (Judith Light), a divorced advertising executive. Helmond played Angela’s mother, Mona.
Fans of the ’80s family comedy will be delighted to learn that the Micelli family is reuniting in the sequel series that sees Tony and daughter Sam living together once again — 30 years after the end of the show’s original run. In the rebooted series, Samantha is a single mom, and she’s back to living in the house where the original series was set.
Light and Danny Pintauro (who played Angela’s son, Jonathan) are reportedly “supportive of the new series,” according to Deadline. Milano and Danza will serve as executive producers on the show, as will legendary sitcom guru Norman Lear.
Milano has enthusiastically posted about the news on Instagram and Twitter, writing that “the time is right to tell the story of where these amazing characters are today.”
ANNOUNCEMENT
I AM SO EXCITED!#WhosTheBoss is coming back!!!
I’ve wanted to share this for so long and now I can!
We feel the time is right to tell the story of where these amazing characters are today. Can’t wait to share their stories with you. So happy. https://t.co/vhAM3OB21S
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) August 4, 2020
Over the years, Danza and Milano have apparently kept in frequent contact, and Danza expressed his tremendous admiration for his comedic costar during that “Good Day New York” interview from September 2019.
“This is somebody who wants to leave the world a little better than she found it,” Danza said. “[Y]ou get this opportunity, you get this platform, this job, you get this career. I feel this tremendous — there must be a reason. I gotta do something good with it.”
“I don’t want to just sit around, and I think she feels the same way, that she feels like she should do something,” the actor concluded.
On her end, Milano has been completely on board with the idea of a “Who’s the Boss?” reboot for years — as long as the story they tell is worth telling.
“It would have to be a really good script, though,” Milano told Page Six in 2015. “I think [Samantha] would have kids and Tony would be a grandfather.”
Looks like Milano is getting her wish — along with all the “Who’s the Boss?” fans who have been longing to see the Micelli family together again onscreen!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
