Editing Category:Mr. T and Tina

'''Mr. T and Tina''' was an American sitcom and a spin-off of '''Welcome Back, Kotter''' starring [[Pat Morita]] and Susan Blanchard that aired for five episodes on ABC from September 25 to October 30, 1976. It is one of the first television shows to feature a predominantly Asian-American cast. The series was a ratings flop and was cancelled after only five aired episodes.

[[Pat Morita | Morita]] starred as Taro Takahashi, a widowed Japanese inventor who is sent with his family (an uncle and sister-in-law) from Tokyo to set up the Chicago branch of his employer, Moyati Industries. He hires scatterbrained and free-spirited American Tina Kelly (Susan Blanchard) as the live-in governess for his children, Sachi (June Angela) and Aki (Gene Profanato).

Mr. T.'s inventions included underpants with a built-in transistor radio and the "flash in the can," a coin-operated sunlamp in a restroom.

==Season 1==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Episode
! Air Date
! Episode Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| S1.E01
| Unaired
| [[Pilot (Mr. T and Tina) | Pilot]]
| Taro Takahashi
| The pilot tested poorly so it was never aired. 
|-
| S1.E02
| 1976.10.16
| [[The Americanization of Michi (Mr. T and Tina) | The Americanization of Michi]]
| Taro Takahashi 
| No comments
|-
| S1.E03
| 1976.10.02
| [[What Makes Sumo Run? (Mr. T and Tina) | What Makes Sumo Run?]]
| Taro Takahashi 
| With Kinji Shibuya
|-
| S1.E04
| 1976.09.25
| [[Tina Really Truly Gets Fired (Mr. T and Tina) | Tina Really Truly Gets Fired]]
| Taro Takahashi 
| Fourth show produced but first shown. The Sweathogs make a Cameo,
|-
| S1.E05
| 1976.10.30
| [[I Thought He'd Never Leave (Mr. T and Tina) | I Thought He'd Never Leave]]
| Taro Takahashi 
| This was the final episode aired.
|-
| S1.E0x
| Unaired
| Reading, Writing and Rice
| Taro Takahashi 
| Produced but never broadcast.
|-
| S1.E0x
| 1976.10.23
| Guess Who's Coming to Live
| Taro Takahashi 
| Taro and Tina meet for the first time. It is a disaster.
|-
| S1.E0x
| Unaired
| I'm O.K., You're All Bananas
| Taro Takahashi 
| Produced but never broadcast.
|-
| S1.E0x
| Unaired
| Where Is My Wandering Matsu Tonight?
| Taro Takahashi 
| Produced but never broadcast.
|-
|}

===Trivia===

Series creator James Komack has previously created The Courtship of Eddie's Father (with a Japanese American nanny), Chico and the Man, and Welcome Back, Kotter. Komack has said that Chico and the Man was conceived to have Chicano and Japanese American leads. When that proved difficult, he saved the nisei character for another time.

The first pilot episode was filmed with [[George Takei]] in the lead role, but when ABC decided to target a less sophisticated audience at an earlier timeslot, a new pilot was ordered with Pat Morita in the lead.

[[June Angela]] and [[Gene Profanato]], the actors portraying the children, were real-life siblings from an Italian father and Japanese mother. After the show was cancelled, they were hired for the successful 1977 Broadway revival of The King & I starring Yul Brynner and Constance Towers. Angela played Tuptim and Profanato played the King's son, Prince Chulalongkorn.

Morita went on to portray the father of a character played by June Angela again (with Cloris Leachman as her mother) in the televised presentation of the play Blind Alleys, which aired in 1985.




[[Category: Television]]