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Saturday, February 1, 2025
The Sit-Com Strip: The Main Character Strip
There are several ways that sit-com writers incorporated male strippers into their scripts. Usually, it was through sending their female characters to a male strip club. In most cases, they'd hire actors, and sometimes actual strippers, to play the male exotic dancers. Other times, like with these three examples, they found a way to ensure some of the main male characters, ended up on stage.
The Jeffersons
Put It On
Original Airdate: November 1980
Helen and Jenny talk Louise into a girls' night out at a local strip club. But Tom and George disapprove and go after them - with unexpected results.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Striptease For Two
Original Airdate: May, 1992
Vivian trusts Wil and Carlton to take her heirloom bracelet to the jewelry shop to have it reset. Before they do that, Carlton tells Wil about a hot insider tip he got on a company's stock, and they can make thousands. They don't have the money to buy the stock, but the boys figure the appraised value of the bracelet will easily cover its cost. So, they take it to the pawn shop and sell it, then buy the stock. That night, they watch a news report where the company has announced bankruptcy.
Uh oh - now not only have the two lost money on a bad tip, they don't have any money to buy back Vivian's bracelet. The two scramble for ways to raise the $500 needed to buy back the bracelet ... and decide the best option is to take jobs as male strippers. When they accept the job, they are told they will be the main entertainment at a party for a socially elite organization - unknowing that Hillary and Vivian are among the guests.
The Drew Carey Show
The Dog And Pony Show
Original Airdate: November, 1997
Mr. Wick is roped into dog-sitting Mrs. Louder's prized show dog; it's very valuable because of its unique coat and breeding capabilities. Wick ditches the responsibility by leaving the dog with Drew without consulting him. Kate drops the dog off at Drew's and doesn't have time to leave a note. When Drew gets home, he assumes the dog is a stray and takes it to the vet. Kate returns later and is horrified to find the dog shaved and neutered.
I never watched much of The Drew Carey Show, but I first learned of this episode when I did an Actors & Skin post on Diedrich Bader, which you can check out HERE:
The Sit-Com Strip: Married With Children
Married With Children
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Original Airdate: October, 1987
While Al and Steve are occupied by a female employee who fixes the Bundy's refrigerator, Peggy invites Marcy to a strip club with the girls.
I want to say I never watched much Married With Children, and didn't when it originally aired. There was a time however, repeats seemed to be on all the time., and I think I've seen more episodes of the comedy than I remembered. In the season 2 episode, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Peggy and Marcy head to a strip club, and given how the show pushed limits, the strippers showed a bit more than most of the other sit-coms featured.
Chris Whalley
Doug Donatelli
Like my previous piece on The Facts of Life, the strippers on Married With Children were also played by Chippendales dancers, including Chris Whalley and Doug Donatelli, who you see in the clip below. I've featured both in previous Chippendales posts you can check out HERE: & HERE:
The Sit-Com Strip: Night Court: 1987 & 2023
Night Court
Ladies Night
Original Air Date: Oct, 1987
'After Roz dumps her boyfriend, Christine tries to make friends in order to comfort her. The two end up sharing a wild night at a male strip club.'
I can't get into the Night Court revival. As much as I like Melissa Raunch, the show just isn't that good. I do remember watching episodes from the original run of the show, but was pretty young, and didn't really appreciate, (or get) the humour. I do remember my parents thinking it was too 'adult' for me to watch, so it was usually turned off if my parents came into the room.
It was interesting to me, that both versions of the show featured male strippers Interesting, that both shows, the eighties version, and the current version, didn't bother to add the actors who played the strippers into the credits. I tried to find the cuties name below, but although he had a name, Jack Steele, the actors name wasn't listed anywhere that I looked.
Night Court
Ready Or Knot
Original Airdate: March, 2023
A case involving a wedding dress sparks Abby's desires to be restart planning her wedding.
The Sit-Com Strip: TGIF
I didn't watch much of ABC's TGIF when the comedy blocks were really big in the late 80's and 1990's. If I was home on Friday night, CBS and Dallas were usually on, as that's what my parents were watching. I also wasn't really drawn to most of the ABC shows, Urkel annoyed me, as did Balki and most of the other characters that inhabited the ABC line up.
I did have a short-lived crush on Sasha Mitchell when he was on Dallas and Step by Step, but that evaporated after hearing about his charges for domestic violence. I was surprised then, when searching for sit-com strippers to find at least two examples from the TGIT teen oriented line-up.
Family Matters
Walk on the Wild Side
Original Airdate: March, 1993
Laura is desperately looking to shed her "nice girl" image, so she and Maxine obtain fake IDs and go to a male strip club for a wild evening on the town. Problem is, Harriette, Rachel and Estelle are there too (having their own "evening out") ... and Urkel, who gets wind of Laura's plans and in trying to stop her, accidentally performs onstage.
Of course, like most storylines on Family Matters, the show wasn't complete without a comedy bit from Urkel. It was inevitable that Urkel would tag along to the club and eventually end up on stage.
I don't remember ever watching an entire episode of Step by Step, but do remember thinking actor Brandon Call was pretty cute. Although there was a 'sort of' strip in the episode, the hotter scene for me was the audition, where there other hotties taking it off for a spot on the main stage.
Step by Step
The Half Monty
Original Airdate: February 1998
J.T. and Rich need money to take the girls on a ski trip, so they decide to make some quick money as male strippers. Carol and Frank are asked to share their marriage secrets with a group at their church.
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