Arnie
S01E09: Let Them Eat Cookies
Arnie becomes involved in industrial espionage (TV Guide)
Overview
Arnie is a television sitcom that ran for two seasons on the CBS network. It stars Herschel Bernardi, Sue Ane Langdon, and Roger Bowen.
Bernardi played the title character, Arnie Nuvo, a longtime blue collar employee at the fictitious Continental Flange Company, who overnight was promoted to an executive position. The storylines mainly focused on this fish out of water situation, and on Arnie's sometimes-problematic relationship with his well-meaning but wealthy and eccentric boss, Hamilton Majors Jr.. Because he still held his union card, Arnie could negotiate tricky management/labor situations that no one else could. Arnie's surname was presumably a pun on nouveau riche, and possibly also on Art Nouveau.
In addition to Bernardi, Bowen, and Langdon, cast members included Del Russel and Stephanie Steele as Arnie's son and daughter, Richard and Andrea; Elaine Shore as Arnie's secretary, Felicia; and Herb Voland as sour-tempered executive Neil Ogilvie.
In its first season, despite being the lead-in to The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Saturday nights and winning an Emmy nomination as best comedy series, Arnie received only fair Nielsen ratings. For its second season, in order to increase its viewership, CBS made a major cast change in the show's format. Charles Nelson Reilly joined the cast as Randy Robinson, a TV chef who called himself "The Giddyap Gourmet," apparently a reference to The Galloping Gourmet.
Episodes
S01E02 Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Arnie's first executive paycheck brings a sinking stomach, thanks to a premature spending binge (TV Guide)
S01E03 Change of a Lifetime
New executive Arnie kindles resentment among his old blue-collar buddies (TV Guide)
S01E04 Wife vs. Secretary
Arnie's bragging about his secretary nets him a jealous wife (TV Guide)
S01E05 The Friendship Gap
Arnie chooses his replacement as loading foreman - from among his old buddies (TV Guide)
S01E06 An Urge to Splurge
Arnie helps an elderly couple face compulsory retirement (TV Guide)
S01E07 Chance of a Lifetime
Lil heads a picket line to fight pollution - at Arnie's company (TV Guide)
S01E10 Trouble in the Air
Boss Majors' latest pet project: on-the-job exercising for his executives (TV Guide)
S01E11 One Strike and You're Out
""Arnie has no heart for the task at hand: negotiating a new union contract with his loading dock buddies. The new executive is still a union man."" (TV Guide)
S01E12 For Whom the Whistle Blows
A swank San Francisco hotel sets the scene for Arnie's first major sales meeting (TV Guide)
S01E13 Why Spy?
Office protocol calls for Christmas gifts worth $100; the Nuvos are giving homemade cookies (TV Guide)
S01E14 To Buy or Not to Buy?
Boss Majors has a new housing development, and the Nuvos feel pressure to buy a home (TV Guide)
S01E15 Second Honeymoon
S01E16 You Can't Lose for Winning
Lady Luck visits Arnie in a poker game - the big loser is his boss Majors (TV Guide)
S01E17 Hello, Holly
The executive Arnie replaced is in town; rumor is he wants his old job back (TV Guide)
S01E19 Citizen Pain
Arnie must be in Nassau on the same day the Nuvos have planned a second wedding for Julius and his wife (TV Guide)
S01E20 Stand Up for Julius
Arnie gets symptoms of an ulcer on the eve of his bowling league semifinals (TV Guide)
S01E22 Feud for Thought
Arnie's furtive behavior causes suspicion at the office (TV Guide)
S01E23 My Sister's Keeper
Arnie canvasses the company to find dates for his attractive sister (TV Guide)
S01E24 No Harmony in Trying
An audition for the fourth voice in the company's all-male quartet produces a winner who's a surprise to all (TV Guide)
Cast
Sue Ane Langdon
Charles Nelson Reilly
Randy Robinson
Herschel Bernardi
Roger Bowen
Herb Voland
Del Russel
Elaine Shore
Tom Pedi
