Charles in Charge: Season 04 (1987)

Charles in Charge begins its fourth season on the air -- and its third season in off-network syndication -- with the title character, a now-22-year-old college student, still earning his bread and board as male governess for the three Powell children: Jamie (Nicole Eggert), Sarah (Josie Davis), and Adam (Alexander Polinsky). Helping Charles perform his duties is his best friend Buddy (Willie Aames), while the Powell kids' mom Ellen (Sondra Kerns) and grandfather Walter (James Callahan) carefully watch over our hero to make sure he doesn't screw up (which he hasn't yet, at least not to any great extent!). A few changes are in store this season. First off, Charles' freewheeling mom Lillian (Ellen Travolta) purchases the cast's favorite hangout, Sid's Pizza Parlor, reconverting it into the '50s-themed Yesterday Café -- a move that does not assume full significance until the two-part episode "Charles Splits," in which a bump on the head transforms Charles into his favorite TV character, "the Fonz" from Happy Days. (Is it necessary to remind anyone that Scott Baio himself was a Happy Days alumnus?) Secondly, Justin Whelan is introduced in the role of Lillian's wise-guy nephew Anthony, who shakes things up in the Powell household for a handful of episodes. Thirdly, Charles meets the love of his life, Stephanie Curtis, played by none other than Erika Eleniak. And finally, we meet Commander Robert Powell (James O'Sullivan), long-absent husband of Charles' employer Ellen Powell, for the very first time. Guest stars this season range from veterans like Charles Nelson Reilly and Donny Most to comparative newcomers Kellie Martin and Tracey Gold. The most poignant guest appearances is that of Sally Struthers, playing a demure schoolteacher who turns out to be a fugitive '60s activist in the episode "Still at Large." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi