... This little gem of of late 80s (or should i say 60s?) sugary sweet confection. The show featured your stereotypical coming of age/fish out of water scenarios germane to hour long dramedies of the time. It's essentially Annie : The Series... if Annie had 4 sisters that is. Wealthy playboy business man Daddy Warbucks... err... Nick Foley, in an effort to solidify a business deal by improving his public image, decides the best way to do this would be to adopt 6 orphaned girls (whittled down to 5 for the series proper). RIGHT!!! That's the logical idea i would fall on right away. Anyhow, the usual 80s sitcom hijinks ensue and, in the end, the girls and Nick learn something from each other. All the while singing and dancing popular 60s tunes with lyrics adapted to fit the scenario.
Yea... my review is dripping with sarcasm but in all honesty this is a really cute, wholesome program. The song and dance numbers are catchy and accessible to about any age. Yes it's cheesy. Yes the plots can be a little far fetched but what show in the 80s wasn't? The scenarios in Rags To Riches were about as believable as a team of 4 crack commandos emptying multiple clips of ammo at the bad guys and not hitting a single thing. It's a reminder of how things used to be on TV. I actually remember gathering with my family to catch this show during it's original run on NBC. I highly recommend this show for it's uniqueness, it's sweetness and for anyone with a thing for 60s bubblegum pop.
Also features a young, pre-Martin yet post-Little Shop Of Horrors Tisha Campbell in the main cast. Guest apperaces feature the likes of Bill Mahr, Richard Grecco (21 Jump Street, If Looks Could Kill), Richard Herd (from another successful NBC show V and it's sequel, V : The Final Battle) amongst others.
Also pleased to report that 3 episodes into my viewing of the complete series DVD box that the set doesn't appear to suffer the same unfortunate fate other music-centric shows suffer when making the transition to home media. The original music appears to be intact. A show like this wouldn't be worth the effort to put on DVD without the original music. Picture quality is broadcast quality... from the 80s. The included pilot episode in the boxed set is actually the work print version with the title card saying Rags AND riches. The episodes appear uncut as the average length is about 48:20. Compared to the 41:15 average of today's hour long show. Worth the price for the nostalgia factor.
