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Every decade has a genre that defines it in terms of television. The 2020s are proving to be the era of high-concept genre offerings covering everything from sci-fi to fantasy to superheroes and, sometimes, a combination of all of the above. The early 2000s were all about reality television and the rise of prestige dramas. But when it comes to sitcoms, the 1980s are considered by many to be the golden era with a combination of wholesome sitcoms in the vein of updated approaches to traditional television comedy and series that challenged the format with themes and characters that reflected changes in society at the time. Now, all eight seasons of one classic ‘80s sitcom that did just that are about to be free to stream.
On July 15th, all 196 episodes of Who’s the Boss? will be available to stream entirely for free on Tubi. The series, one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1980s, ran from 1984 to 1992 and stars Tony Danza as Tony Micelli, a former Major League Baseball player who moves to Fairfield, Connecticut to raise his daughter Samantha (Alyssa Milano) away from New York City. Tony ends up taking a job as a live-in housekeeper for Angela Bower (Judith Light), a single advertising executive who herself has a young son, Jonathan (Danny Pintauro). The series’ main cast is rounded out by Katherine Helmond as Angela’s mother, Mona
Who’s The Boss? Brought Unconventional Families to the Small Screen (And Challenged Stereotypes)
While Who’s The Boss? was undoubtedly funny—that is, of course, the point of a sitcom—it was also offering viewers a look at unconventional family types as well as offering characters that challenged stereotypes in a way not really seen on television in the 1980s. While it seems completely ordinary now, the idea of a divorced, single mother who is also a successful working executive was a bit unusual for the era. Add to that that you have Tony who is not only staying at home to take care of the house and kids—a role traditionally reserved for women—but a man who is not Angela’s husband and actually works for her and you have an extremely unusual and almost even controversial set up. The character of Tony also challenged the status quo in other ways as he was not only an athlete but an Italian American man, a group that is frequently portrayed as being very macho. In contrast, Tony was certainly streetwise, but also intelligent, sensitive, and a much more nuanced, dimensional character.
The series also takes a rather unique approach to what is often a core element of a sitcom: romance. While it’s clear throughout the series that Angela and Tony are attracted to each other, the series doesn’t actually do anything with that until the final season and, even then, the show doesn’t take the pair where one would expect for a show of its time period. Instead, the series defied conventional expectation all the way to the end, making it entirely unlike anything that had come before it, and in many respects, anything we’ve seen since. The show remains a classic, so much so that there was a planned reboot announced in 2020 that would have seen Danza and Milano reprise their roles. However, it was announced in 2024 that the series would not be moving forward. While that is disappointing, fans will at least be able to revisit the original series for free next month on Tubi.
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