by Linda Kay
Original Air Date: October 3, 1989
Directed by: Asaad Kelada
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Tony (Tony Danza) promises to cat sit for Mrs. Rossini (Rhoda Gemignani) at her Brooklyn apartment where Angela (Judith Light) feels woefully out of place, leaving her to wonder if her affection for Tony is misplaced.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): The brown tabby cat waiting for Tony when he arrives at Mrs. Rossini’s apartment is named Fiorello (most likely named for the New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia).
A heat wave has made the apartment sweltering and Tony goes to open a window before reading on the note left by Mrs. Rossini that Fiorello will escape through the window if given the chance.
Mona (Katherine Helmond) calls to tease Tony by telling him that his friends have left town to escape the heat. As Tony talks on the phone Fiorello paces behind him on the back of the couch, rubbing against the back of Tony’s head.
Later, Tony is on the fire escape watering some plants. Fiorello is sitting in the window behind him and Tony warns the cat to stay.
Tony finds out he has old friends living in the building and they come over to hang. Angela also gets the idea to visit, thinking Tony is lonely on his own, but she soon feels out of place with Tony’s old neighborhood buddies and their wives. Just before they are leave to go bowling, Angela notices Fiorello looking at the window. She opens the pane and the cat jumps outside (note this cat actor has completely different markings than the previous one).
At the end of the episode, Fiorello returns (the original cat actor is back again and eats a little tidbit placed on his mark. Notice, too, there is a cement floor under the fire escape grating!)
When they place the cat inside the window he stops and looks back outside before disappearing for good.
Final Mewsings: It takes talented cat actors to handle sitcom work in front of a live studio audience.
Many thanks to Laurie Morrison for letting us know about the cat in this episode.
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