When IT'S A LIVING was renewed despite a shaky first season, it returned in the fall of 1981 with two new cast members and was renamed MAKING A LIVING (apparently because the original title sounded too much like hookers turning tricks).
The set looks much brighter and the skimpy waitress uniforms from Season 1 have been permanently retired. They did keep the color scheme though, so the gals wear mauve and fuchsia Snow White-type uniforms.
The biggest change is that the scripts have lost their zing. The snappy patter among the characters is missing. They have also practically neutered the Cassie character and stripped her of the edge she had in Season 1. Cassie is no longer the coarse man-crazy tramp she was last year. The writing in general is very bland. Perhaps the network told them to tone down the sexy angle. This was a huge mistake. I guess the show was ahead of its' time because a few years later THE GOLDEN GIRLS would be doing the kind of humor that IT'S A LIVING had done so wonderfully in Season 1.
But back to this episode. It is not a very good choice for a Season Opener. They had already taped other installments that would have been better. One of those ("Horsing Around") even makes reference to Maggie being new - so I don't understand why that one was shelved for four months.
A baseball team is staying at Above the Top and the script basically pairs each of the gals off with one of the men from the team. Dot lends a sympathetic ear to the pint-sized pitcher (Luis Avalos of THE ELECTRIC COMPANY) who is homesick for Costa Rica; Jan immediately hits it off with the third baseman (Larry Breeding) and can picture a real future with him; Cassie rebuffs the smooth-talking Rod McCary (who was simultaneously appearing as womanizing Bobby Taylor on the HARPER VALLEY PTA TV series starring Barbara Eden); and Maggie is drawn to the portly manager (Warren Berlinger) because of his resemblance to her late husband Joseph.
The problem with "Boys of Summer" is that the ladies barely interact at all, so we don't have any of the camaraderie that was such a hallmark of the first season. I compare this episode to the Season 4 episodes of CHARLUE'S ANGELS where one of them went solo and we didn't see them working as a team - it just isn't as much fun.
It's also more of a romantic episode than a comedic one. Nancy gets the funniest line after being deeply kissed by McCary's character; she says, "I don't suppose you want your (chewing) tobacco back?". There are a few nice moments near the end when the ladies console the guys after they lose the big game.
Overall, an underwhelming Season premiere but this season has very few real gems, which is disappointing because the talented cast deserved better.
