Ask Harriet an Episode Guide by Russell Wodell Last updated: Thu, 25 Oct 2018 21:00
aired from: Jan 1998 to: Jan 1998	5 eps	Fox	30 min	stereo	closed captioned

regulars:

• Anthony Tyler Quinn as Jack Cody / Sylvia Coco
• Ed Asner as Old Man Russell, owner of the Dispatch
• Lisa Waltz as Melissa Peters, Jack/Sylvia's boss
• Willie Garson as Ronnie Rendall, Jack's co-worker and best friend
• Patrick Y. Malone as Trey Anderson, Jack's scheming former assistant
• Damien Leake as Marty, the all-knowing homeless man outside the Dispatch office
• Jamie Renée Smith as Blair Cody, Jack's 10-year-old daughter

A mid-season replacement quickly put out of its misery, this staggeringly unfunny series tried to take on gender issues through the now-labored "A man can only find work as a woman these days" plot device: here a macho sports columnist loses his job and is reluctantly persuaded to impersonate a female advice column writer. (Don't anyone say Tootsie!) It's an insult to drag queens and cross-dressers everywhere. And what is beloved Ed Asner doing here, in a weak parody of his Lou Grant persona? (He quickly moved on to The Closer with Tom Selleck, which didn't last much longer.)

Production credits:
Once A Frog Inc., Bris Entertainment and Proctor & Gamble Productions in association with Columbia TriStar Television
Created by Billy Riback and Jonathan Prince
Executive Producers: Billy Riback and Jonathan Prince
Co-Executive Producers: David Cassidy and Melanie Green

The episode descriptions below have been taken from Fox press releases.

1st Season Winter 1998

1. "Pilot"
   gs: Tia Texada [ Marcia Garcia ], Mia Korf [ Eva ], Howard Morris [ Sandwich Guy ]

   Jack Cody is a swaggering, sexist Manhattan sportswriter who loves his job almost as much as he loves himself. When his New York paper fires him, his bosom buddy Ron convinces him to finagle his way back in by taking over the "Ask Harriet" column - writing at home as Sylvia Coco. Jack reluctantly agrees because, as he says, "Who knows more about unhappy women than me?" He proceeds to turn out the hottest column in town, but there's a problem: readers want to meet Sylvia.

   b: 4 Jan 98 pc: _________ w: Billy Riback & Jonathan Prince s: David Cassidy & Billy Riback & Jonathan Prince d: Andrew D. Weyman

   ---

2. "Hot Coco"
   

   When Jack learns that Old Man Russell, the newspaper's owner, is coming, he tries to get back his job as Jack, but the Old Man finds "Sylvia" more to his letching, er, liking.

   b: 8 Jan 98 pc: _________ w: ______________ d: ______________

   ---

3. "Help Me Rwanda"
   gs: John Kassir [ Kenny ]

   "Sylvia" announces she's leaving the newspaper to live among the apes in Rwanda, but the scheme to get Jack rehired is jeopardized when the bidding war with Old Man Russell makes him go bananas.

   b: 15 Jan 98 pc: AH106 w: ______________ d: ______________

   ---

4. "Turn Your Head & Kafka"
   gs: Steve Eastin [ Jerry ], Tony Carreiro [ Doctor ], Mary Pat Gleason [ Nurse ], Caroline Ambrose [ Waitress ], Beth Wishnie [ Tiffany ]

   "Sylvia" goes to pick up her first paycheck, only to find that she can't get it until she gets a physical examination - from a gynecologist.

   b: 22 Jan 98 pc: AH103 w: ______________ d: ______________

   ---

5. "Lips That Pass in the Night"
   gs: Angelica Bridges [ Herself ]

   When Old Man Russell sponsors a charity celebrity auction, Sylvia has to fend off Trey and Mr. Russell, while Ron and Melissa discover the awkwardness of being "close to you."

   b: 29 Jan 98 pc: AH110 w: ______________ d: ______________

There is probably at least one unaired episode and maybe more, given the production code of the last aired episode.

The episode descriptions were taken from Fox press releases.