15 TV shows you forgot about (and some you wish you could)

Kate and Allie

I could never forget this show because my working, single mother watched it religiously, and loved every minute of it. I assume she saw herself in these two divorced mothers, living together and raising their children together, but all I recall is that the kids on the show had a cool bunk bed that I wish I could share with my best friend.

Kate and Allie aired on CBS during the mid-’80s, and it was a pretty optimistic look at women living a post-divorce life. Susan Saint James played the free-spirited Kate, a working woman struggling to be taken seriously in profession as a travel agent. Jane Curtain played her more traditional, homemaker friend, Allie, and strived to become more independent and self-reliant.

Both women dated frequently, but were wise to the ways of the modern man, and were pretty frequently discouraged about the dismal state of their dating life. The show ended when Allie remarried and moved out. They tried to self-correct by having Kate move in to take the place of Allie’s traveling husband, but fans lost interest pretty quickly.

There wasn’t a whole lot of networks telling women’s stories at the time, so Kate and Allie seemed really new and fresh. Although there were millions of single moms working and navigating life, this show was one of the only ones willing to talk about their lives.