It's a Living

- Season 1

(1980)

We are introduced to the waitresses at Over the Top restaurant in Los Angeles: single and sassy Cassie, single mother Jan, young and innocent Vicki, wise married mother Lois, and aspiring actress Dot. We also meet their bossy manager Nancy and the restaurant's piano player wannabe lothario, Sonny Mann. In the pilot, Jan battles Nancy on the chauvenistic elements to her job. The girls help Vicki decide what she'll do about a weekend away with a new boyfriend.

With Lois' family away and reports of a burglary in the neighbourhood, the girls sleep over- and they have an unexpected visitor.

When Vicki doesn't get the apartment she was suppose to get, she needs a place to stay. And the only one who can take her is Cassie and she reluctantly does. But she cramps Cassie's style.

Vicki'a father comes for a visit but things change when she catches him with Nancy.

Lois is in a big fight with her husband when her old high school boyfriend shows up at the restaurant, and gives her his room key. Jan asks Cassie to cover her weekend shift sonshe take her daughter to a concert, but Cassie won't, starting a battle of whose time is more valuable.

Jan's daughter wants to take up ballet and Jan doesn't want to disappoint her. But she can't afford it on her waitress salary alone. So she does a little moonlighting. But when it affects her job, the girls tell her that it's ok to say no to her daughter. But Jan is determined not to fail her.

Cassie is reluctant to let herself fall for her latest beau, so the girls offer their encouragement. Sonny finds out a record executive will be dining at the restaurant, and is ready to pull out all the stops.

When there's a fire in the building and because the restaurant is on the top, it's difficult for them to get out. And among the people is a man who's on a date with someone who is not his wife and an elderly couple who are celebrating their anniversary. When an evacuation plan is implemented, the staff have to go last.

Jan decides to go out with one of her teachers just as her course is ending. But when she decides to break it off, she learns that her final grade could be in jeopardy because he doesn't want to end it. So she turns to the Dean who tells her it's her word against his and that she should tell him to just accept it.

Vicki and Dot are interested in the same man, which starts causing problems. Cassie tries to lose some weight with a diet Jan recommended.

When Lois' daughter's teacher asks her to make a speech to her class, she finds out her daughter doesn't respect her because she's a waitress. Dot tries to help boost Sonny's spirits.

When Jan's daughter spend spends the night at Lois' and comes home with a dirty magazine, tempers flare between the two women. Sonny falls for a woman who doesn't want to commit.

The girls are told that Nancy is being retired and that Lois is replacing her. Lois eventually learns that Nancy was retired because the boss thought she's too old. So they go to Nancy to tell her that and they find her working as a waitress in a diner.