Rags to Riches 1987

Nick Foley is a self-made billionaire and the owner of Foley Foods, a streetwise New Jersey-born businessman who realizes that his playboy lifestyle has been a liability for his business reputation. In the TV movie pilot that launched the series, Foley tries to develop a family-man image by bringing a group of six orphaned girls, who were featured in a newspaper story saying they refused to be separated from each other, to live in the Bel Air mansion where he lives with his butler, John Clapper. Foley does this to seal a business deal and does not intend to keep the girls permanently, but his plans change as he grows attached to the girls, and he ends up adopting them as his legal daughters.

The adjustment is huge on both sides, as the girls acquire a new father with no parenting experience. Having spent the past few years in a rundown orphanage, the girls suddenly find themselves in a life of luxury (hence the series’ title). The series follows the trials and tribulations of the girls and a man who has previously never loved anyone but himself, and often struggles to cope with his new family.

In the pilot for the series, Foley takes in a group of six girls; however, Foley only adopted five of them for the remainder of the series’ run: Rose Foley, Diane Foley, Marva Foley, Patty Foley, and Mickey Foley. Nina Foley appears only in the pilot and was written out of the series after the pilot, as referenced in the episode “Patty’s Mom.”

The show differentiates itself from typical comedy-dramas by weaving in musical moments: the girls frequently burst into song to express their feelings or to advance the plot, and each episode includes at least two musical scenes featuring covers of popular early 1960s songs with altered lyrics that mirror the episode’s storyline.