Original title
The Powers That Be
Released
3/7/1992
Origin country
US
Genre
Comedy
Production companies
Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Television, ELP Communications
Status
Cancelled
Number of seasons
2
Number of episodes
15
The Powers That Be is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman that aired briefly on NBC from 1992 to 1993. Norman Lear served as executive producer for the show.
Senator Powers, in the middle of a tough re-election campaign with a local hero, finds that he has an additional potential obstacle to his re-election -- an illegitimate daughter.
It's Caitlyn and Theodore's anniversary and Margaret is insistent that Sophie not join the family for dinner. Meanwhile, the campaigning Senator is in need of some publicity, but he didn't expect it to come from Theodore's botched suicide attempt -- which results in Bill being shot in a very undignified location.
Not being asked to a White House luncheon for Princess Diana is bad enough, but Margaret really gets upset when her efforts only result in Caitlyn being invited instead. Margaret then tries to play on Caitlyn's insecurities to secure the invitation for herself, including playing her trump card -- Sophie. Meanwhile, Bill just wants the family to get along.
Margaret, Jordan and Bradley scheme to discredit the Senator's opponent, the now-handicapped, former-pro footballer, Joe Bowman. The result is a faked videotape of Bowman hopping out of his chair. The press discovers the tape is a fake, and as a last-ditch effort to save his aids from being fired, Bill visits Bowman and is startled by what he finds.
The Senator and his aides have no choice but to offer Joe Bowman a public apology -- in spite of his paralysis secretly being a sham. Meanwhile, Bowman sets his sights on seducing Caitlyn to have someone inside the Senator's camp. Caitlyn finds herself simultanously charmed and repulsed by Mr. Bowman and contemplates having an affair. Meanwhile, Bill and Margaret share a spontanous night of passion.
After thier unexpected night of passion, Bill considers ending his relationship with Jordan in favor of the a chance at returning the fire to his marriage -- leaving Jordan fuming and shocked. Meanwhile, Caitlyn can't get Joe Bowman out of her head, and Bradley gets a major high from the pain killers he's taking for a kidney stone.
The Powers household is invited to attend a ball in the Senator's honor, but Margaret conveniently forgets to invite Charlotte until it's too late. Theodore stays behind to wait for Caitlyn, but winds up spending a romantic evening with Charlotte when they get snowed in. Caitlyn, meanwhile, slinks off to Joe Bowman's hotel room, and the blizzard keeps the rest of the Powers clan trapped in their limo.
To curry favor, Margaret donates her chicken salad to the favorite charity of the new First Lady, who falls ill after eating it. Meanwhile, Theodore and Charlotte try to fight their attraction.
The Senator takes a road trip to visit his elderly mother (Cloris Leachman) and picks up a hitchhiker -- who turns carjacker. As Bill then tries to make his way to his mother's home, the carjacker crashes the car into a gas tanker, leaving the family and the press to believe the Senator has been killed. As the Powers camp mourns Bill, Margaret contemplates accepting her husband's Senate seat.
Theodore volunteers to be the Senator's dummy in a ventriloquist act that everyone else finds embarrassingly bad.
A crisis back in the Senator's home state is nothing compared to the crisis in the Senator's household -- Charlotte wants to quit because of her secret feelings for Theodore. Meanwhile, Jordan is frustrated that Margaret's problems are more important to Bill than celebrating the anniversary of their relationship together.
Jordan and Margaret both suspect that the Senator's new female intern has designs on him.
Just as Sophie asks Margaret for some tips on fitting into the Washington scene, the boyfriend who always kept her down shows up to take her back to New Jersey. Meanwhile, Margaret is desperate to get a Supreme Court Justice to show up at her party, and Bradley and Jordan try to show each other up by getting the most influential guests at the event.
A visiting Hollywood mogul charms everyone in the Senator's household -- except the Senator, who starts to suspect that something is amiss. Meanwhile, each of the ladies thinks that she's the object of their guest's desires.
A bad haircut causes Caitlyn to come to a personal crisis and decide she is too caught up in materialism. Meanwhile, Bradley is desperate to get the Senator media attention after his name is not included on the list of the most influential Democrats in the new administration.
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