Kate & Allie
The Namath of the Game
TV Flash files “The Namath of the Game” as hour 93 of 122 in the TV Flash guide — Kate & Allie (1984–1989) on CBS, season 5, episode 17, aired 1988-02-03, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E17: listed hour 93 of 122 in the Kate & Allie guide, hour 17 of 24 in season 5. It aired 1988-02-03 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “My Day with Paul Newman” (S05E16). Next is “The Mouse That Squeaked” (S05E18).

Viewer FAQ
Where does The Namath of the Game sit in the Kate & Allie guide?
S05E17 is listed hour 93 of 122 — hour 17 of 24 in season 5, season 5 episode 17.
When did Kate & Allie S05E17 air?
The Namath of the Game aired 1988-02-03 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is there a will-they with new husbands?
The engine is not a husband hunt. Two divorced moms, logistics of starting over, friendship as the sitcom. Chemistry is the architecture; the brownstone is the workplace.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Two divorced moms, one Greenwich Village brownstone, and Jane Curtin's Emmy-caliber deadpan opposite Susan Saint James's sunniness. Female friendship as sitcom engine — not a husband hunt, not a workplace, just the logistics of starting over. Mainstreamed single motherhood as a double act; the chemistry is the architecture.
The brownstone is the silhouette. CBS, 1984–1989: two divorced moms, one Greenwich Village address, Jane Curtin's Emmy-caliber deadpan opposite Susan Saint James's sunniness. Kate & Allie is Sherry Coben's female-led domestic hit — Ari Meyers and Allison Smith as the daughters, childhood friends pooling resources after their marriages end. *Deadpan versus sun as a two-woman carpet, urban sisterhood as the stage, not a husband hunt.* Style is the plot. If you only listen to the logistics of starting over, you are…
Filed against
- Jane Curtin as Allie Lowell
Jane Curtin’s deadpan outlasted three decades of network weather — Saturday Night Live’s original-class frost, Kate & Allie’s Greenwich Village restart opposite Susan Saint James, and 3rd Rock from the Sun’s earthly straight woman to…
- Susan Saint James as Kate McArdle
Susan Saint James’s Sally McMillan did the smarter half of the sleuthing beside Rock Hudson’s martini commissioner — NBC Mystery Movie jewel, San Francisco gloss — then sunned Kate & Allie’s Greenwich Village brownstone opposite Jane…
- Ari Meyers as Emma McArdle
Ari Meyers’s Emma McArdle watched Kate & Allie turn divorced-mom logistics into a Greenwich Village sitcom engine — Jane Curtin’s deadpan, Susan Saint James’s sunniness, no husband hunt, no workplace crutch. Mainstreamed single motherhood…
- Allison Smith as Jennie Lowell
Allison Smith played Jennie Lowell on Kate & Allie — the daughter in a Greenwich Village brownstone where two divorced moms made friendship the sitcom engine, not a husband hunt. Jane Curtin’s deadpan, Susan Saint James’s sunniness,…