The invisible son in the bathroom? Peak '80s sitcom nonsense and I'm obsessed.
Season 1 • Episode 8
LatestPressure from her mother leads Maggie to take up poetry again, but after selling her first poem to a newspaper, Maggie suffers writer's block. (Last show of the series.)
Based on books by Erma Bombeck, Maggie Weston is a housewife living with husband Len and sons Mark and Bruce outside of Dayton, Ohio. There is a third son, LJ, who is never seen because he's "always in the bathroom." Rounding out the main cast are Maggie's friends.
Writing
Bombeck's newspaper-column wit translated to sitcom beats.
Acting
Doris Roberts stealing every scene as Loretta.
Creator
Erma Bombeck
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Erma Bombeck was America's most widely-read newspaper humorist; this was her failed bid to become the next Norman Lear.
The 'invisible son' gag predates Cousin Oliver syndrome—sitcoms literally hiding their failures before we noticed.
US
