Down to Earth

Down to Earth is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran on Superstation WTBS from March 10, 1984 to 1987. The series was originally produced by The Arthur Company, and later, by Procter & Gamble Productions and was the Superstation's first original series. Premise The series revolved around Ethel MacDoogan (Carol Mansell), a free-spirited woman who lived the "Roaring 1920s" era. However, in 1925 she suffered a fatal accident, colliding with a trolley. Ethel waits in Heaven for 60 years for a chance to earn her wings, until finally she is sent to earth in the 1980s to help the Preston family. The Prestons are a typical modern-day American family with modern-day situations: widowed father Richard (Stephen Johnson, then Dick Sargent) is a realtor, though he retired a few months after and began working as a licensing agent for new inventors; older son Duane (David Kaufman) is very class-conscious; teenage daughter Lissy (Kyle Richards) is very opinionated; Jay Jay (Randy Josselyn), the youngest, just wants someone who can fill their late mother's void. It is Jay Jay's prayer for an angel to come into their lives that summons Ethel, and he is the only one who knows her true identity. Infiltrating the household as housekeeper and maid, Ethel is unsurprisingly clueless about even the simplest conveniences of modern-day 1980s family life. Jay Jay helps cover for her when it comes to adapting to the newfangled inventions of the past 60 years, and she eventually wins over the Prestons by successfully helping them deal with their problems.