Or to be more kindly, was it a show that took the mutually exclusive parts of those other sitcoms of its time? There was the unconsummated romantic tension (http://www.skooldays.com/categories/primetime/pt1110.htm) between (https://books.google.com/books?id=l8LVjAQPe84C&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=who%27s+the+boss?+cheers+sam+diane+tony+angela&source=bl&ots=LHKfgMm3W7&sig=ACfU3U3rkwj-1DtA8xY1YD0_5kfrrKQ_sg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2k--C96XyAhXUZc0KHdCzDj8Q6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q=who's%20the%20boss%3F%20cheers%20sam%20diane%20tony%20angela&f=false) Tony and Angela (https://etcanada.com/photos/93671/tvs-top-15-will-theywont-they-couples/) just like (https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6nHDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT165&lpg=PT165&dq=who%27s+the+boss?+cheers+sam+diane+tony+angela&source=bl&ots=gtccAuYITZ&sig=ACfU3U3Sfuoxk8phw99Ad0J7W3EZzNMOnw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2k--C96XyAhXUZc0KHdCzDj8Q6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=who's%20the%20boss%3F%20cheers%20sam%20diane%20tony%20angela&f=false) with Sam and Diane on Cheers. And then there was the domestic housekeeper (https://books.google.com/books?id=-C3bCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=who%27s+the+boss?+gimme+a+break!&source=bl&ots=ZvxI9LPjia&sig=ACfU3U13F-8KQcElXmhIHXnXyJuQcJyCtw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjCsYu996XyAhXYB50JHXspAq8Q6AF6BAghEAM#v=onepage&q=who's%20the%20boss%3F%20gimme%20a%20break!&f=false) element (https://books.google.com/books?id=2aIwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=who%27s+the+boss?+gimme+a+break!+housekeeper&source=bl&ots=UF94UIJ5sj&sig=ACfU3U1CNGoe6MiEbVPhPnnVadRqMxnjpQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjCqd-z-KXyAhWZK80KHRIpCLcQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&q=who's%20the%20boss%3F%20gimme%20a%20break!%20housekeeper&f=false) of Gimme a Break! with Tony Danza playing Nell Carter to Judith Light's Dolph Sweet. Plus, you have Tony Micelli being an ex-baseball player like Sam Malone and having a daughter named Samantha like Carl Kanisky on Gimme a Break!