Ray Sharkey : AIDS and Hollywood’s Most Reckless Cover-Up - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 02-11-2026, 02:24 AM

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Originally Posted by darkrage6

Anyone have any episodes from this very short-lived sitcom series? It starred Ray Sharkey in one of his final roles before his tragic death from AIDS. It also featured Don Stroud and an early role for Leah Remini.

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He was hailed as the 'next Al Pacino' and a Golden Globe winner, but behind the swagger lay a deadly secret. This is the tragic, untold story of Ray Sharkey—the star who used his tough-guy mask to hide his battle with AIDS until the bitter end.

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Wiki describes this 1991 sitcom as 'The black sheep of the family takes over the family-owned grocery store in Brooklyn following his father's death.' It starred Ray Sharkey, ran for seven episodes, and the theme was 1928's 'When You're Smiling' by Larry Shay, Joe Goodwin, and Mark Fisher, sung by Louis Prima.

TMC · 03-19-2026, 07:47 PM

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Originally Posted by TMC

LANGUAGE WARNING

DISCLAIMER 1: The individual depicted at 2:45 and 1:48:55 is not Cecelia Bonnie Sharkey* and is included "for illustration purposes only"
DISCLAIMER 2: Audio cuts out briefly at 38:59 and again at 45:24 thanks to copyright claims for the "Chico and the Man" theme and, somehow, Tina Turner's song from Beyond Thunderdome respectively.
DISCLAIMER 3: This video is not monetized by me and any ads which may appear are beyond my control.

0:00 Prologue
6:27 Act I: Don't Look Down
29:22 Act II: Romance the Devil
1:13:38 Act III: The Guardian Angel
1:47:28 Epilogue

The messy, often disturbing, and occasionally brilliant life of gifted character actor, flashpoint for the revival of mafia-coded glamour and, according to some, the "Johnny Appleseed of AIDS" Ray Sharkey, told here for the first time in depth.

TMC · 03-19-2026, 08:54 PM

Hollyweird Babylon: Ray Sharkey

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In 1991, Ray starred in a sitcom for ABC that had been years in the making and wound up cancelled before it even premiered. What ended up as The Man in the Family began its life in early 1989 as Timothy’s File. Based on author Lawrence Sanders’ Wall Street P.I. Timothy Cone, Sharkey told the AP, “My concept is to make a 47 minute movie every week. It lends itself to simple plots with a style like a movie. I’m calling on all my director friends to come to New York.” [Associated Press, February 21, 1989]

In November it was confirmed ABC had ordered a two-hour TV movie and 12 episodes. After a year passed and no shooting script available in time for 1990-91 season, ABC passed Ray on to the comedy department, who went to work putting together The Ray Sharkey Show as a midseason replacement. When the pilot was taped in January 1991, the title had changed to When You’re Smiling. Three weeks later, when production wrapped on the first batch of episodes, the show was now called The Favorite Son. After finding itself lost in the midseason shuffle, Man in the Family’s seven finished episodes were burned off by ABC in the summer of 1991, leaving Ray forced to promote a show whose days were already numbered.