Sam Russell (Pam Dawber) is a 29 year old commercial photographer working out of her spacious San Francisco studio loft. Dixie Randazzo (Jenny O'Hara) is her assistant and J.D. Lucas (Joel Brooks) is her agent. Jack Kincaid (David Naughton) is her neighbor from across the hallway and a globe-trotting news photographer. She lost her parents at 16 and her younger sister Patti Russell (Rebecca Schaeffer) lived with aunt Elsie and uncle Bob in Oregon. Then Patti moves in after Elsie took away her guitar.Pam Dawber is cute and so is Rebecca Schaeffer. They are the sweetest sibling duo. Pam Dawber was essentially the straight man with Robin Williams. None of the actors on this show is a wacky comedian. It leaves the show cute but not that funny. Sometimes, it's left to Dawber to do the wackier antics. Jack is the obvious romantic target but he's always stuck in the friends zone for all of first season. The writing struggles to put them together and their romance has a tough time starting. Patti is in desperate need of a school best friend and romance of her own. The show needs to do more with Patti in her school. It's all too centered on Sam when it should center on both sisters. The diet episode is probably the most compelling considering the fitting combination of body imagine issue and Sam's fashion photographic job. I definitely remember the Scott Bakula episode from its initial run but I doubt I watched much more especially after it got moved around in the schedule. It's simply not that funny no matter how lovely the sisters are. Rebecca Schaeffer was murdered a year after the show's cancellation. It's sad to not know how bright her star could have shined. She has a sweet innocence which could have brought her a long way.

Both Mindy and Samantha really were as nice as Shirley Feeney should have been--and certainly as pretty as Shirley. Miss Dawber is unforgettable, reportedly as nice in real life as on both shows. It was nice to see her without Robin Williams' antics (no offense to a great comedian, but they did get a little distracting).What I really can't forget, a perfect warm-up for her charms, is the theme song, "Room Enough for Two." It was as warmhearted as the WELCOME BACK, KOTTER theme song--this time with a sweet show to match. I haven't heard anyone sing this song since SAM, but the words were among TV's sweetest.

This is a prime example of a show that started out strong and then plummeted in the ratings. It was a big hit in its first season airing on Monday nights and was a top twenty show. The second season CBS moved it to Saturday nights where it dropped to something like number 88 in the ratings. I can't help but wonder what would have happened had it stayed on Mondays. Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer worked so well together you forgot that the two actresses weren't sisters in real life. And yes, Rebecca died a year after the show was cancelled, it wasn't cancelled because of her death. I wish this show would be released on DVD.

Rebecca Schaeffer was certainly an attractive and fast rising young actress in Hollywood. Her career may have reached new heights had she lived beyond the age of 21. Her tragic death resulted in new laws which guarded personal privacy, and safety. However, the sitcom she was featured in was hardly memorable.The show was fairly mediocre and lasted a little over a season when it was canceled. The show is now remembered for the fact one of it's stars was murdered by a lunatic. People should get their information straight before posting. The show was not canceled due to the death of the actress, It was canceled due to poor ratings a year before she died.