The Naked Truth Information

The Naked Truth is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 1996, and on NBC from 1996 to 1998. The series stars Téa Leoni and co-starred Holland Taylor. The show took place at the office of a tabloid news publication.

Plot

Pulitzer Prize nominated photographer Nora Wilde (Téa Leoni) divorces her rich, philandering husband Leland Banks, asking for nothing in the settlement except the use of her maiden name. Broke and without prospects for employment, Nora seeks work at The Comet, a sleazy celebrity tabloid owned by Sir Rudolph Halley (Tim Curry) and run by ruthless Camilla Dane (Holland Taylor). Initially, Nora is repulsed by the depths to which she has to sink for her new job "? she finds herself in demeaning situations such as stealing Anna Nicole Smith's urine to run a pregnancy test, and staking out the sewer for mutant alligators "? but before long, she begins to feel at home. Nora's coworkers include egotistical Nicky Columbus (Jonathan Penner), a potential love interest; T.J. (Darryl Sivad), a humorless African-American man always clad in dark sunglasses; and Stupid Dave (Mark Roberts) who is mentally challenged. At home, Nora deals with deranged building manager Mr. Donner (Jack Blessing) and Chloe Banks (Amy Ryan), her best friend and former stepdaughter.

In the second season, the show switched networks and was retooled. Meat-mogul Les Polanski (George Wendt) buys The Comet, intending to make it a respectable publication. Gone were the outlandishly zany antics from the first season, and Stupid Dave was now merely referred to as Dave. Chloe disappears without explanation, as does Mr. Donner (since Nora has a new apartment). Leoni's Flirting with Disaster co-stars Mary Tyler Moore (replacing Dyan Cannon from season one) and George Segal both make frequent guest appearances as Nora's parents in season two, eventually moving into the apartment across the hall.

Season three saw enormous changes. Camilla quits The Comet and moves on to rival tabloid The National Inquisitor, leaving most of the staff behind. By this point, she and Nora had become close, so she asks Nora to join her at the Inquisitor. Also moving to The Inquisitor was Dave, who was no longer mentally challenged. Their new coworkers include smug reporter Jake Sullivan (Tom Verica), photographer Suji (Amy Hill), studious fact checker Harris (Jim Rash), and Bradley Crosby (Chris Elliot), the self-proclaimed illegitimate son of Bing Crosby.

History

The series began on ABC and was canceled after a single season despite ranking at #25 with an 11.4 rating. For its second season, the series moved to NBC with new cast members and a general retooling of the show away from its tabloid settings. The second season ranked at #4 with a 16.8 rating. Its third and final season plummeted to #74 and was canceled at the end of the season.

The show appears in syndication in some markets.

Episodes

Season 1

#	Title	Original airdate	Guest-stars
1-1	"Wilde Again" (Pilot)	September 13, 1995	Anna Nicole Smith
1-2	"Bald Star in Hot Oil Fest!"	September 20, 1995	Tom Hanks
1-3	"Elvis is Coming!"	September 27, 1995	Larry Drake
1-4	"Woman Jokes While Husband Croaks!"	October 4, 1995	Michael York
1-5	"Sex Crazed Sitcom Zombie Gropes Shutterbug (In Midnight Morgue Orgy)!"	October 18, 1995	Rip Taylor
1-6	"Hero Pig Goes Hog Wild!"	November 1, 1995	Robert Donner
1-7	"Real Life Henry Higgins Turns Dork Into Duke!"	November 8, 1995	Tawny Kitaen
1-8	"Star and Comet Collide! Giant Bugs Invade!"	November 15, 1995	Suzanne Somers, Betty White
1-9	"Girl Buys Soup While Woman Weds Ape!"	November 29, 1995	George Segal, Dyan Cannon, Bob Saget
1-10	"Woman Weds Siamese Twins!"	December 5, 1995	Victoria Jackson
1-11	"Comet Nails Star and Vice Versa!"	December 13, 1995	D.W. Moffett
1-12	"Sewer Gators, Swordplay, Santa from Hell!"	December 20, 1995	Tim Curry
1-13	"Shocking Tales of Hollywood Gunplay!"	January 3, 1996
1-14	"Woman Loses Space Alien, Finds God!"	January 10, 1996	Steven Eckholdt
1-15	"Man Wakes Up With Stranger in Pants!"	January 17, 1996	Sheryl Crow
1-16	"The Bubble Show!"	January 31, 1996	Rob Lowe
1-17	"Women Rises in World, Falls on Face!"	February 7, 1996	George Hamilton
1-18	"Sisters In Sex Triangle With Gazillionaire!"	February 14, 1996	Tim Curry, Sally Kellerman
1-19	"Man Loses Load While Woman Can't Dump!"	February 21, 1996
1-20	"Hollywood Honors Male Prostitute!"	February 28, 1996

Season 2

#	Title	Original airdate	Guest-stars
2-1	"We're At NBC Now"	January 16, 1997	Anna Nicole Smith
2-2	"Woman Gets Plastered, Star Gets Even"	January 23, 1997	Tom Arnold
2-3	"Itching For A Cat"	January 30, 1997	Mo Gaffney
2-4	"The Sister Show"	February 6, 1997	Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Paula Cale
2-5	"A Year In the Life"	February 13, 1997	Mary Tyler Moore, Billy Campbell
2-6	"The Dating Game (a.k.a. Roommates)"	February 20, 1997	Paula Cale
2-7	"Comet Lands In Man's Garage"	February 27, 1997	Robert Mailhouse
2-8	"The Scoop"	March 14, 1997	Jon Lovitz
2-9	"The Birds"	March 21, 1997	Stephen Tobolowsky
2-10	"The Debt"	March 28, 1997	Carol Leifer
2-11	"The Parents" (1)	April 3, 1997	Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal
2-12	"The Spa" (2)	April 3, 1997	Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal
2-13	"The Source"	May 14, 1997	Kenneth Mars

Season 3

#	Title	Original airdate	Guest-stars
3-1	"Things Change"	September 22, 1997	Ian McShane
3-2	"Her Girl Friday"	September 29, 1997
3-3	"Bully For Dave"	October 6, 1997	Norman Fell, Charo
3-4	"Liesl Weapon"	October 13, 1997	Shannon Kenny
3-5	"Bridesface Revisited"	October 20, 1997	Ian McShane, Morgan Fairchild, Garry Marshall
3-6	"We Almost Had Paris"	November 10, 1997	John Tesh
3-7	"Look At Me! Look At Me!"	November 17, 1997	Sarah Silverman
3-8	"Going Mein Way"	November 24, 1997	Christopher Neame
3-9	"He Ain't Famous, He's My Brother"	December 8, 1997	Frank Stallone, Bill Daily, Megan Mullally
3-10	"The Unsinkable Nora Wilde"	December 15, 1997
3-11	"Hooked on Heroine"	January 26, 1998	Lyle Waggoner
3-12	"Women on the Verge of a Rhytidectomy"	February 2, 1998
3-13	"8"	February 9, 1998
3-14	"The Neighbor of Bath"	March 9, 1998	Dom DeLuise
3-15	"Day of the Locos"	May 25, 1998
3-16	"Muddy for Nothing"	unaired	Conchata Ferrell
3-17	"Born to Be Wilde"	unaired	Gary Coleman
3-18	"The Seer and The Sucker"	unaired
3-19	"Can't We All Just Get Along?"	unaired
3-20	"Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Except With Different Names" (1)	unaired	Jack Coleman
3-21	"Jake or Fake?" (2)	unaired	Jack Coleman
3-22	"Up, Up, And Away"	unaired	Fred Stoller