The Garden of Countess Natasha

  After being rejected at an audition for a TV commercial for floor wax, Dot is extremely excited that another audition she went to has become successful: she gets the female lead to a play called The Garden Of Countess Natasha, which tells the story of a Hungarian countess who comes to America and falls in love with a union organizer.  Dot invites the gang(sans Nancy) at Above The Top to see a preview of the play and when they do, they are shocked at how awful Dot was as Countess Natasha.  When Dot shows up at the theater lobby to see if the gang liked the play or not, the girls lie through their teeth by telling her how terrific she was.  As the play continues to be presented, Dot develops a bit of an uppity attitude as she tells Nancy upon arriving to work late, as usual, one day that she's giving a two-week notice of severence from Above The Top, as she tells Nancy and the girls that the play is going to Broadway soon.  At the kitchen, Jan, Cassie, and Maggie tell Dot the truth about her acting in the play, but Dot perceives their comments as nothing more than a fit of jealousy.  

  At a party that the theater company holds at Above The Top a few nights later, the girls read Dot some reviews about The Garden Of Countess Natasha, which says the same thing that the girls have been saying all along: that Dot was no good in the play.  She goes to the director of the play who is seated at another table at the restaurant and tells her that both he and Dot have been fired from The Garden Of Countess Natasha company.  Saddened and dejected by what just transpired, Dot excuses herself to the girls and goes to the waitress lounge to be alone, but Nancy shows up and tells Dot that she is actually a good actress, despite the fact that the lead role in the play was all wrong for her(Nancy saw the play the week before).  After telling Dot a personal story about her wanting to be a dancer years earlier, Nancy tells Dot that she should continue to pursue her dream of becoming a successful actress and that she should keep her job at Above The Top while doing so.  Nancy ends the conversation by saying that if Dot tells the girls about their little talk, she will slap her so hard that her future kids will come out dizzy like her.

Note: beginning with this episode, as mentioned in the 1st episode synopsis of Season 2, It's A Living(known during this season as "Making A Living") is moved to the Friday night lineup, where it will stay until the network cancels the program for good at the end of the 1981-82 television season.