The series, produced by Ed Friendly Productions, is the story of behind-the-scenes workings of the White House and the relationship between the staff and the First Families.
Other White House staffers were played by Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Hooks, Cloris Leachman, Leslie Nielsen, and Hari Rhodes.
The first episode featured Paul Winfield as Emmett Rogers Sr. Producer Ed Friendly acquired the production rights to the book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks and Frances Spatz Leighton in 1977[1] after being contacted by a New York literary agent.
[4] Bagni and Dubov won a Writer's Guild Award for the teleplay in 1980[5] in the category of Television: Long Form-Multi Part.
[9][10] Elaborate recreations of the White House, including the First Family's residence and servants’ quarters, were built at Samuel Goldwyn Studios.
[11] Richard Y. Haman (Art Director) and Anne D. McCulley (Set Decorator) received Emmy nominations for their creations for the miniseries.
[12] When shooting was concluded, an effort was made to find homes for the White House sets, but Ed Friendly was turned down by the studios and universities he approached.
[13] Casting commenced early 1978 with first casting announcements of Leslie Uggams as Lillian Rogers Parks, Olivia Cole as her mother Maggie Rogers, Louis Gossett Jr. as White House staff member Mercer, Cloris Leachman as the White House head housekeeper, Julie Harris as Mrs. Helen Taft, Robert Vaughn as President Woodrow Wilson, Celeste Holm as Mrs. Florence Harding, and William Conrad as President William Howard Taft.
The first episode featured Paul Winfield as Emmett Rogers Sr.. Gregory Itzin appeared in his first (uncredited) television role as a White House tour guide.
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaffray (Cloris Leachman), the Head Housekeeper, informs Maggie that she will be hairdresser for First Lady Helen “Nellie” Taft (Julie Harris) and is the first black woman to serve in the First Family's living quarters.
Chief Usher Ike Hoover (Leslie Nielsen) introduces Maggie to the White House staff including Houseman Levi Mercer (Louis Gossett Jr.) and Doorman & Presidential Barber John Mays (Robert Hooks).
They all instruct her in the etiquette of keeping the First Family's private lives from the outside world, though not necessarily from gossip among the White House staff.
Maggie first meets President Taft when she discovers her ten-year-old daughter Lillian Rogers (Tania Johnson) eating ice cream with him.
First Lady Ellen Wilson (Kim Hunter) declares herself to be a "crusader for Negroes" and even visits Maggie at her small apartment.
Eventually, he marries Edith Bolling Galt (Claire Bloom) to the relief of the White House staff who are worried by his depression.
When the United States enters World War I Maggie's son Emmett Rogers Jr. (Kevin Hooks) enlists and fights on the Western Front in Europe.
The staff is cleaning the White House when they hear that President Harding has died in San Francisco while he and the First Lady are on a western coast goodwill tour.
President Coolidge introduces the staff to his stringent cost-cutting ways as he micro-manages the household expenses, including how and what to prepare in the kitchen.
Coolidge confides to Grace that he fears the economy is overheated and leading to a depression, but he is unwilling to force his policy of personal frugality on the rest of the nation.
Lillian loses her jobs at the dress shop and movie theatre, and the household items she bought on credit are repossessed.
Maggie takes in fellow staff member Houseman Fraser (James A. Watson Jr.) as a boarder for extra income.
Relations between Lillian and Wheatley become strained due to the long hours she is putting in preparing for a visit from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England.
Mercer offers to walk her out, but she replies, “No, I want to go out the way I came in; by myself.” The staff listens to the radio broadcast of President Roosevelt declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lillian is concerned that Maggie is not taking proper care of herself, spending too much time working on her White House scrapbook.
The President and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower (Barbara Barrie) refuse to speak directly with staff and communicate with them through intermediaries.
[22] Filmverlag Fernsehjuwelen released the DVD in Germany (October 30, 2015) and Austria (December 2015) using the title Weißes Haus, Hintereingang.