Question: Please help. I ...

Question: Please help. I think that Patrick Cassidy was the male lead in the short-lived television series Dirty Dancing. It starred Melora Hardin and, I think, Cassidy. I can't find proof of it on the Internet. I ask because Patrick Cassidy is the name of one of the leads in the Broadway tour of Aida, and I have a bet with co-workers about the TV show. Thanks. — Heather

Televisionary: You think right, Heather.

The dashing Mr. Cassidy, who currently portrays Radames in Disney's national tour of Aida, filled the role of Johnny Castle in the TV version of the movie. (For those of you who perhaps spent a few years in an isolation tank in the late '80s, Patrick Swayze played the part on the big screen.) You may also have caught him in the short-lived Steven Bochco series Bay City Blues.

On the show, Cassidy starred opposite Ms. Hardin, as you say, who played Baby, and McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H, Hello, Larry), who played resort owner Max Kellerman. Another notable in the cast (although certainly not then) was actor Paul Feig, who portrayed irritating student/waiter Norman Bryant and went on to co-create the most excellent Freaks and Geeks.

Mr. Cassidy got a heapin' helpin' of his family's entertainer genes. Relatives who are also in the public eye include his show-biz vet brothers Shaun (who co-starred in The Hardy Boys and created such series as American Gothic and USA Network's Cover Me) and David (best known as Keith Partridge in The Partridge Family).