People were very interested by my TGIF rundown last week. We finish this week with the real dregs of the line up as the concept lost momentum heading into the current decade.
"Clueless" (1996-1999): This series was based on the successful film that oddly enough was originally conceived as a
"You Wish" (1997): Gillian Apple (Harley Jane Kozak) and her two children Mickey (Alex McKenna) and Travis (Nathan Lawrence) discovered a genie in a rug they bought. The genie (John Ales) had been imprisoned for over 2000 years for the crime of falling in love with his last female master. The genie made life
"Teen Angel" (1997): This made "You Wish" look like "The Andy Griffith Show" in comparison. Marty (Mike Damus) ate a six month old cheeseburger and died. God's cousin Rod (Ron Glass) sends Marty back to earth to serve as the guardian angel to his former best friend Steve (Corbin Allred). Marty used his angel powers to manipulate bullies and bring Abraham Lincoln out of the ether to help with a history paper. Maureen McCormick of "The Brady Bunch" played Steve's mom.
"Two of a Kind" (1998-1999): The Olsen twins landed back in TGIF land as daughters to widowed Steve (Christopher Sieber). Instead of two hip uncles, they had a hip nanny named Carrie (Sally Wheeler). Carrie was a student of Steve's at a nearby university. The family lived across from Wrigley Field in Chicago. I wonder if they knew Uncle Buck? I also have to question if Mary Kate and Ashley were killing off their mothers on all these shows.
"Brother's Keeper" (1998-1999): It's "Two and a Half Men" without Charlie Sheen. Porter Waide (William Ragsdale) and his son Oscar (Justin Cooper) live in San Francisco. Porter's brother Bobby (Sean O'Bryan) was an NFL kicker traded to the 49'ers. A stipulation of his contract was that he find a "responsible adult" to monitor his behavior. Naturally we went to live with his brother. First of all, no team would put a stipulation like that into a contract. Second of all, they sure as hell wouldn't care enough to put in a stipulation like that for a kicker.
"The Hughley's" (1998-2002): Darrel Hughley (D.L. Hughley) made his fortune in vending machines. Instead of moving on up like the Jeffersons he moved his family on out to the suburbs. Darrel's employee Milsap (John Henton) played on his fears that such a move would make him lose his ‘blackness' and ‘whiten' up his family. It was often up to wife Yvonne (Elsie Neal) to keep Darrel in check as he flipped out on his children Sydney (Ashley Monique Clark) and Michael (Dee Jay Daniels). Dave (Eric Allen Kramer) and Sally (Marietta DePrima) were their lily-white neighbors.
"Odd Man Out" (1999-2000): Andrew (Erik von Detten) lived in a house with his mother (Markie Post), aunt (Jessica Capshaw) and three sisters (Natalia Cigliuti, Vicki Davis, Marina Malota). Andrew would either grow up gay or with a serious Oedipus complex. This show was passed on six times by NBC and ABC until several tweaks finally got it picked up. I guess they should have tweaked it some more.
"Two Guys and a Girl" (1998-2001): The original title was "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place," but the pizza place wanted too much for a contract extension. Peter (Richard Ruccolo) and Berg (Ryan Reynolds) were roommates working their way through college as pizza delivery guys. Above the shop they worked at lived Sharon (Traylor Howard) who they became friends with. The end of the fourth season allowed viewers to vote online the cliffhanger ending of who would be pregnant among Sharon, Berg's girlfriend Ashley (Suzanne Cryer), Pete's girlfriend Irene (Jillian Bach) or nobody at all. Ashley won the vote, but the series was immediately canceled.
"Trouble with Normal" (2000-2001): Bob (David Krumholtz), Zack (Jon Cryer), Max (Brad Raider) and Stansfield (Larry Joe Campbell) were four men united by their fears of "urban conspiracy." They sought help in a therapy group ran by Claire (Paget Brewster).
"Norm" (1999-2001): Norm MacDonald starred as an ex hockey player banned for life from the game for gambling and tax evasion. He was sentenced to five years of community service as a social worker or go to jail. Laurie (Laurie Metcalf) was about his only competent coworker and would often have to bail Norm out of trouble. Rumors have it that initial ratings were good because viewers thought the series was a spin-off of "Cheers" featuring George Wendt's Norm.
"The George Lopez Show" (2002-2007): Comedian George Lopez stretched to play George Lopez. Despite a careless mother (Belita Moreno) and no father, George grew up to be a fairly productive member of society. He was a manager at an airplane factory and was married to Angie (Constance Marie) with two kids (Masiela Lusha, Luis Armand Garcia). George's daughter went to college in the last season and was replaced in the cast with his niece Veronica (Aimee Garcia).
"Married to the Kellys" (2003-2004): Tom (Breckin Meyer) was an only child and a loner in New York. He marries Susan (Keile Sanchez) who convinces Tom to move back to Kansas so they can be with her large family. While being weird, they were also close knit and that unsettled Tom.
"The Big House" (2004): Comedian Kevin Hart played a character of the same name. His father was indicted for embezzlement, so he had to leave his spoiled life in Malibu to live with his aunt and her family in grungy Philadelphia. It's like a reverse "Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire."
"Hope & Faith" (2003-2006): Hope (Faith Ford, who should be the one named Faith don't you think?) lived in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband (pimpmaster Ted McGinley) and three children (Megan Fox, Paulie Litt, Macy Cruthird). Their lives were turned upside down when Hope's sister Faith (Kelly Ripa) came to live with them. Faith was a soap opera actress who was killed off unexpectedly from her series. Faith continued to live like she was a diva and a scheming soap siren.
"Life with Bonnie" (2002-2004): Bonnie Molloy (Bonnie Hunt) was a local television show host. This gave her a small modicum of fame, but most people still didn't know who she was. Still, her husband (Mark Derwin) and children (Samantha Browne Walters, Charlie Stewart) often didn't like it when she talked about her personal like on the air. Most of the talk show segments with Bonnie and her true life guests were improvised.
"8 Simple Rules" (2002-2005): Paul Hennessey (John Ritter) was a newspaper writer who was particular about who could date his teenage daughters (Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson). He also had a son in Rory (Martin Spanjers). After Ritter died, his character died on the show. This left his wife Cate (Katey Segal) to pick up the pieces of their family. Moving in with the Hennessey's were Cate's father (James Garner) and her nephew CJ (David Spade). Cate eventually began dating again and went out with the principal of the kids' school (Adam Arkin).
"Complete Savages" (2004-2005): Nick Savage (Keith Carradine) had his wife run out on him ten years before. Since that time he's worked as a fireman while trying to raise five unruly boys (Andrew Eiden, Shaun Sipos, Erik von Detten, Evan Ellingson, Jason Dolley). Keith is the half brother of David and Robert Carradine and the son of John.
"Less Than Perfect" (2002-2006): Claudia Casey (Sara Rue) worked her way up the corporate ladder at a television station. From starting out as a temp in the mailroom she is now the executive secretary to anchor Will Butler (Eric Roberts). Andy Dick and Will Sasso were among her co-workers and friends. The title referred to the full figured Rue. Rue was a size 10 to 12, which is average for an American woman, but is often not shown in television or movies. Rue wound up losing 30 pounds during the course of the series and it was eventually dumped like a fat chick. I'm not sure what size Rue is below, but I could live with that.
Don't die.
"I know cats who'd take out whole zipcodes for that kind of cheese."
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