21 Jump Street (originally titled "Jump Street Chapel") was an hour long police drama television series, developed by Fox Television Network. It ran from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes.
It was produced by the studio of Stephen J. Cannell Productions (which also produced The A-Team and The Rockford Files). The show was an early hit for the fledgling Fox Network, especially in the important teen demographic. Some speculate that it was Johnny Depp's exit that caused the program to be cancelled by Fox after the fourth season though Peter DeLuise in his DVD commentary said that Barry Diller of Fox Network saw that The Simpsons were getting a twenty share rating and said that Fox was now a twenty share rating network so 21 Jump Street was dropped. The final season aired in first-run syndication on local Fox affiliates. It was later completed in rerun syndication on Fox's FX cable network from 1996 to 1998 and was produced in association with and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Television.
The series provided a spark to Johnny Depp's nascent career in acting, garnering him national recognition as a teen idol. Depp found this status an irritant, but he was under contract from which he was released after the fourth season.
Actors who guest-starred on the program include Bridget Fonda, Sherilyn Fenn, Jason Priestley, Josh Brolin, Maia Brewton, Mindy Cohn, David Paymer, Brad Pitt, Christina Applegate, Eric West, Vince Vaughn, Pauly Shore, Blair Underwood, John Waters, Shannen Doherty, Rosie Perez, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Russ, and Thomas Haden Church.
Plot The show is about a group of young cops whose youthful appearances enabled them to work undercover in both high schools and sometimes colleges to catch troubled youths. The show covered typical plots of its day, including alcoholism, hate crimes, drug abuse, racism, homophobia, AIDS, drinking, child abuse, and sexual promiscuity. Similarly, each problem was often solved by the end of the hour long show, giving an implicit moral about the impact of a particular activity. When the show originally aired, some episodes were followed immediately by public service announcements featuring cast members.
Cast The show starred prominent actors and actresses at the time, including:
Johnny Depp as Officer Tom Hanson, Jr. (1987-1990) Holly Robinson as Det. Judy Hoffs Dustin Nguyen as Officer Harry Ioki (1987-1990) Peter DeLuise as Officer Doug Penhall (1987-1990) Frederic Forrest as Captain Richard Jenko (1987) Steven Williams as Captain Adam Fuller (1987-1991) Richard Grieco as Officer Dennis Booker (1988-1989) Michael DeLuise as Officer Joey Penhall (1990-1991) Sal Jenco as Sal "Blowfish" Banducci (1987-1990) Michael Bendetti as Officer Anthony "Mac" McCann (1990-1991) Jeff Yagher as Officer Thomas Hanson, Sr. (pilot episode only)
Episode guide
Season 1 "21 Jump Street (part 1)" (also known as "Jump Street Chapel part 1") (Apr. 12, 1987) "21 Jump Street (part 2)" (also known as "Jump Street Chapel part 2") (Apr. 12, 1987) "America, What a Town" (Apr. 19, 1987) "Don't Pet the Teacher" (Apr. 26, 1987) "My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" (May. 3, 1987) "The Worst Night of Your Life" (May. 10, 1987) "Gotta Finish the Riff" (May. 17, 1987) "Bad Influence" (May. 24, 1987) "Blindsided" (May. 31, 1987) "Next Generation" (June. 7, 1987) "Low and Away" (also known as "Running on Ice") (June. 14, 1987) "16 Blown to 35" (June. 21, 1987) "Mean Streets and Pastel Houses" (June. 28, 1987) Jeff Yagher was originally cast as Officer Tom Hanson in the Pilot. He was replaced after the original pilot episode was filmed, and his scenes were reshot with Johnny Depp.
Season 2 "In the Custody of a Clown" (Sept. 20, 1987) "Besieged (1)" (Sept. 27, 1987) "Besieged (2)" (Oct. 4, 1987) "Two For the Road" (Oct. 11, 1987) "After School Special" (Oct. 18, 1987) "Higher Education" (Oct. 25, 1987) "Don't Stretch the Rainbow" (Nov. 1, 1987) "Honor Bound" (Nov. 8, 1987) "You Ought to Be in Prison" (Nov. 15, 1987) "How Much is That Body in the Window?" (Nov. 22, 1987) "Christmas in Saigon" (Dec. 20, 1987) "Fear and Loathing with Russell Buckins" (also known as "Doin' The Quarter Mile In A Lifetime") (Dec. 27, 1987) "A Big Disease With a Little Name" (Feb. 7, 1988) "Chapel of Love" (Feb. 14, 1988) "I'm OK- You Need Work" (Feb. 21, 1988) "Orpheus 3.3" (also known as "The Convenience Killer") (Feb. 28, 1988) "Champagne High" (Mar. 6, 1988) "Brother Hanson & the Miracle of Renner's Pond" (Mar. 13, 1988) "Raising Marijuana" (Apr. 17, 1988) "Best Years Of Your Life" (May 1, 1988) "Cory and Dean Got Married" (May 8, 1988) "School's Out" (May 22, 1988)
Season 3 "Fun With Animals" (Nov. 6, 1988) "Slippin' Into Darkness" (Nov. 13, 1988) "The Currency We Trade In" (Nov. 20, 1988) "Coach of the Year" (Nov. 27, 1988) "Whose Choice is it Anyways?" (Dec. 11, 1988) "Hell Week" (Dec. 18, 1988) "The Dragon and the Angel" (Jan. 15, 1989) "Blu Flu" (Jan. 29, 1989) "Swallowed Alive" (Feb. 5, 1989) "What About Love?" (Feb. 12, 1989) "Woolly Bullies" (Feb. 19, 1989) "The Dreaded Return of Russell Buckins" (Feb. 26, 1989) "A.W.O.L." (Mar. 19, 1989) "Nemesis" (Mar. 26, 1989) "Fathers and Sons" (Apr. 9, 1989) "High High" (Apr. 23, 1989) "Blinded by the Thousand Points of Light" (Apr. 30, 1989) "Next Victim" (May 7, 1989) "Loc'd Out (part 1)" (also known as "Partners (part 1)") (May 14, 1989) "Loc'd Out (part 2)" (also known as "Partners (part 2)") (May 21, 1989)
Richard Greico joins the cast during this season as Officer Dennis Booker. While he is in nearly every episode this season, he is always credited as a guest star. Originally, his character was going to be killed off at the end of the season, but he proved so popular, the character was given a spin-off.
Season 4 "Draw the Line" (Sep. 18, 1989) "Say It Ain't So, Pete" (Sep. 25, 1989) "Eternal Flame" (Oct. 2, 1989) "Come from the Shadows" (Oct. 9, 1989) "God is a Bullet" (Oct. 16, 1989) "Old Haunts in a New Age" (Oct. 30, 1989) "Out of Control" (Nov. 6, 1989) "Stand by Your Man" (Nov. 13, 1989) "Mike's P.O.V." (Nov. 20, 1989) "Wheels and Deals Part Two" (Nov. 27, 1989) (Part One aired as part of the spin-off series Booker) "Parental Guidance Suggested" (Dec. 4, 1989) "Things We Said Today" (Dec. 18, 1989) "Research and Destroy" (Jan. 8, 1990) "A Change of Heart" (Jan. 15, 1990) "Back from the Future" (Jan. 29, 1990) A clip show framed by interviews of the retired cops "2245" (Feb. 5, 1990) "Hi Mom" (Feb. 12, 1990) "Awomp-Bomp-Aloobomb, Aloop Bamboom" (Feb. 19, 1990) "La Bizca" (Feb. 26, 1990) "Last Chance High" (Mar. 19, 1990) "Unfinished Business" (Apr. 9, 1990) "Shirts and Skins (also known as "A New Breeze Blowing") (Apr. 30, 1990) "How I Saved the Senator" (May 7, 1990) "Rounding Third" (May 14, 1990) "Everyday is Christmas" (May 21, 1990) "Blackout" (also known as "Business as Usual") (Jun 18, 1990)
Season 4 was the last season to air on the Fox Network. In commentary on the Season 5 DVD set, Peter Deluise said that Fox had decided to cancel the show after Season 4 because the ratings had fallen below a set limit. Following this season, Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen left the show. It was never explained where Officers Hanson or Ioki went, or why they were no longer with the Jump Street Unit. (It should be noted that Hanson's whereabouts were possibly hinted at by Penhall, saying "an old friend of his now runs a bowling alley." Hanson is known for his love of bowling.) The Booker spin-off crossover episode, "Wheels and Deals Part One", is included with 21 Jump Street's syndication package, and is also included on the 4th Season DVD set.
Officer Dean Garrett (David Barry Gray) makes his first appearance in "Everyday is Christmas." As it became harder for the original cast members to plausibly pass as high school students, his character and Officer Kati Rocky (Alexandra Powers) were intended to be "youthful" replacements, so the show could maintain its original premise of younger looking cops posing as high school students, while still allowing the older cast a meaningful role on the show.
Season 5 "Tunnel of Love" (Oct 13, 1990) "Back to School" (Oct. 20, 1990) "Buddy System" (Oct. 27, 1990) "Poison" (Nov. 3, 1990) "Just Say No! High" (Nov. 10, 1990) "Brothers" (Nov. 17, 1990) "This Ain't No Summer Camp" (Nov. 24, 1990) "The Girl Next Door" (Dec. 1, 1990) "Diplomas for Sale" (Dec. 8, 1990) "Number One with a Bullet" (Dec. 22, 1990) "Equal Protection" (Jan. 5, 1991) "The Education of Terry Carver" (Jan. 14, 1991) "Baby Blues" (Jan. 21, 1991) "Film at Eleven" (Feb. 9, 1991) "In the Name of Love" (Feb. 16, 1991) "Cop Love" (also known as "Coppin' Out") (Feb. 23, 1991) "Under The Influence" (Mar. 23, 1991) "Crossfire" (Mar. 30, 1991) "Wasted" (Apr. 6, 1991) "Bad Day at Eagle Rock" (also known as "Bad Day at Blackburn") (Apr. 13, 1991) "Homegirls" (Apr. 20, 1991) "Second Chances" (Apr. 27, 1991) During this season, Michael Bendetti joined the cast as Officer Anthony "Mac" McCann. Michael DeLuise also joined the cast as Joey Penhall, Doug Penhall's younger brother. Peter DeLuise was credited as a Special Guest Star until he left the show in December 1990.
Both Doug and Joey Penhall were written off the show before the season was completed. Peter DeLuise said during his commentary on the Season 5 DVD Set that he saw no future for the show, so he decided to leave before it folded with the agreement that he direct two episodes and play in (at least) seven episodes. In the show, Doug Penhall is shot in the line of duty, and after facing his own mortality, decides to leave the force to care for his adopted son, Clavo. As Joey Penhall joined the Jump Street Unit to get closer to his brother, his reason for being at Jump Street no longer existed. His character was written out a few episodes later as moving away to be near his brother.
Officer Kati Rocky (Alexandra Powers) is introduced in the first episode of the season, "Tunnel of Love." This episode, along with "Back to School" mark the last appearances of Officer Rocky and Officer Garrett, despite the plotlines suggesting that both characters are going to join the main cast. These episodes were both filmed during the Fourth Season and held over. Neither actor was asked back for the Fifth Season, and their characters are not mentioned again after their initial appearances.
Richard Grieco appears prominently on the Fourth Season DVD coverIDT's Anchor Bay Entertainment has released all 5 seasons of the TV series on DVD in Region 1. The criticism on the DVD releases has been the substitution of soundtrack music from that used on the original episodes, as that the music originally used was often notably linked to the themes of each episode.
Further, the Fourth and Fifth Season set DVD covers have been said to be misleading Richard Grieco appears prominently on the cover of the Fourth Season DVD set, yet his only appearance during that season was as part of a 21 Jump Street/Booker cross-over episode.
Johnny Depp appears on the Fifth Season DVD cover, despite not appearing in that year. The issue with the Fifth Season DVD release is that the Fourth Season episode "Blackout," which was Johnny Depp's last episode, was placed on the Fifth Season DVD set. This fact, along with Johnny Depp's prominent appearance on the cover of the Fifth Season DVD set, has been labeled by some fans as misleading because it gives the impression that Johnny Depp took part in the Fifth Season of the show, when in fact, he did not.
A spin-off called Booker was produced for the character of Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco), but it ran only one season from September 1989 to June 1990. The show's filming location, Vancouver, is given away in the series' opening. A shot of a city bus with destination "Hastings" is shown briefly, as well as a SkyTrain with a British Columbia Transit(BCTransit) logo barely visible on the side. This was featured in the opening in Seasons 1-3. There also has been a scene filmed inside the main office of local Vancouver high school, David Thompson Secondary School. New Westminster Secondary School was one of the main locations of the series.[1] The show is referenced numerous times in A Night at the Roxbury. The film features Richard Grieco playing himself. Captain Jenko, played by Frederic Forrest, left the show after the fifth episode of the first season. Peter DeLuise cited creative differences between Forrest and the show's writers as the primary reason he was killed off in the show's seventh episode. In his commentary on the DVD release of Season 5, Episode 10: "Number One with a Bullet" which he directed, Peter Deluise said that his younger brother David is in the show at the start, donning the bullet proof vest. The inside courtroom set used in the episode was originally built for the Jodie Foster film, The Accused. As part of his DVD commentary, Peter DeLuise said that he expected to be in big demand like Johnny Depp and that his movie career would take off after he left 21 Jump Street. However, this did not happen and he found himself out of work much of the time with some directing jobs in low budget movies before finally getting a job directing Stargate SG-1. On reflection, Peter said he wished that he had stayed with the show until the end, rather than leaving midway through Season 5. On the show, Jenko is killed in a freak drunk driving accident. However, because he often ad-libbed his lines, the writers considered having him shot in the throat and leaving him to die a slow painful death where he would be unable to speak for an entire episode. The character of Officer H.T. "Harry" Ioki was revealed in the episode "Christmas in Saigon" to actually be named Vinh Van Tran, and to be a Vietnamese refugee, not from Japan as he had been claiming. There is a hearing about whether or not he will be suspended for fraud, and the hearing determines that he is allowed to stay on the force. In the episode: "Best Years of Your Life" which deals with suicide in young people, Doug Penhall reveals that his alcoholic mother killed herself when he was six and that he had tried to kill himself when he was eight. It is explained in the show that Hanson's classic Mustang belonged to his father, who was killed in the line of duty as a police officer. However, after Hanson leaves, Mac is now seen driving the same car without any explanation as to why. In the later seasons, Doug Penhall adopted a boy named Clavo who was supposed to be from El Salvador. However, Clavo was played by a native American and had to be coached in a Spanish accent since he was supposed to have come from El Salvador (the show supposedly filmed in El Salvador was actually filmed in Miami). The theme tune was sung by Holly Robinson. She had a minor singing career before starring in the show and Cannell graciously let her try a number of different theme songs, before picking the one that was eventually used. Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise also chimed in with the word "Jump" in the song. There is a song on the multi-platinum Murder Was The Case soundtrack called "21 Jumpstreet". It is performed by Snoop Dogg and Tray Deee. A film adaptation of "21 Jump Street" has been in the works for several years, and at one point Jennifer Love Hewitt was attached to the project. It was formerly aired on GMA-7 in the Philippines. In later opening sequences, Peter DeLuise's character(Doug Penhall) is shown standing in front of an oversized driver's license which says "Beautiful Evergreen State"; even the license plates on all vehicles say this, even though they are identical to currently-issued British Columbia plates. "Beautiful Evergreen State" is the fictional slogan for the state that the police station/chapel is in, even though Washington State's official tourism slogan is simply "The Evergreen State".
21 Jump Street - Part 1 - Don't Pet the Teacher
21 Jump Street - Part 2 - Don't Pet the Teacher
21 Jump Street - Part 3 - Don't Pet the Teacher
21 Jump Street - Part 4 - Don't Pet the Teacher
21 Jump Street - 1x04 - Part 5 - Don't Pet the Teacher
Charlie's Angels is a television series that was broadcast on the ABC Television Network from 1976 to 1981, about three women who work for a fictional private investigation agency, the Charles Townsend Agency. Their boss, Charlie (voiced by John Forsythe), was rarely seen and is never seen full face — in some episodes he is shown from the rear only (where the viewer only sees the back of his head and his arms) and on the series finale where he appears in surgeon's mask and outfit. He only ever contacted the "angels" by telephone, addressing them via a speakerphone on the office's desk.
The three original "angels" were Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith). Later, when a character left (because the actress went on to other projects, etc) another "angel" was brought on to keep the number at three. Later angels were Jill's little sister Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd), Tiffany Welles (Shelley Hack), and Julie Rogers (Tanya Roberts). Jaclyn Smith was the longest serving TV angel, remaining with the show for its entire five season run. Another major character throughout the series was Charlie's assistant, John Bosley (David Doyle).
A 1974 Ted Mikels movie called Doll Squad featured three female crime fighters, one even named Sabrina. Whether the movie influenced Aaron Spelling is disputed
Premise The show's premise focused on Charlie assigning the Angels to a new situation each episode, where they would go undercover in order to investigate 'from the inside'. Their undercover characters often had to feign not knowing each other in the situation, until their cover was inevitably blown. The undercover aspect of the show created much of the plot interest and tension. In the early seasons of the show, the Angels, under their assumed identities, used a combination of sexual wiles and knowledge learned for the situation in which they were being placed. By the third and fourth seasons, the writing had a tendency to stray from the show's initial sex appeal (see "As 'Jiggle TV'") and focus more on the case at hand.
As "Jiggle TV" The show became known as "Jiggle TV" and "T&A TV" (or "Tits and Ass television") by critics who believed that the show had no intelligence or substance and that the scantily or provocatively dressed Angels (generally as part of their undercover character — e.g., roller derby girl, beauty pageant contestant, maid, female prisoner or just bikini-clad) did so to showcase the figures and/or sexuality of the actresses as a sole means of attracting viewers. Farrah Fawcett-Majors once attributed the show's success to this fact: "When the show was number three, I figured it was our acting. When it got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra."
Chronology of known Angels Sabrina Duncan (1976–1979), played by Kate Jackson, Charlie's Angels original TV series Jill Munroe (1976–1977, 1978, 1979, 1980), played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Charlie's Angels original TV series Kelly Garrett (1976–1981), played by Jaclyn Smith, Charlie's Angels original TV series & Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Kris Munroe (1977–1981), played by Cheryl Ladd, Charlie's Angels original TV series Tiffany Welles (1979–1980), played by Shelley Hack, Charlie's Angels original TV series Julie Rogers (1980–1981), played by Tanya Roberts, Charlie's Angels original TV series John Bosley (1976–1981), played by David Boyle (Bosley was Charlie's assistant) Charlie's Angels original TV series
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The first season of Charlie's Angels caused an explosion of fan hysteria and press coverage that was unheard of in the mid-1970s. It was even highlighted as a cover story in Time magazine which analyzed the impact of the show on popular culture. Also, in the U.S. census, it was found out that the name Charlie was more often used in naming children.
TV Guide also cashed in on the Angel phenomenon where Angel-groups graced the cover. The first one was during first season (1976) and had Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, and Kate Jackson on the cover. The second one was during second season (1978) and had Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and Kate Jackson on the cover. The third one was during fourth season (1979-1980) and had Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and Shelley Hack on the cover. Other years had some of the Angels individually on the cover...with personal interviews.
Despite the fame and popularity of the show things were not always so "Angel-like" on the set. After Farrah Fawcett-Majors unexpectedly left the show after first season (supposedly because of her husband at the time, Lee Majors, didn't like her gone all the time--as well as with all her new fame Farrah thought she could do movies instead) things went into a frenzy. Who would replace Farrah?
Every aspiring actress knew it would be practically a "death sentence" job. Executive producer Aaron Spelling wanted actress Cheryl Ladd, but Ladd at first refused. But, he persisted and eventually she agreed...but they decided to create an all new character that could be Jill's (Fawcett) younger sister. She would start out inexperienced and would occasionally make a few humorous mistakes, but would of course triumph in the end. Then over time her character would become more experienced and sure of herself. This of course became Kris Munroe. On her first day to the set, in order to help break the "ice" so-to-speak, Cheryl Ladd wore a tight T-shirt that said: Farrah Fawcett-Minor. Everyone found it hilarious.
Second season premired with immense success (2-hour Angels In Paradise season premiere was the highest rated episode of the whole series!) and suddenly America was in love with the new Angel...plus she looked sensational in a bikini! However, actress Kate Jackson was not pleased about Farrah leaving and often would not even speak to Ladd when the cameras were not rolling. Because of Jackson's hostility towards her, at first Ladd didn't know if she could go on. It was actually actor David Doyle (John Bosley) that reassured her that everything would be okay and she would do great.
There was supposedly quite a bit of turmoil brewing behind-the-scenes and to the point that the set was eventually closed to the public during filming. Spelling and Goldberg took Farrah to court when she backed out after only one season...however it was discovered that she had not actually signed her original contract. A settlement was made and she agreed to make a total of 6 return guest-appearances on the show--3 for third season and 3 for fourth season.
Even with Farrah's return appearances, towards the end of third season Kate Jackson wanted out as well. Rumor had it that after all the constant blow-ups and turmoil from Jackson after Farrah left, Spelling and Goldberg were happy to let her out of the 5 year contract. They then hired actress and model Shelley Hack to be a more sophisticated Angel named Tiffany Welles. However, for some reason critics and fans did not take to her like they had with Cheryl after Farrah left, so sadly after the fourth season Hack was let go.
For the fifth and final season producers hired actress Tanya Roberts to come in as a more tough and street-smart Angel named Julie Rogers. Even though audiences seemed to accept Roberts better than they had Hack, ratings had taken an all-time dive. Word finally came down that after the fifth season the show would not be renewed. Charlie's Angels was cancelled. There had been talk of possibly renewing the series for a sixth season, but Jaclyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, and David Doyle had all 3 stated that even if the show was renewed for another season they would not be coming back. They were tired of all the turmoil and stress and wanted to go on to other projects.
The show has inspired many remakes and reinterpretations throughout the years and in different countries.
TV series Four women were selected to be in a show called Angels '88, which was to serve as an updated version of the show. The show was later named Angels '89 after production delays, but the show ultimately never aired. From 1998–1999, Telemundo and Sony produced a show called Ángeles. The weekly hour format did not catch on with Hispanic viewers, who are accustomed to watching telenovelas nightly and the series was soon cancelled. In 2002, a German version of Charlie's Angels, Wilde Engel, was produced by the German channel RTL. The show was produced by Hermann Joha, Angela Strunck, and Melanie Mohr, but the cast was entirely changed around the second season. The show was known as Anges de choc in French-speaking countries, and as Three Wild Angels in English-speaking ones. The first season had good ratings, but they were slipping by the second season and high production costs made it hard to go on. The show was cancelled during 2005.
Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda was a Canadian/American science fiction television series, based on unused material by the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Roddenberry. It starred Kevin Sorbo as High Guard Captain Dylan Hunt. The series premiered on October 2, 2000 and ended on May 13, 2005.
Andromeda was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and produced by Tribune Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment. It was distributed by Global TV (Fireworks' parent company) in Canada and syndicated in the United States on WGN and other channels. It was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. halfway through season four. Andromeda is one of two TV series (to date) based upon concepts Roddenberry had created as early as the 1960s and 1970s. The name Dylan Hunt had also been given to the heroes of two TV movie pilots Roddenberry had produced in the mid-1970s. The other series posthumously created from Roddenberry's notes is Earth: Final Conflict.
Ten episodes were directed by David Winning, including "Banks of the Lethe" and the 100th episode, "Pride Before the Fall".
Plot and production
The series is set thousands of years in the future, and revolves around the Systems Commonwealth, a constitutional monarchy based in a distant star system called Tarn-Vedra. Humankind is a part of The Commonwealth, having been discovered by its members thousands of years prior. The Commonwealth is based out of three galaxies; The Milky Way, Triangulum Galaxy, and the Andromeda Galaxy, located 3 million light years away. Ships travel from one end of the Commonwealth to the other through slipstreams, following pre-guided roller coaster like pathways through the cosmos to and from their destination.
The Commonwealth claims to be a utopian society, but it is actually in a state of war with the Magog, a humanoid species with bat-like faces that is dedicated to war. A few years earlier, to show good faith as a result of peace talks, the Commonwealth ceded to the Magog a key home world. This home world is a key planet of one of the Commonwealth's member species, the genetically engineered Nietzscheans. The Nietzscheans, displeased with this peace agreement with the Magog, secretly attempt to usurp control of the Commonwealth. This is also the embodiment of their basic beliefs, as they see themselves as the race described as the "Übermensch" by famed philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
The Commonwealth has a large and vast defense armada, the High Guard. The protagonist of the series, Dylan Hunt, is the captain of a Commonwealth ship, the Andromeda Ascendant. The ship's computer, a powerful AI (Artificial Intelligence), is a key character in the series.
The entire High Guard, including Captain Hunt, is caught by surprise in the first engagement of the Nietzschen uprising. He is forced to evacuate his crew, but Andromeda gets caught on the edge of an event horizon of a black hole, freezing him in time.
303 years later, the crew of the salvage ship Eureka Maru locates Hunt's ship. The Systems Commonwealth and the High Guard have fallen in the centuries since he was frozen in time, beginning an era known as The Long Night. Hunt recruits the salvage crew to join him in an attempt to restore the Systems Commonwealth and "rekindle the light of civilization."
The salvage crew is comprised of its leader, Beka Valentine, a con-artist and expert pilot; a Nietzschean mercenary named Tyr Anasazi ("out of Victoria by Barbarossa") (of the nearly extinct Kodiak pride); a super-genius engineer named Seamus Harper (rescued from Nietzschean-enslaved Earth by Beka) who can plug his mind directly into computer systems; Trance Gemini, and Rev Bem. "Rev" is short for Reverend; although he is a Magog and thus violent by nature, he has discovered a non-violent, Taoist-like religious order called The Way and become a Wayist priest. As for Trance, little is known at first about this pixie-like purple female alien other than that she has a tail and seems somewhat distant.
Season One
Season One castSeason One of the series shows Dylan Hunt assembling the crew and adjusting to the new universe, while pursuing the creation of the New Systems Commonwealth. The idea of the new Commonwealth proves unpopular; only 6 worlds actually sign the Commonwealth charter in this season. Major powers like the Than Hegemony or the Nietzschean Sabra and Jaguar prides are not really interested in the new Commonwealth; Dylan also manages to make quite a few enemies (including the most powerful of all Nietzschean Prides, Drago-Kazov) himself.
Dylan also encounters several dysfunctional remnants of the old High Guard and witnesses the consequences of some of his own actions 300 years before. He realizes that the old Commonwealth had made some mistakes, the repetition of which he has to avoid.
The unification of Andromeda's crew is a major theme of Season One. Dylan's new crew doesn't really believe in the idea of the Commonwealth, and joins him only for personal gain. To their surprise they find that having something to fight for is not a bad thing. In the season finale, Beka, Dylan's First Officer, even promises to continue his mission if he dies.
Initially Trance seems to be a ditsy, naive girl, warm and compassionate but serving little actual purpose on the ship. She quickly demonstrates she is more than she seems. Trance has the ability to see the future (or, as she explains it, "all possible futures"). She uses this ability several times to help her friends, but her true goals remain unknown. The show hints that she engineered the Battle of Witchhead, where the last remains of the old Commonwealth fleet were destroyed, taking most of the Nietzschean forces with them, by "accidentally" sending the Andromeda back in time and pulling various members of the crew by the right strings.
Dylan himself has a difficult time accepting the fact that the universe he lived in no longer exists and all his friends are long dead. In a bizarre accident he actually manages to contact his fiancé, Sara Riley, 300 years before and even to teleport onto her ship — but returns alone, deciding the new Commonwealth is more important than his own life.
In the season finale Andromeda encounters the Magog World ship, a huge structure of twenty connected planets and an artificial sun. The World ship contains trillions of Magog and is equipped with a powerful weapon — a point singularity projector, which creates miniature black holes. Andromeda is heavily damaged, Tyr and Harper are abducted to the World ship. Trying to rescue them, Rev Bem follows them to the World ship. The rest of the crew are badly injured.
Season Two
Season Two begins with the crew of Andromeda in a seemingly hopeless situation. Dylan is revived by Trance and goes to the Magog World ship with Rommie (the android avatar of Andromeda's AI) to recover Tyr, Harper and Rev. Harper is infested with Magog eggs, and Rev's loyalty is strained when he encounters the being the Magog call the Spirit of the Abyss. They believe it to be their creator and god. Although Dylan and Rommie rescue Tyr and Harper, Andromeda is badly damaged, Rev has a spiritual crisis, and there seems to be no possible way to extract the Magog larvae from Harper. A powerful drug will keep them dormant for a time, but it only delays the inevitable.
The season shows the crew reacting to the sudden necessity of the New Commonwealth after the discovery of the Worldship (which will arrive to the Known Worlds in a few years), as they continue to make sure the dream comes true. Many worlds became more willing to sign the charter after learning of the Worldship. Dylan becomes more ruthless in his actions as well.
The episode "Ouroboros" (2:12) in the middle of this season became a major turning point for the whole series. "Ouroboros" was the last episode of Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the show's original developer and head writer. The producers allegedly felt that the series was becoming too intellectual and complicated (see Controversy over Robert Hewitt Wolfe's departure). One immediately visible change was Trance's transformation. She exchanged places with her own future version; New Trance had a different (golden-skinned) appearance and much more serious personality.
Brent Stait (Rev Bem) also left Andromeda in "Ouroboros" because of his developing allergy to Magog make-up. He reprises his role twice later, in Seasons Three and Four.
In the second half of Season Two, restoration of the Systems Commonwealth becomes a much less significant theme. The show mostly concentrated on Star Trek-style standalone adventures. However, by the end of the season the new Commonwealth had gained a new powerful war fleet and a total of fifty worlds.
Andromeda's Nietzschean crewman, Tyr Anasazi, is revealed to have a son, Tamerlane Anasazi, who is a genetic reincarnation of Drago Museveni, Founder and Progenitor of the entire Nietzschean Race. Since all the Nietzschean Prides believe that Drago Musevini's genetic reincarnation will necessarily be a great leader, the Nietzschean Messiah, Tyr Anasazi gets a unique opportunity to unite all the Nietzschean Prides. He doesn't use it yet, biding his time.
In the season finale the Systems Commonwealth is finally reinstated. A ceremony is held on board of the Andromeda, but interrupted by the attack of unknown extra-dimensional aliens.
Season Three
Season Three had the most episodic format of all. The Systems Commonwealth is already reunited, but there is not much progress in the fight with the Magog and the Abyss.
Several episodes of Season Three explore Trance and her actual role. One episode (The Dark Backward) is filmed completely from Trance's viewpoint, showing that she indeed "lives" through all possible alternate futures before choosing the right one.
This season shows several confusing additions, refits, and changes to the Andromeda, its crew and the Commonwealth. The Andromeda gains a highly trained High guard crew in some episodes only to have them disappear in the next, leaving the core command crew to deal with problems on the ship without help. The capabilities of the ship increase and decrease and the characters often react in ways which are contrary to their established personalities. Most noteworthy is the appearance of multiple squadrons of slip fighters who fight under Beka's staunch leadership in the final episode, when in the previous episode, where a squadron of slipfighters would have been handy, they are not utilized.[citation needed]
Nietzschean crewman Tyr Anasazi makes his move at the end of the season. He implants his son Tamerlane Anasazi 's DNA into his own cells, and goes on to reunite the various Nietzschean Prides and separate them from the Systems Commonwealth again. The season ends with Nietzscheans withdrawing from the Commonwealth and Tyr Anasazi formally leaving the Andromeda.
Season Four In Season Four, Dylan is nearly outlawed by the Systems Commonwealth he himself had restored. The Collectors (originally keepers of historical information unknown to anyone else), allied with the Spirit of the Abyss, manipulate the fragile government of the New Commonwealth to show him in a bad light. The Abyss infiltrates the Commonwealth using many other agents as well.
Eventually the Collectors unite with Tyr Anasazi and his newly united Nietzschean Prides. Tyr mistrusts the Spirit of the Abyss, but hopes to defeat it. He tries to find a map to the Route of Ages — a portal connecting all universes together. It is possible to weaken the Abyss by passing through it. Dylan gets the map instead, but he allows Tyr to follow Andromeda through the Route of Ages, as Tyr knows more about the Abyss. Andromeda is transported into a weird universe where thoughts manifest as reality. With Trance's help, Dylan defeats and kills Tyr Anasazi who tried to make a deal with the Abyss.
Since the Route of Ages closes before the Andromeda can get back, Dylan has to use Trance's help. She reveals that she is the Avatar of the Sun, with "the power to create and destroy". Trance destroys Andromeda and re-creates it in the right universe.
In this season, Dylan also finds a new crew member — Nietzschean Telemachus Rhade, who doesn't accept his race's betrayal of the Commonwealth and agrees to join Dylan. Rhade proves to be more manageable than Tyr Anasazi, whom he helped Dylan defeat.
The Magog evolve and become more intelligent and cunning. In the season finale their Worldship is rediscovered. It is heading towards the Arkology, an old space station with very pacifist population. Dylan frantically tries to convince them that they have to defend themselves, but the people of the Arkology hope to make peace with the Magog.
They pay dearly for that mistake, as the Magog never make peace with anyone. Andromeda tries to defend the Arkology against the Worldship, but is outnumbered horribly. The Arkology is destroyed with all its inhabitants. Rhade, Beka and Harper are left in absolutely hopeless situations. Rommie explodes after being shot through her stomach.
Trance asks Dylan to escape on a slip fighter through the Route of Ages, claiming that now there is nothing more important than saving his life; Marlowe, Arkology's leader (who had disappeared several hours before the battle) tells Dylan that they both are Paradine, two of the few ancient beings with incredible powers. Dylan reluctantly leaves through the Route (in a strange sequence where he finds himself in a large dark room and seemingly meets another version of himself). Trance turns into a sun and crashes into the Worldship on the Andromeda.
Season Five Season Five starts with an unusual premise. Dylan finds himself transported into Seefra system — nine identical barren worlds with superstitious population and two dim suns. Technology (especially spaceflight) is shunned, and water is treasured because of constant drought. Flavin, a Paradine, meets Dylan here, giving him cryptic hints about Dylan's destiny and what Seefra is before disappearing.
Dylan eventually finds Nietzschean warrior Telemachus Rhade, pilot Beka Valentine and super-genius engineer Seamus Harper on Seefra, and to his amazement, they all arrived in Seefra at different times and locations. Harper, in particular, arrived three years earlier with the remains of the android Rommie. He tried to repair her but failed, eventually building another android, Doyle, with some of Rommie's memories. Initially he convinces her that she is human, but later her true identity is revealed by a rebel android. (The "behind the scenes" reason for replacing Rommie with Doyle is Lexa Doig's pregnancy. Rommie was rebuilt by Doyle late in this season.)
Trance is also found, but she is weakened by her attempt to transport Andromeda and its crew to Seefra. She doesn't quite remember who she is and what she is supposed to do. Trance underwent a metamorphosis yet again; she is still golden-skinned but appears younger, and her personality resembles her first purple incarnation.
Andromeda itself is transported to Seefra as well, but it has no power and no way to restore it. Trance partially recharges the ships generators, but Andromeda still cannot move, and its AI behavior is erratic.
The first half of the season deals with three main themes: Dylan's conflict with his crew, his attempts to restore Andromeda's power and eventual discovery of the true role of Trance and Seefra system.
Rhade, Beka and Harper are all angry at Dylan for leaving them behind in the Battle of Arkology and for throwing them to Seefra without any way to return back to the Known Worlds. Their loyalty is strained several times, but seems finally reaffirmed after the intervention by Stranger, a Paradine sent by Dylan from an alternate future.
Andromeda's power is eventually restored with ancient Vedran artifacts, but it is still unable to leave Seefra. Seefra seems to be located in a "pocket universe," and the only way out is the Route of Ages. Although some characters come and leave through it, Dylan can't use it.
Seefra turns out to be Tarn-Vedra, long lost capital of the Commonwealth. But Vedrans themselves left it long ago, disillusioned with humans. Seefra-1 is the original Tarn-Vedra and Seefra-2 to 9 are copies of it. Tarn-Vedra's original sun was somehow replaced by two artificial constructs, Methus-1 and Methus-2. Methus-2 is now damaged and emits deadly flares, which are the reason for Seefra's drought.
Methus Diagram — a blueprint for Seefra system, recovered with the help of mysterious DJ Virgil Vox — also reveals the purpose of the eight extra planets. The Vedran sun will return someday, and destroy Seefra-2 to 9 in order to slow down and take its position. But because of the damage to Methus-2 this mechanism is not working, and the sun threatens to devastate the system completely.
Trance remembers her identity when she meets Ione, avatar of the Tarn-Vedra moon. She is the Tarn-Vedra sun. When she realizes this, her sun enters the Seefra system, and Dylan has to find a way to fix Methus-2 and evacuate eight doomed planets to Seefra-1.
Trance's "sisters" (who call themself "the Nebula"), however, try to persuade her to join them. In their opinion the fate of Dylan, Seefra or the Known Worlds is irrelevant. Trance stubbornly refuses, and the Nebula attempts to replace her (all Avatars of the Suns look alike). Real Trance is imprisoned inside Methus-2, and it takes some time for Dylan to realize the deception and rescue her.
Dylan proceeds with the evacuation of the Seefra planets, although his plans are hindered by General Burma, a religious leader from Seefra-5. Burma is later revealed to be under the control of the Abyss.
In the series finale, the Vedran sun is back in its place and people are safe on Seefra-1. Trance then contacts the Nebula — the Lambent Kith Nebula, supreme council of the galaxies which includes fifty Avatars. Trance was once the oldest member of the Nebula, but disagreed with their views of organic life as something insignificant and left long ago. Together with Dylan she appeals to the Nebula and its leader Maura, who plans to destroy the Abyss by expanding the All Forces Nullification Point until it consumes all galaxies. This incidentally will destroy everything alive in existence; only Seefra will survive.
Maura refuses to reconsider their plans, but allows Dylan and the Andromeda to return to the Known Worlds. When the Andromeda slipstreams to Tarazed, Dylan finds out that only four days have passed since the Battle of Arkology, and the Magog Worldship is crippled but still operational. Rhade reunites with his wife (only to return to the Andromeda shortly).
Andromeda visits Earth (where Harper secretly plans to stay), but as soon as the ship arrives in the system, the planet is promptly destroyed by the Abyss. A huge Nietzschean fleet emerges from behind the debris, and Andromeda barely escapes.
Dylan begins to suspect Maura's motives and soon realizes she is the avatar of the Abyss and that all of the Nebula were under its control. Maura had destroyed all Paradines (except Dylan). Trance annihilates Maura in a fight.
After a massive battle with the Nietzscheans of the Drago-Kazov Pride, Dylan checks the Methus Diagram once again and discovers that Trance's sun is capable of destroying the Abyss. Andromeda returns to Seefra through the Route of Ages, followed by the Abyss. Trance manages to pull her sun closer and plunge it into the Abyss, burning it.
The Abyss is finally destroyed, and Dylan's battle is over. The Route of Ages transforms into a slipstream portal, allowing the Commonwealth fleet to return to Tarn-Vedra.
Controversy over Robert Hewitt Wolfe's departure Controversy erupted during the midst of the second season when series developer and executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe announced he had been released from the show's production, though his influence was felt through the completion of the second season; at that point, Bob Engels was brought on to executive produce the series. The reason for the change was purportedly to make the show more episodic and open to "casual viewing," as Wolfe's version — although episodic — had many continuing plotlines and story arcs. After the show's final episode aired, Wolfe wrote and published on his site a one-act play titled "Coda" that explained his intended plans for the show without contradicting the already aired episodes.
In discussion on his web site's forums and various interviews over the last two years, Wolfe has elaborated that he was released from the production staff after he refused to shift the show's focus more heavily onto Kevin Sorbo's character, Dylan Hunt, by essentially making all of the show's episodes Hunt-centric.[citation needed] The events of the episode "Ouroboros", the final episode written by Wolfe, introduced the last major changes that Wolfe was willing to make to the series.
When Engels took over and the show began the more "episodic" format, reactions from fans were mixed. The new producers tried to lighten the "doom and gloom" seriousness of the original story arc, while at the same time focusing more on the Dylan Hunt character. As a result, many felt that the quality of the series had declined.
Cast characters Character Actor Position on the Andromeda Description Dylan Hunt Kevin Sorbo Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant A former High Guard officer accidentally "frozen" in time for over 300 years, once devoted to the restoration of the Systems Commonwealth at all costs. Rebecca "Beka" Valentine Lisa Ryder Captain of the Eureka Maru and First Officer on Andromeda A headstrong, no-nonsense cargo ship captain (and smuggler), very protective of her crew and with little respect for rules and formal regulations. Tyr Anasazi (Seasons 1-4) Keith Hamilton Cobb Weapons Officer (Seasons 1-3) A Nietzschean of the exterminated Kodiak Pride; a former mercenary. Selfish and smart, he always plots his actions carefully, and the only person he is completely loyal to is himself. Telemachus Rhade (Seasons 4-5) Steve Bacic Weapons Officer Another Nietzschean, a genetic reincarnation of Gaheris Rhade (Dylan's old First Officer, who had betrayed him at the Battle of Hephaistos). Seamus Zelazny Harper Gordon Michael Woolvett Engineer A genius engineer, good-natured but often egocentric and childish. Grew up on Earth, and hates most Nietzscheans and Magog with passion. Trance Gemini Laura Bertram Doctor, Life Support Officer An avatar of the sun. She is apparently immortal, has the power to create and destroy and can foresee all possible futures at once. She looks young and naive in season 1, but changed significantly in mid-Season Two and Season Five. She tends to change the subject when asked about her origin or her native tongue/name. Rev Bem (Reverend "Red Plague" Behemial) (Seasons 1-2) Brent Stait Science Officer An unusually intelligent Magog who has accepted Wayism religion. A complete pacifist, rejecting any violence and hating himself because of his race. Often serves as a counsellor for other crew members. His birth name translates from Magog as "Red Plague". Andromeda Lexa Doig Ship AI An artificial intelligence which controls the ship (and numerous robots and androids) and can replace most of the functions of crew. Can appear as a human-like woman on any display or as a hologram. The display and the hologram possess quite different aspects of the AI personallity. Rommie Lexa Doig AI's android avatar An autonomous android physically indistinguishable from a human. Her personality is separate from the Andromeda and Rommie is more emotional and even capable of love as a result. Doyle (Season 5) Brandy Ledford AI's second avatar An android built by Harper when Rommie was destroyed. Even more "human" than Rommie; was initially programmed to think she is human. Harper used some of Rommie's remains to create Doyle.
Recurring and notable guest characters Gaheris Rhade, a Nietzschean; Dylan's previous First Officer who had betrayed him at the Battle of Hephaistos, accidentally causing the Andromeda to move at the event horizon of a black hole and freeze in time. The episode The Unconquerable Man, where he manages to kill Hunt and tries to restore the Commonwealth himself, portrays him in a more sympathetic light, explaining his primary reason for betraying the Commonwealth was a desire to protect his people from the Abyss and becoming disillusioned with them when they turned on each other after the Fall. Feeling remorseful at killing his best friend Hunt, he goes back in time to allow Hunt to kill him instead, thus guaranteeing a new Commonwealth. (Steve Bacic) Gerentex, a Nightsider who had employed Eureka Maru's crew to salvage the Andromeda. (John Tench) Freya, a beautiful and wealthy Nietzschean of the Orca pride, briefly married to Tyr Anasazi. (Dylan Bierk) Sid Barry ("Uncle Sid", "Sam Profit"), a rich and amoral businessman, Beka's father's former partner. (John de Lancie) Höhne, a genius Perseid scientist. (Alex Diakun) Elsbett Mossadim, a First Daughter of Nietzschean Sabra pride, married to Charlemagne Bolivar of the Jaguar Pride to form the Sabra-Jaguar alliance. (Kimberly Huie) Gabriel/Remiel, an android avatar of the Balance of Judgement, a powerful warship of the Old Commonwealth which went insane after the Fall. (Michael Shanks) Spirit of the Abyss, a malevolent entity which commands the Magog and appears to be the mastermind of many sabotages and attacks on the New Commonwealth. (Robert Saunders) Professor Logitch, an Inari scientist who tried to interrogate Trance. (William B. Davis) Telemachus Rhade, Gaheris Rhade's genetic reincarnation, Admiral of Tarazed Home Guard (in Season Two; became a regular in Season Four). (Steve Bacic) Charlemagne Bolivar, a wealthy and powerful Nietzschean, leader of the extremely powerful Sabra-Jaguar pride. (James Marsters) Ryan, an avatar of the former Commonwealth ship Clarion's Call. (Michael Hurst) Rev Bem was a guest character in Seasons Three and Four. (Brent Stait) Captain Metis of an ancient human generation ship, the Bellerophon. (Tony Todd) The Patriarch, leader of the behind-the-scenes group known as the Templars, founded by Admiral Stark after the Fall. (Michael Ironside) Achilles/Hector, avatars of the New Commonwealth flagships Wrath of Achilles and Resolution of Hector, respectively. (Christopher Judge) Tri-Jema, one of the Triumvirs of the New Commonwealth. (Carmen Moore) Tri-Lorn, another Triumvir (Nicholas Lea) Flavin, a Paradine from Seefra. (Alan Scarfe) Virgil Vox, a mysterious DJ from Seefra system. (Dena Ashbaugh) Avineri, father of Beka's "alternate version" from Seefra. (Don S. Davis) Orlund, keeper of Seefra's underground Vedran chambers. (Rob Daly) General Burma, a sect leader from Seefra-5. (Hiro Kanagawa) Maura, Avatar of the Sun, leader of the Lambent Kith Nebula. (Emmanuelle Vaugier) The series is noted for having an especially high quota of "beautiful" people. In addition to a very coherent sense of fashion and styling being applied to the cast's attire, almost all significant characters in any given episode are especially attractive, particularly the female characters. This is often noted by the ship's mechanic Harper. It has been speculated that this explains Harper's lack of serious relationships with the opposite sex, compared to his more attractive crewmates who frequently liaise with other characters they encounter.
Andromeda universe
Slipstream Slipstream is the primary mode of travel for ships in the Andromeda universe, and the only known method of travelling faster than the speed of light. The Vedran discovery of the Slipstream was instrumental in the formation of their interstellar empire, which became the precursor of the Systems Commonwealth.
Curiously, slipstream cannot be navigated by AIs. Only organic pilots can "sense" a way to their destination, and although AIs are fitted on all large ships, they always require an organic pilot for interstellar travel. Though few science-fictional ideas are new, this most likely would have been borrowed from Larry Niven's Known Space series.
Systems Commonwealth Main article: Systems Commonwealth The Systems Commonwealth was a huge utopian civilization, spanning three major galaxies of the Local Group. It was founded by Vedrans, the first race to discover slipstream, and lasted in peace for about 5500 years until the Nietzschean revolt.
Dylan eventually managed to restore the Commonwealth (though not to its former glory; initially it had only 50 members while the Old Commonwealth had included more than a million worlds). However, the New Commonwealth soon fell victim to internal corruption masterminded by the group known as the Collectors, allied with the Abyss.
Major star systems Main article: List of Andromeda star systems Tarn-Vedra, the capital of the Old Systems Commonwealth and Vedran homeworld. All slipstream routes to Tarn-Vedra vanished soon after the Nietzschean rebellion, contributing to the ensuing chaos. Dylan was born on Tarn-Vedra. One of his motivations for restoring the Commonwealth is the search for his own lost home. Hephaistos, a system with significant Nietzschean population devastated by a rogue black hole in the pilot episode and the place of Dylan's imprisonment in time for 300 years. It turned out in Season Five that the Andromeda still somehow retained a connection to this black hole. Earth was ravaged by Nietzschean occupation and Magog assaults during the Long Night. Harper was born and acquired his notable survival skills there. Tarazed, a world with significant human and loyalist Nietzschean populations which survived the Long Night largely unscathed. It became the first capital of the New Commonwealth. Birthplace of Telemachus Rhade. San-Ska-Re, a Than homeworld and a major power in post-Fall Known Worlds. Didn't actually appear on screen. Mobius, a barren world with underground cities. Mobius was ruled by ruthless dictators for many centuries but joined the New Commonwealth when it's leader, the "Great Compass" Venetri resigned. Arkology, a huge space station with pacifist population and the site of the Andromeda's final confrontation with Magog Worldship. The Andromeda lost and the Arkology was destroyed, but Trance still managed to cripple the Worldship with her powers. Seefra, a mysterious artificial system of nine planets and two suns where Dylan and his crew were transported after the Battle of Arkology.
Major races Main article: List of Andromeda races Vedrans, the first intelligent race to discover slipstream that connects the entire universe. The Vedrans went on to conquer the Known Worlds, building the Vedran Empire. The Empire was plagued by internal conflicts and eventually was peacefully transformed into the Systems Commonwealth. Nietzscheans, a group of superior humans who believed in self-improvement via genetic engineering and intense competition. They left Earth and evolved into a separate subspecies (Homo sapiens invictus) which colonized many worlds. Nietzscheans are responsible for the Fall of the Systems Commonwealth; however, they failed to replace it with the Nietzschean Empire (as they had originally planned) because of constant betrayals and conflicts between different Nietzschean Prides. Humans make up about 70% of the Known Worlds population. Subspecies with minor genetic enhancements (like the Inari) are common. Magog, a race of savage semi-intelligent alien killers, feared throughout the Known Worlds. The Magogs have to eat fresh meat to sustain themselves and to lay eggs into sentient beings to procreate. Magog Worldship is a structure of 20 planets and an artificial sun, home to trillions of Magog and a grave threat to the Known Worlds. Perseids, a highly intelligent race of alien scientists and bureaucrats. Than-Thre-Kull (Than), a tough and highly intelligent and civilized insectoid race divided into various function-specific castes. Kalderans, a xenophobic reptilian race which once rivaled the Vedrans. They managed to reverse engineer their own Slipstream drive. Paradine, a highly evolved form of the Vedrans, which looks like ordinary humans. The Paradine apparently had a special role in dealing with the Avatars of the Suns and the Route of Ages, but they are all but extinct now. Dylan Hunt is the last. Avatars of the Suns, humanoid forms of stars with great powers. They are immortal and can travel through time and space, affecting events and people as they wish.
Other races Ogami - A race of brutish pirates and mercenaries.
Organizations Genites, a high-tech, numerous and well-organized intergalactic group whose aim is to rid the Universe of genetically engineered beings, especially the Nietzschean Prides, who brought about the downfall of humanity. Templar, a group of men and women who sought to restore order after the Fall. They were founded by High Guard Admiral Constanza Stark. Collectors, The Commonwealth's keepers of secret history. They are agents of the Abyss. Tech Police, The brutish anti-tech enforcement on Seefra-1. High Guard, Main military force of the Systems Commonwealth.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (sometimes abbreviated as MH2) was a 1976-1977 syndicated prime-time soap opera parody produced by Norman Lear and directed by Joan Darling. The soap was written by sitcom writer Gail Parent and soap writer Ann Marcus, who was best known for her work on Search for Tomorrow.
The show's title was the eponymous character's name stated twice, because Lear and the writers believed that everything that was said on a soap opera was said twice. Lear conceived Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as satire, but it was viewed as so controversial that many stations aired it well after their 11 P.M. newscasts. The irony was that while Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman dealt with many of the same topics found in episodes of daytime soap operas, the topics were called by their names (impotence, sexual perversion) instead of being referred to in the hushed tones and euphemisms typically favored by "straight" soaps; all the while the cast had their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks. For this reason, the series was even more controversial than it might otherwise have been.
In 1977, the similarly-themed Soap was released, but, unlike Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Soap played itself more like a traditional sitcom. Something that made the very similar shows also very different was that MH2, while being a soap parody, played like an actual soap, in that there was no studio audience or laugh track, there were tight close-ups of characters' faces, and the show aired five days a week with no repeats throughout the year.
The storyline followed Mary Hartman, played by Louise Lasser, her husband Tom (Greg Mullavey), her mother Mrs. Martha Shumway (Dody Goodman), and Mary’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Loretta Haggers, (Mary Kay Place) and Loretta's much older husband Charlie ("Baby Boy") Haggers, played by Graham Jarvis.
Other cast members included Debralee Scott (who played Cathy Shumway, Mary's sister), Renee Taylor, Reva Rose, Martin Mull (as both wife-beater Garth Gimble and talk show host, Barth Gimble), Dabney Coleman (who played Merle Jeeter, Fernwood's slightly devious mayor), Marian Mercer (who played Wanda, a former sanitarium mate of Mary's and Jeeter's second wife) and Doris Roberts (who played Dorelda Doremus, a faith healer).
The series took place in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. Although there is a real Fernwood, Ohio in the United States, the town in the series was not based on it but was instead named for Fernwood Avenue which runs behind the KTLA/Tribune Studios where the show taped.
In its first episode, MH2 addressed a family that had been mass-murdered (including the goats and chickens) and the "Fernwood Flasher", who turned out to be Mary's grandfather. Characters on the show died in several bizarre ways, including bathtub electrocution, drowning in chicken soup, and impalement on an aluminum Christmas tree.
Mary Hartman had a nationally televised nervous breakdown on The David Susskind Show at the end of the first season. Mary then found herself in a psychiatric ward, and she was delighted to be part of their selected Nielsen Ratings "family".
When Lasser left the show in 1977, it was rebranded Forever Fernwood and followed the trials and tribulations of Mary's family and friends after she ran away with a policeman. The series finally ended in 1978, after only 26 weeks on the air, along with the talk show parody spin-off Fernwood 2-Night. A total of 130 half-hour episodes were produced.
Mary Kay Place was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album Tonite! At the Capri Lounge, Loretta Haggers on which she sang as her MH2 character, Loretta Haggers. One of the songs Place wrote for the album, "Baby Boy", climbed to the Top 60 on Billboard's Pop Charts, and #3 on the country charts, in 1976. Place also won an Emmy for her performance on the show. The show's writers realized Loretta Haggers' newfound fame made it harder to keep her character in Fernwood, so they devised a storyline wherein the country and western star makes an anti-semitic, career-shattering remark on the Dinah Shore talk show.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was syndicated on local stations briefly in 1982, and enjoyed some short-lived air time on the television channel TV Land in 2002. Aside from the two-volume videocassette issued in the 1980s and bootlegged videos, the show has been difficult to find on any format. With the exception of the first 25 episodes available on DVD, many fans have been unable to watch most of the episodes from this series.
In 2000, many of the original cast appeared on a panel for a Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman retrospective at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, CA. The panel discussion was taped for the museum's archives.
During the run of the series and its various spinoffs and sequels, KTTV, which broadcast the series in the Los Angeles market, also broadcast a tongue-in-cheek version of its nightly "Metronews" newscast, titled "Metronews, Metronews."
Fernwood 2 Night (or Fernwood Tonight) was a comedic television program created by Norman Lear as a spin-off/summer replacement from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It was a parody talk show, hosted by Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) and sidekick/announcer Jerry Hubbard (Fred Willard), complete with a stage band, Happy Kyne and His Mirthmakers (featuring Frank De Vol as the ironically dour "Happy" Kyne, and Tommy Tedesco as one of the guitarists). Barth was the twin brother of Garth Gimble from Mary Hartman.
Like Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2Nite was set in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. The show satirized real talk shows as well as the sort of fare one might expect from locally-produced, small-town, midwestern American television programming. Well-known actors usually appeared playing characters or a contrivance had to be written for the celebrity to appear as themself. (In one episode, Tom Waits' tour bus happened to break down in Fernwood.)
After one season of Fernwood, the producers revamped the show the following year as America 2-Night. In this second version, we find that Barth and Jerry's show has moved to Los Angeles and is now broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS network (presumably a reference to the film Network), whose slogan was "We put U before the BS". This change allowed the show to now have well-known actors on the show as themselves.
In 2001, Martin Mull and Fred Willard reprised their roles in a stage appearance and retrospective at the US Comedy Arts Festival. in Aspen, Colorado.
Reruns aired on Nick at Nite from 1990 to 1993, on TV Land in 1996, and again on TV Land sporadically between 2001 and 2003, as part of the TV Land "Kitschen", a weekend block of campy programming that aired at midnight.
Cheers is a popular American situation comedy that ran from 1982 to 1993, and was produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television (now CBS Paramount Television) for NBC. Cheers was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show is set in the Cheers bar (itself named for the toast "Cheers") in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink and generally have fun. The show's theme song was written by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy, and performed by Portnoy[1] with its famous refrain, "where everybody knows your name", that also became the show's tagline.
After premiering on September 30, 1982, it was nearly cancelled during its first season when it ranked dead last in ratings.
However, Cheers eventually became a highly rated television show in the United States, earning a top-ten rating during eight of its eleven seasons, including one season at #1, and spending the bulk of its run on NBC's "Must See Thursday" lineup. Its widely watched series finale was broadcast on May 20, 1993, and the show's 273 episodes have now entered into a long and successful syndication run. The show earned 26 Emmy Awards, out of a total of 117 nominations.[4] The character Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) was featured in his own successful spin-off, Frasier.
Cast Cheers maintained an ensemble cast, keeping roughly the same set of characters for the entire run. Numerous secondary characters and love interests for these characters appeared intermittently to complement storylines that generally revolved around this core group.
The table below summarizes the main cast of Cheers.
Character Actor/Actress Role Other occupation(s) Duration "Woody" Boyd Woody Harrelson Assistant Bartender Actor; politician (1985-1993) Diane Chambers Shelley Long Waitress Writer; graduate student (1982-1987) Cliff Clavin John Ratzenberger Customer Mailman (1982-1993) Frasier Crane Kelsey Grammer Customer Psychiatrist (1984-1993) Rebecca Howe Kirstie Alley Manager/Waitress Businesswoman (1987-1993) Sam Malone Ted Danson Bartender/Owner Former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (1982-1993) Ernie "Coach" Pantusso Nicholas Colasanto Assistant Bartender Sam's coach (1982-1985) Norm Peterson George Wendt Customer Accountant; interior decorator; house painter (1982-1993) Lilith Sternin Bebe Neuwirth Customer Psychiatrist (1986-1993) Carla Tortelli Rhea Perlman Waitress Homemaker (1982-1993)
The main cast of Cheers after season 7 (from left to right): (top) John Ratzenberger, Roger Rees, Woody Harrelson (middle) Rhea Perlman, Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, George Wendt (bottom) Kelsey Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth.The character of Sam Malone was originally intended to be a retired football player and was originally supposed to be played by Fred Dryer, but after casting Ted Danson it was decided that a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox would be more believable.[5] The character of Cliff Clavin was created for John Ratzenberger after he auditioned for the role of "Norm". While chatting with producers afterwards, he asked if they were going to include a "bar know-it-all", the part which he eventually played.[6] Kirstie Alley joined the cast when Shelley Long left, and Woody Harrelson joined when Nicholas Colasanto died. Danson, George Wendt, and Rhea Perlman were the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.[7] Paul Willson, who played the recurring barfly character of "Paul", made early appearances in the first season as "Glen", was credited as "Gregg", and also appeared in the show as a character named "Tom".
Guest stars Although Cheers operated largely around that main ensemble cast, guest stars did occasionally supplement them. Notable repeat guests included Jay Thomas as Eddie LeBec, Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli, Jean Kasem as Loretta Tortelli, Roger Rees as Robin Colcord, Tom Skerritt as Evan Drake, and Harry Anderson as Harry the Hat. Other celebrities guest-starred in single episodes as themselves throughout the series. Some sports figures appeared on the show as former team-mates of Sam's from the Red Sox such as Luis Tiant and Wade Boggs, while others appeared with no connection to Cheers such as Kevin McHale (star player of the Boston Celtics, Cheers' hometown basketball team) or Mike Ditka. Some television stars also made guest appearances such as Johnny Gilbert, Alex Trebek, Arsenio Hall, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson. Some political figures even made appearances on Cheers such as then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William J. Crowe, former Colorado Senator Gary Hart, then-Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, Senator John Kerry, then-Governor Michael Dukakis, and then-Mayor of Boston Raymond Flynn (the last four of which all represented Cheers' home state and city). Musician Harry Connick, Jr. appeared in an episode as Woody's cousin[9] and plays a song from his Grammy winning album We Are in Love (c. 1991). John Cleese won an Emmy for his guest appearance as "Dr. Simon Finch-Royce" in a fifth season episode "Simon Says".[4] Emma Thompson guest starred as Nanny Gee/Nanette Guzman, a famous singing nanny and Frasier's ex-wife. The Righteous Brothers, Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley, also guest starred.
Production The concept for Cheers was the end result of a long consideration process. The original idea was a group of workers who interacted like a family, hoping to be similar to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. They considered making an American version of the British Fawlty Towers centered around a hotel or an inn. When the creators settled on a bar as their setting the show began to resemble the radio show Duffy's Tavern. They liked the idea of a tavern as it provided a continuous stream of new people arriving, giving them a constant supply of characters.[3]
Picture of Bull & Finch Pub in Boston in 2005. This view is similar to the opening credits of the show.After choosing a plot, the three had to choose a location. Early discussions centered around Barstow, California, then Kansas City, Missouri. They eventually turned to the East Coast and Boston. The Bull & Finch Pub in Boston that Cheers was styled after was originally chosen from a phone book. When Glen Charles asked the owner to shoot initial exterior and interior shots the owner agreed, charging $1. He has since gone on to make millions, licensing the pub's image and selling a variety of Cheers memorabilia, making the Bull & Finch the 42nd busiest outlet in the American food and beverage industry in 1997. Coincidentally during Shelley Long's casting (who was in Boston at the time filming A Small Circle of Friends) she remarked that the bar in the script resembled a bar she had come upon in Boston, which turned out to be the Bull & Finch.
Most Cheers episodes were shot before a live studio audience on Paramount Stage 25, generally on Tuesday nights. Scripts for a new episode were issued the Wednesday before for a read-through, Friday was rehearsal day, and final scripts were issued on Monday. Nearly 100 crewmembers were involved in the shooting of a single episode. Burrows, who directed most episodes, insisted on shooting on film rather than videotape. He was also noted for using motion in his directorial style, trying to always keep characters moving rather than standing still.
The crew of Cheers numbered in the hundreds; as such, this section can only provide a brief summary of the many crewmembers for the show. The three creators — James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles — stayed on throughout the series as executive producers along with Tom Palmer. In fact, the two Charles brothers kept offices on Paramount's lot for the duration of Cheers run. In the final seasons, however, they handed over much of the show to Burrows. Burrows is regarded as being a factor in the show's longevity, directing 243 of the episodes and supervising the show's production. David Angell was also a part of the crew from the start, writing many Cheers episodes. The show was often noted for its writing which most credit along with other production factors and the ensemble cast for the show's success.
Awards Over its eleven-season run, Cheers and its cast and crew earned many awards. Cheers earned 117 Emmy nominations, tying the series with ER (as of 2006) for the most Emmy nominations for a single series.[12] These nominations resulted in a total of 26 Emmy wins. In addition, Cheers has earned 31 Golden Globe nominations with a total of 6 wins. All ten of the actors who were regulars on the series received Emmy nominations for their roles. Cheers won the Golden Globe for "Best TV-Series - Comedy/Musical" in 1991 and the Emmy for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1991. Cheers was presented with the "Legend Award" at the 2006 TV Land Awards, with many surviving cast members attending the event.
Nearly all of Cheers took place in the front room of the bar, but they often went into the rear pool room or the bar's office. Cheers didn't show any action outside the bar until the first episode of the second season, which took the action to Diane's apartment. Cheers had some running gags, such as Norm arriving in the bar greeted by a loud "Norm!" Early episodes generally followed Sam's antics with his various women, following a variety of romantic comedy clichés to get out of whatever relationship troubles he was in for each episode. As the show progressed and Sam got into more serious relationships the general tone switched to comedy on Sam settling down into a monogamous lifestyle. Throughout the series, larger story arcs began to develop that spanned multiple episodes or seasons interspersed with smaller themes and one-off episodes.
Romance
Sam and Diane kissThe show's main theme in its early seasons was the romance between the intellectual waitress Diane Chambers and bar owner Sam Malone, a former major league baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and a recovering alcoholic .[14] After Long left the show, the focus shifted to Sam's new relationship with neurotic corporate climber Rebecca. Both romances became important continuing story lines, with relationship growth and change. The story arc began with mutual detestation but sexual attraction to dating and love, and back to detestation. Both relationships featured multi-episode "will they or won't they" sexual tension that drew viewers in. After Sam and Diane's courtship was consummated, the show's popularity grew greatly and subsequent TV shows now very commonly have such "will they or won't they" tensions between opposites.
Social issues Many Cheers scripts centered around or were improved with a variety of social issues. As Toasting Cheers puts it:
“ The script was further strengthened by the writers' boldness in successfully tackling controversial issues such as alcoholism, homosexuality, and adultery. ”
Social class was a subtext of the show. The "upper class" - represented by characters like Diane Chambers, Frasier Crane, Lilith Sternin and (initially) Rebecca Howe — rubbed shoulders with middle and working class characters — Sam Malone, Carla Tortelli, Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin. An extreme example of this was the relationship between Woody Boyd and millionaire's daughter Kelly Gaines. Many viewers enjoyed Cheers in part because of this focus on character development in addition to plot development.
Feminism and the role of women were also recurring themes throughout the show, with some seeing each of the major female characters as a flawed feminist in her own way. Diane was a vocal feminist, but Sam was the epitome of everything she hated: a womanizer and a male chauvinist. Their relationship led Diane to several diatribes on Sam's promiscuity, while Carla merely insulted people.[3] Carla was respected because of her power, while Diane was ignored as she commanded little respect. Rebecca was a stereotypical ambitious and golddigging woman, seeking relationships with her superiors at the Lillian Corporation, most notably Robin Colcord, to gain promotions or raises. However, she encountered a glass ceiling and ended the show by marrying a plumber rather than a rich businessman.
Homosexuality was dealt with from the very first season, a rare move for American network television in the early 1980s. In the first season episode "The Boys In The Bar" (after the 1970s film The Boys in the Band) a friend and former teammate of Sam's comes out in his autobiography. Some of the male regulars pressure Sam to take action to ensure that Cheers does not became a gay bar. The episode won a GLAAD Media Award,[7] and the script's writers, Ken Levine & David Isaacs, were nominated for an Emmy Award for their writing.[4] Harvey Fierstein would later appear in the 1990s as "Mark Newberger", Rebecca's old high school sweetheart who is gay. Finally, the final episode included a gay man who gets into trouble with his boyfriend (played by Anthony Heald) after agreeing to pose as Diane's husband.
Addiction also plays a role in Cheers, almost exclusively through Sam, although some critics believed the issue was never really developed. Sam was a recovering alcoholic who ended up buying a bar after his baseball career was ruined by his drinking.[18] Frasier also has a notable bout of drinking in the fourth season episode "The Triangle." Some critics believe Sam was a generally addictive personality who had largely conquered his alcoholism but was still a sexual addict, shown through his womanizing.
Cheers owners
The Cheers sign in 2005.Cheers obviously had several owners before Sam, as the bar was opened in 1889 (The "Est. 1895" on the bar's sign is a made-up date chosen by Carla for numerological purposes as revealed in the 8th season episode "The Stork Brings a Crane"). In the second episode, "Sam's Women", Norm tells a customer looking for the owner of Cheers that the man he thought was the owner has been replaced, and his replacement was replaced by Sam.
The biggest storyline surrounding the ownership of Cheers begins in the fifth season finale, "I Do, Adieu", when Sam and Diane part ways, Shelley Long leaves the regular cast, and Sam leaves to attempt circumnavigating the Earth. Before he leaves, Sam sells Cheers to the fictional Lillian Corporation. Sam returns in the sixth season premiere, "Home is the Sailor", having sunk his boat, to find the bar under the new management of Rebecca Howe. He begs for his job back and is hired by Rebecca as a bartender. Throughout the sixth season, Sam tries a variety of schemes to buy back Cheers. This plot largely comes to an end in the seventh season premiere, "How to Recede in Business", when Rebecca is fired and Sam is promoted to manager. Rebecca is allowed to keep a job at Lillian vaguely similar to what she had before, but only after Sam had Rebecca "agree" (in absentia) to a long list of demands that the corporation had for her.
From there Sam would occasionally attempt to buy the bar back with schemes that usually involved wealthy executive Robin Colcord. Cheers did eventually end up back in Sam's hands in the eighth season finale, when it was sold back to him for eighty-five cents by the Lillian Corporation after he alerted the company of Colcord's insider trading. Rebecca earns back a waitress/hostess job from Sam.
Other recurring themes Aside from the storylines that spanned across the series, Cheers had several themes that followed no storylines but that recurred throughout the series. There was a heated rivalry between Cheers and the rival bar, Gary's Olde Towne Tavern. One episode of every season depicted some wager between Sam and Gary, which resulted in either a sports competition or a battle of wits that devolved into complex practical jokes. Aside from the very first and very last "Bar Wars" episodes, the Cheers gang almost always lost to Gary's superior ingenuity, though they managed to trick him into missing the annual Bloody Mary contest in one episode. Another episode had Sam collaborating with Gary's to get revenge on his co-workers on a prior practical joke. Sam also had a long-running feud with the management of the upscale restaurant situated directly above the bar, Melville's. The restaurant's management found the bar's clientele decidedly uncouth, while Sam regarded the restaurant as snobbish (despite the fact that customers often drifted between the two businesses via a prominent staircase). This conflict escalated in later seasons, when Melville's came under the ownership of John Allen Hill (Keene Curtis), and it emerged that Sam did not technically own the bar's poolroom and bathrooms. Sam subsequently was forced to pay rent for them and often found himself at the mercy of Hill's tyranny.
Norm Peterson continually searched for gainful employment as an accountant but spent most of the series unemployed, thereby explaining his constant presence in Cheers at the same stool. The face of his wife, Vera, was never fully seen onscreen, despite a few fleeting appearances and a couple of vocal cameos. Cliff Clavin seemed unable to shake the constant presence of his mother, Esther Clavin (Frances Sternhagen). Though she did not appear in every episode, he would refer to her quite often, mostly as both an emotional burden and a smothering parent. Carla Tortelli carried a reputation of being both highly fertile and matrimonially inept. The last husband she had on the show, Eddie LeBec, was a washed-up ice hockey goaltender who ended up dying in an ice show accident. Carla later discovered that Eddie had cheated on her, marrying another woman after impregnating her. Carla's sleazy first husband, Nick Tortelli, also made frequent appearances, mostly to torment Carla with a new custody battle or legal scam that grew out of their divorce. Carla's eight children (four of whom were "born" during the show's run) were also notoriously ill-behaved.
Critical reactions Cheers was critically acclaimed in its first season, though it landed a disappointing 74th in the ratings that year out of only 74 shows. This critical support, coupled with early success at the Emmys and the support of the president of NBC's entertainment division Brandon Tartikoff, is thought to be the main reason for the show's survival and eventual success. The cast themselves went across the country on various talk shows to try to further promote the series after its first season. With the growing popularity of Family Ties which ran in the slot ahead of Cheers from both shows' inceptions until the end of the former's run seven years later and the placement of The Cosby Show in front of both at the start of their third season (1984), the line-up became a runaway ratings success that NBC eventually dubbed "Must See Thursday". The next season, Cheers ratings increased dramatically after Woody Boyd became a regular character as well. By its final season Cheers had a run of eight consecutive seasons in the Top Ten of the Nielsen ratings. Some critics now use Frasier and Cheers as a model of a successful spin-off for a character from an already successful series to compare to modern spin-offs, such as Joey from Friends.
NBC dedicated a whole night to the final episode of Cheers. The show began with a "pregame" show hosted by Bob Costas, followed by the final 98-minute episode itself. NBC affiliates then aired tributes to Cheers during their local newscasts, and the night concluded with a special Tonight Show broadcast live from the Bull & Finch Pub. Although the episode fell short of its hyped ratings predictions to become the most-watched television episode, it was the most watched show that year, bringing in 80.4 million viewers (64 percent of all viewers that night), and ranked 11th all time in entertainment programming. The episode originally aired in the usual Cheers spot of Thursday night and was then rebroadcast on Sunday. Some estimate that while the original broadcast did not outperform the M*A*S*H finale, the combined non-repeating audiences for the Thursday and Sunday showings did. Toasting Cheers also notes that television had greatly changed between the M*A*S*H and Cheers finales, leaving Cheers with a broader array of competition for ratings.
Spin-offs, crossovers and cultural references
Woody, Cliff and Norm on The SimpsonsSome of the actors and actresses from Cheers brought their characters into other television shows, either in a guest appearance or in a new spin-off. The most successful Cheers spin-off was the show Frasier which directly followed Frasier Crane after he moved back to Seattle, Washington (on the other end of Interstate 90) to live with his recently-disabled father and to host a call-in radio show. Frasier was originally supposed to be a small disliked character who only existed to further Diane and Sam's relationship, but Grammer's acting turned what were supposed to be unfunny lines into comedy the audience enjoyed.[25] Sam, Diane and Woody all had individual crossover appearances on Frasier where they came to visit Frasier, and his ex-wife Lilith was a constant supporting character throughout Frasier. Cliff, Norm, Carla, and two of Cheers' regular background barflies Paul and Phil had a crossover together in the Frasier episode "Cheerful Goodbyes". In the episode Frasier, on a trip to Boston, meets the Cheers gang (not at Cheers itself however) and Cliff thinks Frasier has flown out specifically for his (Cliff's) retirement party, which Frasier ends up attending. Frasier was on the air for as many seasons as Cheers, going off the air in 2004 after an eleven-season run. Although Frasier was the most successful spin-off, The Tortellis was the first series to spin-off from Cheers, premiering in 1987. The show featured Carla's husband Nick Tortelli and his wife Loretta, but was cancelled after 13 episodes and drew protests for its stereotypical depictions of Italian Americans.
In addition to direct spin-offs, several Cheers characters had guest appearance crossovers with other shows. In The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying", Homer stumbles into a Cheers-like bar after being kicked out of Moe's. Most of the central cast appears in the episode, including Frasier (though ironically Frasier does not speak, as Grammer already had a recurring role on The Simpsons as Sideshow Bob). The tagline for Moe's Tavern "Where nobody knows your name" is also a reference to Cheers. Characters also had crossovers with Wings—which was created by Cheers producers/writers—and St. Elsewhere in a somewhat rare comedy-drama crossover. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character Morn, who remained mostly at Quark's Bar, is named (as an anagram) for Norm Peterson. The bar and its patrons were also featured in a scene in The Wonderful World of Disney TV special Mickey's 60th Birthday. The opening sequence and theme song has become iconic of the series, leading to parody such as on The Simpsons' episode "Flaming Moe's".
The Scrubs episode "My Life in Four Cameras" makes numerous jokes about Cheers and multicamera setup laugh track sitcoms. Scrubs is notable for using a single camera setup, no laugh track, and not being filmed before a live audience. Cheers had all four cameras, a laugh track and was filmed before a live studio audience, and a dream sequence in "My Life in Four Cameras" was shot with three cameras. In addition, the main patient treated was fictional Cheers writer "Charles James," a mixture of Cheers three creators James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The episode makes repeated comments about these "traditional" sitcoms and ends with the opening notes of the Cheers theme playing while J.D. says "Unfortunately, around here things don't always end as neat and tidy as they do in sitcoms."
The series is set at WNYX, a fictional AM news radio station in New York City populated by an eccentric station owner and staff. The show began with the arrival of new news director, level-headed Dave Nelson (Dave Foley). While Dave turns out to be less naive than his youthful appearance suggests, he never fully gained control of his co-workers.
The fast-paced scripts and ensemble cast combined physical humor and sight gags with smart dialogue and absurdist storylines. Plots frequently[citation needed] involved satirical takes on historical events, news stories and pop culture references appealed to a sophisticated, college-educated target audience. The third- and fourth-season finales took the absurdism to the extreme, setting the characters first in a news radio station in outer space, and then as crew members aboard the Titanic.
There are 97 episodes of NewsRadio. Reruns continued in syndication for several years before disappearing in most markets, but the show recently returned on Nick at Nite, TBS network and TVTropolis in Canada. The program became available in syndication to local stations starting in July 2007 through The Program Exchange.
Regular cast Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) is a "Midwesterner out of place in New York and pointedly young for such a responsible job. His shyness and politeness are constantly at war with his repressed feelings — primarily anger and lust — and his sense of irony about the absurd situations he finds himself in at work. He spends as much time trying to 'manage' himself as the idiosyncratic characters around him."[2] Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney), with whom Dave has an intermittent relationship, is promoted and demoted within the show's run, serving as reporter, on-air personality, producer and news director. Lisa's parents raised her in a regimented environment (which Dave called a "Skinner Box"). She abruptly decided to go into news radio while eating a cheesesteak. Before this decision, she wanted to be a forest ranger, although in an earlier episode she said she was a political science major. A ridiculous overachiever, Lisa is able to perform complex mathematical calculations without the use of a calculator and also went so far as to retake her SAT exam well out of college. Her extensive crime record, which includes breaking and entering and carjacking, is a direct result of her ambitious desire to excel. This caused her to spend a total of two months in juvenile detention. Lisa's favorite movie is Ingmar Bergman's Persona. She doesn't watch TV, which she thinks is ruining society, and instead prefers to read classic literature such as Anna Karenina and listen to NPR. Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) is a co-news anchor for WNYX. Bombastic, egocentric, and insubordinate, Bill is frequently a thorn in the news director's side. Despite his abrasive personality, Bill does have a streak of genuine kindness. As news director, Dave, and Lisa both struggled to deal with Bill. His relationships are often unorthodox or contentious. This is especially evident when Bill wistfully describes seemingly painful or sad childhood memories as "good times, good times." In the second season, his real name was revealed to be Evelyn (pronounced "Evil-In", as in Evelyn Waugh) though he used his middle name as his primary name on any official documents. As a result of Hartman's death between the fourth and fifth seasons, Bill's death is addressed in the first episode of the fifth season, where Bill is revealed to have died of a sudden heart attack. Dozens of references are made to Bill's hypothetical death prior to Hartman's death; in both fantasy episodes, however, every character dies except for Bill and Matthew. Catherine Duke (Khandi Alexander) is the second of WNYX's news anchors. As an African American and minority at the station, Catherine secretly wishes there were more minorities on the staff. She is often bitter rivals with co-anchor Bill McNeal, partly due to an office affair they had earlier, casting doubt on the wisdom of Dave and Lisa's relationship. She also has a great hatred of others celebrating her birthday, which is usually ignored by both Bill and Matthew. Catherine leaves the station for a job in London during the fourth season. She makes a brief appearance in the fifth season premiere for Bill's funeral. The role of Catherine was played by a different actress, Ella Joyce, in the pilot episode. Alexander took over the role in episode 2. Jimmy James (Stephen Root), the station's eccentric, extroverted billionaire owner who often helps his co-workers learn life lessons, places strange bets with his rich friends and is desperately looking for a wife. Despite his divergent business interests, he seems to enjoy micromanaging WNYX (despite the fact that most of his decisions are made seemingly at a whim), but usually gets Dave to make any decisions or announcements that will be unpopular with the staff. He is seen as a loving father figure by everyone in the office, often in spite of his eccentricities, which are bizarre even by the staff's standards. Jimmy knows many secrets about his staff but also has a few of his own. He claims to have been Watergate informant Deep Throat, and was once prosecuted by the federal government, who accused him of being notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper. He has been banned from the White House after calling Rosalyn Carter "hotlips", stealing a couch from the Lincoln Bedroom and peeing in the Rose Garden after drinking too much Billy Beer. He shows signs of being infatuated with Dave's mother. The name "Jimmy James" came from the Beastie Boys song "Jimmy James".Beth (Vicki Lewis) is Dave's quirky secretary, whose work mainly consists of eavesdropping, getting coffee for Dave, and being the coolest person in the office. She wears crazy, often ridiculous outfits, and perpetually chews gum. She is Dave's office confidante, and reluctantly advises both him and Lisa throughout their relationship. Her last name is never revealed; in "Freaky Friday", she claims she doesn't even have one. The name "Beth" came from the Kiss song "Beth". In the third season DVD commentary, the writers revealed they had been planning to have Jimmy adopt Beth as his daughter (presumably the genesis of the rumor), but never followed through with it. Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) is a news reporter and official "office weird guy". Clumsy and simple-minded, the child-like Matthew causes the most havoc in the office. He idolizes Bill, who in return calls him "Spaz" and makes him the butt of often cruel jokes. (At one point, Dave tells Matthew: "Bill is not a god." Matthew replies, "Time will tell.") In addition, he is a bit of a health-nut with his vegetable addiction, a desk covered in vitamin bottles, and being very anti-smoking. When Bill dies, Matthew keeps insisting he faked his death to live his dream of starting a new life abroad but a letter Bill left behind makes him face the truth. The staff is easily annoyed with him, but they nonetheless think of him as a kind of little brother. Despite his apparent dimness, it is revealed in the fourth season that Matthew is a skilled dentist who gave up his practice because radio was his "passion." Joe Garrelli (Joe Rogan) is the station's electrician and all-around "fix-it guy". He builds all the things he needs, rather than purchasing them (including his own homemade duct tape), and espouses various conspiracy theories. He is rowdy and immature, and will frequently try to start fights for no apparent reason. His last name is the subject of a running gag: whenever it is mentioned, someone looks perplexed and says, "Your last name is Garrelli?" He is a self-proclaimed ladies man, yet is too shy to approach his true love, Catherine. He has never set foot outside of New York City. The character of Joe was originally named Rick, and was played by another actor, Greg Lee, in the pilot episode. Greg Lee tested horribly, however, and the writers replaced him with Rogan. Ray Romano was originally cast to play Joe, but was fired because his style of verbal comedy did not mix well with the fast-paced repartee of the rest of the cast. The writers commented on the Season 1 DVD commentary that his particular brand of slow speech contrasted horribly with the fast-paced hectic arena of a New York talk radio station. Max Lewis (Jon Lovitz) is Bill McNeal's replacement in the final season, an old colleague of his whose odd mannerisms and personality-changing compulsions kept him moving from job to job before winding up at WNYX. Max has a thing for redheads named Beth and puppies named Daisy. He collects buttons, puts peanut butter on everything he eats, and still wears clothing his mother knitted for him as a baby. A picture of McNeal/Hartman remained as part of the set in the news director's office during the final season. Lovitz, who had gotten his start with Hartman in The Groundlings, said he agreed to do the show out of love for his friend. "I'm doing this for Phil. There's nothing more to say."
Cast appearances The only actors to appear in all 97 episodes are Dave Foley, Stephen Root, and Andy Dick.
Joe Rogan appeared in every episode except the pilot, which was produced before he was cast, and Season 4's "Monster Rancher".
Maura Tierney missed Season 3's "Twins" because she was busy filming Liar Liar.
Vicki Lewis missed Season 3's "Sleeping" because she was busy filming Mouse Hunt. She missed Season 4's "Jackass Junior High" and "Sinking Ship" because she was busy filming Godzilla.
Phil Hartman appeared in every episode through the first four seasons; he died before production began on Season 5.
Recurring characters The only recurring character to appear in more than one production season was Jimmy's lawyer, Roger, played initially by Norm MacDonald, and later by NewsRadio writer Drake Sather. During the last season, Patrick Warburton had a recurring role as Johnny Johnson, Jimmy's nemesis and Lisa's love interest (and eventual husband).
Several other actors appeared in multiple seasons playing different characters, notably Lovitz, David Cross, Toby Huss, David Anthony Higgins, Dave "Gruber" Allen and Bob Odenkirk.
Tone Lōc and Toby Huss played security guards Lorenzo and Junior in two Season 2 episodes. The characters were based on the security guards at the studio where NewsRadio was shot.
Lauren Graham had a four-episode run as Andrea, an efficiency expert who shakes up the office (firing Matthew, demoting Dave, and promoting Lisa to news director). She is sometimes referred to as "Planbee" after Matthew misunderstands her being Jimmy's "Plan B" for the office. She was intended[citation needed] as a possible replacement for the departing Alexander, but focus groups disliked the character.[citation needed] In a season 4 episode commentary track, Tierney gives the hiring of Graham as a possible explanation for Alexander's departure, which contradicts the idea that Alexander intended to leave before Graham appeared on the show. All of the changes introduced during Graham's time on the show would be reverted by midseason to the way things were before her arrival.
Brad Rowe had a four-episode run as Walt, an office intern with a crush on Lisa, causing more worry for Dave. Intended as a regular for season five[citation needed], the character disappeared without explanation after "Sinking Ship".
Steve Susskind had a recurring role as Milos the janitor, appearing in three episodes in the second season.
Guest appearances An inordinate number of guest characters had the last name Johnson, and there were multiple guests named Dr. Mandel.
When Alexander appeared as Catherine Duke in the fifth season opener (in which the McNeal character was killed off to coincide with Hartman's death), she was credited as a recurring character.
Kevin McDonald, Foley's former castmate from The Kids in the Hall, made a guest appearance as the knife-wielding Throwdini in the episode "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show" during Season 4.
Other guest stars included John Ritter, Dennis Miller, Janeane Garofalo, Bebe Neuwirth, Ben Stiller, French Stewart, Scott Adams, Jon Stewart, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, and, in a non-speaking cameo, Ron Jeremy. Celebrities appearing as themselves included Chuck D, Al Roker, Bob Costas, Jerry Seinfeld, James Caan, Adam West, George "Goober" Lindsey and metal band Anthrax.
Guest stars Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, John F. O'Donohue and David Cross all worked on The Ben Stiller Show with Andy Dick.
Guest stars in Season 4's "Chock" episode, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk and Brian Posehn all worked together on Mr. Show. Each of them appeared separately in earlier episodes of NewsRadio. Cross guest starred as Mr. James' weird nephew in Season 2's "Houses of the Holy", Odenkirk appeared as the doctor in "The Injury", and Posehn asked questions at Mr. James' book signing in Season 4's "Super Karate Monkey Death Car".
On its first two broadcasts the show received a 20 share, improving on its lead-in (Wings) by a percentage point, and beating its competitors (Under One Roof and Thunder Alley) in its share of the 18- to 49-year-old audience. Despite critical acclaim NBC moved the show 11 times.
Relationship with network NBC had pushed for a "Sam & Diane"-type relationship between Dave and Lisa, but Paul Simms opted to have the characters sleep together in the second episode and have tension come from the aftermath. Later, NBC ordered a wedding to be incorporated into the show to boost ratings, and in response, the show "Our Fiftieth Episode" featured a B-story in which Jimmy tries to force Joe and Lisa into a fake on-air marriage, which Lisa outright refuses. The show's producers would later relent in its final season, and Lisa married Johnny Johnson in an episode that became NBC's "Spotlight of the Week".
Another instance of network interference was an October 10, 1995 promotional gimmick NBC planned in order to capitalize on the success of the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. As a twist on the title of the film, NBC planned for three of its Tuesday night sitcoms to have funerals as the central plot and the fourth to feature a wedding; NewsRadio was given one of the funeral episodes. Rather than fulfilling NBC's directive in a straightforward manner, the writing staff wrote "Rat Funeral", an episode in which the WNYX staff befriend a rat, then mourn its death.
Another major point of contention between NBC and the show was NBC's insistence that the show include story arcs, which the producers were vehemently against, preferring shows that were self-contained. On the occasions when they did use arcs, they would usually become bored and end up dropping them with little or no explanation. One example is a late third season arc in which Lisa decides she wants to have a baby with Dave but doesn't want to get married; after being introduced, the idea is given passing mention in a couple of episodes, then abandoned without explanation. (Later, in the fourth season episode "Look Who's Talking", the idea would suddenly be brought up again, with Lisa explaining that the window has passed.)
NBC would also on occasion display displeasure with the content of episodes. For instance, many episodes in the second season begin with a short comic situation ending with Dick falling over or knocking something over just before the NewsRadio title sequence. According to DVD commentary, NBC ordered a halt to this because they found it tiresome. One episode, "The Injury", was produced early in the second season, but did not air until the summer following the third season, due to excessive use of the word "penis." The writers admit that they were trying to see how many times they could use the word on-air in response to NBC's relaxing of standards for other shows. The episode remained in the censorship offices for nearly two years, and the number of times the word was used was cut down in the footage to three. "The Injury" appears on both the Season 2 and Season 3 DVD releases, but does not include two additional uses of the word that showed up only in the syndicated airings.
NewsRadio was briefly canceled in May 1998, after its fourth season, but the decision was reversed a day later, with an order of 22 episodes placed for a fifth season. A few days after the renewal, Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife. His absence cast a pall over the fifth season and NBC left the series "on the bubble" until the day the final episode of the fifth season aired, months after production had wrapped.
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