Mr. President (TV series)
| Mr. President | |
|---|---|
Carson Productions | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | May 3, 1987 – February 13, 1988 |
Mr. President is an American
Plot
The series centered around newly elected President Samuel Arthur Tresch, the former governor of Wisconsin. Others in the cast were Meg Tresch, Samuel's wife, who left him at the start of the second season, and Samuel's children, 16-year-old Cynthia and 12-year-old Nick. Charlie Ross was the Chief of Staff.
The show takes place in the near future relative to its airing: it is mentioned in the episode “Freedom of Speech” that Tresch won the 1988 United States presidential election and a newspaper headline in “Strange Bedfellows” indicates that the events of that episode take place around October 8,1990. It is implied in “Loisgate” that Meg and Samuel separated in April 1991.
Cast
- George C. Scott ... President Samuel Arthur Tresch
- Conrad Bain ... Charlie Ross, the President's Chief of Staff
- Carlin Glynn ... First Lady Meg Tresch; she leaves the President at the beginning of the second season
- Maddie Corman ... Cynthia Tresch, the President's youngest daughter
- Susan Wheeler Duff ... Jennifer, the President's eldest daughter (married)
- Andre Gower ... Nick Tresch, the President's son
- Madeline Kahn ... Lois Gullickson, the President's sister-in-law; after the President's wife leaves him, she moves into the White House to help care for the children
- Earl Boen ... Dave
- Allen Williams ... Daniel Cummings
Production
In the summer of 1986, Johnny Carson went to the residence of George C. Scott to propose starring in a half-hour sitcom involving the day-to-day life of a man who "just happened to be the President of the United States", complete with 13 episodes as a premiere show for the upstart Fox Broadcasting Company, which had started in April. Scott found it an alluring challenge and chance to make a show better than the status quo type of programming. The result was a show that saw Scott butt heads with the attempts to emphasize gags and topical humor to go with shtick despite taking the time out of his Connecticut home to go to the West Coast (complete with a request for a motor home near the shooting stage) to volunteer services for story conferences. Scott came up with an idea for an episode where his character must appoint a Vice President and he picks a highly qualified black woman that sees repercussions ensue. However, the concept was rejected despite Scott paying a writer for a first draft, with Scott quoting the executive producer as saying, "I don't know how to do a story like that." In the buildup to the premiere, Carson described it as “not a situation comedy...I would call it more of a drama – with humor and with comedy and all the other emotions people have within a family", while Scott cited the talent alongside the chance to ensure his retirement with money.[2]
The show was cancelled in the winter of 1987. Scott, describing the working situation as "positively Byzantine", wrote an article to the Los Angeles Times relating his experience with the show within a sardonic conversation between himself and his conscience (named Sam Tresch) after he had dealt with an acute myocardial infarction in January 1988; he stated that the show had managed to succeed only in "trivializing the presidency."[3]
Episode list
Season 1 (1987)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Unknown | Unknown | May 3, 1987 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Magnetic Presidency" | Unknown | Unknown | May 10, 1987 |
| 3 | 3 | "Cabin Fever" | Unknown | Unknown | May 17, 1987 |
| 4 | 4 | "Freedom of Speech" | Unknown | Unknown | May 31, 1987 |
| 5 | 5 | "Meet the People" | Unknown | Unknown | June 7, 1987 |
| 6 | 6 | "Private Moments" | Unknown | Unknown | June 21, 1987 |
| 7 | 7 | "The First Son-in-Law" | Unknown | Unknown | June 28, 1987 |
| 8 | 8 | "Uncle Sam" | Burt Brinckerhoff | Bruce Feirstein | July 12, 1987 |
| 9 | 9 | "Strange Bedfellows" | Unknown | Unknown | July 19, 1987 |
| 10 | 10 | "Love's Labor Last" | Unknown | Unknown | July 26, 1987 |
Season 2 (1987–1988)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Dear Sam: Part 1" | Greg Antonacci | Peter Noah | September 27, 1987 |
| 12 | 2 | "Dear Sam: Part 2" | Greg Antonacci | Peter Noah | October 4, 1987 |
| 13 | 3 | "Armageddon Kinda Sore" | Marc Daniels | David Cohen & Roger S.H. Schulman | October 11, 1987 |
| 14 | 4 | "He'll Have to Go" | Unknown | Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage | October 18, 1987 |
| 15 | 5 | "The Language Barrier" | Marc Daniels | David Lloyd | October 24, 1987 |
| 16 | 6 | "Loisgate" | Unknown | Unknown | October 31, 1987 |
| 17 | 7 | "Yes, Mr. President" | Marc Daniels | Christian Williams | November 7, 1987 |
| 18 | 8 | "Lois Gets Lucky" | Unknown | Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage | November 14, 1987 |
| 19 | 9 | "The President's Brother" | Unknown | Unknown | November 21, 1987 |
| 20 | 10 | "The Christmas Story" | Unknown | Unknown | December 26, 1987 |
| 21 | 11 | "Insecurity" | Unknown | Unknown | January 2, 1988 |
| 22 | 12 | "A Royal Send Off" | Unknown | Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage | January 16, 1988 |
| 23 | 13 | "All About Jean" | Unknown | Unknown | February 6, 1988 |
| 24 | 14 | "Get a Job" | Unknown | Unknown | February 13, 1988 |
References
- ^ Keith Olbermann (2007-04-05). Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2007-04-05) (Television). MSNBC.
- ^ "CARSON'S 'MR. PRESIDENT' STARS GEORGE C. SCOTT". Sun Sentinel. 1987-05-01. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ Scott, George C. (1988-04-03). "The Casual Assassination of 'Mr. President'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
External links
- Mr. President at IMDb
