Stand by Your Man (TV series)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2020) |
Stand by Your Man | |
---|---|
Based on | Birds of a Feather |
Developed by | Nancy Steen Neil Thompson |
Starring | Melissa Gilbert Brinkman Rosie O'Donnell Sam McMurray Rick Hall Miriam Flynn Rusty Schwimmer Don Gibb Ellen Ratners |
Composer | Chuck Loeb |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Home Made Productions WitzEnd Productions 20th Century Fox Television |
Original release | |
Network | Fox |
Release | April 5 May 17, 1992 | –
Stand By Your Man is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from April 5, 1992, to May 17, 1992. The series was developed by Nancy Steen and Neil Thompson, who also wrote some of the episodes. It is notable for being Melissa Gilbert's return to series television after the conclusion of Little House on the Prairie nine years earlier, and the first lead sitcom role for Rosie O'Donnell, who was then on the verge of breaking into major fame.
The series was created as an American adaptation of the British sitcom Birds of a Feather, which was still in production at the time.[1][2]
Synopsis
The show's premise, as narrated in the opening credits by Fox network's chief announcer
Since most of Roger's wealth was re-claimed by their respective banks upon his and Artie's sentencing, Rochelle and Lorraine were suddenly faced with financial problems. Artie's trailer was repossessed, so Lorraine had no choice but to move into Rochelle in Roger's home, which was proven to have been acquired legally. The former was reluctant to find a job, after living off Roger for so long; the latter worked at Bargain Circus, a retail store, helping the two get by. Gloria and Sophie were Lorraine's co-workers at the store. Ironically, one time when Lorraine demanded the timid Rochelle get a job, it turned out to backfire on her. Earlier, the manager got fired for groping Lorraine, and learned the new manager was someone who impressed corporate headquarters with her self-confidence: Rochelle.
Adrienne Stone was the status-conscious next-door neighbor who resented everything having to do with the sisters' living arrangement. Adrienne was convinced that Lorraine was helping to bring down the value of the neighborhood, never missed an opportunity to make the imprisoned husbands a subject of conversation, and in addition, had something hypocritical to hide. Lorraine's biker friend Scab, a rough but good-hearted guy, caught the eye of Adrienne, and she started an affair with him. She easily convinced Scab to become a kept man and getting her friends to think he was some kind of pro athlete or
In every episode, Rochelle and Lorraine also visited their husbands in prison. Much of the key conflict between the sisters occurred here; Rochelle could not be apart from Roger for too long, since they were still madly in love; Lorraine, who still stood by Artie, vented her anger towards Roger, but also expressed anger at Artie for being an accomplice and in her own sardonic way, hoped his imprisonment could help him reform.
Cast
- Melissa Gilbert as Rochelle Dunphy
- Rosie O'Donnell as Lorraine Popowski
- Sam McMurray as Roger Dunphy
- Rick Hall as Artie Popowski
- Rusty Schwimmer as Gloria
- Ellen Ratners as Sophie
- Miriam Flynn as Adrienne Stone
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "For Better or Worse" | Unknown | Nancy Steen & Neil Thompson | April 5, 1992 |
2 | "Visiting Day" | Unknown | Nancy Steen & Neil Thompson | April 12, 1992 |
3 | "Labor Pains" | John Sgueglia | Stephen Nathan | April 19, 1992 |
4 | "Spare Me" | John Sgueglia | David Chambers | April 26, 1992 |
5 | "The Prowler" | Pat Fischer-Doak and John Sgueglia | Tom Reeder | May 3, 1992 |
6 | "The Blooming" | John Sgueglia | Liz Sage | May 10, 1992 |
7 | "Getting Out" | John Sgueglia | Dave Caplan & Brian LaPan | May 17, 1992 |
Scheduling
Stand by Your Man was Fox's attempt to finally add power to the latter half of their Sunday night lineup, building upon the success of the shows that aired earlier that night. At this time, Fox still scheduled Sunday programming up until 11/10c, and hoped that the broad, somewhat raunchy nature of Stand by Your Man would draw a sizeable audience for the 10/9c slot. The network also saw the series as its "next big Married...With Children" (many critics claimed Stand by Your Man outdid Married... with the style of its writing).
For the show's original episode run, and for two weeks beyond, it aired at 10/9c on Sundays. Fox officially canceled the series in May. The show then moved into the 10:30/9:30c slot on the same evening, in mid-June: after two more months of summer reruns, Stand by Your Man had its last network airing on August 9, 1992.
Theme song
The show's title was taken from the Tammy Wynette song of the same name;[citation needed] though neither the song itself nor a variation of it was used in the series.
Reception
The show was critically panned by television critics.[3][4]
References
- ^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Birds Of A Feather". March 6, 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-03-06.
- ^ a b Johnson, Allan (5 April 1992). "COMIC BLUEBLOODS". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Stand by Your Man". PEOPLE.com.
- ^ "TV Reviews : 'Stand By': Two Sisters With Husbands in Jail". Los Angeles Times. April 4, 1992.
External links
- Stand by Your Man at IMDb