The Jackie Thomas Show
The Jackie Thomas Show | |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Tom Arnold Roseanne Arnold |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Wapello County Productions Lorimar Television |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | December 1, 1992 April 30, 1993 | –
The Jackie Thomas Show is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC network from December 1992 to March 1993. The series received widespread attention due to its creators Roseanne Arnold, then starring in the fifth season of her comedy Roseanne, and her then-husband and Roseanne co-producer Tom Arnold. The Jackie Thomas Show starred Tom Arnold as a misanthropic sitcom actor.
Premise
As Jackie Thomas, Arnold played a former
"He's unbelievable," Tom Arnold said of the Jackie Thomas character. "It's a guy you love to hate. He has his own reality and it's different from the people around him. And you go, 'Gosh, the guy is such a jerk.' But you have compassion for him, especially as the show goes on, because you learn where he came from, what's really going on with him."[2] The character was named in tribute to Arnold's two favorite comedians, Jackie Gleason and Danny Thomas.[1]
From the beginning, The Jackie Thomas Show was intended to be an
The show was designed partly as an homage to The Dick Van Dyke Show, which centered around a fictional television variety show with a tyrannical star.[5] (A photo of Dick Van Dyke was displayed prominently on a character's desk in the first Jackie Thomas episode.)[4][5] Roseanne Arnold said that she had always "wanted to do a TV show that talks about television."[2]
Cast
- Tom Arnold as Jackie Thomas
- Dennis Boutsikaris as Jerry Harper
- Alison LaPlacaas Laura Miller
- Breckin Meyer as Chas Walker
- Michael Boatman as Grant Watson
- Paul Feig as Bobby Wynn
- Maryedith Burrell as Nancy
- Martin Mull as Doug Talbot
Comparisons to the Arnolds
Critics drew many comparisons between the premise of The Jackie Thomas Show and Roseanne and Tom Arnold's real lives. Like Jackie Thomas, Tom Arnold had worked at a meatpacking plant and as a nightclub comic before realizing fame and fortune in the sitcom world.[2][6] The Arnolds were also notorious for quarreling with Roseanne's writing staff and firing writers on a whim, much like the fictional Thomas.[2][7] The couple acknowledged the similarities; Tom Arnold was quoted, "We wanted to take the show-business end of our lives and mix the public perception of us and the reality of us and put them into the show--the images of what people think maybe we did or what they've read that we did."[2]
Roseanne said, "All the work we do is personal. It's based on my kids, my family. You just take it from real life. That's the funniest stuff."[2]
Such comparisons were bolstered by a
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | Andrew D. Weyman | Tom Arnold & Roseanne & Brad Isaacs | December 1, 1992 | 30.8[8] |
2 | "Charity, Schmarity" | Michael Lessac | Sid Youngers | December 8, 1992 | 21.3[9] |
3 | "Jack & the Bean Stalker" | Michael Lessac | David Fury & Elin Hampton | December 15, 1992 | 27.7[10] |
4 | "Ottumwa, 52501" | Michael Lessac | Joel Madison | December 22, 1992 | 19.3[11] |
5 | "The Joke" | Michael Lessac | George Beckerman | December 29, 1992 | 20.2[12] |
6 | "Jackie and the Model" | Michael Lessac | Lawrence Broch & Brad Isaacs | January 5, 1993 | 25.6[13] |
7 | "Stand Up for Bastards" | Michael Lessac | Lawrence Broch | January 12, 1993 | 25.7[14] |
8 | "The All-Nighter" | Michael Lessac | Steve Pepoon | January 19, 1993 | 18.4[15] |
9 | "Jackie's Family" | Michael Lessac | Art Everett | January 26, 1993 | N/A |
10 | "The Forces of Nature" | Michael Lessac | William Lucas Walker | February 2, 1993 | 20.0[16] |
11 | "The Player" | Michael Lessac | Ken LaZebnik | February 9, 1993 | 19.6[17] |
12 | "Guys and Balls" | Michael Lessac | David Fury & Elin Hampton | February 16, 1993 | 18.1[18] |
13 | "Strike" | Michael Lessac | Joel Madison | February 23, 1993 | 20.8[19] |
14 | "Write This Way" | Peter Segal | Bill Bauer & Charles Bliss | March 2, 1993 | 19.1[20] |
15 | "Sophie's Choice" | Michael Lessac | Mike Dugan | March 9, 1993 | 19.0[21] |
16 | "One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest" | Michael Lessac | Sid Younger | March 16, 1993 | 20.2[22] |
17 | "Poker, Schmoker" | Michael Lessac | David Silverman & Steve Sustarsic | March 23, 1993 | 22.9[23] |
18 | "Aloha, Io-wahu" | Peter Segal | Lawrence Broch & William Lucas Walker | March 30, 1993 | 18.1[24] |
Reviews
Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote that The Jackie Thomas Show "seems a solid piece of comedy workmanship, yet remains stubbornly and unfunnily off-putting," largely blaming weak characterization; of the Jackie Thomas character, he said, "Thomas is a letdown when we meet him...a character smaller than life."[3]
Similarly, Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times felt that "the only time that "The Jackie Thomas Show" truly works is when other characters are describing and creating mental images of Jackie's bullying, authoritarian tactics. When Jackie actually shows up in the person of the one-dimensional Arnold, the image disintegrates." Rosenberg called the pilot episode "weak and unsatisfying."[4]
Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune reviewed the show more favorably, calling it "as solidly crafted a sitcom as I've seen in some time." He praised the pilot for introducing "an attractively quirky cast" and "a wholly conceived, interesting environment."[25] John Freeman of The San Diego Union-Tribune also approved of Jackie Thomas, writing that it was "nearly as brilliant" as HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, another series about a show-within-a-show.[1]
Faxes sent to critics
Soon after the show's premiere, Roseanne Arnold received widespread attention when she
Ratings and scheduling
The Jackie Thomas Show debuted on Tuesday, December 1, 1992 at 9:30 PM EST, the time slot directly following Roseanne; the Arnolds publicly acknowledged that they had used their clout to have the show scheduled in what was widely considered the best time slot on television (although they denied rumors that Roseanne had threatened to quit her own show, with Roseanne saying "I didn't have to go that far").[2] To make room, the timeslot's former occupant Coach moved to 9:30 PM on Wednesday, replacing the sitcom Laurie Hill, which was cancelled.[1][29]
Tom Arnold said in an interview before the show's debut, "There's pressure to be in that time slot we're in. We've got to get some numbers
The Jackie Thomas Show debuted with the highest ratings of any network series premiere since Twin Peaks in April 1990, holding onto 90% of viewers from Roseanne.[30][31] Its ratings were slightly better than Coach's season average in the time slot, and reflected the smallest viewer falloff from Roseanne of any show that had ever been in the time period.[30][31][32] The two shows were the top-rated programs for the week.[33]
For the Jackie Thomas premiere, the Arnolds and ABC experimented with a new technique called the
In its second week, The Jackie Thomas Show fell to 18th in the ratings as it followed a Roseanne rerun, which placed 3rd.[35] The following week, a new Roseanne regained the #1 spot and Jackie Thomas rebounded to #4.[36]
"When a show gets that kind of time slot, it can be good news and bad news," ABC president Ted Harbert said at the end of December 1992. "The good news is that you have the best lead-in on television, and the bad news is that the network's expectations are higher because of that. But it has met our expectations so far."[6]
ABC continued to utilize the hot switch for the programming block for the next three weeks before bowing to complaints from local stations and advertisers; once the commercial break between the two programs was implemented, dropoff between the two shows grew significantly.[34]
Roseanne also featured a
Renewal battle
In January 1993, the Arnolds began to publicly discuss a potential renewal from ABC for a second season of The Jackie Thomas Show, despite the network's repeated refusal to make a decision before May.[39] ABC did order four more episodes of Jackie Thomas in early February, a few days after an ABC spokeswoman said the network was "very happy" with the show's ratings, which at that point had averaged a 15.7 (ninth among 121 series) since its December debut.[40][41] Later that month, Tom Arnold told multiple sources that ABC had told the Arnolds that the series would be renewed; ABC declined to confirm the report.[42][43]
During an April 13 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Roseanne Arnold told Jay Leno that she was considering taking Roseanne to another network following the 1993-1994 season if ABC did not renew Jackie Thomas.[44][45] Such a possibility had been previously mentioned—but immediately dismissed—by Tom Arnold on the talk show Charlie Rose in January.[39] The morning after The Tonight Show interview, Roseanne repeated the threat in a phone interview on the KTLA Morning News, saying "We don't want to be in business with people who make bad decisions."[46] Tom Arnold told KTLA that if Jackie Thomas were cancelled, he would star in a new sitcom on CBS, the same network that had wooed David Letterman from NBC a few months earlier.[45][46]
In the KTLA interview, Roseanne repeated Tom Arnold's claim that ABC had previously told the couple that Jackie Thomas would be renewed. "I feel I deserve to be treated more honestly," she said. "Coming over to my house and promising me that the show is going to be on and then acting like they didn't ever say it...I am hurt, and I have given them a good show and product."[45]
ABC president
In an interview published in the April 23 issue of The New York Times, Roseanne said that her relationship with ABC was "absolutely over."[49]
Cancellation and aftermath
On Friday, May 7, Tom Arnold announced that he would wait no longer for a decision from ABC and was quitting The Jackie Thomas Show to develop a new sitcom for CBS.[50][51] Both networks declined to comment.[50] The following Monday, ABC debuted its fall prime-time schedule and officially canceled Jackie Thomas along with nine other shows.[52] "The cancellation was made solely on the basis of ratings performance in the time period," ABC spokesman Steve Battaglio said.[53] Less than a week later, the Arnolds announced that ABC Entertainment had signed a multi-series deal, including "on the air commitments," with the couple's production company Wapello County Productions.[54]
On May 20, 1993, CBS confirmed that Tom Arnold would be starring in a half-hour sitcom, titled
In November 1994, Tom and Roseanne Arnold divorced.[58] Roseanne remained on ABC until the show's finale in 1997.[59]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Freeman, John. "Tom Arnold plays a nasty boss for laughs in new ABC sitcom." The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1992-11-29, p. TV WEEK.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Du Brow, Rick. "A Simple Matter of Clout." Los Angeles Times, 1992-11-29, p. 3.
- ^ a b Shales, Tom. "Doubting 'Thomas'; Tom Arnold's Hard-to-Like Sitcom on ABC." The Washington Post, 1992-12-01, p. C01.
- ^ The Los Angeles Times, 1992-12-01, p. 1.
- ^ a b Turow, Joseph. "Can a Meanie Make It in Sitcomland?" Los Angeles Times, 1992-12-29, p. 3.
- ^ a b c Pond, Steve. "Tom Arnold Says Good Fortune Can Be Skimpy On Laughter." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1993-01-05, p. C1.
- ^ a b c d e Kaye, Jeff. "'Feeding the Monster': Life Behind 'Roseanne'." Los Angeles Times, 1992-12-29, p. 1.
- ^ Gable, Donna (December 9, 1992). "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Donlon, Brian (December 16, 1992). "No royal ratings for ABC's 'Charles and Diana'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Donlon, Brian (December 23, 1992). "Early Christmas gift for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (December 30, 1992). "Lansbury and CBS: Ratings, She Wrote". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (January 6, 1993). "Amy Fisher tales find followings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ "Women help push CBS to victory". Life. USA Today. January 13, 1993. p. 3D.
- ^ Donlon, Brian (January 20, 1993). "ABC gets a Thursday night boost". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (January 27, 1993). "Inaugural gala helps carry CBS to top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (February 10, 1993). "CBS rides to top on wings of 'Skylark'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (February 17, 1993). "King of Pop and 'Queen' rule the ratings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Donlon, Brian (February 24, 1993). "'Queen' rules in CBS' royal sweep". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (March 3, 1993). "Grammy show a winner for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (March 10, 1993). "CBS holds steady at No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (March 17, 1993). "ABC improves with bench strength". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (March 24, 1993). "Waco standoff lifts CBS' '48 Hours'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (March 31, 1993). "CBS continues its winning streak". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Gable, Donna (April 7, 1993). "An Oscar to ABC for week's best ratings". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
- ^ Kogan, Rick. "2 Arnolds at the top? New series could make them TV's First Couple." Chicago Tribune, 1992-12-01, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d Braxton, Greg. "Roseanne Blasts Critics Over `Jackie' Television." Los Angeles Times, 1992-12-07, p. 1.
- St. Petersburg Times, 1992-12-18, p. 2F.
- ^ a b Stein, M.L. "Stands By Her Man." Editor & Publisher, 1992-12-19, p. 12.
- ^ Hodges, Ann. "Young Indy/World discovers Houston actor." Houston Chronicle, 1992-10-23, p. 1.
- ^ a b "Debut of 'Jackie Thomas' Ranks Highest since '90." The Wall Street Journal, 1992-12-03, p. B8.
- ^ a b McDaniel, Mike. "Better than average/"Jackie Thomas Show' gets a good start behind "Roseanne'." Houston Chronicle, 1992-12-05, p. 4.
- ^ New York Times, 1992-12-07, p. D8.
- ^ Margulies, Lee. "Roseanne and Tom Arnold Deliver." Los Angeles Times, 1992-12-09, p. 2.
- ^ New York Times, 1993-03-21, p. A31.
- St. Petersburg Times, 1992-12-18, p. 2F.
- St. Petersburg Times, 1992-12-18, p. 2F.
- Roseanne. 1993-02-23. No. 18, season 5.
- ^ Holston, Noel. "Critic's choice." Star Tribune, 1993-02-23, p. 6E.
- ^ a b P-I News Services. "So What, I Rode Roseanne's Coattails." Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1993-01-11, p. A3.
- ^ "More 'Jackie Thomas'." San Francisco Chronicle, 1993-02-03, p. E6.
- ^ Tribune Wire Services. "Tom Arnold Need Not Fear 'What If?'" Chicago Tribune, 1993-01-29, p. 5.
- ^ Tribune Wire Services. "'Jackie Thomas Show' renewed, star says; no comment, says ABC." Chicago Tribune, 1993-02-20, p. 24.
- St. Petersburg Times, 1993-03-24, p. 7B.
- USA TODAY, 1993-04-14, p. 1D.
- ^ a b c Swertlow, Frank. "Roseanne Battles ABC Over Two Shows." San Francisco Chronicle, 1993-04-15, p. D5.
- ^ USA TODAY, 1993-04-15, p. 1D.
- ^ Wall Street Journal, 1993-04-21.
- ^ a b c Donlon, Brian. "'Jackie Thomas' still a contender at ABC." USA Today, 1993-04-21, p. 1D.
- ^ St. Petersburg Times, 1993-04-24, p. 5B.
- ^ a b "Tom Arnold Says He's Quitting ABC Show for One at CBS." San Francisco Chronicle, 1993-05-08, p. C5.
- ^ Braxton, Greg. "Arnold to Fold 'Jackie Thomas Show'." Los Angeles Times, 1993-05-08, p. 3.
- ^ Pennington, Gail. "ABC To Tom Arnold: Quit? No, You're Fired." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1993-05-11, p. 9D.
- ^ Associated Press. "Did Tom Arnold jump or was he pushed from ABC fall schedule?" Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1993-05-11, p. 3c.
- ^ King, Susan "Television." Los Angeles Times, 1993-05-15, p. 2.
- ^ Du Brow, Rick. "No. 1 CBS Has Its Eye on Middle-Age Viewers." Los Angeles Times, 1993-05-21, p. 1.
- ^ a b Jicha, Tom. "Tom Arnold is heading to CBS - or is he joking?" Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1994-01-19, p. 5b.
- Boston Globe, 1994-05-18.
- ^ Miller, Nancy. "People." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1994-11-23.
- Buffalo News, 1997-05-20.
External links
- The Jackie Thomas Show at IMDb