''A Family for Joe'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that starred

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

in the title role. It started out as a

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that aired

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on February 25, 1990, before turning it into a series that lasted from March 24 until August 19, 1990. Nine episodes of the series were filmed.

Plot

''A Family for Joe'' is about the Bankston children, 15-year-old Holly (

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

), 16-year-old Nick (

David Lascher David Scott Lascher (born April 27, 1972) is an American actor best known for his roles in '' Blossom'', ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'', and the Nickelodeon show ''Hey Dude''. Life and career Lascher was born in Scarsdale, New York to a psych ...

), 9-year-old Chris (

Ben Savage Bennett Joseph Savage (born September 13, 1980) is an American actor. He played the lead role of Cory Matthews on the ABC sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000) and its Disney Channel sequel ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). Early life Sava ...

), and 7-year-old Mary (

Jessica Player Jessica Player (born December 27, 1982) is a former American child actress, best known for playing the role of Krystina Carrington, the young daughter of Krystle Carrington (played by series star Linda Evans) and Blake Carrington (played by se ...

) who have been recently

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

ed. Rather than have themselves split up into

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...

, they find a homeless man, Joe (

), to live with them and act as their grandfather.

Cast

as Joe Whitaker *

as Holly Bankston *

as Nick Bankston *

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello ...

as Roger Hightower *

as Chris Bankston *

as Mary Bankston *

Barbara Babcock Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937) is an American actress who played Grace Gardner on ''Hill Street Blues'', for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981, She played Dorothy Jennings on ''Dr. Quinn, ...

as Miss Collins * David Nelson as George Merkel *

Anna Mathias Anna Mathias is an American actress. Filmography * ''The Streets of San Francisco'' * ''The Ghost of Flight 401'' * ''Lou Grant'' * ''Backstairs at the White House'' * ''CHiPs'' * '' Pray TV'' * ''B.J. and the Bear'' * ''Eating Raoul'' * '' Pin ...

as Annie Brewster * Jim Hackett as Pete Brewster *

Janet MacLachlan Janet Angel MacLachlan (August 27, 1933 – October 11, 2010) was an American actress who had roles in such television series as ''The Rockford Files'', ''Alias (TV series), Alias'' and ''The Golden Girls''. She is best remembered for her key s ...

as Judge Delaney * Patrick Cronin as Mr. Reed *

Robert Casper The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

as Mr. Edwards *

Richard X. Slattery Richard Xavier Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was an American character actor in film, theater and television. Slattery appeared in such films as '' A Distant Trumpet'', '' The Boston Strangler'', '' Walking Tall'', '' The No Merc ...

as Officer Finney * Maggie Egan as Mrs. Lewis *

John Mitchum John Mitchum (September 6, 1919 – November 29, 2001) was an American actor from the 1940s to the 1970s in film and television. The younger brother of the actor Robert Mitchum, he was credited as Jack Mitchum early in his career. Early years ...

as Preacher *

Helena Carroll Helena Winifred Carroll (13 November 1928 – 31 March 2013) was a veteran film, television and stage actress. Early life Born to clothing designer Helena Reilly and Abbey Theatre playwright Paul Vincent Carroll, she was the youngest of thr ...

as Mrs. Spruce *

Beverly Sanders Beverly Sanders (born September 2, 1940) is an American actress, comedian, and voice artist. She was born in Hollywood, California. Career Sanders studied acting in New York with Lee Strasberg's Actor Studio. She is married and has an adopted ...

as Doctor Bennett * Patrick Campbell as Homeless Man *

Dorothy Neumann Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...

as Bag Lady *

Dennis Fimple Dennis Clarke Fimple (November 11, 1940 – August 23, 2002) was an American actor. Biography Fimple was born in Ventura, California, the son of Dolly and Elmer Fimple. He graduated from Taft Union High School in 1958 and received a teaching c ...

as Man at Mission Door * Dartanian as Punk 1 * Andrew Roperto as Punk 2 * Hugo Huizar as Punk 3 * Andrew Margolin as Young Cop * Diane Almeida as Nurse * Julie Ashton as Bank Cashier *

Sam Denoff Samuel Denoff (July 1, 1928 – July 8, 2011) was an American screenwriter and television producer. Biography Denoff was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Esther (Rothbard) and Harry Denoff, a salesman. With his long-time ...

as Slamburger Manager *

Nikki Cox Nicole Avery Cox (born June 2, 1978) is an American actress known mostly for her roles on the television series ''Unhappily Ever After'', ''Las Vegas'', ''The Norm Show'', and ''Nikki''. Career Cox began her career at the age of four, when s ...

as Carrie Lewis * Gretchen Learman as Valerie Brewster * Jacqueline Caru as Bonnie Brewster *

Justin Shenkarow Justin Shenkarow is an American actor, producer, director and writer, best known for his roles of Matthew Brock in ''Picket Fences'', Simon Holmes in ''Eerie, Indiana'', and the voice of Harold Berman from the ''Nickelodeon'' animated series, ' ...

as Pete Brewster Jr. * Brandon Loomis as Student / BoyScout * Jorga Caye as AA Meeting Attendee

Episodes

TV Movie

Episodes

Response

Ken Tucker of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' rated the series a D, stating that "the kids are leering little creeps, the jokes are moronic, and Joe's homelessness is already absent from the show's current scripts". In the documentary series '' The Write Environment'', writer

Philip Rosenthal Philip Rosenthal (born January 27, 1960) is an American television writer and producer who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005). In recent years, he has presented food and tr ...

(who would go on to create ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and ...

'') talks about being a staff writer on the series.

References

External links

* 1990s American sitcoms 1990 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings NBC original programming Television series about families English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Los Angeles {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub