''American Dreamer'' 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 ...
television series created by Susan Seeger, which aired on
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 ...
from September 20, 1990, until June 22, 1991, as part of its
1990-91 lineup.
''American Dreamer'' stars
Robert Urich
Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor, and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series.
Urich began his ca ...
as
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
Tom Nash, formerly a high-powered network correspondent who was forced to reassess his priorities following the death of his wife. He decided to give up his career in order to spend more time with his children. To do this, he moved to
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...
, where he supported his family by contributing a column about "real people" to a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
. His editor, Joe Baines (
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...
), felt Tom was completely wasting his talents and drove out from Chicago weekly (a huge sacrifice, from his viewpoint) to attempt to convince Tom to return the world of "hard news". Other characters included Tom's zany secretary, Lillian Abernathy (
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...
), and a friendly waitress at Tom's favorite local diner, Holly Baker (Margaret Welsh).
This program was considered low-key. Tom sometimes
"broke the fourth wall" to address the viewers directly about his thoughts regarding the situations he encountered. This philosophizing gained only a small audience and the program was cancelled at midseason, although selected episodes were
rerun
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
Variations
In the United Kingdom, the word ...
the following summer.
It is not related to the
film of the same name.
Cast
*
Robert Urich
Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor, and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series.
Urich began his ca ...
as Tom Nash
*Margaret Welsh as Holly Baker
*
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...
as Joe Baines
*
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...
as Lillian Abernathy
*Chay Lentin as Rachel Nash
*
Johnny Galecki
John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms '' Ro ...
as Danny Nash
Episodes
References
*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''
''
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0098743, American Dreamer
NBC original programming
1990s American sitcoms
1990 American television series debuts
1991 American television series endings
Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows set in Wisconsin