''Breaking Away'' is a 1980 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series that was based on the 1979 film of the same name. It was created by

Steve Tesich Stojan Steve Tesich ( sr, Стојан Стив Тешић, Stojan Stiv Tešić; September 29, 1942 – July 1, 1996) was a Serbian-American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1979 for ...

, who wrote the original film, and the film's director

Peter Yates Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. Biography Early life Yates was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from ...

served as Executive Producer. As a prequel, the series was set during the year prior to the events of the film.

Shaun Cassidy Shaun Paul Cassidy (born September 27, 1958) is an American singer, actor, writer, and producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including '' American Gothic'', '' Roar'' and ''Invasion''. Cassidy currently serves as ...

took over the role of Dave Stohler (played by

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and ''Django Unchained'' (2012) ...

in the film), a young man crazy about

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

and all things Italian.

Barbara Barrie Barbara Barrie (born Barbara Ann Berman; May 23, 1931) is an American actress and author. Her film breakthrough came in 1964 with her performance as Julie in the landmark film ''One Potato, Two Potato'', for which she won the Best Actress Awar ...

Jackie Earle Haley Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in ''Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and ''The ...

and

John Ashton John Ashton may refer to: Entertainment * John Ashton (composer) (1830–1896), Welsh musician * Will Ashton (John William Ashton, 1881–1963), British-Australian artist and art director * John Rowland Ashton (1917–2008), English author * John ...

reprised their roles from the film. The television series was set in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, but was actually shot in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. The series was caught up in the 1980 Screen Actors Guild Strike and did not begin production until that fall. While heavily promoted by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, it was overlooked by TV audiences once it got on the air and suffered low ratings. It was canceled after eight episodes were filmed, though only seven episodes aired during its original run. ABC showed reruns of the series during the summer of 1981, and it was also rerun by A&E during 1985–1987.

Cast

as Dave Stohler *

Tom Wiggin Tom Wiggin (born July 6, 1955) is an American actor, writer and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating the role of nefarious businessman Kirk Anderson on the long-running soap opera ''As the World Turns''. Early life, family and education ...

as Mike *

Thom Bray Thomas Edward Bray (born April 30, 1954) is an American actor and writer perhaps best known for his role as Murray "Boz" Bozinsky in the detective TV series ''Riptide''. He made his film debut in the slasher film '' The Prowler'' (1981) and l ...

as Cyril *

as Moocher *

as Evelyn Stohler, Dave's mother *

Vincent Gardenia Vincent Gardenia (born Vincenzo Scognamiglio; January 7, 1920 – December 9, 1992) was an Italian-American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, first for ''Bang the Drum Slow ...

as Raymond Stohler, Dave's father

Recurring

Dominique Dunne Dominique Ellen Dunne (November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982) was an American actress. Born and raised in Santa Monica, California, Dunne studied acting at Milton Katselas' Workshop, where she appeared in stage productions. She made her ...

as Paulina Bornstein (episodes 2, 5, 6, & 8) * Shelby Brammer as Nancy (episodes 1, 4, 5) * Steve Doubet as Steve (episodes 2, 4) *

as Roy, Mike's brother

Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0080203, Breaking Away 1980s American comedy-drama television series 1980 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American prequel television series American sports television series Cycling television series English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows set in Indiana