''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television

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 ...

series that ran on

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 ...

from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist

Tom Braden Thomas Wardell Braden (February 22, 1917 – April 3, 2009) was an American CIA official, journalist (best remembered as the author of ''Eight Is Enough'', which spawned a television program), and co-host of the CNN show ''Crossfire''. Inte ...

, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.

Synopsis

The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (based on

, played by Dick Van Patten), is a newspaper columnist for the fictional ''Sacramento Register''. His wife, Joan (based on Joan Braden, played by Diana Hyland), was a homemaker and took care of the children. In early 1977, Hyland was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

, undergoing a mastectomy when doctors discovered the cancer had metastasized. During filming her health suddenly deteriorated, and Hyland died on March 27, 1977, having filmed only four episodes. As a result, her character's death was written into the second season of the series. The second season begins in the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually meets and falls in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (

Betty Buckley Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Olivier Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the American ...

), a widowed schoolteacher who comes to the house to tutor Tommy after he breaks his leg in a football game. Abby and Tom marry in one of the series'

TV 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 ...

broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt that the character of Miss Collins, the sympathetic high school gym teacher she had played in the 1976 film '' Carrie'', would translate seamlessly to the series. In the fourth season, in another of the series' TV movie broadcasts in September 1979, both David and Susan get married in a double wedding. As the series progresses, Abby receives her Ph.D. in education and starts a job counseling students at the local high school; oldest daughter Mary becomes a medical doctor; second-youngest son Tommy becomes a singer in a rock-and-roll band.

Cast and characters

Main

* Dick Van Patten as Thomas "Tom" Bradford Sr * Diana Hyland as Joan Wells Bradford (season 1) *

as Sandra Sue "Abby" Mitchell Abbott Bradford (seasons 2–5) *

Grant Goodeve Grant Goodeve (born July 6, 1952) is an American actor and television host. He is best known for his role as David Bradford, the eldest son on ABC television's ''Eight Is Enough'' from 1977 to 1981; he sang the theme song for the show, as well. M ...

as David Bradford * Lani O'Grady as Mary Bradford *

Laurie Walters Laurie Jean Walters Slade (born January 8, 1947) is a retired American actress, best known for playing Joanie Bradford on ''Eight Is Enough'' which aired from 1977 until 1981 on ABC. Career Walters was born in San Francisco, California, to Je ...

as Joan "Joanie" Bradford *

Susan Richardson Susan Richardson is a retired American actress, best known for her role as Susan Bradford on the television series ''Eight Is Enough'', which she played from 1977 to 1981. Early life Born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Richardson first started ...

as Susan Bradford Stockwell * Dianne Kay as Nancy Bradford * Connie Newton/Needham as Elizabeth Bradford (switched to new married name, Needham, at start of season 4) * Willie Aames as Thomas "Tommy " Bradford Jr *

Adam Rich Adam Rich (October 12, 1968 – January 7, 2023) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Nicholas Bradford, the youngest son on the television series ''Eight Is Enough'', which ran for five seasons (1977–1981). A di ...

as Nicholas Bradford In the pilot, the role of David was played by

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the '' Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...

, Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck, and Tommy was played by Chris English. When ABC screened the pilot, they were unhappy with the performances of Beck and English, who were let go and replaced respectively by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames. Hamill sought to get out of his 5-year contract on ''Eight Is Enough'' to take the opportunity to star in

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

' ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''; Lorimar Productions granted his request and the role was re-cast with

Recurring

Jennifer Darling Jennifer Darling (born Joan Darling; June 19, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American voice, film and television actress. Her best-known role on screen was as Peggy Callahan in ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' and its spin-off '' The Bio ...

as Donna (1977–1981) *Michael Thoma as Dr. Greg Maxwell (1977–1981) * Virginia Vincent as Daisy Maxwell (1977–1981) * Janis Paige as Vivian "auntie V" Bradford (1977–1980) * Joan Prather as Janet McArthur Bradford (1977–1981) *

Brian Patrick Clarke Brian Patrick Clarke (born August 1, 1952) is an American actor. He has appeared in many television series and features. Early life Clarke was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Clarke, a punter, was a three-time varsity football letterwin ...

as Merle "The Pearl" Stockwell (1979–1981) *

Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three '' Karate Kid'' films and in '' Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsider ...

as Jeremy Andretti (1980–1981) *Michael Goodrow as Ernie Fields (1979–1981) *

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

as Eliot Randolph (1978–1982) *

Michele Greene Michele Dominguez Greene (born February 3, 1962) is an American actress, singer, and author. She is known for her role as attorney Abby Perkins on the TV series ''L.A. Law'' from 1986 to 1991, for which she was nominated for a 1989 Primetime E ...

as Jill (1980–1981)

Production

The show was developed by writer William Blinn and was a

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

Production. It was originally distributed by

Worldvision Enterprises Worldvision Enterprises, Inc. was an American television program and home video distributor established in 1954 as ABC Film Syndication, the domestic and overseas program distribution arm of the ABC Television Network. They primarily licensed ...

. For the first three years the show filmed interior scenes at The Burbank Studios now known as the

Warner Bros. Ranch The Warner Bros. Ranch is located at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank, California and was formerly called the Columbia Ranch. It was the backdrop for many Columbia Pictures films and Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures Television shows, including ...

. From the fourth season the show filmed interiors at MGM Studios in Culver City. The home featured in the exterior shots was on Chiquita St, near Lankershim Boulevard in Los Angeles. The house has since been demolished and replaced. The interiors for seasons one through three were filmed on Soundstage 9 The Burbank Studio. Seasons four and five were shot on two stages at MGM in Culver City. The show's team of producers included Robert L. Jacks, Gary Adelson, Greg Strangis, and Phil Fehrle. Executive producers were

Lee Rich Lee Rich (December 19, 1918 – May 24, 2012) was an American film and television producer, who won the 1973 Outstanding Drama Series Emmy award for '' The Waltons'' as the producer. He is also known as the co-founder and former chairman ...

and

Philip Capice Philip Capice (June 24, 1931 – December 30, 2009) was an American television producer, most notable as the executive producer of the dramedy ''Eight Is Enough'' and the first nine seasons of the soap opera ''Dallas''. Biography Early life and c ...

. As a production of the

stable, who were concurrently producing CBS's ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book '' Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 fil ...

'', writers were often contracted by the producers and were shared between both programs. (''Waltons'' costar

Will Geer Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist, who was active in labor organizing and other movements in New York and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In C ...

also made an ''Eight is Enough'' guest appearance during season 2.) Regular writers included Peter Lefcourt, the writing teams of Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov, Rod Peterson and Claire Whittaker, Bill Nuss and Dusty Kay, Nick Thiel and David Braff, J. Miyoko Hensley and Steven Hensley, Bruce Shelly, Sandra Kay Siegel, Gil Grant, Karen I. Hall, and Hindi Brooks, who soon became the show's long-time story editor. In-house directors included Philip Leacock, Harry Harris, and

Irving J. Moore Irving Joseph Moore (April 7, 1919 – July 2, 1993) was an American television director. Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Hollywood, California. He began work as a messenger for Columbia Pictures, eventually becoming an assi ...

. As an in-joke, the character name of one of Nicholas Bradford's best friends was Irving Julius Moore, a nod to the director of the same name whose middle name was, in fact, Joseph.

Music

Theme

For the show's first two seasons, an upbeat instrumental piece written by Fred Werner was used as the show's opening theme. Beginning with the show's third season, this was replaced by a slowed-down vocal theme titled "Eight Is Enough," which was sung by series co-star Grant Goodeve. The song had music by Lee Holdridge and lyrics by Molly-Ann Leikin, and was first heard in a longer arrangement on the last episode of the second season titled "Who's on First?", which was also performed by Goodeve.

Score

Early episodes had instrumental music by Fred Werner and

Alexander Courage Alexander Mair Courage Jr. (December 10, 1919May 15, 2008) familiarly known as "Sandy" Courage, was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. He is best known as the composer of the theme musi ...

, but the show's real musical stamp came from composer

Earle Hagen Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created music for movies and television. His best-known TV themes include those for ''Make Room for Daddy'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''I Spy'', ''That Girl'' and ...

, who had a knack of composing memorable cues as he had previously been the in-house composer on ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom, situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in colo ...

''. He composed a love theme for Tom and Abby, a theme that permeated the show in various incarnations throughout the remainder of the series. Some later episodes were scored by John Beal and

Miles Goodman Elliott Miles Goodman (August 27, 1948 – August 16, 1996) was an American composer for television and film. He is best remembered for his frequent collaboration with film director Frank Oz, for whom Goodman scored such films as '' Dirty Rot ...

. Back-to-back industry strikes in the show's last seasons affected the show's score, with both the 1980 SAG actors' strike and 1981 writers' strike forcing cost-cutting measures. Some of the later episodes were tracked with a combination of uncredited library music and original music by Hagen, Beal, and Goodman.

Reception and cancellation

The series jump-started acting careers for several of its young stars. It cemented

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

status for

(David), Willie Aames (Tommy), and

, who played Abby's orphaned nephew Jeremy later in the show's last season. Aames would go on to star with

Scott Baio Scott Vincent James Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on t ...

in ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Scott ...

''. Goodeve started a minor singing career, following his rendition of the show's theme song (see "Theme music") and initially hosted

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, app ...

's '' If Walls Could Talk''. Macchio would gain the most fame in feature films such as ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue an ...

'' and its sequels, as well as ''

My Cousin Vinny ''My Cousin Vinny'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, and written by Dale Launer, who also produced with Paul Schiff. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill ...

''. After the end of the show's fifth season (112 one-hour episodes), production costs and declining ratings caused the show to be cancelled, along with seven other shows that season (including ''

''). ''Variety'''s headline on the cancellation stated, "Eight Shows In, Eight Shows Out". In a 2000 episode of '' E! True Hollywood Story'', Dick Van Patten stated that no one contacted him to inform him of the cancellation. Instead, he read about it in a newspaper. The series had two reunion movies on NBC. In ''An Eight Is Enough Reunion'' on October 18, 1987,

Mary Frann Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...

replaced

as Abby; Buckley had been filming '' Frantic'' during its production. This was followed by ''An Eight Is Enough Wedding'' on October 15, 1989, this time with Sandy Faison as Abby. Both movies aired opposite Game 2 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

on ABC.

Nielsen Ratings

*1976–1977 — #23 *1977–1978 — #12 *1978–1979 — #11 *1979–1980 — #12 *1980–1981 — Not in Top 30

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1977)

Season 2 (1977–78)

Season 3 (1978–79)

Season 4 (1979–80)

Season 5 (1980–81)

Post-series movies

Syndication

Reruns of all 112 episodes of ''Eight Is Enough'' have aired sporadically since the show's syndication debut in September 1982. The show aired on FX from 1994 to 1997, on PAX in 1998, and as part of a 50th-anniversary Warner Bros. marathon on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

in 2005. ''Eight Is Enough'' also aired on the Chicago-based

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

and MeToo, a sister station of MeTV, from 2008 to 2010 before MeTV spread to other markets around the U.S. During its network run, the show was distributed by

(also internationally in rebroadcasts), and later by

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...

. All syndication rights are now held by (Lorimar successor)

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

International

In Italy,

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

public networks aired the first season of ''Eight Is Enough'' under the title ''Otto Bastano'' in 1978, the literal Italian translation of the original title. The remaining seasons were aired in the 1980s on

Retequattro Rete 4 (in English Network 4) is an Italian free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset Italia and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. Presently the director is Sebastiano Lombardi. Programs TV Programmes (currently) Rete 4's strengt ...

, a commercial network from

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is c ...

(now

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

), under the title ''La Famiglia Bradford''. The Italian version excludes the laugh track. The French version, ''Huit, ça suffit!'', which excludes the laugh track, was successful in the 1980s in France and Quebec, and with the

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

audience in general. In Spain during the same period, ''Con Ocho Basta'' (Spanish for "Eight Is Enough") ran in public network

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service kno ...

's Friday night line-up. In the Philippines, ''Eight Is Enough'' aired on GMA 7 from 1978 to 1981.

Home media

On April 17, 2012,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

released the complete first season of ''Eight Is Enough'' on DVD in Region 1. The release includes the pilot episode (featuring

in the role of eldest son David) and a cast reunion special. Several of the episodes have the wrong end credits, and the

Productions logo has also been edited out of the end credits. On November 13, 2012, Warner Bros. released Season 2, parts one and two on

DVD-R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bu ...

via their

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...

. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases and are available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Season 3, Parts One and Two were released on April 30, 2013. Season 4, parts one and two were released on August 13, 2013. The fifth and final season was released on March 11, 2014.

References

External links

* * (1987 reunion movie) * (1989 reunion movie)
Eightisenough.com
contains episode summaries {{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama , state=collapsed 1977 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings 1970s American comedy-drama television series 1980s American comedy-drama television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series about families Television series about widowhood Television series by Lorimar Television Television shows set in Sacramento, California