''Family Affair'' is a

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

that aired on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

from September 12, 2002 to March 13, 2003. It was a remake of the original 1966 television series. This version was from

Sid and Marty Krofft Sid Krofft (born July 30, 1929) and Marty Krofft (born April 9, 1937) are a Canadian sibling team of television creators and puppeteers. Through their production company, Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, they have made numerous children's television a ...

, and was produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, Pariah Films, and

Turner Television Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

. The WB canceled the series after airing thirteen of the fifteen episodes produced.

Cast

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

as Mr. Giles French *

Caitlin Wachs Caitlin Elizabeth Wachs (pronounced ''wax''; born March 15, 1989) is an American production coordinator and actress. She appeared alongside Ally Walker and Robert Davi on the NBC television series '' Profiler'' in the role of Chloe Waters and ...

as Sigourney "Cissy" Davis *

Sasha Pieterse Sasha Pieterse-Sheaffer (; born February 17, 1996) is a South African-born American actress, singer and songwriter. She is known for her role as Alison DiLaurentis in the Freeform series '' Pretty Little Liars'' and its spin-off '' Pretty Litt ...

as Elizabeth "Buffy" Davis *

Luke Benward Luke Aaron Benward (born May 12, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Will in the Disney film '' Cloud 9'' (2014). His first starring role was Billy Forrester in ''How to Eat Fried Worms'' (2006), and as Char ...

(pilot) and Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak (episodes 2–15) as Jonathan "Jody" Davis *

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the T ...

as William Lloyd "Uncle Bill" Davis

Kathy Garver Kathleen Marie Garver is an American actress most remembered for having portrayed the teenaged orphan, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s CBS sitcom, ''Family Affair''. Before that, she was cast by Cecil B. DeMille in the film ''T ...

and

Johnny Whitaker John Orson Whitaker, Jr. (born December 13, 1959) is an American actor notable for several film and television performances during his childhood. The redheaded Whitaker played Jody Davis on ''Family Affair'' from 1966 to 1971. He also originated ...

from

the original series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distingui ...

guest starred as Beverly and Kevin in the Christmas episode, "Holiday Fever".

Production

The series was created as a remake of the original 1966–1971 ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...

'' television series. It was produced by Pariah Films and

, with Bob Young, Gavin Polone,

, and Randy Pope acting as the series' executive producers. It was filmed in the same CBS

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

lot as the original series. It was picked up to series by The WB in May 2002, when it was announced that the series would anchor a new Thursday night comedy block for the network.

originally played the role of Jody in the series pilot, but was replaced by Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak as Jody in subsequent episodes. ''Family Affair'' earned a full season, when The WB gave the series a back-nine episode order in October 2002, but suffered low viewership soon after. In November 2002, The WB reversed course and cut the episode order for ''Family Affair'' by three episodes, and then soon after changed the episode order to just two additional episodes, for a total production order of 15 episodes rather than 22 or 19. The series was then pulled from the air in December 2002 due to low ratings. The series returned with new episodes in late February 2003, airing after ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional character, fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo ...

''. By late March 2003, ''Family Affair'' was again pulled from the air and was generally considered to be "done". The WB officially passed on a second season of the series in May 2003.

Episodes

Reception

Critical

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' critic Michael Speier reviewed the series premiere of ''Family Affair'' negatively, describing it as "a dog of a debut", adding that it "wreaks of manufactured happiness and warm-and-fuzzy plotlines", though Speier praised production designer Scott Heineman for the set design.

Ratings

The one-hour pilot garnered high ratings for The WB, drawing 4.55 million viewers for its one-hour series premiere. The second episode "held up reasonably well", drawing 3.38 million viewers for its airing. But subsequent episodes declined against competition on Thursdays, and by December 2002 ''Variety'' stated that the series "barely register on Nielsen’s charts". For the season, ''Family Affair'' ranked 148th out of 159 U.S. broadcast network series (155th in the 18–49 demographic), averaging 2.6 million viewers.

References

External links

* * {{The WB 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2002 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings English-language television shows Television series about families Television series reboots Television shows set in New York City The WB original programming Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios