''Grace Under Fire'' 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 aired 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 September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her abusive husband. The series was created by

Chuck Lorre Charles Michael Lorre (; born Charles Michael Levine; October 18, 1952) is an American film & television director, writer, producer, composer and actor. Called the "King of Sitcoms", he has created/co-created and produced sitcoms including ''G ...

and produced by

Carsey-Werner Productions The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

Premise

''Grace Under Fire'', produced by Carsey-Werner, was part of a wave of shows in the late 1980s and 1990s that were built around a comedian (and in some cases, closely based on his or her comedy routine). Many of Carsey-Werner's shows were based on nontraditional, non-nuclear families. ''Grace Under Fire'' followed a similar formula, set in the small fictitious town of Victory,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

; Butler starred as Grace Kelly, a divorced

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

and recovering

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. The show begins after the main character divorces her abusive alcoholic husband of eight years in an attempt to start life anew and prevent her children from making the same mistakes she did. The show revolved around Grace; her children, mischievous Quentin (

Noah Segan Noah Gideon Segan (born October 5, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in the films '' Looper'', ''Brick'', and ''Deadgirl''. He is known for his many collaborations with filmmaker Rian Johnson. Early life Segan was born i ...

, pilot; Jon Paul Steuer, seasons 1–3; Sam Horrigan, seasons 4–5), happy-go-lucky Libby (Kaitlin Cullum), and infant Patrick (

Dylan and Cole Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse and Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) are American actors. They are twins and are sometimes referred to as the Sprouse brothers or Sprouse Bros. Their first major theatrical film role was in the 1999 comedy '' B ...

); her happily married best friends and neighbors, Nadine and Wade Swoboda (

Julie White Julie K. White (born June 4, 1961) is an American actress. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in ''The Little Dog Laughed'' in 2007. She has also received three other Tony Award nominations for her performanc ...

and

Casey Sander Clinton O. "Casey" Sander (born July 6, 1956) is an American actor known as the character "Captain" Jimmy Wennick on the short-lived TV series '' Tucker''. His television credits also include ''Criminal Minds'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Grace Und ...

); and the town's bachelor pharmacist, Russell Norton (

Dave Thomas Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

). In the first three seasons Grace's chosen line of work, post-divorce was operating pipelines at the local oil refinery, where she had a second family of fellow crew workers. Among them were Dougie Boudreau ( Walter Olkewicz), Vic (Dave Florek), and Carl (

Louis Mandylor Louis Mandylor (born Elias Theodosopoulos; 13 September 1966) is an Australian film and television actor. Mandylor played Nick Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), a role he reprised in the sequel ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' (2 ...

). Their boss was Bill Davis (

Charles Hallahan Charles John Hallahan (July 29, 1943 – November 25, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor known for his performances in ''Going in Style'', '' The Thing'', '' Cast a Deadly Spell'', and ''Dante's Peak''. He was also best know ...

). Both Bill and Carl were dropped after the first season; while Carl had not had a permanent on-screen replacement, the crew's new boss was John Shirley (

Paul Dooley Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'', ''Sixteen Candles'', and ''Popeye''. Early life Dooley was born Paul Brown on February 22, 1 ...

) starting in the second season. Russell's friendship with Grace, and their on-and-off dating rituals, became a running theme in the series. Throughout their friendship, they often dated other people; for a time in 1994, Grace dated Ryan Sparks (

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski o ...

), a quirky chemist who worked in the oil refinery's labs. In season three, Grace entered into a relationship with suave plant executive Rick Bradshaw (

Alan Autry Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the ro ...

). As with Ryan, the affair between Grace and Rick occurred despite their radically different places in the company ladder. They broke up at the end of season three, although Rick returned in season four to see if their romance could be rekindled. In season four, Grace began taking college classes at night, paid for by her workplace. When the plant decided to stop funding her education about halfway through the season, Grace decided to quit the oil refinery and return to school full-time, as she only needed a few months of concentrated classes to graduate. The remainder of season four featured Grace as a full-time student, and towards the end of the season, she did, in fact, graduate. In the season finale, Grace took an entry-level position with an ad agency. At the beginning of the fifth season Grace decided that the commute and long working hours at the ad agency were forcing her to spend almost all of her time away from her family. She quit the agency job, and began working in the administrative/business end of a construction company owned by D.C. ( Don "D.C." Curry). Also in that season, Russell found some romantic interest in Dottie (

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in ''Futurama'' ...

), a gossiping hairstylist who was also friends with Grace. Nadine after having given birth to her and Wade's long-awaited child, abruptly decided to leave Wade and move to Colorado. It was explained that her character and her child had left, while Wade stayed behind. Actress Julie White had left the show between seasons four and five, and did not reprise her role in a guest capacity. Throughout the entire five-year run, Grace's ex-husband Jimmy Kelly (

Geoff Pierson Geoff Pierson is an American actor known for his starring television roles on '' Dexter'', ''Unhappily Ever After'', '' Grace Under Fire'', '' 24'', '' Ryan's Hope'', and '' Designated Survivor''. He has guest-starred in dozens of other TV shows. ...

) showed up, sometimes causing problems and at others miraculously clean and sober, trying to win Grace back. A reconciliation never quite happened, but the two did settle on a good friendship for the sake of the kids. Jimmy originally served as an off-screen character in season one, with

Blake Clark Blake Clark (born February 2, 1946) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known as Chet Hunter on ''Boy Meets World'' and Harry "The Hardware Store Guy" on ''Home Improvement''. Clark has voiced Slinky Dog in the ''Toy Story'' f ...

occasionally portraying him in voice only. In the midst of Jimmy's attempts to become a better person, his father Emmett (guest star Matt Clark) was revealed to be gay, after Grace and Rick inadvertently visit a

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

and run into him there during a road trip; following Emmett's sudden death midway through the third season, his sexuality and the same-sex affair he kept secret was revealed to the rest of his family during his funeral. At this time, Jimmy's mother Jean (

Peggy Rea Peggy Jane Rea (March 31, 1921 – February 5, 2011) was an American actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters.

), Grace's disapproving and moralizing former mother-in-law, offered to move in and help Grace raise the kids. Rea had previously guest-starred as Jean periodically. Russell reconciled with his estranged dad, Floyd (

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

). By season three Floyd ended up moving in with Russell and working with him in the pharmacy. Grace had a regular source of support from her sister Faith (

Valri Bromfield Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...

) in the first two seasons. Another development came when Grace was contacted by her first child, Matthew (guest star

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film ''That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in ''An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles in ...

), whom she gave up for adoption before meeting Jimmy. Matthew had questions about his ancestry and ended up meeting his biological father (guest star

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

). By the fifth season, Dot had replaced Nadine as Grace's friend and confidant, but abruptly stopped appearing on the show in early 1998 (though she was still mentioned). Instead, Grace's old friend Bev Henderson (

Julia Duffy Julia Margaret Duffy (née Hinds; June 27, 1951) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She began her career in television, appearing in minor guest roles before being cast in the role of Penny Davis in the series ''The Doctors (1963 ...

) came back to town and ended up moving in with the Kellys. Grace and Bev's personal reunion was the last major storyline of the series. Although she was joining the cast full-time, Duffy only appeared in two episodes of ''Grace Under Fire'' before the series was cancelled in mid-February 1998.

Cast

Main cast

* Brett Butler as Grace Burdette-Kelly *

as Russell Norton *

as Nadine Swoboda (1993–1997) *

as Wade Swoboda * Jon Paul Steuer as Quentin Kelly (1993–1996) * Sam Horrigan as Quentin Kelly (1996–1998) *

Kaitlin Cullum Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...

as Elizabeth Louise "Libby" Kelly *

as Patrick Kelly *

as Bill Davis (1993–1994) * Walter Olkewicz as Dougie Boudreau (1993–1994; recurring, 1994–1996) * Don "D.C." Curry as D.C. (1997–1998) *

as Dot (1997–1998)

Recurring cast

as Floyd Norton (1995–1998) *

as John Shirley (1994–1996) * Dave Florek as Vic (1993–1996) *

as Rick Bradshaw (1995–1996) *

Peggy Rea Peggy Jane Rea (March 31, 1921 – February 5, 2011) was an American actress known for her many roles in television, often playing matronly characters.

as Jean Kelly (1995–1998) *

as James "Jimmy" Kelly *

as Carl (1993–1994) *

as Faith Burdette (1993–1995) *

as Ryan Sparks (1994) *

as Bev Henderson (1998)

Episodes

''Grace Under Fire'' was the highest- rated new sitcom and freshman American television series of the 1993–94 season. One month before the series premiered,

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

had broadcast the Carsey Werner-produced ''Brett Butler Special'', a half-hour comedy performance by Butler.

"Viva Las Vegas"

The episode "Vega$" is part of a crossover with ''

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

'', ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...

'' and ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'' set in Las Vegas. It features

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, ''The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

as Drew Carey,

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( /ˈdʒoʊˌli/ born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Cl ...

as Paige Clark,

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series ''Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the British ...

as Spence Kovak and

Jerry Van Dyke Jerry McCord Van Dyke (July 27, 1931 – January 5, 2018) was an American actor and comedian. He was the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke had a long and successful career mostly as a character actor in supporting and guest roles on pop ...

as Luther Van Dam.

Production

Controversy and cancellation

As the third season concluded in the spring of 1996, Jon Paul Steuer left the series. Sources have speculated that Steuer's mother pulled him out of the show after an incident with Butler, who allegedly flashed her breasts at the 12-year-old actor. At the start of Season 4, Sam Horrigan became the third actor to play Quentin Kelly, and with him in the role, the character's age advanced to 15. In the fourth and fifth seasons of the show, Butler was fighting a painkiller addiction, for which she eventually sought medical help. Cast member

left the show after Season 4, also citing Butler's behavior as the reason. The show, which had been a Top 20 series for its first three seasons, began to take a significant drop in the ratings during season four, from 13th place to 45th. Butler's first round of treatment and rehab delayed the start of the fifth season until November. After ''Grace Under Fire'' resumed production on season five, a newly clean Butler struggled to stay that way; morale on the set was little better than in the previous season because of the star's erratic behavior. Around the holidays, Butler relapsed again, and although the producers were as committed as ever to continuing the show, ABC was becoming concerned about Butler's overall health, and was less patient with her increasing frequency of missed tapings. The show's ratings continued to fall dramatically, which may have well been attributed to Butler's reputation in the press, the longer-than-usual hiatus the series took between seasons four and five, and the fact that the character of Grace Kelly no longer went through the kinds of struggles that had made the show successful earlier on. The addition of Julia Duffy several episodes into the fifth season was a last-ditch attempt to improve the ratings, but with Butler in her current state, the network was not inspired to continue on. Rather abruptly, with the February 17, 1998, telecast, ABC canceled the series. The three-month-long final season averaged #68 in the 1997–98 Nielsen ratings.

Syndication

The series aired in syndication on the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel primar ...

in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the series was picked up by

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

where it aired from 1994 to 1999. The show was added to

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

on March 1, 2014. Upon the network's April 15, 2015, launch, the series began airing on U.S. digital broadcast network

Laff Laff (legal name: Laff Media, LLC) is an American digital multicast television network headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network specializes in comedy programmi ...

, which has carried ''Grace'' largely ever since. As of November 26, 2020, the entire series can be seen in Canada on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

Awards and nominations

''Grace Under Fire'' was nominated for three

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

s: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995 and 1997 and Best TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995.

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actor, character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and dev ...

was nominated for the 1995 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy series

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for playing Aunt Vivian in the episode "The Road to Paris Texas."

Diane Ladd Diane Ladd is an American actress. She has appeared in over 120 film and television roles. For the 1974 film '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy A ...

was nominated for the same award the previous year for playing Louise Burdett in the episode entitled "Things Left Undone" written by Brett Butler and Wayne Lemon.

Home media

On May 4, 2015, it was announced that

Visual Entertainment Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario. An independent label, it has released several well-known TV series on DVD, some through sub-licensing deals with other labels such ...

(VEI) had acquired the rights to the series in Region 1. ''Grace Under Fire: The Complete Collection'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on October 6, 2015.

International remakes

The show was remade in Russia as '' Lyuba, Children and the Factory'' in 2005. A Polish adaptation, ''Hela w opałach'' (''Hela Under Fire''; ''Hela'' is short form from ''Helen''), aired on

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

in September 2006. Also there is another Russian adaptation as '' Ольга'' (''Olga''). The show premiered on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

on September 5, 2016.

References

External links

''Grace Under Fire'' @ Carsey-Werner.net

Carsey-Werner – ''Grace Under Fire''
*
Polish version official website
^(Polish)

{{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy 1990s American sitcoms 1993 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television franchises Television series about divorce Television series about families Television series by Carsey-Werner Productions Television shows set in Missouri Television series created by Chuck Lorre Alcohol abuse in television Mass media portrayals of the working class