''House Calls'' 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 lasted three seasons and 57 episodes, from December 17, 1979 to September 6, 1982, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television, produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and based upon the 1978 feature film of the same name.

Synopsis

British-born Ann Atkinson (

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

), as hospital administrator, had three unruly doctors to cope with, and the comedy arose from their interactions. Dr. Charley Michaels (

Wayne Rogers William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015) was an American actor, known for playing the role of Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre in the CBS television series ''M*A*S*H'' and as Dr. Charley Michaels on '' House Calls ...

) became the main problem for her, because of the romantic angle. She always pulled herself up short just before falling hopelessly in love with him. Dr. Solomon ( Ray Buktenica) was junior to Dr. Michaels and was his pal, and he would counterbalance Dr. Michaels's headstrong ways, almost a

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

. But elderly Dr. Weatherby (

David Wayne David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life and career Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...

) was senior to them all, close to retirement and with a mean streak, which meant that the others were often taking a rise out of the old fellow. The best he could do was to irritate Solomon by constantly getting his name wrong while going his own way. Other characters who were part of the series were Head Nurse Bradley ( Aneta Corsaut), a sympathetic and level-headed influence, Mrs. Phipps (Deedy Peters), a somewhat over-the-hill but enthusiastic candystriper, always forcing her good intentions upon unwilling patients, and Conrad Peckler (

Mark L. Taylor Mark Lawrence Taylor (born October 25, 1950) is an American actor, known for his roles in such films as '' Innerspace'' (1987), ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), '' Arachnophobia'' (1990), and ''High School Musical 2 ''High School Musical ...

), who was brought in as the arch villain of the piece to bring order to the hospital, hated by all. During the last 13 episodes, after Ann had suddenly returned to England, her replacement was Jane Jeffries (

Sharon Gless Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress and author, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on ''Switch'' (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series ''Cagney & Lacey'' (198 ...

), who had a similar love/hate relationship with Dr. Michaels.

Controversy and cancellation

Lynn Redgrave was fired from the series, following the birth of her new child. She insisted on bringing her daughter to work, in part, because she wanted to be able to breast-feed the baby on schedule, but this was interpreted by the studio as holding out for more money, while being disruptive to shooting requirements. Redgrave sued Universal for breaking her existing contract, but never was rehired, and the suit was dismissed several years later. (The breast-feeding controversy was later spoofed on '' Second City Television '' in a sketch titled "Wet Nurse", with

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

playing Redgrave as a nurse with gigantic breasts solving several crises at a hospital) Universal replaced Redgrave with

, who was then under a 10-year contract with Universal, but previously excellent ratings suffered from the abrupt and clumsily-handled transition (Ann announced her departure in a letter read out loud by Charlie), and the series was ultimately cancelled by early 1982, despite still finishing the season in the Top 25.

Episodes

Awards and nominations

Redgrave was nominated for an

Emmy 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 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981, and she and Wayne Rogers were also nominated for

Golden Globes 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 ...

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=tt0078626, title=House Calls
Press Announces Suit
1979 American television series debuts 1982 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms 1980s American sitcoms 1970s American medical television series 1980s American medical television series 1970s American workplace comedy television series 1980s American workplace comedy television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in San Francisco