''Jesse'' 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 ...
television series created by Ira Ungerleider and starring
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...
, that ran on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from September 24, 1998, to May 25, 2000, for two seasons of a total 42 episodes.
The series was produced by
Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with
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 ...
.
Synopsis
The show stars
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...
as single mother Jesse Warner, raising her nine-year-old son, Little John, in Buffalo, New York. She works for her overbearing father in a German-themed bar, serving beer while wearing a
dirndl. Jesse's love interest, a Chilean named Diego (
Bruno Campos
Bruno Campos () is a Brazilian-American lawyer and former actor, best known for his roles of Dr. Quentin Costa on the award-winning television show ''Nip/Tuck'', the voice of Prince Naveen in the animated film ''The Princess and the Frog'', an ...
), gains a rival when her former husband comes to town, intent on winning her back.
In the second season, Jesse becomes a nurse and stories revolve around her friends instead of her family.
Cast
Main
*
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...
as Jesse Warner
*
Bruno Campos
Bruno Campos () is a Brazilian-American lawyer and former actor, best known for his roles of Dr. Quentin Costa on the award-winning television show ''Nip/Tuck'', the voice of Prince Naveen in the animated film ''The Princess and the Frog'', an ...
as Diego Vasquez
*
Eric Lloyd
Eric Lloyd (born David Eric Lloyd Morelli; May 19, 1986) is an American actor, musician, and producer. Lloyd is best known for work as a child actor in such roles as Charlie Calvin in Disney's ''The Santa Clause'' film trilogy and the follow-u ...
as "Little John" Warner
*
Liza Snyder
Liza Snyder (born March 20, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, which include Officer Molly Whelan in the ABC (and syndicated) series ''Sirens'', Linda in the NBC sitcom ''Jesse'', Christine Hughes in the CBS si ...
as Linda
*
Jennifer Milmore
Jennifer Milmore (born October 1, 1969)Gallagher, Pam ''Asbury Park Press'', January 24, 1999. Accessed February 14, 2011. "Williamson, head of makeup for the NBC-TV comedy ''Jesse,'' starring Christina Applegate in the title role and Rumson nativ ...
as Carrie
*
John Lehr
John Lehr (born November 25, 1965) is an American film and television actor and comedian.
Personal life
Lehr was born on November 25, 1965, in Overland Park, Kansas. He went to high school at Shawnee Mission West High. He graduated from Northw ...
as John Warner, Jr. (season 1)
*
David DeLuise
David Dominick DeLuise (born November 11, 1971) is an American actor and television director. He has appeared on numerous television shows as well as films. He is known for Coop in the animated show ''Megas XLR'' and Jerry Russo in ''Wizards of W ...
as Darren Warner (season 1)
*
George Dzundza
George Dzundza ( ; born July 19, 1945) is an American television and film actor.
Early life and education
Dzundza was born in Rosenheim, Germany, to a Ukrainian-Jewish father, Roman Dzundza, originally from Kalush, Ukraine, and a Polish-Jewish m ...
as John Warner, Sr. (season 1)
*
Kevin Rahm
Kevin Rahm (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor known for his television roles as Kyle McCarty on ''Judging Amy'', Lee McDermott on ''Desperate Housewives'', and Ted Chaough on ''Mad Men''.
Early life and education
Rahm attended and g ...
as Dr. Danny Kozak (season 2)
* Darryl Theirse as Kurt Bemis (guest season 1; main season 2)
Recurring
*
Michael Weatherly
Michael Manning Weatherly Jr. (born July 8, 1968) is an American actor, producer, director, and musician, known for playing the roles of Anthony DiNozzo in the television series '' NCIS'' (2003–2016) and Logan Cale in '' Dark Angel'' (2000–2 ...
as Roy Bently (season 1)
*
Michael Welch as Gabe (season 2)
*
Jacqueline Obradors
Jacqueline Danell Obradors (born October 6, 1966) is an American actress. She has appeared in films such as ''Six Days, Seven Nights'' (1998), '' Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'' (1999), ''Tortilla Soup'' (2001), '' A Man Apart'' (2003) and '' Unstop ...
as Irma (season 2)
Episodes
While ''Jesse'' was in the top 20 in the
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
regularly, the show lost much of the audience from ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'', its powerful
lead-in
A lead-in is a short phrase, usually five words or less, that starts off a photo caption in a newspaper, high school yearbook, magazine or other publication.
Lead-ins (a.k.a. "kickers") are used to catch the reader's attention and "lead in" to t ...
. In season 2, ''Jesse'' lost almost 20% of the ''Friends'' audience. As a result, NBC decided to cancel the show after its second season. A total of 42 episodes were produced.
Season 1 (1998–99)
Season 2 (1999–2000)
References
External links
*
*
{{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy
1990s American sitcoms
1998 American television series debuts
2000s American sitcoms
2000 American television series endings
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Television shows set in Buffalo, New York