''Lenny'' 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 ...

which aired 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 ...

from September 10, 1990, until March 9, 1991. The series, a starring vehicle conceived for comedian

Lenny Clarke Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

, was created by

Don Reo Don Reo is an American television writer and producer. He created or co-created such shows as '' Blossom'' and ''The John Larroquette Show'' for NBC, ''My Wife and Kids'' for ABC and ''The Ranch'' for Netflix. Other shows for which he has writ ...

and produced by Reo's Impact Zone Productions,

Witt/Thomas Productions Witt/Thomas Productions is an American television and movie production company run by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The company was consistently productive between its founding in 1973 and 1999, but is still active, producing a ...

and

Touchstone Television The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

Synopsis

''Lenny'' starred long-time

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

stand-up

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

as Lenny Callahan, a working-class Bostonian who held down two jobs, a daytime one as laborer for the local electric utility and an evening one as a doorman at a posh

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. His wife, Shelley (

Lee Garlington Ann Leslie "Lee" Garlington (born July 20, 1953) is an American actress. Early life Garlington was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. She spent her teenage years in Wilmington, Delaware. Career She has guest starred in a number of notable television s ...

) was a full-time homemaker and the couple had three children (presumably the reason Lenny needed to keep two jobs). One of their daughters, Kelly, was played by

Jenna von Oÿ Jennifer Jean "Jenna" von Oÿ (born May 2, 1977) is an American actress, singer and author. She played the role of Dorothy "Six" LeMeure in the NBC sitcom '' Blossom'' and Stevie Van Lowe in the UPN sitcom ''The Parkers'', the spin-off series ...

. Daughter Tracy was played by Alexis Caldwell. Other characters included Lenny's brother Eddie (

Peter Dobson Peter Dobson (born July 19, 1964) is an American actor. His film roles include appearances in '' Sing'' (1989), ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1989), ''The Marrying Man'' (1991), ''The Frighteners'' (1996), and ''Drowning Mona'' (2000), in addition t ...

), a

get-rich-quick scheme A get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates of return for a small investment. The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century. Most schemes create an impression that partic ...

r, and their parents, Pat (

Eugene Roche Eugene Harrison Roche (September 22, 1928 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor and the original " Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials. Personal life Roche was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary M. (née Finnegan ...

) and Mary (

Alice Drummond Alice Elizabeth Drummond (née Ruyter, May 21, 1928 – November 30, 2016) was an American actress. A veteran Off-Broadway performer, she was nominated in 1970 for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Mrs ...

). Initially scheduled against two established programs, the Top 30 show ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age situation comedy, comedy/Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol L. Black, Carol Black. It ran on American Broadcasting Company ...

'' 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 ...

and the Top 20 hit ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, ''Lenny'' was a ratings failure and put on hiatus in October, as part of CBS' programming realignment that also involves the switch of ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'', the delay of '' Sons and Daughters'', and the cancellation of another sci-fi show ''

E.A.R.T.H. Force ''E.A.R.T.H. Force'' is an American action adventure television series starring Gil Gerard. The series aired 3 episodes on CBS from September 16 to September 29, 1990, before being canceled due to low ratings, as part of CBS' programming realignme ...

'', and the newsmagazine '' 48 Hours'' replaced the program. It was brought back in a new time slot in December, but cancelled permanently in March 1991.

Cast

as Lenny Callahan *

as Shelly Callahan *

as Eddie Callahan *

as Kelly Callahan *

as Mary Callahan *

as Pat Callahan *Alexis Caldwell as Tracy Callahan *

Episode list

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0098845, title=Lenny 1990s American sitcoms 1990 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios Television shows set in Boston