''Married to the Kellys'' 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 October 3, 2003 to April 23, 2004 with a run of 22 episodes. Set in a

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

suburb of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, the series stars

Breckin Meyer Breckin Erin Meyer (born May 7, 1974) is an American actor, musician, writer and producer, known for his roles in films such as ''Clueless'' (1995), ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''Rat Race'' (2001), and '' Garfield: The Movie'' (2004), he's also known f ...

and

Kiele Sanchez Kiele Michelle Sanchez ( ; born October 13, 1977) is an American actress who starred in the A&E Network drama '' The Glades''. Previously, she had starred as Anne Sorelli in The WB comedy-drama ''Related'' and as Nikki Fernandez on the main cast ...

. The show was a part of the TGIF Friday night line up, after ''

Hope & Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...

'', airing at 9:30 EST. The show earned fair enough ratings to get picked up for a whole season, but it was cancelled at the end of the season. The series followed the adventures of a single-child New Yorker adjusting to life with his wife's large, close-knit suburban family. The show was originally to be titled ''Back to Kansas''.

Premise

Producer Tom Hertz (''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor's ...

'', ''

Less Than Perfect ''Less than Perfect'' is an American television sitcom created by Terri Minsky and starring Sara Rue and Sherri Shepherd which originally aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 20, 2006. It follows Claude (Rue), who works at a television netw ...

'') loosely based this comedy on his life experiences. The

centers on

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

loner Tom (

, ''

Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert La ...

'') who was raised as an only child. After he marries Susan (

, ''

That Was Then ''That Was Then'' is an American drama television series that was broadcast on ABC September 27 to October 4, 2002. It was cancelled after only two episodes had aired. Synopsis The series starred James Bulliard as Travis Glass, a 30-year-old w ...

''), a woman raised in the Midwest by a large family, they move to

to be closer to them and he has to quickly adjust to life with a big, caring family. When Tom married Susan he thought he was only getting a new wife. He never even considered that he would be getting a brand-new family as well. Included in this new family are mother Sandy, the rule-maker of the house, and father Bill, once an only child, who could be the person Tom can relate to the most. There's also Susan's competitive sister Mary and her husband Chris, who considers himself Bill and Sandy's favorite son-in-law and finds Tom as somewhat of a threat. And finally there's Susan's brother Lewis, a shy and awkward young man who has made a career of collecting bugs. Other family members who occasionally drop by include Uncle Dave, the big-shot of the family, and Lisa, the youngest daughter who wants to backpack around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and become an art major. When ''Married to the Kellys'' premiered Fridays at 8:30pm/7:30 central during

's fall 2003 season, it aired after ''

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rec ...

'', where ABC brought back its famed TGIF block along with the new

Kelly Ripa Kelly Ripa (; born October 2, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. Since 2001, she has been the co-host of the syndicated morning talk show '' Live! with Kelly and Ryan'' in various formats. As an actress, Ripa's best known roles ...

comedy ''

'' and ''

Life with Bonnie ''Life with Bonnie'' is an ABC television sitcom that originally aired from September 17, 2002 to April 9, 2004. The show outlined the life of character Bonnie Malloy, who juggled her personal life and her job as a daytime TV talk show host. The s ...

''. Originally bought by ABC as ''The Untitled Tom Hertz Project'' the show needed a quick title in order for the series to be promoted in time for the network to unveil its new line-up. So they decided on the tentative title ''Back to Kansas''. Although the series does take place in

the title didn't quite work since the main character isn't really returning to

(his wife is) and the show wasn't really about the wife's "return" to Kansas but more about the entire Kelly family and the main character's efforts in trying to fit into a new situation. The show soon acquired the more appropriate and fitting title Married to the Kellys. An interesting fact about the show is that Tom Hertz didn't just use real life situations as inspiration for this sitcom, he also used real life family members. All the characters in the series were named after Tom, his wife and his in-laws (with the exception of Lewis). ''Married to the Kellys'' also starred Josh Braaten (''

That '80s Show ''That '80s Show'' is an American television sitcom set in 1984 that aired from January to May 2002 on Fox. Even though it had a similar name, show structure, and many of the same writers and production staff, it was not a direct spin-off of ...

''), Nancy Lenehan (''

Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC 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 ...

''), Emily Rutherfurd (''

The Ellen Show ''The Ellen Show'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ellen DeGeneres that was broadcast during the 2001–02 season on CBS, aired from September 24, 2001, to January 11, 2002. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, ...

'',

Van Wilder ''National Lampoon's Van Wilder'' (released internationally as ''Van Wilder: Party Liaison'' and ''Party Animals'') is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Walt Becker and written by Brent Goldberg and David T. Wagner. The film stars Ryan Re ...

), Sam Anderson (''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'') and newcomer Derek Waters.

Cast

as Tom Wagner *

as Susan Wagner *

Josh Braaten Joshua M. Braaten (born June 25, 1977) is an American actor. Early life and education Born in Austin, Minnesota, Braaten grew up in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, and graduated from Blooming Prairie High School in 1995. He graduated in 1999 from ...

as Chris *

Emily Rutherfurd Emily Kernan Rutherfurd (born September 18, 1974) is an American actress. She played Christine "New Christine" Hunter in the CBS sitcom, ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' (2006–10). Personal life Rutherfurd was born and raised in New Yo ...

as Mary *

Derek Waters Derek Matthew Waters (born July 30, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series ''Drunk History'' (2013–2019), which earned him eight Primetime Emmy Award n ...

as Lewis Kelly *

Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...

as Bill Kelly *

Nancy Lenehan Nancy Lenehan (born April 26, 1953) is an American actress who has appeared in film and television since the 1980s. She is best known for Audrey in ''Grace Under Fire'' (1993-1998), Kay Hickey in ''My Name Is Earl'' (2005-2008), and Angela in ' ...

as Sandy Kelly *

Richard Riehle Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948) is an American character actor. He portrayed Walt Finnerty on ''Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005) and The Warden on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2007). He also appeared in over 200 films, including '' Glory'' ...

as Uncle Dave

Guest stars

* Ashley Johnson as Shari *

Eddie McClintock Edward Theodore McClintock (born May 27, 1967) is an American actor, best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series '' Warehouse 13''. Early life McClintock was born in Canton, Ohio, and raised by his father The ...

as Bob *

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...

as Dr. Jim Coglan *

Stephen Tobolowsky Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television characters as ...

as Henry Conway *

Tinsley Grimes ''That '80s Show'' is an American television sitcom set in 1984 that aired from January to May 2002 on Fox. Even though it had a similar name, show structure, and many of the same writers and production staff, it was not a direct spin-off of t ...

as Lisa Kelly *

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American television ...

as himself *

Tony Gonzalez Anthony David Gonzalez (born February 27, 1976) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all time, he is the NFL's all-time leader ...

as himself *

Michele Lee Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer, and director. She is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera ''Knots Landing'' (1979–1993), for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Award ...

as Maggie Wagner * Tony Roberts as Martin Wagner *

Keith Coogan Keith Coogan (born January 13, 1970) is an American actor. He is the grandson of actor Jackie Coogan. Biography Keith Eric Mitchell was born on January 13, 1970, in Palm Springs, California, the son of Leslie Diane Coogan Mitchell, a realtor. H ...

as Customer

Characters

Tom & Susan

Tom is a quirky, sometimes-stupid only child from New York who marries Kansas-raised Susan Kelly and decides to move back to her home so they can be closer to her parents. Tom is a writer with a New York Times best-selling novel under his belt and Susan is a homemaker.

Chris & Mary

Chris is the whipped and sappy son-in-law who married Mary Kelly (who kept her last name Kelly while she was teaching at a university) and who fixes all of the problems around the house. Tom is usually trying to get Chris to stop being so uptight. Mary on the other hand is trying to get Chris to be like a dog to his master and ends up winning anyway.

Lewis

Lewis is Mary and Susan's younger brother. He has a strange obsession with bugs and a secret girlfriend named Shari.

Bill & Sandy

Bill and Sandy Kelly are the average all-American parents. Bill works a normal job and Sandy stays home and takes care of the home. The two are usually seen smiling and joking, saying words that haven't been included in the dictionary since the 1950s.

Episodes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Married To The Kellys 2000s American sitcoms 2003 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series about families Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Kansas TGIF (TV programming block)