''The McLean Stevenson Show'' 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

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 ...

on Wednesday nights from December 1, 1976, to March 23, 1977.

Premise

The series centered on Mac Ferguson, the owner of a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

(McLean Stevenson's birth state). Mac lived with his wife Peggy and two grown children, divorced daughter Janet, and son Chris. Also living in the household were Janet's two children, David and Jason, and Mac's mother-in-law.

Cast

McLean Stevenson Edgar "Mac" McLean Stevenson Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake in the television series ''M*A*S*H'', which earned him a Golden Glob ...

as Mac Ferguson *

Barbara Stuart Barbara Stuart (born Barbara Ann McNeese; January 3, 1930 – May 15, 2011) was an American actress. Barbara Stuart starred as Violet Ryder in the Perry Mason episode “The Guilty Clients” in 1961. Early years Born in Paris, Illinois, S ...

as Peggy Ferguson *Madge West as Grandma Ferguson *

Ayn Ruymen Ayn Ruymen (born July 18, 1947) is an American former actress and theater director. She began her career as a stage actress, starring in a Broadway production of Neil Simon's ''The Gingerbread Lady'' (1970–1971), for which she won a Theatre Worl ...

as Janet Ferguson *Andrew Parks as Chris Ferguson (eps 1–4) *Steve Nevil as Chris Ferguson (eps 5–12) *David Hollander as David *Jason Whitney as Jason

Background and production

McLean Stevenson left ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

'' in March 1975. He was signed to a one-year contract by NBC after doing so. A variety show he hosted in November of that year was not successful. Stevenson was approached in the spring of 1976 with an idea for a sitcom. Mac Ferguson, a hardware store owner, was framed as a nice guy, assailed on all sides, a man caught in the middle, and a chronic victim of circumstances – similar to the character he played as Lt. Col. Henry Blake in ''M*A*S*H''. The first seven episodes were taped, with the cast and production staff expecting the series to begin airing in January 1977. Then, some of the NBC program executives changed out, and it was insisted that one of the primary actors be replaced. Shortly after this, the premiere date was moved up from January to December 1. As Stevenson explained, "They scrapped the first seven episodes and started from scratch...We've been working morning noon and night ever since. The minute we finish a show it's on the air. We're running as fast as we can. Nobody knows when or if we'll ever catch up." The series was cancelled for the first time in mid-January 1977, and it was announced it would be replaced on February 9. As Barbara Stuart explained, while a swan song party was underway for the cast and crew, word came through that ''The McLean Stevenson Show'' had instead been spared. "You would have expected us to start jumping up and down with excitement, but we all just sat there – probably because we'd all been through so much, we just couldn't get emotional about it any more."

Theme music

The theme music was composed and performed by Paul Williams.

Episodes

Sources disagree on how many episodes were aired after the first ten; however, numerous contemporary newspaper sources suggest that the last two episodes of the series were aired on March 9, and March 23, respectively.

Reception

It was hoped that Stevenson's popularity on ''

'' would draw viewers in, but the actor's first starring vehicle failed to find an audience and was cancelled after three months.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean Stevenson Show 1976 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series about families Television shows set in Illinois