''The Nutt House'' 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 that aired for five episodes 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 ...

from September 20 to October 25, 1989.

Overview

''The Nutt House'' was the creation of executive producers

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...

and

Alan Spencer ''Sledge Hammer!'' is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 23, 1986 to February 12, 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector ...

and was a broad farce about a once-prestigious

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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 ...

, which had of late fallen on hard times, due in part to it being named for the proprietress, Edwina Nutt (

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

). Other characters included manager Reginald Tarkington (

Harvey Korman Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927May 29, 2008) was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. His big break was being a featured performer on CBS' ''The Danny Kaye Show'', but he is best remembered f ...

), and head of housekeeping Ms. Frick (also portrayed by Leachman). Frick appeared in every episode, Mrs. Nutt only in the pilot. ''The Nutt House'' was a very broad

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

in which the main story was periodically interrupted by short, unrelated, and often surreal gags. Its audience was quite a narrow one, and it was cancelled within 6 weeks of its premiere. However, all 11 of the produced episodes were broadcast on BBC 2 in the United Kingdom, where it became a moderate success being shown on Saturday evening following

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Saturday Night Clive Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

as Ms. Frick (also Edwina Nutt in the pilot episode) *

as Reginald Tarkington *

Brian McNamara Brian McNamara is an American actor. His first major role was in the film ''The Flamingo Kid'' (1984). He then went on to appear in a few films, such as ''Short Circuit (1986 film), Short Circuit'' (1986), ''Caddyshack II'' (1988), ''Arachnopho ...

as Charles Nutt III *

Molly Hagan Molly Joan Hagan is an American actress. She co-starred in films ''Code of Silence'' (1985), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), ''The Dentist'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), and '' Sully'' (2016), and is also known for her roles in television on ...

as Sally Lonnaneck *

Gregory Itzin Gregory Martin Itzin (April 20, 1948 – July 8, 2022) was an American character actor of film and television best known for his role as U.S. President Charles Logan in the action thriller series '' 24''. Early life Itzin was born in Washing ...

as Dennis *

Mark Blankfield Mark Blankfield (born May 8, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known as a regular cast member of the television variety series '' Fridays''. Other work includes roles in '' Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again'', ''The Incredible ...

as Freddy

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt House 1980s American sitcoms 1989 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings NBC original programming Television series by ABC Studios Television series created by Mel Brooks Television series created by Alan Spencer Television series set in hotels Television shows set in New York City