''Trying Times'' was a Canadian-American co-production anthology comedy television series produced by

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...

, and aired on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television network. The series lasted only two seasons, 1987 to 1989, but was the first original comedy on PBS. The series was co-produced with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, which aired the programs as part of a larger anthology series, '' Lies From Lotus Land''. Actors on the show included

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor

Teri Garr Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...

Hope Lange Hope Elise Ross Lange (November 28, 1933 – December 19, 2003) was an American film, stage, and television actress. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress ...

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her comedy work on ''Second City Television'' (1976–84) and ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020) and in films such as '' After Hours'' (1985), ''Beetleju ...

, and

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jok ...

. Scripts were written by

Christopher Durang Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s. ...

Spaulding Gray Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – January 11, 2004) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and ...

Bernard Slade Bernard Slade Newbound (May 2, 1930 – October 30, 2019) was a Canadian playwright and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, he created the sitcoms ''The Flying Nun'' and ''The Partridge Family''. As a playwright, he wrote '' Same Time, Next Year'', ...

, and

Wendy Wasserstein Wendy Wasserstein (October 18, 1950 – January 30, 2006) was an American playwright. She was an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. She received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 fo ...

.Elson Trinidad,
October 1987 - 'Trying Times,' Public Television's First Comedy Series, Premieres
, KCET, September 9, 2014. The comedies are without laugh tracks, with the central character as narrator. The series looked for writers first, hoping their choices would attract cast. Writers were involved in casting, and on the set. The series was filmed in Vancouver, to reduce costs. It was created and produced by Jon S. Denny.

Episodes

{{Episode table , series= , title= , director= , writer= , airdate= , episodes= {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber2 = 1.1 , Title = A Family Tree , DirectedBy =

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film ''Caged Heat'', before ...

, WrittenBy =

Beth Henley Elizabeth Becker Henley (born May 8, 1952) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Her play ''Crimes of the Heart'' won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and a ...

and

Budge Threlkeld Budge is a verb, meaning to move. Budge can also refer to: * Budge of court, free food and drink in a royal court * Budgebudge, a city in the state of West Bengal, India * Budge Hall, a building at Brigham Young University * Budge, a mediaeval ...

, OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 1987, } , ShortSummary = Kara Dimly (Rosanna Arquette) is disappointed when she meets the parents of her fiancé. Hope Lange, John Stockwell,

Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely (December 24, 1931 – February 8, 1997) was an American actor, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work. Biography Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ridgely worked as a cabaret entertainer.Staff"Robert Ridgely, 65 ...

, David Byrne, John Stedman also star. {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber2 = 1.3 , Title = Get a Job , DirectedBy =

Allan A. Goldstein Allan A. Goldstein (born May 23, 1949) is an American film director and screenwriter, perhaps best known for directing the Charles Bronson vehicle ''Death Wish V: The Face of Death'' and the Leslie Nielsen comedy ''2001: A Space Travesty''. Fil ...

, WrittenBy =

Earl Pomerantz Earl Pomerantz (February 4, 1945 – March 7, 2020) was a Canadian-born screenwriter, who spent almost the entirety of his career working in U.S. television comedy. He was born to a Jewish family. Career Pomerantz wrote a weekly column for the ' ...

, OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 1987, } , ShortSummary = The parents (

Hagan Beggs Hagan Beggs (March 19, 1937 – September 16, 2016) was a Northern Irish-born Canadian actor. He was best known for starring as Dr. George Dunbar on the Canadian television series, ''Danger Bay'', which aired on CBC Television and The Disney Cha ...

, Betty Phillips) of a "

professional student The term Professional student has two uses in the university setting: *In the United States and Canada, if not elsewhere, a professional student is a student majoring in what are considered the professional degrees. These include Doctor of Educ ...

" (Steven Wright) stop funding his studies. Faced with finding a job, he falls in love with his interviewer Rebecca (

), who he dated in high school.

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 197 ...

also stars. {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber=1.4 , Title=Moving Day , DirectedBy = , WrittenBy =

, OriginalAirDate={{Start date, 1987, } , ShortSummary=Candice Bergen plays a newly separated woman, moving to a new residence. Slade, a Broadway playwright, hadn't written for television work in 10 years. Bergen's first role in "at least a year and a half" after she had a baby.

References

1987 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings PBS original programming 1980s anthology television series