''United States'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

series 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 ...

from March 11 until April 29, 1980.

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...

, the show's executive producer and chief writer, said the name ''United States'' was not a reference to the country but rather to "the state of being united in a relationship". Gelbart envisioned a series that would be "a situation comedy based on the real things that happen in my marriage and in the marriages of my friends". Episodes tackled such topics as marital infidelity,

household debt Household debt is the combined debt of all people in a household, including consumer debt and mortgage loans. A significant rise in the level of this debt coincides historically with many severe economic crises and was a cause of the U.S. and su ...

, friends who drink too much, death within the family, and sexual misunderstandings. ''United States'' focused on Richard and Libby Chapin, an upwardly mobile couple who lived in a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

suburb, Woodland Hills.

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...

played Richard, and

Helen Shaver Helen Shaver (born February 24, 1951) is a Canadian actress and film and television director. She has received Emmy and Saturn Award nominations, among other honours. Early life Shaver was born and raised, with five sisters, in St. Thomas, O ...

played Libby. Gelbart reverted to black-and-white script for the show's titles. He said that was to convey the mood of "a sophisticated '30s film." Gelbart also avoided use of

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

and a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

. Scripts featured dialogue such as, "Just for once I'd like to be treated like a friend instead of a husband," and "Maybe you and Bob can go out and get yourselves one redhead with two straws." ''United States'' premiered at 10:30 p.m. on March 11, 1980. NBC pulled it from the schedule within two months, after only nine of 13 episodes had aired. The series aired later that year in Britain on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, under the title ''Married''. The remaining episodes were not broadcast in the US until 1986, when the A&E cable channel aired ''United States''. The show's tagline made by NBC was "It will do to marriages what ''

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 ...

'' did for war".

Cast

- Richard Chapin *

- Libby Chapin *

Rossie Harris Richard R. Harris (born March 13, 1969), better known by his nickname, Ross Harris, is an American actor, artist, and musician. Biography Acting career Born in Ventura, California, Harris began acting at age six. He appeared in over 100 comm ...

- Dylan Chapin *Justin Dana - Nicky Chapin

Episodes

Reception

Writing in ''

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', entertainment critic Ron Base (reviewing the first episode) felt the program lacked insight, and wrote that the program's emphasis on talk and arguments made Bridges and Shaver "surprisingly unlikable". In their ''Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1946—Present)'', authors Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh characterize the show as "tedious, boring and didactic".

References

* Lurie, Alison. (1980, April 26-May 2). ''Are We Ready For Marriage—1980s-Style ... With No Sugar Added?'' TV Guide, pp. 4–8

External links

* 1980s American comedy-drama television series 1980 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings NBC original programming Television shows set in Los Angeles {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub