''You Can't Take It with You'' 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 produced for syndication in 1986,.Vincent Terrace, ''Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937-2012'' (2014), p. 332.Tim Brooks, Earle F. Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present'' (2009), p. 1554. It was based on the 1938 film adaptation of the 1937 play by the same name. Set in a contemporaneous home in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, the show starred

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...

as the eccentric elderly family patriarch Martin Vanderhof, and

Lois Nettleton Lois June Nettleton (August 16, 1927 – January 18, 2008) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Daytime Emmy Awards. Early life Lois Nettleton was born on Au ...

as his daughter, Penny. The cast also included Richard Sanders as Penny's inventor-husband Paul, Lisa Aliff as Penny's older daughter, Alice, and Heather Blodgett (Elizabeth Townsend in the pilot) as Penny's younger daughter, Essie.

Theodore Wilson Theodore Rosevelt "Teddy" Wilson (December 10, 1943 – July 21, 1991) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Earl the Postman on the ABC sitcom ''That's My Mama'', and Sweet Daddy Willi ...

appeared as neighbor Durwood Pinner. Although only four episodes were broadcast, 22 episodes were filmed. some episodes are available to watch on various content streaming services. One review of the show noted that the play from which the material for the show was originally adapted "will be remembered long after this routine comedy is not".

Cast

as Martin Vanderhof * Lisa Aliff as Alice Sycamore * Richard Sanders as Paul Sycamore *

as Penny Vanderhof Sycamore *Heather Blodgett as Essie Sycamore *

as Darwood Pinner

Episodes

The following four episodes were the only ones broadcast in syndication.

Syndication

''You Can't Take It with You'' was a part of a syndication package that was conceived by

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 ...

for its

owned-and-operated stations In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

. Five sitcoms each aired once a week under the brand "Prime Time Begins at 7:30", and were produced by various production companies contracted by NBC. Besides '' You Can't Take It With You'', which aired on Wednesdays, the series included ''

Marblehead Manor ''Marblehead Manor'' is an American sitcom that originally aired in first-run syndication from September 19, 1987 to May 28, 1988. It starred Paxton Whitehead, Phil Morris, Linda Thorson, Bob Fraser and Michael Richards. The series was a Dame ...

'' (from

Paramount Television The original incarnation of Paramount Television was the name of the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, that was responsible for the production of Viacom television programs, until it changed its name ...

, airing Mondays), centering on a mansion owner and the people who live with him; ''

She's the Sheriff ''She's the Sheriff'' is an American sitcom television series that aired in first-run syndication from September 19, 1987 to April 1, 1989. Produced by Lorimar Television, the series marked the return of Suzanne Somers to television for the f ...

'' (from

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation was an entertainment company established in 1985 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pictures Studios) ...

and airing Tuesdays), a comeback vehicle for

Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (née Mahoney; born October 16, 1946) is an American actress, author, singer, businesswoman, and health spokesperson. She appeared in the television role of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' and as Carol Foster Lambert on ...

which cast her as a widowed county sheriff; '' Out of This World'' (from

MCA Television NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (a.k.a. NUSS), formerly known as NBCUniversal Television Distribution (a.k.a. NUTD), Universal Domestic Television, Studios USA Television Distribution and MCA TV, is the television syndication division of NBCUnive ...

and airing Thursdays), which starred Maureen Flannigan as a teenager born to an alien father and human mother that develops supernatural abilities on her 13th birthday; and a revival of the short-lived 1983 NBC series ''

We Got It Made ''We Got It Made'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 8, 1983, to March 10, 1984, and in first-run syndication from September 11, 1987, to March 30, 1988. It starred Teri Copley as a young woman who works as a ...

'' (produced by

Fred Silverman Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as '' ...

for

MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...

and closing out the week on Fridays), as part of an ongoing trend at the time in which former network series were revived in first-run syndication. The package was aimed at attracting viewers to NBC stations in the half-hour preceding prime time (8:00 p.m. in the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...

s, 7:00 p.m. elsewhere), and was conceived as a result of the FCC's loosening of the

Prime Time Access Rule The Prime Time Access Rule (PTAR) was a broadcasting regulation that was instituted in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1970 to restrict the amount of network programming that a local television station either ...

, legislation passed in 1971 that required networks to turn over the 7:30 p.m. (Eastern) time slot to local stations to program local or syndicated content; and the relaxation of the

Financial Interest and Syndication Rules The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, widely known as the fin-syn rules, were a set of rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States in 1970. The FCC sought to prevent the Big Three television networks from mon ...

, which had prevented networks from producing content from their own syndication units to fill the void. The shows that were part of the package were regularly outrated in many markets by such syndicated game shows as ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...

'', ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'' and ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...

''. ''Marblehead Manor'', ''We Got It Made'' and ''You Can't Take It With You'' were cancelled at the end of the 1987–88 season, with ''She's the Sheriff'' lasting one more season in weekend syndication before its cancellation. ''Out of This World'' ran for three additional seasons, airing mainly on weekends, and was the most successful of the five series.

References

External links

* {{NBC's "Prime Time Begins at 7:30" 1987 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms English-language television shows Television series based on plays First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television shows set in New York (state)