''Family Man'' 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 ...

which aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from March 18 to April 29, 1988. It starred

Richard Libertini Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include ''Catch-22'' (1970), '' The I ...

as a middle-aged comedy writer married to a much younger wife (

Mimi Kennedy Mary Claire "Mimi" Kennedy (born September 25, 1948) is an American actress, author, and activist. Best known for her roles in television sitcoms, Kennedy co-starred in numerous short-lived sitcoms before her role as Ruth Sloan on '' Homefront'' ...

), and focused on the trials and tribulations he faced raising two stepchildren and one biological child. The series was created by

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 ' ...

Synopsis

Shelly Tobin (Libertini) was a balding, good-natured comedy writer in his fifties who found that his personal life provided just as much witty fodder as his professional. He had married later in life to his wife, Andrea (Kennedy), who was fifteen years his junior. Shelly had experienced instant fatherhood upon their union, with Andrea having brought in two kids from her previous marriage, the now-teenage Rosie (

Alison Sweeney Alison Ann Sweeney (born September 19, 1976) is an American actress, reality show host, director and author. Sweeney is best known for her portrayal of Samantha "Sami" Brady on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', a role she played under co ...

) and nine-year-old Josh (

Whitby Hertford Whit Hertford (born November 2, 1978) is an American theatre director, writer, and actor. Film and television Hertford's film career spans three decades and began at an early age, most notably with his appearance in Steven Spielberg's ''Juras ...

); eventually, Shelly and Andrea produced a child together, three-year-old Sara (Keeley Mari Gallagher). With children in all different age groups, with Rosie and Josh in their (respectively) adolescent and mischievous stages especially, Shelly continued to navigate through the basics of parenting the best he could. He faced the real challenges with a combination of bewilderment and intelligent humor as he tried to make sense of the process. Andrea provided the calm voice of reason, and despite her longer tenure as a parent, would continually remind Shelly that she, too, would still deal with the unknown.

Production

The living room set was a reproduction of the Pomerantz's own living room in Pacific Palisades, California. The facade of the house in the show opening was that of his house and the backdrop of a view of the Pacific Ocean was based on the view from his home. Every story of the eleven episodes written was based on something that had happened to Pomerantz as a child or as an adult. Because Pomerantz wanted more than the usual 3 sets used for a multi-camera show with a live audience, the show was shot on seven sets as a multi-camera show but without a live audience. The program was titled "Our House" while it was under development but changed when NBC declined to pick it up. When interviewed on the Hollywood and Levine podcast in 2018 Pomerantz said that he had videotapes of the seven episodes that were produced stored in his garage but that he had no interest in seeing them digitized and shared.

Cast

as Shelly Tobin *

as Andrea Tobin *

as Rosie Tobin *

as Josh Tobin *Keeley Mari Gallagher as Sara Tobin

Episodes

Broadcast

''Family Man'' was a midseason replacement on ABC's Friday night lineup for the spring of 1988, airing at 9:30/8:30c following ''

Mr. Belvedere ''Mr. Belvedere'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, to July 8, 1990. The series is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel ''Belvedere'', which was later ...

''. It was one of many ABC comedies that were either moved to, or tried out on, Friday nights during the 1987-88 TV season, replacing ''

Sledge Hammer! ''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 ...

'' in its time slot (which went on another hiatus at that point). With only seven episodes ordered, the series aired until April 29, 1988, and was not picked up for another season.

Jesse Frederick and connections to Miller/Boyett

The series' vocal opening theme was performed by

Jesse Frederick Jesse Frederick James Conaway (born June 25, 1948) is an American film and television composer and singer. He wrote and performed the themes to TGIF (ABC), TGIF television shows such as ''Perfect Strangers (TV series), Perfect Strangers'', ''Fu ...

, best known for his singing and scoring work on shows from Miller/Boyett Productions (which did not produce this series). Frederick's vocal style was more subdued on ''Family Man'' than on the shows he is most recognized for, including ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...

'', which aired on ABC's Friday night lineup along with this series, and ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...

'', among others. After the cancellation of ''Family Man'', Whitby Hertford surfaced on the Miller/Boyett co-production ''Full House'' as Walter Burman, a nerdy classmate of Stephanie Tanner (

Jodie Sweetin Jodie Lee Ann Sweetin (born January 19, 1982) is an American actress and television personality. She is best known for her role as List of Full House and Fuller House characters#Stephanie Tanner, Stephanie Tanner in the American Broadcasting Co ...

), for three episodes during the 1989–90 season. This series is not to be confused with the similarly titled sitcom ''

The Family Man ''The Family Man'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brett Ratner, from a screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, with Don Cheadle, Saul Rubinek, and Jeremy ...

'', which was produced by Miller/Boyett Productions and aired on CBS for one season (1990-1991). Frederick also composed the theme music and scoring for ''The Family Man''.

References

* Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle. ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Random House, 2003. {{reflist 1988 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series about families Television series by Universal Television American Broadcasting Company sitcoms