''Silver Spoons'' 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 ...

television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for the first four seasons, until Embassy Communications moved the series to syndication after being cancelled by NBC. ''Silver Spoons'' was created by Martin Cohan,

Howard Leeds Howard Michael Leeds (June 27, 1919 – February 11, 2017) was a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and series creator. Among Leeds' most notable work, he served as a producer and writer for the ABC sitcom, '' The Brady Bunch'', and ...

and Ben Starr. The show focuses on the wealthy playboy Edward Stratton III, and his relationship with his young son Ricky Stratton. Ricky was the product of a brief marriage between Edward and Ricky's mother. Edward was unaware that he had a son until Ricky comes to live with Edward at the outset of the series. The main cast stars

Joel Higgins Joel Franklin Higgins (born September 28, 1943) is an American actor and singer with a stage career spanning over 40 years. Life and career A graduate of Michigan State University where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternit ...

as Edward, Ricky Schroder as Ricky, Leonard Lightfoot as Edward's attorney, Franklyn Seales as Edward's business manager, and Erin Gray as Edward's personal assistant and later love interest. Jason Bateman plays Ricky's best friend over the first two seasons of the show, replaced by Alfonso Ribeiro over the remaining seasons. John Houseman plays Edward's dour and disapproving father.

Synopsis

In the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

, Ricky Stratton ( Ricky Schroder) arrives at the mansion of the father he has never met to introduce himself, move in, and get to know him better. Edward Stratton III (

) epitomizes the phrase "overgrown child"; he has never taken responsibility for anything in his life, including his toy business, Eddie's Toys. Ricky recognizes that his father needs to grow up; Edward thinks his son is too uptight and needs to have more fun while he is still young. Edward's father (Edward Stratton II) is played by John Houseman as the intelligent, well-to-do patriarch and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

whose demeanor starkly contrasts with Edward's and seems more similar to Ricky's (at first). Throughout the series, the comic tension arises between Grandfather Stratton's belief that people with money are obligated to make more money and Edward's belief that money should be used to make people happy. Ricky is often caught between the two, wishing only for peace and harmony within the family. Ricky's mother is Evelyn Bluthorn ( Christine Belford). Edward and Evelyn's romantic relationship led to a week-long marriage. Now Evelyn has remarried and placed Ricky in a military boarding school. When Ricky arrives at the Stratton residence, Edward is stunned to discover that his long-ago brief marriage produced a son (when he expresses incredulousness because he "wasn't married that long," Ricky points out, "It doesn't ''take'' that long"). At first, he sends Ricky right back to the boarding school; later he dresses up as a

swamp monster A swamp monster (also variously called a swamp creature, swamp man, swamp thing, or muck monster) is a fictional or mythological creature imagined to lurk in a swamp. Description Some swamp monsters resemble aquatic creatures, while other swamp m ...

to take Ricky out of the school and back to the mansion to live with him. The mansion is stocked with

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade vi ...

s and a scale-model freight train runs through it. Edward exhibits his childishness and playfulness in many ways, such as performing a little dance while the ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'' game plays its theme song. Stratton's personal assistant, Kate Summers ( Erin Gray), is often the voice of reason. Kate's role adds tension to the show and provides incentive for Edward to act more maturely (at least sometimes). Edward and Kate's will-they-or-won't-they relationship gives way to a third-season wedding. During the series' early years, Ricky befriends "bad boy" Derek Taylor ( Jason Bateman, seasons 1–2), smooth-talking "cowboy" J.T. Martin (

Bobby Fite Robert Nelson Fite (born October 22, 1968) is an American former film and television actor. Beginning his professional career as a child actor and model at the age of six, Fite is perhaps best known for his recurring role as J.T. Martin on the N ...

, seasons 1–2), and "nerdy" Freddy Lippincottleman (Corky Pigeon, seasons 1–4). They get into a lot of trouble and learn many childhood lessons along the way. Leslie Crambottom, played by Georgi Irene, has a major crush on Ricky. Edward's original attorney was Leonard Rollins ( Leonard Lightfoot), who departed after the first season, and was replaced by the aptly named business manager, Dexter Stuffins ( Franklyn Seales), who was somewhat stuffier and more erudite than Leonard had been. Dexter remained through the rest of the series and was joined in fall 1984 by his hip, breakdancing nephew Alfonso Spears ( Alfonso Ribeiro, seasons 3–5), who became Ricky's new best friend. Once Ricky, Freddy, and Alfonso were in high school in season four, their circle was completed by Brad ( Billy Jacoby, seasons 4–5), a reintroduction of the type of "bad-boy" character similar to that of Derek during the show's early years. That year, as Kate and Edward adjusted to married life, Kate's doddering uncle, Harry Summers ( Ray Walston), moved into the Stratton mansion.

Cast

Main cast

* Ricky Schroder as Richard Bluthorn "Rick" or "Ricky" Stratton *

as Edward Stratton III * Erin Gray as Katherine "Kate" Summers-Stratton * Leonard Lightfoot as Leonard Rollins (Season 1) * Franklyn Seales as Dexter Roosevelt Stuffins (Guest season 1; Main seasons 2–5) * Alfonso Ribeiro as Alfonso Spears (Seasons 3–5)

Recurring cast

* Jason Bateman as Derek Taylor (Seasons 1–2) *

as J.T. Martin (Seasons 1–2) * Corky Pigeon as Fredrick March "Freddy" Lippincottleman (Seasons 1–4) * Billy Jacoby as Brad Langford (Seasons 4–5) * John Houseman as Grandfather Edward Stratton II (Seasons 1–5) * Christine Belford as Evelyn Bluthorn Stratton (Seasons 1–5) * Ray Walston as Uncle Harry Summers (Season 4)

Episodes

''Silver Spoons'' ran for five seasons with a total of 116 episodes, from September 25, 1982, to May 30, 1987.

Production

Music

The show's theme song titled "Together", was written by Rik Howard and Bob Wirth. The original version was accompanied mostly by guitar with vocals by Ron Dante. Two other versions of the theme were used during the show's run. A synthesized version was used in 1985 with a different vocalist. The third version of the theme, a rock version, was introduced in January

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

and began in use during the second half of season 4 with vocals again by Ron Dante and composed by

Ray Colcord Ray Colcord III (December 24, 1949 – February 5, 2016) was an American film and television composer known for TV series such as ''227'', ''Silver Spoons'', '' My Two Dads'', ''Dinosaurs'', '' Big Brother'', and ''Boy Meets World''. He is a form ...

Locations

The brick

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

mansion shown in the opening credits (representing the Stratton mansion) is actually a private residence located in

Warwickshire, England Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon ...

. The elaborate home, named

Compton Wynyates Compton Wynyates is a Tudor country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellated and turreted in parts. Following acti ...

, was built in 1481. Before ''Silver Spoons'', it was used in the 1977

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film '' Candleshoe'', starring

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

, Jodie Foster and David Niven.

Broadcast history

Initial run

Reruns and syndication

Reruns of ''Silver Spoons'' aired as a part of NBC's daytime schedule in the summer of 1985. The show was also rerun on WWOR's superstation feed from December 28, 1992, to September 3, 1993. Select episodes were also aired on Nick at Nite in 2001 and 2005. FamilyNet (now The Cowboy Channel) aired reruns of the series nightly, until June 30, 2017, when the network underwent a programming format change the following day. Antenna TV began airing reruns of the series starting in January 2018, as well as GAC Family on October 4, 2021. The series is currently available for streaming online on The Roku Channel and Tubi in the United States and

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

's streaming service, CTV Throwback in Canada.

International airing

In France, the series aired as '' Ricky ou la Belle Vie'' (''Ricky or the Good Life'') as part of a block called '' Destination Noël'' (''Destination Christmas'') from December 21, 1984 until January 2, 1985. Then on '' Vitamine'' (''Vitamin'') under the name '' Ricky la Belle Vie'' (''Ricky the Good Life'') as part of a block '' Croque-vacanes'' (''Holiday Bites'') on TF1. In Italy, the series aired on Canale 5 & Italia 1 as '' il mio amico Ricky'' (''My Friend Ricky'') in 1984.

Home media

On June 19, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of ''Silver Spoons'' on DVD in Region 1. As of 2015, this release has been discontinued and is out of print. It is unknown if the remaining 4 seasons will be released.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0083479, title=Silver Spoons
''Silver Spoons'' at Retro Junk
1980s American sitcoms 1982 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States NBC original programming Television series about children Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in New York (state)