''Soul 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 ...

starring

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

that aired on ABC from April 15, 1997 to May 26, 1998. A total of 25 half-hour episodes were produced over two seasons. The series premiered on April 15, 1997, and was picked up for a second season of 22 half-hour episodes after only three episodes aired for the first season. Despite ranking 29th in its 2nd and final season, it ended on May 26, 1998, with 25 half-hour episodes produced in total. A four-year-old

Spencer Breslin Spencer Breslin (born May 18, 1992) is an American actor and musician. He is the older brother of actress Abigail Breslin. Beginning at the age of three, Breslin acted in over 50 commercials. He is best known for his roles in the feature films ...

made his TV debut and was a series regular for the three-episode-long 1997 first season, in which he played the youngest child of Aykroyd. The theme song was " Soul Man" written by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...

and David Porter. Aykroyd was closely associated with the song, having released a hit single of it in 1979 with his band

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

Premise

Mike Weber (played by Aykroyd) is a widowed Episcopal priest who must deal with his four children, his quirky parishioners in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along t ...

, and a wet-behind-the-ears curate who happens to be the nephew of his bishop.

Cast

as Rev. Mike Weber * Anthony Clark as Rev. Todd Tucker *Courtney Chase as Meredith Weber *

Dakin Matthews Melvin Richard "Dakin" Matthews (born November 7, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and theatrical scholar. Best known as Herb Kelcher in ''My Two Dads'' (1987–1989), Hanlin Charleston in ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007) ...

as Bishop Peter Jerome *Kevin Sheridan as Kenny Weber * Brendon Ryan Barrett as Andy Weber *

as Fred Weber (season 1) *Michael Finiguerra as Fred Weber (season 2)

''Home Improvement'' connection

Mike Weber appeared on ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'' as the priest of

Richard Karn Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

's character,

Al Borland This article contains character information for the American television sitcom ''Home Improvement''. Taylor family Tim Taylor Timothy "Tim" Taylor (Tim Allen) – Tim Taylor (born October 1954) is the father of the family. Ever the kn ...

. He was hired to put in a new stand for a holy water basin in the season seven episode "Losing My Religion". Tim Taylor ended up cutting the hole too big, causing the basin to fall through the floor. In the Season 1 finale episode "Cinderella and the Funeral", Al Borland appeared in order to fix the church's furnace. Reference was made to Tim and the holy water basin falling through the hole he cut. Zachary Ty Bryan appeared in the episode "Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon" playing Brad Taylor.

Episodes

Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1997–98)

References

External links

* {{Home Improvement 1990s American sitcoms 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by ABC Studios Television shows set in Michigan Home Improvement (TV series) Religious comedy television series