''Thanks'' is an American

television sitcom Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

that debuted on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on August 2, 1999, and ran for six episodes from 8:30 to 9:00pm ET on Monday nights until September 6, 1999. The program explores the trials and tribulations of the Winthrops, a 17th-century

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

family, in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known ...

. Characters take their names from

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

, the famed governor of the original Bostonian Puritan community, and John Cotton, another prominent Puritan religious leader.

Cast

In alphabetical order: *Amy Centner as Elizabeth Winthrop * Erika Christensen as Abigail Winthrop *Andrew Ducote as William Winthrop *

Tim Dutton Tim Dutton (born 1967) is a British stage, film, and television actor. Dutton's films include '' Darkness Falls'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), The Infiltrator (2016) and ''The Detonator''. He starred in the Academy Award and BAFTA n ...

as James Winthrop *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...

as Grammy Winthrop *Robert Machray as Magistrate *

Kirsten Nelson Kirsten Nelson (born October 3, 1970) is an American actress and director best known for her role as police chief Karen Vick on the TV series ''Psych''. Early life and education Kirsten Nelson was born in Enid, Oklahoma and raised in Chicag ...

as Polly Winthrop *

Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...

as John Cotton

Episodes

External links

* *

Sarah Vowell Sarah Jane Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and voice actress. She has written seven nonfiction books on American history and culture. She was a contributing editor for the radio pro ...

br>essay on ''Thanks''
at Salon.com, published on August 25, 1999. *

additional commentary on ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internati ...

'' from

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and li ...

Chicago on

Chicago Public Radio WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and li ...

distributed by

Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...

(PRI)
Episode 328 – What I Learned From TV
originally aired on March 16, 2007. Television series by ABC Studios Television series set in the 17th century Television series about the history of the United States CBS original programming 1990s American sitcoms Television shows set in Massachusetts 1999 American television series debuts 1999 American television series endings English-language television shows {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub