HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Til Death'' is an American
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
that aired on Fox from September 7, 2006, to June 20, 2010. The series was created by husband and wife team Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, who were also the writers and executive producers. The show focuses on Eddie and Joy Stark (
Brad Garrett Brad H. Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Garrett was initially successful as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. Taking advantage of that success in the la ...
and Joely Fisher), a couple married for 23 years who live in a suburb of
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.


Premise

''Til Death'' centers on Eddie and Joy Stark, and their life, relationship and behavior after 23 years of marriage. The first two seasons often focus on the conflict between the Starks and their newlywed neighbors, Jeff and Steph Woodcock ( Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster). The second season introduces a new character named Kenny Westchester ( J. B. Smoove) who is Eddie's friend from the Big Brothers Organization. The third season focuses primarily on Eddie and Joy's relationship with Kenny after he moves in with them. The fourth and final season focuses on the Starks coping with life with their daughter Ally ( Lindsey Broad, then
Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death' ...
) and new son-in-law Doug ( Timm Sharp), who live in a
biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...
-powered Airstream
motorhome A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...
in the Starks' back yard. The series takes place in
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in Cheltenham Township.


Episodes


Characters


Main

* Eddie Stark (
Brad Garrett Brad H. Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Garrett was initially successful as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. Taking advantage of that success in the la ...
): Eddie is a high school history teacher who has been married to Joy for over two decades. * Joy Stark ( Joely Fisher): Joy is Eddie's sardonic wife who initially works as a
travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...
, and later takes a job at Eddie's school. * Jeff Woodcock ( Eddie Kaye Thomas) (seasons 1–2): Jeff is an optimistic newlywed next-door neighbor to the Starks and also the vice-principal at the high school where Eddie teaches. * Steph Woodcock ( Kat Foster) (seasons 1–2): She is unemployed and developing her master's thesis, on which she is making little progress. * Kenny Westchester ( J. B. Smoove) (recurring, seasons 2 and 4; main, seasons 3): Kenny is Eddie's "little brother" from the Big Brother program and a recent divorcé. * Allison Stark ( Krysten Ritter (recurring, seasons 1–2); Laura Clery (recurring, seasons 3–4); Lindsey Broad (main, season 4);
Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death' ...
(main, season 4): Allison "Ally" Mayweather Stark is Eddie and Joy's adult daughter who is away at college in early episodes, but is referenced in the pilot and shows up occasionally. During the show's fourth and final season, she lives in a
biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...
-powered Airstream
motorhome A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...
in her parents' backyard with her boyfriend and later husband, Doug. The fact that she is played by different actresses becomes a running gag in later episodes. * Doug Von Stuessen ( Timm Sharp) (recurring, seasons 1–3; main, season 4): Doug is Allison's boyfriend and later husband who lives in a
biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...
-powered Airstream
motorhome A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels. Features Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...
in the Starks' backyard with Allison during the show's fourth and final season. He is an idealistic
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
who becomes convinced his whole life is a sitcom.


Notes

* Kat Foster and Eddie Kaye Thomas, who played Steph and Jeff Woodcock, respectively, left the show after season 2, having "moved onto other projects". However, their characters continued to appear in several episodes of season three, and even one episode of season four, as these were filmed during the season two production batch but were not aired until later because of the 2007 Writers strike. * J.B. Smoove, who began appearing late in season two, was added to the show's main cast in season 3, playing Eddie's friend Kenny. His ex-wife appeared in the premiere episode of the third season. Smoove was subsequently dropped from the main cast in the episodes produced in the season 4 production batch.


Recurring

* Karl ( Nick Bakay) * Whitey ( Martin Mull) * Principal Duffy ( Kathleen Rose Perkins) * Cofeld (
Anthony Anderson Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is known for his leading roles in television shows such as Andre "Dre" Johnson on the comedy series ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), Marlin Boulet on the ...
) * Nicole (
Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...
) * Stan ( Jerry Lambert) * Russ ( Will Sasso) * Steven (
Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He has earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He first gained widespread attention during his tenure as a cast member on ...
) * Simona ( Susan Yeagley) * Donna, Joy's mother ( Lainie Kazan) * George Von Stuessen ( Barry Bostwick) * Tina, Kenny's ex-wife ( Kym Whitley) * Beth ( Alison La Placa) * Stu ( Joe Manganiello)


Broadcast and production

The first season of ''Til Death'' ran from September 7, 2006, to April 11, 2007, and contained 22 episodes. The series initially aired Thursdays at 8/7c alongside fellow freshman sitcom ''
Happy Hour Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to ...
''. In November, the series was given a full season order and then later paired with '' The War at Home''. Beginning in March 2007, the show was given the coveted time slot directly following ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' results show, which led to an improvement in its ratings. In May, ''Til Death'' was renewed for a second season. The second season ran from September 2007 to May 2008 and consisted of 15 episodes, during which it aired on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. following a new comedy '' Back to You''. Late in 2007, production was halted because of the 2007–2008 writers' strike; only 19 episodes were produced. The series went on hiatus beginning November 28, but returned with a new episode on a special night in March 2008 at 9:30 p.m. Then in April, ''Til Death'' moved again to Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. leading into ''Back to You''. In May, the series was given an 18-episode order for its third season, while comedy companion ''Back to You'' was canceled. The third season consisted of 22 episodes (four of which were produced during the second season) and initially ran from September to October 2008. During this brief run of seven episodes, ''Til Death'' aired Wednesdays at 9/8c alongside a new comedy '' Do Not Disturb''. The ratings for both shows were low, and as a result, the network pulled the sitcom from its November schedule. Despite not airing all of season three and low ratings, ''Til Death'' was renewed for a fourth season in January 2009.Hibberd, James (January 9, 2009
"Fox Orders More 'Til Death"
. ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', ''The Live Feed''. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
Fox confirmed at its upfront presentation in May that the new season would air on Friday nights in the fall. The surprise renewal was attributed to a significant licensing discount offered to Fox by the production company of Til Death'' (
Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...
), because it needed one more season to make the program viable for syndication. The fourth and final season premiered in October 2009 at a new time, Fridays at 8:30/7:30c, following a new sitcom, ''
Brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...
'', starring former NFL player
Michael Strahan Michael Anthony Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television host, journalist, and former professional American football, football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Gian ...
. This season is notable in that a large number of episodes produced for the third season, but previously unaired by Fox, were shown alongside new episodes produced for season four. Four new episodes of ''Til Death'' aired sequentially on Christmas Day from 8/7c until 10/9c. The schedule changed again, when ''Til Death'' moved to Sundays at 7/6c and 7:30/6:30c on January 31, 2010, with these first two episodes airing against
Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...
. Eventually, it was paired for three episodes with the soon-to-be-canceled comedy '' Sons of Tucson''. The fourth season (and series) finale aired on May 23, 2010, although three unaired episodes formerly consigned for season three were burned off in June. Two months prior, Fox finally canceled production of ''Til Death'' after years of below-average ratings.


Syndication

On July 26, 2011, it was announced that the show was picked up for syndication by affiliates
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
, and
WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that operated from November 9, 1978 to February 28, 2021. The service was originally uplinked to satellite by United Video Inc. as a national feed of Chicago independent station WGN-T ...
, which debuted the program on September 12, 2011. It was also announced on July 28, 2011, that Spike had picked up the show for syndication, which debuted on October 3, 2011. In June 2013,
TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...
brought the show, but was removed later on. From 2019 to 2020, the show aired on
GetTV Get (Great Entertainment Television, stylized as get. since 2023, and formerly stylized as getTV) is an American Digital subchannel#Commercial networks, digital multicast television network owned by the Sony Pictures Television#Sony Pictures Tel ...
.


Home media

The first season DVDs include all 22 episodes from season one. The second season DVDs include 18 out of the 19 episodes produced for season two in airdate order.


Ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of ''Til Death'' on Fox:


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Til Death 2000s American multi-camera sitcoms 2006 American television series debuts 2010s American multi-camera sitcoms 2010 American television series endings American English-language television shows Television series about families Television series about marriage Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Philadelphia Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms