Synopsis:
Two appealing stars, winsome kids, and a can't miss time slot in the middle of ABC's hit Friday lineup was more important than plot in the early success of this standard issue family sitcom. Frank (Patrick) is a freewheeling, divorced contractor who impetuously marries widowed beautician Carol (Suzanne Somers) when they meet during separate vacations in Jamaica. They flew home to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where they both lived, told their kids-his three and her three - and all the problems of a merged family began. She is orderly and borderline OCD, he is laid back and almost chaotic. The kids eyed each suspiciously. Hers were teenagers Dana (the oldest), as compulsively neat as her mom, middle sis Karen, a budding fashion plate and young, nerdy Mark. Frank's were teenager J.T. (short for John Thomas), a cool customer, preteen Al, into insects and animals, and carefree Brendan. Working with Carol in her beauty shop next door were her mother Ivy and sister Penny. Cody was Frank's spaced-out 19-year-old nephew, who nutty schemes and obsessions kept everyone in an uproar but who was really smarter than he seemed.
There
were
many
others,
notably
Rich
(Jason
Marsden),
Dana's
short
and
well-meaning
boyfriend,
as well
as
friend
of JT's,
and
Jean-Luc
(Bronson
Pinchot,
"Meego"),
the
French
hairstylist
who
worked
with
Carol.
Show
History:
SBS
was the
latest
addition
to the
already
successful
Friday
night
lineup
on ABC,
dubbed "TGIF."
Scheduled
right
after
the hit
Friday
night
mainstay,
"Family
Matters"
@ 8:30,
it soon
became
an
equally
big hit.
By the
beginning
of the
3rd
season
the
series
blossomed
into the
night's
"tent
pole"
position
@ 9:00,
a
position
it would
retain
for a
solid
three
year
run.
"The
Brady
Bunch
for the
90's" as
it was
hailed
by
critics
upon
it's
debut,
was
pretty
much a
straight
forward
"fun
around
the
house"
comedy,
that ABC
thrived
on in
the late
80's and
early
90's.
The
series
was
Developed
and
Produced
by the
same
team
(Michael
Warren,
William
Bickley,
Robert
L.
Boyett,
and
Thomas
L.
Miller)
responsible
for many
of ABC's
hits
(including
all of
T.G.I.F
at one
point)
in that
same
era.
