Empty Nest

This article is about the TV series. For the Argentine film, see Empty Nest (film). For the psychological phenomenon, see Empty nest syndrome.
Empty Nest
Genre Sitcom
Created by Susan Harris[1]
Directed by Andy Cadiff
Hal Cooper
Dinah Manoff
Doug Smart
Steve Zuckerman
Starring Richard Mulligan
Kristy McNichol (1988–1992)
Dinah Manoff
David Leisure
Park Overall
Paul Provenza (1992–1993)
Lisa Rieffel (1992–1993)
Marsha Warfield (1993–1995)
Estelle Getty (1993–1995)
Theme music composer John Bettis
George Tipton
Opening theme "Life Goes On" performed by Billy Vera
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 170 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Hal Cooper
Nina Feinberg
Susan Harris
Gary Jacobs
Paul Junger Witt
Rod Parker
Tony Thomas
Bob Tischler
Producer(s) Gil Junger
Dennis Snee
Steven Sullivan
Ursula Ziegler
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 22–24 minutes
Production company(s) Touchstone Television
Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions
Distributor Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network NBC
Original release October 8, 1988 (1988-10-08) – April 29, 1995 (1995-04-29)[2]
Chronology
Related shows The Golden Girls
Nurses

Empty Nest is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from October 8, 1988 to April 29, 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first three seasons, Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions in association with Touchstone Television.[3][4] Originally developed from an episode of The Golden Girls, in Empty Nest the two adult daughters of the recently widowed pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston return to live in the same house. Empty Nest was part of NBC's Saturday night block of programming, and during its first four seasons it aired at 9:30pm ET, directly following The Golden Girls.

Two of the cast were alumni from one of Susan Harris' earlier shows, Soap; Mulligan was (briefly) Manoff's father-in-law in Soap.

History

An incarnation of the series initially appeared in the 1987 Golden Girls episode "Empty Nests." In the episode, George and Renee Corliss (played by Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno, respectively) were introduced as the Girls' neighbors, a middle-aged couple suffering from empty nest syndrome. In this version, George was a busy doctor and Renee had been an actress, a profession she intended to pursue again now that their children had left home. Their teenage daughter Jenny (Jane Harnick) visited from college, and Renee's brother Chuck (Geoffrey Lewis), who suffered from multiple personality disorder, also appeared. The set of the Corliss house was exactly the same as the one that later became the Weston residence, and the Corlisses also had an annoying neighbor played by David Leisure (although theirs was named Oliver). The "Empty Nests" episode screened as the Season Two finale of The Golden Girls and was intended to act as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off, which was to begin during the fall 1987 TV season. However, the series did not go ahead as planned, and the premise was later extensively revamped before Empty Nest appeared on screens in 1988.

Episodes

Season Episodes First aired Last aired
1 22 October 8, 1988 April 1, 1989
2 24 September 30, 1989 April 28, 1990
3 24 September 22, 1990 May 11, 1991
4 24 September 21, 1991 May 2, 1992
5 26 September 19, 1992 May 22, 1993
6 26 September 25, 1993 April 23, 1994
7 24 September 24, 1994 April 29, 1995

The show revolved around pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), whose life was turned upside down when his wife, Libby, died and two of his adult daughters moved back into the family home in Miami. Early episodes established that The Golden Girls were neighbors of the Westons (Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White all guest-starred as their Golden Girls characters, and vice versa), while Estelle Getty eventually became a regular on the series. [3]

Eldest daughter Carol (Dinah Manoff) was a neurotic, high-strung recent divorcée, while middle daughter Barbara (Kristy McNichol) was a tough undercover police officer. The two sisters frequently bickered and vied for the attention of their father, whom they called "Daddy." (Harry occasionally expressed regret at never having had a son.) The Westons' large dog Dreyfuss was also prominently featured.

In 1992, Kristy McNichol left the show and the youngest Weston daughter, Emily (Lisa Rieffel), joined the cast. Her character had not been seen before, but had been mentioned as being away at college. Rieffel left after one season, and for the show's final two seasons only Carol remained of the Weston children. McNichol returned for the series finale in 1995.

Another main character was the Westons' neighbor, Charley Dietz (David Leisure), a womanizing cruise ship employee who frequently barged into the house unannounced to borrow food or make sexist comments. Charley had a father-son relationship with Harry and a love-hate relationship with Carol.

Harry's job was another major focus for the show. For the first five seasons he worked at a hospital, where he was assisted by wisecracking Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall). In season six Harry retired, eventually going to work for a struggling inner-city medical clinic run by the tough-talking Dr. Maxine Douglas (Marsha Warfield). Laverne, having been fired by Dr. Weston's replacement, came to work there as well.

Other characters who later joined the cast were Carol's boyfriend, Patrick (Paul Provenza), an artist who was almost as eccentric as she. Patrick convinced the Westons to let him use their empty garage as his new painting studio and, when his relationship with Carol became serious, he eventually moved in altogether. Their romantic bliss was short-lived, as they broke up at the beginning of season six. However, this was not before Carol became pregnant with Patrick's child; their son, Scotty, was born in November 1993, and Carol chose to raise the baby on her own. Estelle Getty reprised her Golden Girls character Sophia Petrillo during Empty Nest's final two seasons (after the cancellation of The Golden Palace). It was explained that Sophia had moved back into the nearby Shady Pines retirement home.

Cast

Cast of 1988–1992
Cast of 1993–1995
Lisa Rieffel (Emily) and Paul Provenza (Patrick), who appeared in Season Five (1992–93) do not appear in either cast photo.

Notable guest stars

Nielsen ratings

  1. 1988–89: #9 (19.2) [5]
  2. 1989–90: #9 (18.9)[5]
  3. 1990–91: #7 (16.7)[5]
  4. 1991–92: #23 (14.3)[5]
  5. 1992–93: #48 (10.8)
  6. 1993–94: #62
  7. 1994–95: #118[6]

Production notes

In 1991, Empty Nest spawned its own spinoff, Nurses, a sitcom about a group of nurses working in the same hospital as Dr. Weston. The three series (Empty Nest, The Golden Girls and Nurses) represented one of the few times in American television history that three shows from the same producer, all taking place in the same city and explicitly set up with the characters knowing each other from the very beginning, aired on the same network in one night. On at least two occasions, Harris wrote storylines which carried through all three series as fictional crossovers.

Theme song

The show's theme song was "Life Goes On", written by John Bettis and George Tipton and performed by Billy Vera. For the first three seasons, the song was presented in a slower, more melancholy yet comical arrangement. The original opening titles sequence showed Harry Weston taking Dreyfuss for a walk around town, with still images of the other regular cast members shown as they were credited.

When the third season began, a new opening sequence debuted, made up of footage from series episodes showing each of the regular cast members. For the final four seasons the theme song was presented in a higher, more upbeat arrangement with female backup singers; the titles sequence style introduced in the third season remained.

Crossovers

The following is a list of Empty Nest episodes featuring characters from The Golden Girls or Nurses.

Season One
Season Two
Season Four
Season Five
Season Six

Syndication

The series ran in syndication from September 1993 to September 2000, shortly before the death of star Richard Mulligan. During this time, Empty Nest aired on TBS from September 16 to December 6, 1996, and on WGN from September 16, 1996 to March 26, 1999, with both stations airing the series as part of the regular syndication run (both TBS and WGN were superstations).[7][8][9] In the subsequent decade, the series did not air on American television. Hallmark Channel, which also owns the rights to The Golden Girls, picked up the rights to the show in early 2011 and aired it from February 26 to June 26 of that year, but eventually removed it altogether.

Upon its launch on April 15, 2015, the new digital sub channel Laff began airing the series.

In Canada, the series was rerun by CBC during the 1990s.

Awards

In 1989, Richard Mulligan won both the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The series received a number of other Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations over the years, especially for Mulligan and for Park Overall, who was nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award.

Year Association Category Nominee(s) Result
1989 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Richard Mulligan Won
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Won
Viewers for Quality Television Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Park Overall Won
1990 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Richard Mulligan Nominated
Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy Empty Nest Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Richard Mulligan Nominated
Viewers for Quality Television Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Park Overall Won
1991 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Richard Mulligan Nominated
Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Park Overall Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Danny Thomas Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Richard Mulligan Nominated
Viewers for Quality Television Best Actor in a Quality Comedy Series Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series Park Overall Won
1992 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Park Overall Nominated
1993 Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Golden Girls' Creator Adds Shows". LA Times. September 10, 1991. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  2. ↑ "BBC – Comedy Guide – Empty Nest". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  3. 1 2 Rosenberg, Howard (October 8, 1988). "'Empty Nest' Looks Like Good Place to Nestle Down". LA Times. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  4. ↑ Haithman, Diane (November 24, 1990). "'Empty Nest': TV's Unknown Hit". LA Times. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, T and Marsh, E. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946 – Present, p. 1692-1693. Ballantine ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  6. ↑ "List of Season's TV Ratings". 1995-04-19. Associated Press.
  7. ↑ TBS Log – Sitcoms Online Message Boards.
  8. ↑ TV Guide – September 14–20, 1996.
  9. ↑ TV Guide – March 20–26, 1999.

External links

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