"Mr. Belvedere" (1985) TV series 1985-1990

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

15 March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

The humourous adventures of an English housekeeper working for an American family.

Plot Keywords:

Housekeeper | Mr Belvedere | Sitcom | Remake | Family Relationships

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 12 nominations

Cast

Christopher Hewett	...	Mr. Lynn Aloysius Belvedere (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Ilene Graff	...	Marsha Cameron Owens (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Brice Beckham	...	Wesley T. Owens (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Tracy Wells	...	Heather Owens (116 episodes, 1985-1990)
Rob Stone	...	Kevin Owens (115 episodes, 1985-1990)
Bob Uecker	...	George Owens (115 episodes, 1985-1990)

Series Directed by
Don Corvan		(56 episodes, 1987-1990)
Noam Pitlik		(44 episodes, 1985-1987)
Tony Sheehan		(9 episodes, 1985-1988)
Michael Zinberg		(3 episodes, 1987-1988)
Alan Bergmann		(2 episodes, 1987)

Series Writing credits
Jeff Stein		(34 episodes, 1985-1989)
Frank Dungan		(33 episodes, 1985-1989)
Fredric Weiss		(24 episodes, 1985-1990)
Tony Sheehan		(23 episodes, 1985-1989)
Jeffrey Ferro		(22 episodes, 1985-1990)
Liz Sage		(9 episodes, 1987-1989)
Doug Steckler		(8 episodes, 1987-1990)
Jay Abramowitz		(8 episodes, 1989-1990)
Jack Carrerow		(6 episodes, 1985-1988)
Lissa Levin		(6 episodes, 1985-1986)
Lisa A. Bannick		(5 episodes, 1985-1986)
Gene Braunstein		(3 episodes, 1985-1987)
Bob Perlow		(3 episodes, 1985-1987)
Doug McIntyre		(2 episodes, 1988-1989)
James Kearns		(2 episodes, 1988)
Wayne Kline		(2 episodes, 1990)
Dennis Snee		(2 episodes, 1990)

Series Produced by
Frank Dungan	....	executive producer (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Geralyn Maddern	....	associate producer (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Patricia Rickey	....	producer (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Jeff Stein	....	executive producer (117 episodes, 1985-1990)
Tony Sheehan	....	executive producer (88 episodes, 1986-1990)

Series Cinematography by
Donald A. Morgan		(1 episode, 1985)

Series Film Editing by
Don Wilson		(27 episodes, 1985-1986)

Series Costume Design by
Bill Belew		(117 episodes, 1985-1990)

Series Makeup Department
Courtney Corvan	....	assistant makeup artist (22 episodes, 1989-1990)
Dale Miller	....	key hair stylist (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Greg Gneier	....	assistant art director (117 episodes, 1985-1990)

Series Sound Department
Joyce Grossman	....	sound mixer (117 episodes, 1985-1990)

Series Stunts
Chris Durand	....	stunt double (1 episode, 1989)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Mark J. Levin	....	lighting director (5 episodes, 1985)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eric Van Wagoner	....	set costumer (46 episodes, 1988-1990)

Series Music Department
Judy Hart-Angelo	....	composer: theme "According to Our New Arrivals" (unknown episodes)
Gary Portnoy	....	composer: theme "According to Our New Arrivals" (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Kevin John Rogers	....	production accountant (22 episodes, 1985-1986)
Wayne Kline	....	creative consultant (22 episodes, 1989-1990)
Laura Gary	....	studio teacher (unknown episodes)
M. Rutledge McCall	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Fox Television
• Lazy B / F.O.B. Productions

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1985-1990) (USA) (TV)
• Shout! Factory (2009) (USA) (DVD) (the first three seasons)
• Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD) (season four)

Other Companies

• ABC Television Center  taping location
• Hershey's  sponsoring
• Hershey's  sponsoring (Carefree gum)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

30 min | 30 min (117 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Scene of Mr. Belvedere turning a television off with a remote control is in "Mr. Belvedere: The Teacher (#2.13)" (1986), a commercial break comes after it occurs (except on pre-recorded DVD's). It is also used in the 90 seconds of opening credits and is the very last clip of the opening credits, for the last four seasons, containing the shows final 88 episodes.

Quotes:

George Owens:Who are these from?
Marsha Cameron Owens:They're from Robbie Rogers.
George Owens:Robbie Rogers? You mean that wimp you met before you met me?
Marsha Cameron Owens:He was not a wimp. He was sweet and kind and I'm not throwing these away.
George Owens:Okay, then I will.
[George throws out Marsha's mash letters]
Marsha Cameron Owens:George!
[Marsha throws out George's girlie magazines]
George Owens:Hey, those are collector's items!
Marsha Cameron Owens:Yeah, the trash collector.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tom Hanks (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

According To Our New Arrivals

A prime example of ABC's successful family comedies.

After a whirlwind period of two years where the American Broadcasting Company went from riding "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in being the top network overall in the Nielsen's for 1999-2000 to having their worst season ever in 2001-02 where everything fell apart, ABC has decided that family-oriented T.V. will be their focus over the "mild raunch" (to us Canadians) of NBC and FOX and the reality-T.V. obsessed CBS. They've had a track record in the mid to late 80's and early 90's with Perfect Strangers, Head Of The Class, Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos, Growing Pains, and this cult comedy, still revered by many.

Mr. Belvedere is still a big favorite of the college crowd who have set up websites for it, and many people believed that Rob Stone, who played the oldest son, was the man who'd later become the infamous Marilyn Manson.

The late Christopher Hewitt is the title character, a very British butler who has served for many people over the years, including Queen Elizabeth II, who somehow finds himself lost in Pittsburgh. He gets a job with his latest bosses, the Owens family. The show worked because of its fish-out-of-water situation and the fact that the wacky Bob Uecker was in it. Although not a classic sit-com, it was decent enough, the acting was very good, and it relied on dry British comedy as well as family sit-com situations. Hey, any show where Uecker has to try to keep himself under control is enough reason to watch. I'd love to check this show out again someday, maybe when I go digital.