Dream On (1990–1996)

Cult adult comedy about dreamer Martin Tupper, whose life is full of colourful characters. Divorced and living with his growing teenage son, still friends with his ex-wife, and constantly ... See full summary »

Creators:

David Crane, Marta Kauffman

Stars:

Brian Benben, Chris Demetral, Denny Dillon

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 15 wins & 47 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Brian Benben	...	Martin Tupper (119 episodes, 1990-1996)
Chris Demetral	...	Jeremy Tupper (119 episodes, 1990-1996)
Denny Dillon	...	Toby Pedalbee (119 episodes, 1990-1996)
Wendie Malick	...	Judith Tupper Stone / ... (119 episodes, 1990-1996)
Dorien Wilson	...	Eddie Charles (105 episodes, 1991-1996)

Storyline

Cult adult comedy about dreamer Martin Tupper, whose life is full of colourful characters. Divorced and living with his growing teenage son, still friends with his ex-wife, and constantly looking for dates, but without a clue how to relate to women. Working as a book editor, with a ditsy, headstrong secretary, who cramps his style as often as helping him. The series is crammed full of hundreds of clips from all manner of old films, used as metaphors for Martin's reactions (hence the title); and it is renowned for its use of sexual references, plus, in its early seasons, occasional swearing and numerous scenes of nudity.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | female nudity | sitcom | erotica | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drøm videre

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kevin Bright Productions, MCA Television Entertainment (MTE), St. Clare Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Landis asked Universal Studios if he could make a show out of all the old TV programs that Universal had in its library, a lot of which were anthology shows. He then asked David Crane and Marta Kauffman to come up with a premise. This was the result.

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Quotes

Claire: I'm sorry, is the smoke bothering you?
Martin: Actually, yes.
Claire: Then don't inhale.

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Connections

Featured in The Roth Show: The New York City Way (2014)

User Reviews

Funny and original

Martin is a divorced New York book editor, trying to juggle the facets of his life - his work, teenage son, ex-wife, his TV-star best friend - while living the single life. Martin's youth was heavily influenced by television, as his mother was used to parking the youngster in front of the TV to keep him entertained, as neatly shown by the opening credits to each episode. Hence his formative years were spent watching lots of old black-and-white movies, and as Martin deals with the travails of his adult life, quotes from these movies pop into his head at relevant and humorous moments, shown to the viewers as clips. This was an original and ingenious device, and sets Dream On apart from a lot of its contemporaries, such as Friends and Frasier. Another surprising facet was the honest nudity - admittedly usually female - that the show contained, and was indeed a precursor to Sex And The City.

Unfortunately, Channel 4 here in England did not show the whole series, just the first couple of seasons, which was a shame. Nevertheless, there were some memorable moments - Eddie's plastic surgery scene in the second season opener, a wonderful tongue-very-firmly-planted-in- cheek way of introducing Dorien Wilson into the role, replacing Jeffrey Joseph; the strip-poker game; Martin trying to gain favour with his female boss by sleeping with her (and joining her in her office shower)-only to get usurped in the position by an even more ambitious female colleague; sleeping with his wonderfully obnoxious PA, Toby; and Martin's every desperate attempt to sustain a relationship with a woman. Brian Benben's Martin was an affable, sympathetic character, and you couldn't help feeling for him in his endeavours. Like I say, it was a pity we didn't get to see the whole series shown on UK terrestrial TV, so when I eventually get cable I will be keeping an eye on the schedules - I want to see if Martin does finally get the girl...