Grace Under Fire (1993–1998)

Grace is a recovering alcoholic, now divorced from an abusive marriage, struggling to bring up 2.4 children on her own.

Creator:

Chuck Lorre

Stars:

Brett Butler, Casey Sander, Kaitlin Cullum

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Brett Butler	...	Grace Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Casey Sander	...	Wade Swoboda (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Kaitlin Cullum	...	Libby Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Dylan Sprouse	...	Patrick Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Cole Sprouse	...	Patrick Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Dave Thomas	...	Russell Norton (111 episodes, 1993-1998)
Julie White	...	Nadine Swoboda (97 episodes, 1993-1997)
Jon Paul Steuer	...	Quentin Kelly #1 (73 episodes, 1993-1996)
Peggy Rea	...	Jean Kelly (50 episodes, 1993-1998)
Walter Olkewicz	...	Dougie Boudreau (48 episodes, 1993-1996)

Storyline

After divorcing her abusive, alcoholic husband and recovering from her own alcoholism, Grace tries to rebuild her life and protect her children from making the same mistakes. Against this serious backdrop, this show is actually a comedy, finding humor in the relationships between Grace and her co-workers at the oil refinery, her neighbors Wade and Nadine, and Russel Norton, the bachelor pharmacist.

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Plot Keywords:

oil refinery | pharmacist | divorcee | multiple actors for one character | sitcom | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grace

Filming Locations:

Elgin, Illinois, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carsey-Werner Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sheila McCarthy was originally offered the role of Nadine. She declined the part because she didn't want to commute from her home in Toronto, to Los Angeles were the series was filmed.

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Quotes

Grace Kelly: We don't worship Satan on Halloween. We do that on Mother's Day.

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Connections

Referenced in The Big Bang Theory: The Work Song Nanocluster (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Lady Madonna"
(uncredited)
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Aretha Franklin

User Reviews

Grace is my co-pilot.

I don't understand these complaints about "cliched strong women" and "yet another brassy know-it-all female"-- all TV ever gives us is bimbos as role-models, and you complain about a rare jewel like Grace? Just goes to show how fragile men and their little egos can be. This show was the best of the best. I'm sad the Big Recession had to end and all these Strong Women shows are over, and the Man Shows are back... because we NEED more brassy know-it-all women like Grace. We need an alternative to show our daughters on TV, to keep them from developing bulimia and learning phrases like "Math is hard! Let's go shopping!"

If you had a hideous screeching racist mother-in-law, delinquent kids, a retarded deadbeat ex-husband, and a bunch of goober co-workers at the oil refinery, what would stop YOU from getting loaded? The fact that Grace stays sober under all this is as perfect a role model as you could wish for. The character doesn't (because she's a TV character), and I frankly don't care what the actress does. Grace is brilliant, incisive, witty, vulnerable, and after all, human.

Where else can you hear lines like: "When we're married, we treat our men like vegetables; when we're divorced, we treat our vegetables like men"? All hail.