"Suddenly Susan" (1996) TV series 1996-2000

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Creator:

Clyde Phillips

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

19 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Jack owns a magazine and is the former brother-in-law of Susan. After she runs out on her fiancé on their wedding day...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 8 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Brooke Shields	...	Susan Keane (93 episodes, 1996-2000)
Nestor Carbonell	...	Luis Rivera (93 episodes, 1996-2000)
Kathy Griffin	...	Vicki Groener / ... (93 episodes, 1996-2000)
Barbara Barrie	...	Helen "Nana" Keane / ... (92 episodes, 1996-2000)
Judd Nelson	...	Jack Richmond (71 episodes, 1996-1999)
David Strickland	...	Todd Styles (71 episodes, 1996-1999)
Andrea Bendewald	...	Maddy Piper (59 episodes, 1997-1999)

Runtime:

30 min (93 episodes) | Argentina:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Trivia:

For the final episode, The Beatle's "In My Life" played over a clip segment of the shows memorable moments. In versions aired throughout Europe and other countries, the music was changed to Shawn Colvin's version of the same song. Shawn Colvin had previously contributed to the show, her song "Nothin' On Me" was the shows theme tune in the second and third seasons.

Quotes:

Todd: Ok, if you are going to stay here, let's get some ground rules straight. No parties, no drugs, no surprise guests. I don't want the narcs kicking in the door like they did at my 6th birthday party!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Special (1997) (TV)

Weakly written show with good comic actors and charming, lovely Brooke Shields

This was never a wonderfully written program. In comparison to shows like Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld, even Mad About You, the plots, the jokes, were just thin. One good reason why is that the subplots never meshed with the plots.

For example, I just watched a rerun of one: the subplot is about the photographer taking pictures of Nana in order for Shields to present a portrait to her grandfather. Predictably, the photographs are far more racy than Shields expects. The main plot is about Griffin's jealousy over Shields' "sudden" success as a star player on Griffin's basketball team - the jealousy spills over into jealousy of Shields' beauty (and she responds that no one has life easy, being so tall, etc.). The plot has NOTHING to do with the subplot. They could have been put in different episodes - that's not very good writing.

For me, the reason for watching the program is to watch Brooke Shields -whose graciousness, modesty and essential sweetness come through in all she's done as an adult. (I was too old to be a fan in her "Endless Summer", "Blue Lagoon" days). More than any other actress, she has that Mary Tyler Moore character's humility, that eagerness to please. I would expect that she is always one of the most diligent actresses in any project.

When someone so beautiful is also so obviously this lovely seeming a person, one's in danger of losing one's heart. That's why I watched this fairly weak program. Shields deserves better writers - and she's really born to be a movie star, not one on television.