"Titus" (2000) TV series 2000-2002

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Creators:

Brian Hargrove
Jack Kenny
Christopher Titus
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

20 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A mechanic, Christopher Titus, along with his brother and his friends, try to deal with his father, a lewd, crude, drinking multiple divorcee.

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Dysfunctional | Mechanic | White Trash | Drugs

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Christopher Titus	...	Christopher Titus / ... (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Cynthia Watros	...	Erin Fitzpatrick / ... (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Zack Ward	...	Dave Scouvel (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
David Shatraw	...	Tommy Shafter (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Stacy Keach	...	Ken Titus / ... (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Dylan Capannelli	...	5-Year-Old Titus / ... (32 episodes, 2000-2002)
Phoenix Forsyth	...	10-Year-Old Titus (24 episodes, 2000-2001)

(more)

Series Directed by
Gary Shimokawa		(8 episodes, 2001-2002)
Jack Kenny		(7 episodes, 2000-2002)
Brian Hargrove		(6 episodes, 2000-2002)
Joe Regalbuto		(6 episodes, 2001-2002)
Robert Berlinger		(5 episodes, 2000-2001)
Kevin Charles Sullivan		(4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jeffrey Melman		(3 episodes, 2000-2001)
John Amodeo		(2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Bill Shea		(2 episodes, 2002)

Series Writing credits
Christopher Titus		(31 episodes, 2000-2002)
Brian Hargrove		(30 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jack Kenny		(30 episodes, 2000-2002)
John R. Morey		(12 episodes, 2000-2002)
Patrick Meighan		(11 episodes, 2000-2002)
Robert Hawkins		(9 episodes, 2000-2002)
Sally Lapiduss		(5 episodes, 2000-2001)
Christopher Case		(4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jennifer Fisher		(4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jim Hope		(4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jacqueline Davis		(3 episodes, 2000-2001)
Chris Sheridan		(3 episodes, 2001-2002)
David L. Moses		(2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Matt Ember		(2 episodes, 2002)
Nancy Steen		(2 episodes, 2002)
Shawn Thomas		(2 episodes, 2002)

Series Produced by
Brian Hargrove	....	executive producer (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jack Kenny	....	executive producer (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Christopher Titus	....	executive producer (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
John Amodeo	....	supervising producer / co-executive producer (46 episodes, 2000-2002)
Sally Lapiduss	....	co-executive producer (30 episodes, 2000-2002)
Randy Wespiser	....	associate producer (30 episodes, 2000-2002)
Chris Sheridan	....	supervising producer / producer (26 episodes, 2000-2002)
Christopher Case	....	co-executive producer / supervising producer (25 episodes, 2000-2002)
Michael Hanel	....	executive producer (25 episodes, 2000-2002)
Mindy Schultheis	....	executive producer (25 episodes, 2000-2002)
Matt Ember	....	consulting producer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Jennifer Fisher	....	co-producer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
David Hartle	....	associate producer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Jim Hope	....	co-producer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Nancy Steen	....	consulting producer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Kelly Lee	....	associate producer (11 episodes, 2000-2002)
Adam Belanoff	....	co-executive producer (6 episodes, 2000)
Faye Oshima Belyeu	....	producer (4 episodes, 2000)

Series Original Music by
Christopher Titus		(54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Victor Guardia		(21 episodes, 2000-2002)
Brian Hargrove		(21 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jack Kenny		(21 episodes, 2000-2002)
Tom Rizzo		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Bobby Byrne		(27 episodes, 2000-2002)

Series Film Editing by
Kris Trexler		(29 episodes, 2000-2002)

Series Casting by
Suzanne Goddard-Smythe		(54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Sheila Guthrie		(54 episodes, 2000-2002)

Series Production Design by
Steve Olson		(20 episodes, 2000-2002)
Roy Christopher		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
William V. Ryder		(1 episode, 2002)

Series Set Decoration by
Richard C. Walker		(26 episodes, 2000-2002)

Series Costume Design by
Cliff Chally		(12 episodes, 2000-2002)
Bonnie Nipar		(2 episodes, 2000)

Series Makeup Department
Roxanne Baker-Sarver	....	hair stylist (17 episodes, 2000-2002)
Vikki McCarter	....	makeup artist (17 episodes, 2000-2002)
Christa Reusch	....	makeup artist (17 episodes, 2000-2002)
Laurie Heaps	....	hair stylist (9 episodes, 2001-2002)
Karen Bartek	....	hair stylist (5 episodes, 2000-2001)
Christina Raye	....	hair stylist (3 episodes, 2000)
Clinton Wayne	....	special makeup effects artist (unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
John Amodeo	....	unit production manager (46 episodes, 2000-2002)
Kim Sherwood	....	production supervisor (43 episodes, 2000-2002)
Ralph Paredes	....	post production supervisor (24 episodes, 2000-2002)
Faye Oshima Belyeu	....	unit production manager (2 episodes, 2000)
J.P. Shields	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dana Jackson	....	second assistant director / first assistant director (28 episodes, 2000-2002)
Bill Shea	....	first assistant director (27 episodes, 2000-2002)
Michael Shea	....	second assistant director (3 episodes, 2000-2002)
Velvet Andrews-Smith	....	dga trainee (unknown episodes, 1999)

Series Art Department
D.A. Zingelewicz	....	painter (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Larry J. White II	....	lead man / leadman (44 episodes, 2000-2002)
Beth Sheldon	....	property master (13 episodes, 2000-2002)
Ron Jancula	....	property master (7 episodes, 2001-2002)
Fritz Ebner	....	props (3 episodes, 2000)
Paul Arthur Hartman	....	lead man (unknown episodes, 2001-2002)
Sam Dean	....	propmaker (unknown episodes)
Josh Hadley	....	set dresser (unknown episodes)
Leslie Lawson	....	stand-by painter (unknown episodes)
John S. Ogden	....	propmaker (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Tamara Johnson	....	sound re-recording mixer / re-recording / ... (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Patrick Grandclaudon	....	sound designer / sound editor (53 episodes, 2000-2002)
Bob La Masney	....	re-recording / sound re-recordist (23 episodes, 2000-2002)
Bruce Arledge Jr.	....	production sound / production sound mixer (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Klaus Landsberg	....	production sound (4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Russ Gary	....	production sound / production sound mixer (2 episodes, 2000)
Boyd Wheeler	....	re-recording (2 episodes, 2002)

Series Special Effects by
Ron Petruccione	....	special effects (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Adam Howard	....	visual effects (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Brian Simpson	....	stunts (1 episode, 2001)
Shauna Duggins	....	stunt performer (1 episode, 2002)
Mitch Gould	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Emiliano Novelli	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Michael J. Sarna	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Paul E. Short	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Tim Bellen	....	Steadicam operator / camera operator (43 episodes, 2000-2002)
Tony Varuola	....	best boy electric (33 episodes, 2000-2001)
Bill Sordal	....	key grip (9 episodes, 2000-2002)
Ken Spencer	....	gaffer (9 episodes, 2000-2002)
Steve Bellen	....	assistant camera (unknown episodes)
Jim Chizmar	....	grip (unknown episodes)
James M. Chizmar Jr.	....	grip (unknown episodes)
Dale Hunter	....	high definition video engineer (unknown episodes)
Raffaele Massa	....	focus puller (unknown episodes)
Henry Minski	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)
Greg G. Reeves	....	best boy electric (unknown episodes)
Tom Wholey	....	electrician (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Dana Olson	....	extras casting (unknown episodes)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marie H. Burk	....	costume supervisor (13 episodes, 2000-2002)
Brandt Huseby	....	key costumer / costumer (9 episodes, 2000)

Series Editorial Department
Richard Garibaldi	....	final colorist (23 episodes, 2000-2001)
Christopher Hyssong	....	post-production assistant (9 episodes, 2001)
Ralph Paredes	....	post-production coordinator (3 episodes, 2000)

Series Transportation Department
Bruce Comtois	....	driver (14 episodes, 2000-2001)
Mike Paventi	....	transportation coordinator (8 episodes, 2000-2002)

Series Other crew
Eva Charney	....	dialogue coach (54 episodes, 2000-2002)
Shawn Thomas	....	assistant: writer / production staff (53 episodes, 2000-2002)
Susie Gunter	....	script supervisor (36 episodes, 2000-2002)
K. Scott Dunn	....	production coordinator / production assistant (27 episodes, 2000-2002)
Chip Foose	....	consultant: Hot Rod (27 episodes, 2000-2002)
Caroline McLaglen	....	production staff (26 episodes, 2000-2002)
Kevin Charles Sullivan	....	technical coordinator / associate director (26 episodes, 2000-2002)
Michael Eidam	....	assistant to writer / production staff (25 episodes, 2000-2002)
Tommy Primeau	....	production staff (25 episodes, 2000-2002)
Gavin Dunne	....	production staff (23 episodes, 2000-2002)
Christopher Hyssong	....	assistant production coordinator / production staff (23 episodes, 2000-2002)
Stacy Polifka	....	production staff (23 episodes, 2000-2002)
Patrick Meighan	....	story editor / production staff (22 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jeff Hodsden	....	production staff (22 episodes, 2001-2002)
David L. Moses	....	production staff (22 episodes, 2001-2002)
John R. Morey	....	story editor / production staff (21 episodes, 2000-2002)
Debbie Cleaver	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Joseph Conway	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Juan Gavarette	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Robert Hawkins	....	story editor (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
David Metrick	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Lenn K. Rosenfeld	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Mary Stewart	....	assistant: Christopher Titus (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Kate Tamalonis	....	production staff (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
Angela Hamilton	....	production coordinator (9 episodes, 2000)
Jennifer Fisher	....	executive story editor / story editor (7 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jim Hope	....	executive story editor (7 episodes, 2000-2002)
Garfield Whitman	....	assistant: Christopher Titus / production staff / ... (7 episodes, 2000-2002)
Eric Fieland	....	production staff (4 episodes, 2000-2002)
Ritch Shydner	....	executive story editor (3 episodes, 2000)
Mike Paventi	....	technical coordinator (2 episodes, 2000-2001)
Nick Pavonetti	....	production staff (2 episodes, 2000-2001)
Joe Black	....	production staff (2 episodes, 2000)
Kim Sherwood	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 2000)
Erin Titus	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 2000)
Esther Himbaugh	....	script supervisor / technical coordinator (2 episodes, 2001-2002)
Steve M. Miliotti	....	craft service (unknown episodes)
Emily Rice	....	production accountant (unknown episodes)
Kelly Wold	....	assistant: Stacy Keach (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Fox Television

Distributors

• Fox Network
• Fox (????) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Bryant & Johnsen  main title sequence
• CBS Studio Center  filmed at
• Transportation Resources  transportation equipment

Runtime:

30 min | USA:30 min (54 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

The show is loosely based on actor Christopher Titus's real life.

Quotes:

Christopher Titus: A lie is a lie... unless your friends and family are in on it. Then it's a "commonly held belief."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding (2004) (TV)

Requiem for a Sitcom

Final Score (average of several classic cinematic qualities):

9.5 (out of 10)

Click. Fizzling sound. The light goes on. Standing underneath the bare bulb in glorious black and white is Christopher Titus. He's in a bowling shirt and looks like a combination of Jim Carey and that wide-eyed muppet with the wires coming out of the top of his head. He talks directly to us starting with something like "All patents suck" or "My mom is in a mental institute" or maybe "67% of homes are now dysfunctional". This is his life.

"Titus", which Fox abruptly cancelled after 3 seasons for being to "dark", "raw" and "edgy" for their line-up, was a sitcom like no other. It was a nearly exact translation of the award winning comedian's one man stage play "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding". Both are the autobiographical story of his life, the center of which is a dysfunctional family that puts the Bundys, the Simpsons and any other family on TV to an absolute shame. He's got a drunken, abusive womanizing father Ken (played brilliantly by Stacey Keach) and an alcoholic schizophrenic mother with a tendency to kill people (played by multiple actors, but best by Frances Fisher). Strong Cynthia Watros is a perfect co-lead with Titus in a female role that usually goes underwritten on shows like "Home Improvement" and "Everybody Loves Raymond". Extra props to David Shatraw' shamelessly hysterical portrait of Tommy Shafter- the flamboyantly "normal one".

Titus tells his story from the black and white neutral space- a metaphorical playground of the mind, which in a favorite episode allowed him to regress and talk to his 5-year old self. He often uses this space to explain to us the difference between normal people and "screwed up" people. Most of the action used the standard one-stage sitcom format mixed with lightening fast flashbacks and fantasy sequences. All of these characters somehow come together in each episode in "wacky adventures" that force them to face one social atrocity after another. "Titus" walked a line that no show before or after has dared to with entire episodes dealing with suicide, spousal abuse, homophobia, murder, drugs, guns and in a particularly raw episode that was initially banned, child molestation. For years sitcoms like "Roseanne" and "Grace Under Fire" have dealt with similar topics but in "very special" dramatic episodes. Titus was always a comedy and did it better. It utilized a fresh new form of comedy I'd never before seen on TV- cathartic humor. It was a show that laughed through pain and because of that many people didn't get it. And boy was it funny. The writing was sharp and swift, real next-level thinking with some good old fashioned "I Love Lucy" style slapstick. Sure, there were mis-fires and bombs but the show was so quickly paced you'd quickly forgive it.

Then while your trying to catch your breath laughing something shocking or serious would happen and swing the pendulum the other direction. It's perfect comic timing and sense of humor (and mostly because it was a true story) allowed it to swing in and out of the comedy and tragedy with the ease of a talented acrobat. There were episodes that I remember being completely floored by. You would just sit there on the couch in silence minutes after the show was over, shaken but yet also invigorated that TV could still be that good. It was a thrilling place to be. In it's to short run it dealt with multiple plot lines, involving Ken, Erin and Titus, but the most memorable episodes all involved his mother, Juanita. Her journey in and out of the "wacko basket" and attempts to kill Ken were always the best. The biggest triumph was the final few episode (which Fox postponed due to it's dealing with terrorism and airline security) when it all culminates in Juanita suicide. Christopher's monologue, at us, but to his dead mother at the end of that episode is THE most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen in a sitcom.

"Titus" like "Seinfeld" seems to be the work of non-TV people. People who don't know that a sitcom "is not supposed to do that" and kept pushing. It was brilliant and revolutionary. It broke the mold and re-set the standard. It's methods including breaking down the fourth wall and the flashbacks were stolen, recycled and used today in cheap, mainstream rip-off shows like "Grounded for Life" and "The Bernie Mac Show". To date, `Titus' ranks one of the best TV shows of all time. Fox may not have gotten it, but millions of us did. Thanks Titus! Click. Fizzling sound.