The 5 Mrs. Buchanans 

Four sisters-in-law struggle to deal with small town life and their overbearing mother-in-law.

Creators:

Marc Cherry, Jamie Wooten

Stars:

Judith Ivey, Beth Broderick, Harriet Sansom Harris

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Judith Ivey	...	Alexandria 'Alex' Buchanan 17 episodes, 1994-1995
Beth Broderick	...	Delilah Buchanan 17 episodes, 1994-1995
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Vivian Buchanan 17 episodes, 1994-1995
Charlotte Ross	...	Bree Buchanan 17 episodes, 1994-1995
Eileen Heckart	...	Mother Emma Buchanan 17 episodes, 1994-1995

Storyline

Set in fictional Mercy, Indiana, this comedy centers around four completely different women who have only two connections to each other: they each are married to a Buchanan boy, and they each cannot stand their mother-in-law. Alex, married to Roy, is a Jewish feminist from New York City. Vivian, married to Ed, is a frumpy Hoosier housewife with two children from hell, twins Lyndon and P.J. Delilah, married to preacher Charles, is a somewhat ditzy former stripper from Corpus Christi, Texas. Bree, newly married to Jesse, is a perky Californian who used to work with her mother. They constantly are trading barbs with the cruel but hilarious Mother Buchanan, who tries as hard as she can to make their lives a living hell through meddling and manipulating, her two specialties.

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Plot Keywords:

mother in law daughter in law relationship | family relationships | number in title | character name in title | 

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Taglines:

Meet four women who are trying to lose 100 unwanted pounds... Thier mother-in-law.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Five Mrs. Buchanans

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television, A Wooten & Cherry Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eileen Heckart found inspiration for her portrayal of Mother Buchanan from her own domineering mother-in-law.

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Quotes

Vivian: Alex, did you buy one of those hideous trolls people put on their front lawn?
Alex: Of course not!
Vivian: Oh. In that case, I think Mother Buchanan's here for a visit.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Angels Revenge (1995)

User Reviews

My Favorite Show

This show should NEVER have been canceled. I've been trying to find a DVD of the season to no avail. The casting was superb. The only thing that could have been any better would have been to cast Olympia DuCaucas (sp?)as the mother-in-law and Cameron Diaz as the bride, but I loved the actors that were cast in both of those parts. How I wish someone could see its potential and make the series into a movie. I am generally quite critical of sit-coms, but I actually waited each week to see this one. For someone who seldom laughs out loud, I did quite a bit of it during the show. I can't recommend it enough and will wait patiently to see if someone has the good sense to revive it despite it's brief appearance. And I'll be its biggest fan!