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 an uptight, wannabe socialite 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 at Disneyland. 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:

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

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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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Did You Know?

Trivia

When producers were casting for the part of her character's husband, Harriet Sansom Harris suggested Richard Poe, who won the role.

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Quotes

Delilah: I just wish I understood why Jesse was rushing into this marriage. There's no reason for it.
Vivian: People, please. There is only one explanation.
Alex: What's that?
[Vivian pantomimes being pregnant]
Delilah: His fiancee is a mime?

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Amazing Transparent Man (1995)

User Reviews

Another That Should Be Brought Out From the Vaults!

I can't believe CBS killed "The 5 Mrs. Buchanans!" The cast was superb and the dialogue was hysterical. The situations could be corny at times, but nearly every sitcom drastically improves if given enough time. The sad thing is that this show didn't need much improvement. From the start it had a clever sharp-tongued wit about it that you rarely find in new sitcoms -- very close to the early seasons of "Designing Women." Unfortunately, CBS decided to bury this on Saturday nights with minuscule ratings. I thought perhaps Lifetime Network might end up with it, but alas, 7 years later it's still in the vaults. Quite a shame since it really had all the makings of a hit show!

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