I found episodes 1 and 5, as well as some promos on YouTube.
This is Brad Garrett's first series regular gig. He did a ton of voice work and a few guest star roles before this. After this was Raymond and then several really enjoyable sitcoms. If you track the trajectory from Raymond to Single Parents, you can guess where his performance is in this.
Melinda McGraw is really great in this. She's the wife of the lead and gets to do some interesting things.
Meredith Scott Lynn nails her part well. Very biting.
Larry Miller is doing a very Larry Miller part, but more oblivious than usual. Some of it works.
Tom Amandes, fresh off The Untouchables, is very unlikable. He's supposed to be playing the honest lawyer, and the straitman to both Miller and Garrett, but the less he is in the show, the better it is.
The first episode focuses on Steve Rutledge, played by Tom Amandes, and it's about the creator's thesis of the show being about the pursuit of happiness and how difficult it is to achieve. Or something. Each scene is a different birthday for someone so it takes place over the course of about a year. And Steve has a mustache for one of these scenes.
The first episode is an ill conceived mess.
The fifth episode hits some common sitcom tropes. Guest star Steven Weber, from sister-show Wings, in the same NBC comedy block, plays an Italian man with a thick accent that both Garrett and Lynn want to bang, but he find's make's a date w/ McGraw, who is married to Amandes. It's all been done better elsewhere, but it is enjoyable here.
The incredible Carole Davis guest stars as Weber's wife, but the director or DP obviously hated her because someone is always in her light and she never gets any closeups.
The show would have been better with someone else in the lead.
Of interest: Brad Garrett's character comes out as gay in the first episode. He is one of 3 second leads. This was a year and a half before Ellen came out on Ellen. (April 14, 1997)
It's possible hate groups helped the demise of the show, but I'm guessing few people who tuned in for the first episode returned to watch more.
Apparently only 7 episodes were made.
The show is not great, but if all 7 episodes were available on Prime Video for $5-$10, I'd easily buy it.
This is Brad Garrett's first series regular gig. He did a ton of voice work and a few guest star roles before this. After this was Raymond and then several really enjoyable sitcoms. If you track the trajectory from Raymond to Single Parents, you can guess where his performance is in this.
Melinda McGraw is really great in this. She's the wife of the lead and gets to do some interesting things.
Meredith Scott Lynn nails her part well. Very biting.
Larry Miller is doing a very Larry Miller part, but more oblivious than usual. Some of it works.
Tom Amandes, fresh off The Untouchables, is very unlikable. He's supposed to be playing the honest lawyer, and the straitman to both Miller and Garrett, but the less he is in the show, the better it is.
The first episode focuses on Steve Rutledge, played by Tom Amandes, and it's about the creator's thesis of the show being about the pursuit of happiness and how difficult it is to achieve. Or something. Each scene is a different birthday for someone so it takes place over the course of about a year. And Steve has a mustache for one of these scenes.
The first episode is an ill conceived mess.
The fifth episode hits some common sitcom tropes. Guest star Steven Weber, from sister-show Wings, in the same NBC comedy block, plays an Italian man with a thick accent that both Garrett and Lynn want to bang, but he find's make's a date w/ McGraw, who is married to Amandes. It's all been done better elsewhere, but it is enjoyable here.
The incredible Carole Davis guest stars as Weber's wife, but the director or DP obviously hated her because someone is always in her light and she never gets any closeups.
The show would have been better with someone else in the lead.
Of interest: Brad Garrett's character comes out as gay in the first episode. He is one of 3 second leads. This was a year and a half before Ellen came out on Ellen. (April 14, 1997)
It's possible hate groups helped the demise of the show, but I'm guessing few people who tuned in for the first episode returned to watch more.
Apparently only 7 episodes were made.
The show is not great, but if all 7 episodes were available on Prime Video for $5-$10, I'd easily buy it.
