1st & Ten (TV series)
Encyclopedia
1st & Ten is an American situation comedy
that aired between December 1984 and January 1991 on the cable television
network
HBO. Featuring series regulars Delta Burke
and veteran Reid Shelton
, it was one of cable's first attempts to lure the lucrative sit-com
audience away from the "Big Three", by taking advantage of their freedom to include occasional cursing and nudity.
team, the California Bulls. The team changed owners throughout the series' history, with the premise that a woman is in charge.
During the first season Diane Barrow (Delta Burke
) becomes the owner of her ex-husband's team as part of a divorce settlement, after he has an affair with the team's tight end
. She quickly learns the ups and downs of pro football. In one episode, she is forced to coach the team herself after the head coach, Ernie Denardo, is placed in the hospital. She also has constant battles with her General Manager/husband's nephew, who has dealings with the local mob, and fights off advances made by her quarterback played by Geoffrey Scott
.
The second season dealt with two themes: training camp and the playoffs. Barrow was dealing with her players taking recreational drugs during training camp. During this season, O. J. Simpson joined the cast as T.D. Parker, a veteran running back who is forced to make the transition from player to coach. Two real life football stars made cameo appearances. Marcus Allen
portrayed a rookie who was taking over T.D.'s spot on the team. And Vince Ferragamo
played "Mainstreet" Manneti, a veteran quarterback. Jason Beghe
joined the cast to play Tom Yinessa, a walk-on quarterback who deals with his overnight celebrity.
Delta Burke left the show mid-way through the third season, after committing herself to CBS
' Designing Women
, which she had begun starring on in 1986, and of which was renewed. Diane loses control of the Bulls to Teddy Schraeder, her former lover, who manipulates everyone to his own ends. His antics include having T.D. fire Ernie as coach, Yinessa practice without a contract, and ignoring the steroids that John Matuszak
's character is using. Legal issues force him to leave the country and turn control over to his daughter, played by Leah Ayres
.
Season 4 was briefly renamed 1st and Ten: The Bulls Mean Business. Shanna Reed
joins the cast as the team's new female president, representing the new owners, the Dodds Corporation. Her attempts to innovate include bringing a female soccer player in to kick, and signing an Olympic sprinter as wide receiver
. Joe Namath
has a cameo appearance. Shannon Tweed
would replace her in Season 5, and remain with the show to the end. The show was renamed 1st and Ten: Do it Again for the fifth season. The final season was 1st and Ten: In Your Face.
's Los Angeles Express. During simulated game shots, the Bulls football helmet has a decal of horns on the side. When the show uses actual game footage, you can clearly see the letters "L" and "A" on the helmets side, representing the L.A. Express. The Bulls quarterbacks wore #14 to match the actual game footage of L.A. Express real life quarterback Tom Ramsey
. Many generic shots of USFL stadiums were used to depict where the Bulls were playing. As the series went on, aerial shots were used of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
to represent the Bulls home stadium. Game footage from the USFL stopped mid-way through the third season, as scripted football plays were being used instead.
At one point, Denardo suggests trading for a running back. He mentions the Bulls from "that other league." He was talking about the Jacksonville Bulls
from the United States Football League.
on January 24, 2006.
The original HBO versions ran for 30 minutes, while the edited-for-syndication versions ran for 22 minutes, and had some dialog and scenes edited for content, as well as the addition of a laugh-track. The majority of episodes on the "Complete Collection" DVD are the syndicated versions.
The original opening credits showed former professional football player Fran Tarkenton
introducing the players and the plot points at the beginning of each episode. Completely different closing credits were originally used, too. They showed credits rolling over scenes from the episode. In syndication, these were replaced with later opening credits, featuring Miracle Miles Coolidge, (even though he did not join the cast until the last season), and a generic "Copyright 1991" disclaimer on a blue background respectively.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
that aired between December 1984 and January 1991 on the cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
HBO. Featuring series regulars Delta Burke
Delta Burke
Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
and veteran Reid Shelton
Reid Shelton
Reid Shelton was a Broadway and television actor.He appeared in over 31 TV shows from 1974 to 1990; and 9 Broadway shows from 1952 to 1983....
, it was one of cable's first attempts to lure the lucrative sit-com
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
audience away from the "Big Three", by taking advantage of their freedom to include occasional cursing and nudity.
Plot
The series follows the on-and off-field antics of the fictional American footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, the California Bulls. The team changed owners throughout the series' history, with the premise that a woman is in charge.
During the first season Diane Barrow (Delta Burke
Delta Burke
Delta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
) becomes the owner of her ex-husband's team as part of a divorce settlement, after he has an affair with the team's tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
. She quickly learns the ups and downs of pro football. In one episode, she is forced to coach the team herself after the head coach, Ernie Denardo, is placed in the hospital. She also has constant battles with her General Manager/husband's nephew, who has dealings with the local mob, and fights off advances made by her quarterback played by Geoffrey Scott
Geoffrey Scott (actor)
Geoffrey Scott is an American actor best known for appearing on the television series Dynasty for two seasons as Mark Jennings, the first husband of Krystle Carrington .He also played Sky Rumson on Dark Shadows in 1970...
.
The second season dealt with two themes: training camp and the playoffs. Barrow was dealing with her players taking recreational drugs during training camp. During this season, O. J. Simpson joined the cast as T.D. Parker, a veteran running back who is forced to make the transition from player to coach. Two real life football stars made cameo appearances. Marcus Allen
Marcus Allen
Marcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...
portrayed a rookie who was taking over T.D.'s spot on the team. And Vince Ferragamo
Vince Ferragamo
Vince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...
played "Mainstreet" Manneti, a veteran quarterback. Jason Beghe
Jason Beghe
Jason Beghe is an American film and television actor and critic of Scientology. As a young man he attended the Collegiate School in New York City, where he became best friends with John F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Duchovny. Beghe is married and lives in Los Angeles, California.Beghe starred in the...
joined the cast to play Tom Yinessa, a walk-on quarterback who deals with his overnight celebrity.
Delta Burke left the show mid-way through the third season, after committing herself to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
' Designing Women
Designing Women
Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...
, which she had begun starring on in 1986, and of which was renewed. Diane loses control of the Bulls to Teddy Schraeder, her former lover, who manipulates everyone to his own ends. His antics include having T.D. fire Ernie as coach, Yinessa practice without a contract, and ignoring the steroids that John Matuszak
John Matuszak
John Daniel "Tooz" Matuszak was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League who later became an actor. He was the first draft pick of 1973 and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981...
's character is using. Legal issues force him to leave the country and turn control over to his daughter, played by Leah Ayres
Leah Ayres
Leah Ayres is an American actress who played Valerie Bryson on the daytime serial, The Edge of Night, in the early 1980s. Ayres is well known for her role in Bloodsport, alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme...
.
Season 4 was briefly renamed 1st and Ten: The Bulls Mean Business. Shanna Reed
Shanna Reed
Shanna Reed is an American dancer and actress, best known for her roles on television and movies. She is best known for playing Polly Cooper McGillis on Major Dad....
joins the cast as the team's new female president, representing the new owners, the Dodds Corporation. Her attempts to innovate include bringing a female soccer player in to kick, and signing an Olympic sprinter as wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
. Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
has a cameo appearance. Shannon Tweed
Shannon Tweed
Shannon Lee Tweed is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller...
would replace her in Season 5, and remain with the show to the end. The show was renamed 1st and Ten: Do it Again for the fifth season. The final season was 1st and Ten: In Your Face.
Game footage
Footage was used from USFLUnited States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
's Los Angeles Express. During simulated game shots, the Bulls football helmet has a decal of horns on the side. When the show uses actual game footage, you can clearly see the letters "L" and "A" on the helmets side, representing the L.A. Express. The Bulls quarterbacks wore #14 to match the actual game footage of L.A. Express real life quarterback Tom Ramsey
Tom Ramsey
Tom Ramsey is a former professional American football quarterback, who played four seasons in the NFL for the New England Patriots. Earlier he played for the Los Angeles Express and the Oakland Invaders of the USFL....
. Many generic shots of USFL stadiums were used to depict where the Bulls were playing. As the series went on, aerial shots were used of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
to represent the Bulls home stadium. Game footage from the USFL stopped mid-way through the third season, as scripted football plays were being used instead.
At one point, Denardo suggests trading for a running back. He mentions the Bulls from "that other league." He was talking about the Jacksonville Bulls
Jacksonville Bulls
The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985...
from the United States Football League.
Cast
Only Donald Gibb, Cliff Frazier, Prince Hughes, and Reid Shelton appeared in all six seasons. John Kassir and O. J. Simpson joined the cast the second season, and stayed till the show's end.- Ellen: Mariann AaldaMariann AaldaMariann Aalda is an American television, stage, and film actress. Aalda is primarily known for her work in television.-Career:She portrayed DiDi Bannister on the long-running ABC soap opera Edge of Night, and had a regular roles on the CBS sitcom The Royal Family, as the daughter of Redd Foxx and...
- Frederick 'Miracle Miles' Coolidge: Keith Amos
- Dr. Doc Phillips: Jim Antonio
- Jill Schrader: Leah AyresLeah AyresLeah Ayres is an American actress who played Valerie Bryson on the daytime serial, The Edge of Night, in the early 1980s. Ayres is well known for her role in Bloodsport, alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme...
- Tom Yinessa: Jason BegheJason BegheJason Beghe is an American film and television actor and critic of Scientology. As a young man he attended the Collegiate School in New York City, where he became best friends with John F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Duchovny. Beghe is married and lives in Los Angeles, California.Beghe starred in the...
- Johnny Valentine: Sam J. JonesSam J. JonesSam J. Jones is the stage name of Samuel Gerald Jones , an American actor also credited as Sam Jones.-Early life:Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida.-Career:...
- Diane Barrow: Delta BurkeDelta BurkeDelta Ramona Leah Burke is an American television and film actress. Her television work includes a leading role as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
- Jethro Snell: Cliff Frazier
- Leslie 'Dr. Death' Crunchner: Donald GibbDonald GibbDonald Gibb , sometimes credited as Don Gibb, is an American actor with an imposing 6 ft-4in frame, best known for his roles as the hulking, dimwitted fraternity brother "Ogre" in several installments of the Revenge of the Nerds film series, and as Leslie "Dr...
- Elvin Putts: Jeff Hochendoner
- Buford "Bubba" Kincaid: Prince Hughes
- Jamie Waldren: Jeff Kaake
- Zagreb Shkenusky: John KassirJohn KassirJohn Kassir is an American actor, voice artist, and comedian who is best known as the voice of the Crypt Keeper in HBO's, Tales from the Crypt franchise...
- Mac Daniels: Jay KerrJay Kerr]Jay Kerr is an American born actor from Del Rio, Texas, USA. He was raised on a ranch in Texas. Growing up, he raced horses...
- Roger Barrow: Clayton LandeyClayton LandeyClayton Landey is an American actor who has appeared in films and television shows. He is perhaps best known for his role in the TV series Knots Landing as James Westmont from 1982-1983, he also appeared on the HBO series 1st & Ten as Roger Barrow....
- Rona Gold: Ruta LeeRuta LeeRuta Lee is a Canadian actress and dancer who appeared as one of the brides in the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers...
- Mad Dog Smears: Tony LongoTony LongoTony Longo is an American actor who has appeared in many well-known television series such as Laverne & Shirley, Simon & Simon, Alice, Perfect Strangers, Sydney and Monk...
- Deacon: John Benjamin Martin
- John Manzak: John MatuszakJohn MatuszakJohn Daniel "Tooz" Matuszak was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League who later became an actor. He was the first draft pick of 1973 and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981...
- Johnny Gunn: Christopher MeloniChristopher MeloniChristopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
- Carl Witherspoon: Sam Scarber
- Bob Dorsey: Geoffrey ScottGeoffrey Scott (actor)Geoffrey Scott is an American actor best known for appearing on the television series Dynasty for two seasons as Mark Jennings, the first husband of Krystle Carrington .He also played Sky Rumson on Dark Shadows in 1970...
- Coach Ernie Denardo: Reid SheltonReid SheltonReid Shelton was a Broadway and television actor.He appeared in over 31 TV shows from 1974 to 1990; and 9 Broadway shows from 1952 to 1983....
- Police officer: Ron Shipp
- T.D. Parker: O. J. SimpsonO. J. SimpsonOrenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
- Marco "Mainstreet" Manneti: Vince FerragamoVince FerragamoVince Anthony Ferragamo is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.-College career:...
- 'Tombstone' Packer: Lawrence TaylorLawrence TaylorLawrence Julius Taylor , nicknamed "L.T.", is a Hall of Fame former American football player. Taylor played his entire professional career as a linebacker for the New York Giants in the National Football League...
- Mace Petty: Marshall R. TeagueMarshall R. TeagueMarshall R. Teague is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role in the 1989 cult movie Road House and for his recurring role on the 1990s science fiction series Babylon 5 as a Narn named Ta'Lon...
- Rick Lambert: Marcus AllenMarcus AllenMarcus LeMarr Allen is a former American football player and, until recently, was affiliated with CBS as a game analyst. As a professional, Allen ran for 12,243 yards and caught 587 passes for 5,412 yards during his career for both the Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs from 1982 to 1997...
- Billy Cooper: Michael Toland
- Kristy Fulbright: Shannon TweedShannon TweedShannon Lee Tweed is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller...
- Bull's lineman: Arthur Avant
- Bull's wide receiver: A. J. DiSpirito
Syndication and DVD release
At the height of the O. J. Simpson trial, the show made its way to syndicated reruns. The complete series was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on January 24, 2006.
The original HBO versions ran for 30 minutes, while the edited-for-syndication versions ran for 22 minutes, and had some dialog and scenes edited for content, as well as the addition of a laugh-track. The majority of episodes on the "Complete Collection" DVD are the syndicated versions.
The original opening credits showed former professional football player Fran Tarkenton
Fran Tarkenton
Francis Asbury "Fran" Tarkenton is a former professional football player, TV personality, and computer software executive....
introducing the players and the plot points at the beginning of each episode. Completely different closing credits were originally used, too. They showed credits rolling over scenes from the episode. In syndication, these were replaced with later opening credits, featuring Miracle Miles Coolidge, (even though he did not join the cast until the last season), and a generic "Copyright 1991" disclaimer on a blue background respectively.