Jennifer Slept Here is an American fantasy

Fantasy television

Fantasy television is a genre of television programming featuring elements of the fantastic, often including magic, supernatural forces, or exotic fantasy worlds. Fantasy television programs are often based on tales from mythology and folklore, or are adapted from fantasy stories in other media...

 sitcom

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...

 series that ran for one season on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 from October 21, 1983 to September 5, 1984.

Overview

In the series, Ann Jillian

Ann Jillian

Ann Jillian is an American actress, who started acting at age 10. Her career reached its zenith in the 1980s, with her best-known role being that of waitress Cassie Cranston on the sitcom It's a Living.-Early life and career:...

 plays Jennifer Farrell: a once-popular movie actress who made the unfortunate, mortal mistake of chasing an ice cream truck near her Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 home. When the ice cream truck accidentally backed up, it ran her over, killing her. Years later, the Elliot family from New York City moved into Jennifer's home. Father George was a lawyer who had handled Jennifer's posthumous affairs, including the house. George's wife, Susan, was a concerned and understanding figure. Daughter Marilyn was a typical 8-year-old.

The driving story behind the series was that Jennifer haunted the Elliot house—ostensibly to mentor and befriend the family's teenage son, Joey, who was the only person to whom she made herself visible. Naturally, Joey had a hard time convincing his family and friends of Jennifer's ghostly existence. They not only refused to believe Joey's claim, but often concluded Joey needed psychiatric or other help. In one episode, they hired a phony exorcist (played by Zelda Rubinstein

Zelda Rubinstein

Zelda Rubinstein was an American actress and human rights activist, best known as eccentric medium Tangina Barrons in the movie Poltergeist and its sequels, Poltergeist II: The Other Side , and Poltergeist III . Playing 'Ginny', she was a regular on David E...

 in a parody of her Poltergeist

Poltergeist (film series)

The Poltergeist movies are a trilogy of American horror films distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1980s. The films revolve around the members of the Freeling family, who are stalked and terrorized by a group of ancient ghosts that are attracted to the youngest daughter, Carol Anne. The...

character Tangina Barrons) to rid the house of Jennifer's spirit by capturing it in a jar.

Jennifer often caused Joey more trouble than he could handle. In one episode, Jennifer poured a pitcher of milk over George after he'd scolded Joey for asserting Jennifer's spirit still existed. No matter how sticky the situations got, Jennifer and Joey always found ways to prevail.

Cast

• Ann Jillian
  Ann Jillian
  Ann Jillian is an American actress, who started acting at age 10. Her career reached its zenith in the 1980s, with her best-known role being that of waitress Cassie Cranston on the sitcom It's a Living.-Early life and career:...
  
   as Jennifer Farrell
• John P. Navin, Jr. as Joseph "Joey" Elliot
• Georgia Engel as Susan Elliot
• Brandon Maggart
  Brandon Maggart
  Brandon Maggart is an American actor.Maggart was born Roscoe Maggart, Jr. in Carthage, Tennessee. His acting career began in the early 1950s, at first in local and regional theatre in Tennessee, which eventually branched out to New York's Broadway...
  
   as George Elliot
• Mya Akerling as Marilyn Elliot
• Glenn Scarpelli
  Glenn Scarpelli
  Glenn Christopher Scarpelli is a child actor and singer. Born in Staten Island, New York, he is the son of long time Archie Comics artist Henry Scarpelli. He attended a private Catholic school, St. Joseph Hill Academy, from K to 8th grade....
  
   as Marc

Reception

Although the show had mixed reviews and a tough Friday night timeslot (its competition was The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

on CBS and Webster

Webster (TV series)

Webster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...

on ABC), it attracted decent ratings. The show cracked the top 20 during the summer of 1984, but that was not enough to guarantee a second season.

Production notes

The show was produced by Columbia Pictures Television

Columbia Pictures Television

Columbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...

. The series theme song was written by series star Ann Jillian, Clint Holmes

Clint Holmes

Clint Holmes , is a singer-songwriter and Las Vegas entertainer. He was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire , England, the son of an African-American jazz musician and a white English opera singer...

, Joey Murcia, and Bill Payne

Bill Payne

Bill Payne is a founding member of American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other piano rock musicians, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues music artists...

, and was performed by Joey Scarbury

Joey Scarbury

Joey Scarbury is an adult contemporary singer best known for his hit song, "Theme from The Greatest American Hero ", in 1981.-Childhood and early music career:...

.

Episodes

№	Title	Original airdate	Synopsis
1	"Pilot"	October 21, 1983	As the Elliotts move into the home of recently deceased actress Jennifer Farrell, Joey becomes spooked when her spirit shows up and he is the only one who can see her.
2	"Jennifer the Movie"	October 28, 1983	Jennifer is furious when a rival actress that she despised when she was alive will play her in a planned biopic.
3	"Not with My Date You Don't"	November 4, 1983	A new girl stands in the way of Joey and Marc...and a pair of concert tickets that the girl actually wants.
4	"Boo"	November 11, 1983	As part of deal between the two, Jennifer will help Joey scare up surprises for a pair of twins in exchange for holding a seance to contact her mother (Debbie Reynolds Debbie Reynolds Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to... ).
5	"Calendar Girl"	November 18, 1983	After George discovers a nude photo of Jennifer in a box of unclaimed items, Jennifer wants Joey to retrieve it before his father can sell it off at an auction for her estate. Monty Hall Monty Hall Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...  guest stars.
6	"One of Our Jars Is Missing"	November 25, 1983	The Elliotts hire a phony poltergeist expert to rid the house of Jennifer... and to Joey's shock, it works! Now Joey and Jennifer must convince her to restore Jennifer's power before a letter that Joey accidentally wrote is mailed off.
7	"Trading Faces"	December 2, 1983	Jennifer discovers that she has the ability to enter other people's bodies, so she uses Susan's so she can rekindle a former mortal flame.
8	"Rebel with a Cause"	December 16, 1983	With Jennifer's help, Joey is able to take care of a bully... and in the process acquire his entire lifestyle.
9	"Risky Weekend"	April 14, 1984	With the parents away, Joey agrees to let the house be used for a bingo game. That is, until Joey and Jennifer discover that they're using the place as a gambling parlor.
10	"Do You Take This Ghost?"	April 21, 1984	Jennifer's former playboy boyfriend, who is also a ghost, wants to revive the relationship they had when they were alive. Eve McVeagh Eve McVeagh Eve McVeagh, born Eva Elizabeth McVeagh, was an American actress of film, television, stage, and radio. Born in Ohio, McVeagh moved to Los Angeles in 1923, where she started acting in theater in her teens. Her career spanned 52 years from her first stage role through her last stage appearance...  made a guest appearance.
11	"Life with Grandfather"	April 28, 1984	After George's father dies unexpectedly, the family finally has kind things to say about him that they never told him when he was alive.
12	"The Tutor Who Came to Dinner"	May 5, 1984	When a new tutor appears on the scene to help Joey, Jennifer becomes jealous of her. And she should be: She's Jennifer's spiritual replacement! Jillian's It's A Living co-star Gail Edwards Gail Edwards Gail June Edwards is a retired American actress best known for her roles as Dot Higgins in ABC's It's a Living, Sharon Lemure in NBC's Blossom, and Vicky Larson in ABC's Full House.-Early life and career:...  plays the ghostly tutor.
13	"Take Jennifer, Please"	May 12, 1984	Fed up with having his father not believing that he can see Jennifer, Joey must find a way to convince him otherwise, even if it mean having Jennifer prove that she is a ghost in front of the family. So Jennifer tells Joey that she'll help him if Joey can produce the real will she wrote, which George had in his office safe and is unaware that he had it.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1984	Primetime Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...	Nominated	Outstanding Technical Direction/Camerawork/Video for a Series	For episode "Life with Grandfather"
1984	Young Artist Awards	Winner	Best Young Actor in a New Television Series	John P. Navin, Jr.
		Nominated	Best New Television Series	–
		Nominated	Best Young Actor in a New Television Series	Glenn Scarpelli Glenn Scarpelli Glenn Christopher Scarpelli is a child actor and singer. Born in Staten Island, New York, he is the son of long time Archie Comics artist Henry Scarpelli. He attended a private Catholic school, St. Joseph Hill Academy, from K to 8th grade....