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Sons & Daughters (US TV series)
Encyclopedia
Sons & Daughters was an American
situation comedy
about an extended blended family living close together in a neighborhood. The producers, creator Fred Goss
(who also is the star of the show), Lorne Michaels
(who was a co-creator of Saturday Night Live
), and Nick Holly, flavored the show with a mixed atmosphere of improvisational and scripted humor. The show premiered on March 7, 2006 on ABC
. The show is produced by Broadway Video
(which also produces Saturday Night Live) and NBC Universal Television
. It was canceled in late April 2006 after 10 episodes aired, leaving one unaired episode.
The whole series was aired on the Seven Network
in Australia, including the final previously unaired episode, ending on August 6, 2007. Coincidentally, the Seven Network also screened the earlier Australian soap opera of the same name
. In December 2010, ITV1
started showing the series in the United Kingdom
for the first time, over four years since its American showing. The show has also been aired on TV3 in Ireland
.
There are currently no plans to release Sons & Daughters on DVD
from Universal Studios Home Entertainment
.
, using a partly scripted, partly improvisational comedy dialogue. In an interview with co-creator Nick Holly from the Associated Press, he explained that the actors were presented not with a traditional script, but with a "short story" that "occasionally includes a line or two of dialogue, but is normally just this novelization."
Unlike the traditional sitcom, Sons & Daughters was not filmed with a live studio audience and did not use a laugh track
for the show.
, which includes wife Liz (Vigman), his son Ezra (Matthews), his daughter Marni (Jourdain) and his son Henry (Einhorn) who Cameron didn't know existed, his mother and stepfather, Colleen and Wendal Halbert (Wallace-Stone, Gail), and his other plethora of brothers and sisters. He is considered the only sane person in his family and tries to fix any problem that arises within the family.
Cameron's sister and brother-in-law Sharon (Quinn) and Don Fenton (Lambert) seem to create more problems for him rather than themselves. The couple are almost always in deep denial about their personal issues, such as not having sex for several years.
Jenna (Walsh), Sharon and Cameron's half-sister, is a single mother of one who is continuously attracted to the "bad boy" personality, such as "Whitey" (Pitts), and steers away from the "nice guy" types, like Wylie (Harrington).
Their parents, Colleen and Wendal, love their family but have profound complications within their own relationship. Cameron constantly tries to help them solve their issues, but it doesn't always work out the way he expects.
Cameron's great-aunt Rae (Hall) appeared intermittently, mostly in runaway gags and one-liners. A decrepit old woman, Rae was also a vocal anti-Semite who disliked Liz simply because she was Jewish
. Throughout the series, Rae is the frequent butt of practical jokes and derisive comments. (This character is supposedly based on Goss' grandmother.)
's American Idol
timeslot it did not receive the ratings that would merit an automatic pickup, however it had been rumored that ABC executives liked the show. It also had a strong fanbase, and on April 17, 2006 a fan started an online petition to bring the show back, which Fred Goss
mentioned on his blog. It failed, and it was canceled late April, 2006. The shows cancellation was again confirmed by the creator Fred Goss on May 15, 2006.
This show is considered similar to current successful shows airing which were influenced by it such as Modern Family
, Parenthood
and The Middle
.http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/10/12/gone-too-soon-sons-and-daughters/http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/08/modern-family-actors-thrilled-with-emmy-nods/
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
situation comedy
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...
about an extended blended family living close together in a neighborhood. The producers, creator Fred Goss
Fred Goss
Fred Goss is an American TV actor, director, writer, producer and comedian.-As writer:Goss began writing and staging his own plays in his twenties. He wrote sketch comedy during his thirties, primarily at the Los Angeles based, ACME Comedy Theater. More recently, Fred wrote many of the episodes...
(who also is the star of the show), Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
(who was a co-creator of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
), and Nick Holly, flavored the show with a mixed atmosphere of improvisational and scripted humor. The show premiered on March 7, 2006 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The show is produced by Broadway Video
Broadway Video
Broadway Video is a media production and distribution company located within the Brill Building on Broadway, New York, United States. Founded in 1979 as a production house tasked with post-production work on Saturday Night Live, Broadway Video has since become one of the largest independent...
(which also produces Saturday Night Live) and NBC Universal Television
NBC Universal Television
NBCUniversal Television Group is an American and global television production/distribution company and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal.The company is composed of six divisions: Universal Television , NBC Universal Television Stations, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, NBCUniversal...
. It was canceled in late April 2006 after 10 episodes aired, leaving one unaired episode.
The whole series was aired on the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in Australia, including the final previously unaired episode, ending on August 6, 2007. Coincidentally, the Seven Network also screened the earlier Australian soap opera of the same name
Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)
Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final...
. In December 2010, ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
started showing the series in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for the first time, over four years since its American showing. The show has also been aired on TV3 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
There are currently no plans to release Sons & Daughters on DVD
DVD
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....
from Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
.
Improvisational aspect
Sons & Daughters has been dubbed a "unique hybrid comedy"; the show followed the format used in Curb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
, using a partly scripted, partly improvisational comedy dialogue. In an interview with co-creator Nick Holly from the Associated Press, he explained that the actors were presented not with a traditional script, but with a "short story" that "occasionally includes a line or two of dialogue, but is normally just this novelization."
Unlike the traditional sitcom, Sons & Daughters was not filmed with a live studio audience and did not use a laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
for the show.
Plot synopsis
Cameron Walker's (Goss) world revolves around him and his extended family living in Hamilton, OhioHamilton, Ohio
Hamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 62,447 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area....
, which includes wife Liz (Vigman), his son Ezra (Matthews), his daughter Marni (Jourdain) and his son Henry (Einhorn) who Cameron didn't know existed, his mother and stepfather, Colleen and Wendal Halbert (Wallace-Stone, Gail), and his other plethora of brothers and sisters. He is considered the only sane person in his family and tries to fix any problem that arises within the family.
Cameron's sister and brother-in-law Sharon (Quinn) and Don Fenton (Lambert) seem to create more problems for him rather than themselves. The couple are almost always in deep denial about their personal issues, such as not having sex for several years.
Jenna (Walsh), Sharon and Cameron's half-sister, is a single mother of one who is continuously attracted to the "bad boy" personality, such as "Whitey" (Pitts), and steers away from the "nice guy" types, like Wylie (Harrington).
Their parents, Colleen and Wendal, love their family but have profound complications within their own relationship. Cameron constantly tries to help them solve their issues, but it doesn't always work out the way he expects.
Cameron's great-aunt Rae (Hall) appeared intermittently, mostly in runaway gags and one-liners. A decrepit old woman, Rae was also a vocal anti-Semite who disliked Liz simply because she was Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. Throughout the series, Rae is the frequent butt of practical jokes and derisive comments. (This character is supposedly based on Goss' grandmother.)
Episodes
Below is the entire list of episodes from the series including a brief description.| # | Title | Original airdate | Prod. code |
|---|
Cancellation
There was some question as to whether the show would have been picked up by ABC after the first season. Running against Fox NetworkFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
timeslot it did not receive the ratings that would merit an automatic pickup, however it had been rumored that ABC executives liked the show. It also had a strong fanbase, and on April 17, 2006 a fan started an online petition to bring the show back, which Fred Goss
Fred Goss
Fred Goss is an American TV actor, director, writer, producer and comedian.-As writer:Goss began writing and staging his own plays in his twenties. He wrote sketch comedy during his thirties, primarily at the Los Angeles based, ACME Comedy Theater. More recently, Fred wrote many of the episodes...
mentioned on his blog. It failed, and it was canceled late April, 2006. The shows cancellation was again confirmed by the creator Fred Goss on May 15, 2006.
This show is considered similar to current successful shows airing which were influenced by it such as Modern Family
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
, Parenthood
Parenthood (2010 TV series)
Parenthood is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Katims and produced by Imagine Television and Universal Media Studios. The first season premiered on March 2, 2010 on NBC...
and The Middle
The Middle (TV series)
The Middle is an American situation comedy television series that premiered on ABC on September 30, 2009. The show features Frances "Frankie" Heck , a working-class, Midwestern woman married to Mike Heck who resides in the small fictional town of Orson, Indiana. They are the parents of three...
.http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/10/12/gone-too-soon-sons-and-daughters/http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/08/modern-family-actors-thrilled-with-emmy-nods/
DVD
The complete series was scheduled to be available on DVD in late 2006. However, these plans have been canceled due to issues with licensing the music used in the series, according to Fred Goss's BlogCast
- Fred GossFred GossFred Goss is an American TV actor, director, writer, producer and comedian.-As writer:Goss began writing and staging his own plays in his twenties. He wrote sketch comedy during his thirties, primarily at the Los Angeles based, ACME Comedy Theater. More recently, Fred wrote many of the episodes...
– Cameron Walker - Gillian VigmanGillian VigmanGillian Vigman is an American comic actress. Vigman is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv. She also starred in the ABC comedy, Sons & Daughters. Vigman plays a supporting role on The Defenders.-Biography:Vigman started her professional...
– Liz Walker - Jerry LambertJerry Lambert (actor)Jerry Lambert is an American stage, film, and television actor and voiceover artist, best known for his work on the ABC sitcom, Sons and Daughters, as well as commercials for companies including GEICO, Holiday Inn, and playing a fictional Sony executive named Kevin Butler.-Education:Lambert...
– Don Fenton - Alison Quinn – Sharon Fenton
- Max GailMax GailMaxwell Trowbridge "Max" Gail, Jr. is an American actor who has starred in stage, television, and film roles. He most notably portrayed the role of Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz on the television sitcom Barney Miller....
– Wendal Halbert - Dee Wallace-Stone – Colleen Halbert
- Amanda WalshAmanda WalshAmanda Walsh is a Canadian actress and former VJ for the Canadian television station MuchMusic.-Career beginnings:Walsh was born in Rigaud, Quebec. She went to Hudson High School, in Hudson, Quebec...
– Jenna Halbert - Desmond HarringtonDesmond HarringtonDesmond Harrington is an American actor. He is known for movies such as The Hole, Wrong Turn and Ghost Ship. He joined the cast of the Showtime series Dexter in its third season as Det. Joseph Quinn.-Life and career:...
– Wylie Blake - Greg PittsGreg PittsGreg Pitts is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Drew in the film Office Space. He has taken bit roles in films and television series, including Grey's Anatomy and Sons & Daughters, and was featured as "Vincent" in Allstate Insurance advertisements with sidekick Andrew Hawtrey as...
– Tommy White "Whitey" - Eden SherEden SherEden Rebecca Sher is an American actress best known for her role as Sue Heck in ABC's sitcom The Middle, and as Carrie Fenton in the television series Sons and Daughters.- Biography and career :...
– Carrie Fenton - Randy WayneRandy WayneRandy Wayne is an American actor.Wayne was born and raised in Moore, Oklahoma. He appeared on the 2002 season of the British reality show Shipwrecked, which led to guest appearances on the television shows The Closer, Huff, NCIS, Jack & Bobby, and Numb3rs as well as a series regular role as the...
– Jeff Fenton - Trevor EinhornTrevor EinhornTrevor Elias Einhorn is an American actor who attended Pressman Academy in Los Angeles as well as El Rodeo School and Beverly Hills High School , both in Beverly Hills, California....
– Henry Walker - Noah Matthews – Ezra Walker
- Lexi Jourden – Marni Walker
- Lois HallLois Hall-Biography:Hall was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, the daughter of Lois Grace , a teacher, and Ralph Stewart Hall, a businessman and inventor...
– Aunt Rae