Interview with cast members.

 

 

The show made its debut exactly 40 years ago today! It originally aired on Sat March 1 1986 squeezed in the 8:30/7:30 Slot between Facts of Life and The Golden Girls and then assumed it’s regular timeslot on Monday 3/3/86 behind You Again?, which had its own series debut on Thurs 2/27/86 in Family Ties’ regular spot.

The Hogan Family was one of a select group of shows that never changed timeslots in it's run. Always Mon @8.30.

Only when it moved to CBS did it move to [email protected].

It's too bad this show never got a DVD or digital release. It was one of my favorite shows.

Oh, look what I found.

Internet Archive

Hogan Family (1986) S01-S06 : Free Download, Borrow, and...

Hogan Family (1986)Season 1 to 6

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

The Hogan Family was one of a select group of shows that never changed timeslots in it's run. Always Mon @8.30.

Only when it moved to CBS did it move to [email protected].

The show when it was Valerie had moved to a very disastrous timeslot on Sunday nights in the fall of ‘86 before moving back to Monday nights in the spring.

I’ll have take some time to articulate my thoughts on Valerie Harper and her time with the Hogans lol later @DRW50 @Khan @Soapsuds @kalbir Despite me knocking it over the years as so cheesy it was probably actually my favorite of all those 80’s family sitcoms (they didn’t have Jason Bateman lol) and I think Sandy Duncan was a better fit (but Josh Taylor…really?) And I watched Rich’s death from AIDS in real time…was that the first time “a very special episode” killed off a main (or was) character in such a shocking manner?

I didn’t realize it never got a DVD release which is weird because I remember it being heavily syndicated and then airing on PAX and ABC Family even in the early-mid 00’s.

I do wonder how Valerie Harper felt after doing her infamous victory dance interview following winning her lawsuit that CBS cancelled her Spring 1990 sitcom City that aired opposite of The Hogan Family (very successful start but quickly collapsed) yet picked up the Hogan Family for the fall.

By definition, most Miller-Boyett shows were cheesy, as if all they had learned from working with Garry Marshall were the wacky supporting characters, the annoying catchphrases and the tender "family moments" with their hug-and-learns (tm Larry David/Jerry Seinfeld). They weren't playing for the "Cheers"/"Newhart" crowd; they went strictly for the kids who wanted to see Urkel every week; and their parents, who just wanted to know their kids weren't watching something that had foul language or had boobies and butts cluttering up the screen.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Khan

15 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

I do wonder how Valerie Harper felt after doing her infamous victory dance interview following winning her lawsuit that CBS cancelled her Spring 1990 sitcom City that aired opposite of The Hogan Family (very successful start but quickly collapsed) yet picked up the Hogan Family for the fall.

Honestly, having watched Valerie Harper in so many other things since the first time I watched her in "Valerie," I'm not sure she and Miller/Boyett ever would've been a good fit. As I've said, M/B kept their focus squarely on kids and families; and while I wouldn't classify VH as edgy, I do think her comedic style was more appropriate for older and more intelligent audiences.

2 minutes ago, Khan said:

Honestly, having watched Valerie Harper in so many other things since the first time I watched her in "Valerie," I'm not sure she and Miller/Boyett ever would've been a good fit. As I've said, M/B kept their focus squarely on kids and families; and while I wouldn't classify VH as edgy, I do think her comedic style was more appropriate for older and more intelligent audiences.

Good point. And I actually kind of forgot about Miller/Boyett being involved tbh lol. Obviously between NBC, Lorimar, Miller/Boyett, and then Harper and her husband there was definitely way too many cooks in the kitchen here involved.

16 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Obviously between NBC, Lorimar, Miller/Boyett, and then Harper and her husband there was definitely way too many cooks in the kitchen here involved.

Of course, it could have been just a case of egos clashing - I mean, I've read stories about "Rhoda" rehearsals being tense at times (unlike rehearsals at "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," which were reportedly congenial) - but I do think it's telling how Valerie Harper, an Emmy winner with two other, successful* series under her belt, might have been the only leading actor not to have the greatest working relationship with Miller/Boyett, despite the insistence from others (Suzanne Somers and Telma Hopkins being two off the top of my head) that they were fabulous to work for. I mean, can you really think of any other actor with a similar track record who went anywhere near M/B, let alone worked successfully with them? Maybe Sandy Duncan, but that's about it. Everyone else who worked with them were B/C-level actors, people who weren't known for doing comedies, or people who just weren't known before their shows.

And even though VH wasn't the first to leave an M/B under less-than-ideal circumstances, I don't think M/B went out of their way to trash a departing actor's reputation as much as they went out of their way to trash hers - to the point where, according to Harper herself, she and her husband had Carol Burnett (!) watch some footage of their show for the arbitrator and testify that, contrary to M/B's claims, Valerie couldn't have been intoxicated or some-such while rehearsing on the set.

(*Okay, "Rhoda" imploded after S2, but it managed to run for 101 episodes nevertheless.)

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Khan

My late mom told me that there was a clash between VH and M/B over the direction of the show. She wanted it not to be so slapstick/comedy and to actually do interesting and heartfelt episodes.

Leave it to Willie was an episode that the network sided with VH on and it was a very good episode about how life isn't a sitcom and that things don't get wrapped up neatly in a 30 minute time period.. and the episode ended with things unresolved.

With that said, I liked both Sandy Duncan and Valerie Harper on the show. Both were strong performers.

10 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

With that said, I liked both Sandy Duncan and Valerie Harper on the show. Both were strong performers.

I agree. In Sandy Duncan's case, being a successful replacement for Valerie Harper was a vindication of sorts for her, since her own attempt at a sitcom in the '70's seemed doomed by poor scheduling and her own, real-life health problems. She got to be known for more than just "Peter Pan" and those damn Wheat Thins commercials.

11 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

My late mom told me that there was a clash between VH and M/B over the direction of the show. She wanted it not to be so slapstick/comedy and to actually do interesting and heartfelt episodes.

That's true. Of course, I don't know how interesting one could BE on a Miller/Boyett show. Like, that's asking a lot out of your employers, Miss Harper! (Heartfelt? Maybe. Interesting? Nah, lol).

I guess our current discussion of all things "Valerie"/"Valerie's Family: The Hogans"/"(Just) Valerie's Family"/"The Hogan Family (Valerie Who?)" would be incomplete without posting the show's many, MANY openings in all their late '80's/early '90's glory.

(You know the show doesn't have a prayer on CBS when the new opening (featuring John Hillerman) features zero "fun with food" scenes, a Miller/Boyett opening sequence staple, if ever there was one).

Edited 33 minutes ago33 min by Khan

40 minutes ago, Khan said:

I agree. In Sandy Duncan's case, being a successful replacement for Valerie Harper was a vindication of sorts for her, since her own attempt at a sitcom in the '70's seemed doomed by poor scheduling and her own, real-life health problems. She got to be known for more than just "Peter Pan" and those damn Wheat Thins commercials.

Well, she did also do the requisite Law & Order guest role as defense attorney Michelle (Shelley) Kates in "Paranoia" (Season 6, Episode 6, if anyone wants to watch it on Peacock! Duncan's sparring with Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy was entertaining!)

The L&O Wiki also says she played a judge - another character named Virginia Farrell - on SVU in 2014 and 2015.

2 minutes ago, Wendy said:

Well, she did also do the requisite Law & Order guest role as defense attorney Michelle (Shelley) Kates in "Paranoia" (Season 6, Episode 6, if anyone wants to watch it on Peacock! Duncan's sparring with Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy was entertaining!)

I've seen that episode. The story itself was trash - the kind of hogwash that stinks up SVU every week - but Duncan was amazing in the kind of role I'd never expect to see her in. (And I've seen her as the OG 'Missy Anne,' lol.)