A Family for Joe is an American sitcom that starred Robert Mitchum in the title role. It started out as a television movie that aired NBC on February 25, 1990, before turning it into a series that lasted from March 24 until August 19, 1990.[2] Nine episodes of the series were filmed.[3]

A Family for Joe
GenreSitcom
Created byArnold Margolin
Written by
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes9
Production
Executive producers
  • Sonny Grosso
  • Larry Jacobson
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseMarch 24 (1990-03-24) –
August 19, 1990 (1990-08-19)

Plot

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A Family for Joe is about the Bankston children, 13-year-old Nick (Chris Furrh), 11-year-old Holly (Maia Brewton), 9-year-old Chris (Jarrad Paul), and 7-year-old Mary (Jessica Player) who have been recently orphaned. Rather than have themselves split up into foster care, they find a homeless man, Joe (Robert Mitchum), to live with them and act as their grandfather. It isn't until Joe is granted monitored guardianship of the children by a family court judge when the real trial between him and them all begins.

Cast

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Episodes

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TV Movie

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TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
"A Family for Joe"Jeff MelmanArnold MargolinFebruary 25, 1990 (1990-02-25)

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"A Little Romance"UnknownUnknownMarch 24, 1990 (1990-03-24)
2"The Medium"UnknownUnknownMarch 31, 1990 (1990-03-31)
3"Nick's Heart"UnknownUnknownApril 7, 1990 (1990-04-07)
4"An Earful"Alan RafkinOliver Goldstick & Phil RosenthalApril 14, 1990 (1990-04-14)
5"Life of the Party"UnknownUnknownApril 28, 1990 (1990-04-28)
6"Law and Order"UnknownUnknownMay 5, 1990 (1990-05-05)
7"Once a Bum"UnknownUnknownAugust 5, 1990 (1990-08-05)
8"Night School"UnknownUnknownAugust 12, 1990 (1990-08-12)
9"Having a Baby"Alan RafkinRenee Phillips & Carrie HonigblumAugust 19, 1990 (1990-08-19)

Response

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Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly rated the series a D, stating that "the kids are leering little creeps, the jokes are moronic, and Joe's homelessness is already absent from the show's current scripts".[4]

In the documentary series The Write Environment, writer Philip Rosenthal (who would go on to create Everybody Loves Raymond) talks about being a staff writer on the series.

References

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  1. ^ a b "'Raymond' creator pacts for $16 mil deal". Variety. July 30, 1997. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  2. ^ "Capsules". Entertainment Weekly. March 23, 1990. Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  3. ^ Klein, Alvin (April 22, 1990). "Theater; A Scarsdale Student 'Ready For Prime Time'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  4. ^ Tucker, Ken (April 13, 1990). "TV reviews for the week of April 13". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
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