| 3/14/2010 8:24 PM |
|---|
zaxxar
Member since: 12/9/2008 | | Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | *Note: The following thread is not a thread demanding for more of Mr. Belvedere. Instead, it's a celebration thread to commemorate its 25th anniversary.*
I would like to take this time off to wish a happy 25th anniversary to one of Shout Factory's TV-on-DVD properties. That being none other than the one and only "Mr. Belvedere". Can't believe it's a quarter-of-a-century old!
"Mr. Belvedere" premiered exactly 25 years ago on March 15, 1985, on the ABC Television Network on the network's Friday night lineup at 8:30 P.M. with the "Stranger in the Night" pilot episode, the one where a British butler named Mr. Lynn Belvedere first descended onto the Owens family household in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in response to a want ad placed by Mom Marsha to hire someone to look after their three kids Kevin, Heather, and Wesley, much the annoyance of George.
The series premiered halfway through the 1984-1985 television season in the spring of 1985 as a mid-season replacement. After its 7-episode trial run (the first of which being the aforementioned pilot episode), ABC ordered 22 newer and even funnier episodes for season 2, which premiered in the fall of that same year, and would continue to do so for each subsequent season, until the end of its final season in 1990. By the end of it all, a grand total of 117 episodes were produced. 10 of them (2 from season 5 and 8 from season 6) aired in syndication, and only in syndication. In addition, there were 2 episodes made during season 4 that weren't shown until season 5.
Despite never being a top 30 hit in any of its 6 seasons, barely getting any syndication exposure, and nearly getting canceled in 1987, the series managed to maintain a loyal and devoted cult following that helped keep the show on for as long as it could, until it couldn't keep going any longer, by not only keeping audiences entertained, but by also dealing with really serious subjects, such as AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer's Disease, and child molestation.
Even after cancellation, the show still continues to be remembered fondly and affectionately to this day (I don't think anyone could forget that catchy theme song sung by Leon Redbone). Even to this day, the show continues to be referenced whenever it can be. The most recent reference I've heard was in "Funny People" with Adam Sandler, which I saw at my local movie theater last summer ("It's okay. When I first moved here, I blew Mr. Belvedere.")
Before becoming a TV Series, the "Mr. Belvedere" character originated as a 1947 novel written by Gwen Davenport. A year later, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation adapted that novel to make a trilogy movies, the first of which was titled "Sitting Pretty". All three movies starred American-born actor Clifton Webb as the title character (the other two movies were 1949's "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College", and 1951's "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell"). In addition, there were also three unsuccessful pilots to turn the character into a TV. There was one with Reginald Gardiner that aired as an episode of Fox Television's "The 20th Century Fox Hour", one with Hans Conreid in 1959, and one with Victor Buono in 1965. It was the 4th attempt, with British-born actor Christopher Hewett, that proved to be successful, and the rest being nothing more than history.
It's been 25 years since the series first went on the air, and with Mr. Hewett gone (he died in 2001 from complications from diabetes), only the cast members who portrayed as the Owens family on the show (Bob Uecker, Ilene Graff, Rob Stone, Tracy Wells, and Brice Beckham, all of whom are never-aging) are still with us to this day.
So happy 25th anniversary to one of the most enduring 1980's sitcoms of all time! |
|
 |
| 3/15/2010 5:13 AM |
|---|
TV_Fan
Member since: 7/5/2007 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | Happy Anniversary to Mr Belvedere!
Please bring "Starman" the 1986-87 tv series, Silver Spoons seasons 2 & beyond and Jennifer Slept Here to DVD. |
|
|
| 3/16/2010 5:06 PM |
|---|
12thman
Member since: 3/20/2008 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | | Feel a tiny bit older now thanks. |
|
|
| 3/16/2010 7:45 PM |
|---|
kiss1fan
Member since: 4/21/2009 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | | Not bad for a show that lasted 6 seasons. |
|
|
| 3/16/2010 8:12 PM |
|---|
supermannut
Member since: 5/2/2009 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | | Sadly this show never got the respect it deserved. |
|
|
| 3/16/2010 8:40 PM |
|---|
12thman
Member since: 3/20/2008 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | | I have to agree supermannut. |
|
|
| 3/17/2010 5:29 PM |
|---|
coltsfan
Member since: 8/24/2009 | | RE: Happy 25th Anniversary to Mr. Belvedere | | Any anniversary cake? |
|
