Ink (TV series)

For the 2008 cartoon, see I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids.

Ink
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Diane English
Starring	Ted Danson Mary Steenburgen Alana Austin Christine Ebersole Saul Rubinek Charlie Robinson Jenica Bergere Jonathan Katz
Composer	W.G. Snuffy Walden
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Diane English Ted Danson Mary Steenburgen
Producer	John Amodeo
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Shukovsky English Entertainment Addis/Wechsler Television DreamWorks Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 21, 1996 (1996-10-21) – May 19, 1997 (1997-05-19)

Ink is an American television sitcom which aired on CBS from October 21, 1996, to May 19, 1997, that starred real-life husband and wife Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen as divorced newspaper journalists, allegedly inspired by the film His Girl Friday . The show was also produced by Danson and Steenburgen. The show was canceled after one season due to lower than expected ratings. The show's pilot was drastically changed and reshot from the original version. Ink was filmed at the soundstages of CBS Studio City in the Studio City area of Los Angeles. Outdoor scenes were usually shot at the small backlot streets of the same studio.

Cast

• Ted Danson as Mike Logan
• Mary Steenburgen as Kate Montgomery
• Alana Austin as Abby Logan
• Christine Ebersole as Belinda Carhardt
• Saul Rubinek as Alan Mesnick
• Charlie Robinson as Ernie Trainor
• Jenica Bergere as Donna French
• Jonathan Katz as Leo

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Viewers (millions)
1	"Above the Fold"	Thomas Schlamme	Diane English	October 21, 1996 (1996-10-21)	16.41 [1]
2	"Paper Cuts"	Thomas Schlamme	Jeffrey Klarik	October 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)	14.8 [2]
3	"Getting Above the Hemp"	Thomas Schlamme	Jack Burditt	November 11, 1996 (1996-11-11)	15.5 [3]
4	"High Noon"	Thomas Schlamme	Dawn DeKeyser	November 18, 1996 (1996-11-18)	15.3 [4]
5	"The Sandwich"	Jay Sandrich	Jhoni Marchinko	November 25, 1996 (1996-11-25)	15.1 [5]
6	"Mike & Kelly & Max & Kate"	Jay Sandrich	Stephen Nathan	December 9, 1996 (1996-12-09)	13.3 [6]
7	"United We Fall"	Jay Sandrich	Jack Burditt	December 16, 1996 (1996-12-16)	12.2 [7]
8	"The Black Book"	Jay Sandrich	Jeff Filgo & Jackie Behan	January 6, 1997 (1997-01-06)	13.81 [8]
9	"Devil in a Blue Dress"	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Jeff Filgo & Jackie Behan	January 13, 1997 (1997-01-13)	14.33 [9]
10	"Funny, You Don't Look One Hundred"	Phillip Charles MacKenzie	Dawn DeKeyser	January 20, 1997 (1997-01-20)	14.12 [10]
11	"The English-Speaking Patients"	Philip Charles Mackenzie	Stephen Nathan & Marc Flanagan	February 3, 1997 (1997-02-03)	13.20 [11]
12	"The Bodyguard: Part 1"	Robert Berlinger	Jhoni Marchinko	February 10, 1997 (1997-02-10)	13.54 [12]
13	"The Bodyguard: Part 2"	Brian K. Roberts	Jhoni Marchinko	February 17, 1997 (1997-02-17)	15.09 [13]
14	"Life Without Mikey"	Jay Sandrich	Jack Burditt	February 24, 1997 (1997-02-24)	12.63 [14]
15	"Breaking the Rules"	Robert Berlinger	Craig Hoffman	March 3, 1997 (1997-03-03)	15.77 [15]
16	"Face Off"	Jay Sandrich	Scott Kaufer	March 10, 1997 (1997-03-10)	12.96 [16]
17	"The Fighting Irish"	Barnet Kellman	Story by : Michael Baser & Frank Dungan Teleplay by : Michael Baser, Frank Dungan, & Diane English	April 7, 1997 (1997-04-07)	13.15 [17]
18	"Logan's Run"	David Steinberg	Jeff Filgo & Jackie Behan	April 21, 1997 (1997-04-21)	9.12 [18]
19	"The Debutante"	Gail Mancuso	Chris Alberghini & Mike Chessler	April 28, 1997 (1997-04-28)	13.15 [19]
20	"The Bodyguard Strikes Back"	Brian K. Roberts	Jhoni Marchinko	May 5, 1997 (1997-05-05)	11.17 [20]
21	"Murphy's Law"	Joe Regalbuto	Diane English	May 12, 1997 (1997-05-12)	14.02 [21]
22	"Going to the Dogs"	Joe Regalbuto	Stephen Nathan & Jack Burditt	May 19, 1997 (1997-05-19)	12.19 [22]

Production

The original concept from the show came from Jeffrey Lane, who came up with the idea. Lane abruptly exited, and a handful of showrunners came in, and settled on Diane English, who created Murphy Brown . ^[23]

The original pilot was infamous for the reporters using typewriters. ^[24]

References

1. "Top Ranked Programs in Primetime for the Week of 10/21-10/27 as ranked by Nielsen Media Research". UltimateTV. Archived from the original on November 17, 1999. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
2. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . November 6, 1996. p. 3D.
3. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . November 20, 1996. p. 3D.
4. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . November 27, 1996. p. 3D.
5. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 4, 1996. p. 3D.
6. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 18, 1996. p. 3D.
7. "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today . December 25, 1996. p. 3D.
8. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 6-12, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . January 15, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 13-19, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . January 22, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
10. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 20-26, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . January 29, 1997. Retrieved March 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 3-9, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . February 12, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
12. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 10-16, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . February 20, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
13. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 17-23, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . February 26, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
14. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 24-March 2, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . March 5, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
15. "National Nielsen Viewership (March 3–9, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . March 12, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
16. "National Nielsen Viewership (March 10–16, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . March 19, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
17. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 7–13, 1997)". Los Angeles Times . April 16, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
18. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 21–27, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . April 30, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
19. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 28-May 4, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . May 7, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
20. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 5–11, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . May 14, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
21. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 12–18, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . May 21, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
22. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 19–25, 1997)". The Los Angeles Times . May 29, 1997. Retrieved November 7, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
23. "English takes over 'Ink'" (PDF). Broadcasting . September 2, 1996. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
24. https://www.deseret.com/1996/10/21/19272894/new-and-improved-ink-finally-debuts/

External links

• Official Website
• Ink at IMDb