Kelly Kelly (TV series)

Last updated
Kelly Kelly
Genre Sitcom
Created by David Kendall
Starring Shelley Long
Robert Hays
Ashley Johnson
Will Estes
Bug Hall
Gemini Barnett
ComposerPaul Buckley
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producerDavid Kendall
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesItzBinso Long Productions
Utility Pictures
Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network The WB
ReleaseApril 20 (1998-04-20) 
June 7, 1998 (1998-06-07)

Kelly Kelly is an American television sitcom created by David Kendall, starring Shelley Long and Robert Hays, that aired on The WB from April 20 to June 7, 1998. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Kelly Novak is an Ivy League English literature professor who meets widowed fire chief Doug Kelly. The two get married and she becomes Kelly Kelly. They live together in his Secaucus, New Jersey, house with his three sons and one daughter.

Cast

Production

Columbia TriStar Television had originally developed the series, and produced a pilot, before handing over production of the show to Warner Bros. Television. [4] During filming of the first episode, Shelley Long broke a finger while catching a football. [5]

Episodes

After airing two episodes to low ratings, The WB moved the series from Mondays to Sundays. [6] Seven episodes are registered with the United States Copyright Office.

No.TitleDirected byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Episode One" John Tracy April 20, 1998 (1998-04-20)467151
2"The Kilt Show"John TracyApril 27, 1998 (1998-04-27)467152
3"The Wedding Show"John TracyMay 10, 1998 (1998-05-10)467154
4"Bye, Bye, Baby"John TracyMay 17, 1998 (1998-05-17)467155
5"Junior Firefighters"John TracyMay 24, 1998 (1998-05-24)467153
6"Doodler"John TracyMay 31, 1998 (1998-05-31)467156
7"Jealousy" David Kendall June 7, 1998 (1998-06-07)467157

Reception

Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times called the series "routine sitcomdom" with "some occasional bright dialogue". [2] John Carman of the San Francisco Chronicle was also unimpressed, and thought the show was "almost an exact copy of It Had to Be You ", which lasted a month. [1] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe said the series was "neither horrible nor promising, just kind of generic and bland". [7] David Bianculli of the Daily News rated the series one and a half stars, and called the scripts "painfully predictable and not even sporadically amusing". [8] Kevin D. Thompson of The Palm Beach Post also rated the series one and a half stars saying that the show is "a bland family comedy we've seen too many times before". [9] Elaine Liner of the Boston Herald gave the series no stars, as well as grading it "an F as a two-alarm failure". [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The WB</span> American television network (1995–2006)

The WB Television Network was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 34, while its children's division, Kids' WB, targeted children between the ages of 6 and 12.

<i>The King of Queens</i> American television sitcom (1998–2007)

The King of Queens is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show's executive producer, and stars Kevin James and Leah Remini as Doug and Carrie Heffernan, a working-class couple living in Rego Park, Queens. All the episodes were filmed in front of a live studio audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Long</span> American actress and comedian (born 1949)

Shelley Long is an American actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom Cheers, Long received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing the recurring role of DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Fabares</span> American actress and singer (born 1944)

Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is a retired American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom Coach (1989–1997), the latter of which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. Her film roles include playing the leading lady to Elvis Presley in Girl Happy, Spinout and Clambake.

<i>Sabrina the Teenage Witch</i> (1996 TV series) American television sitcom (1996–2003)

Sabrina the Teenage Witch is an American television sitcom created by Nell Scovell, based on the Archie Comics series of the same name. It premiered on September 27, 1996, on ABC to over 17 million viewers in its "T.G.I.F." lineup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. J. Novak</span> American actor (born 1979)

Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Kaye Thomas</span> American actor (born 1980)

Eddie Kaye Thomas is an American actor. He rose to prominence as Paul Finch in the American Pie film series. His other notable appearances include Andy Rosenberg in the Harold & Kumar series, Jeff Woodcock in 'Til Death, genius behaviorist Dr. Tobias "Toby" M. Curtis in CBS show Scorpion, and as series regular Mike Platt in American sitcom Off Centre on The WB.

<i>Savannah</i> (TV series) American TV series

Savannah is an American prime time television soap opera that ran from January 21, 1996 to February 24, 1997 on The WB. Created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling, it was the first one-hour program to air on The WB network. Savannah starred Jamie Luner, Robyn Lively and Shannon Sturges as a trio of friends challenged by outside forces and each other. The first season of the series was The WB's most successful program at the time, but the show was cancelled after two seasons.

Miriam Flynn is an American voice and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the National Lampoon's Vacation and Grandma Longneck in The Land Before Time franchises. She has acted in other films and in several television series, the latter including a recurring role as Sister Helen on the Fox/WB sitcom Grounded for Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPN Kids</span> 1995–1999 Sunday morning childrens block

UPN Kids was an American children's programming block that aired on UPN from September 10, 1995 to September 5, 1999. Airing on Sunday mornings, the block aired for one hour, then two hours the following year.

Ross Aaron Malinger is an American former actor and automobile salesperson. He is best known for his roles as Jonah Baldwin in the 1993 movie Sleepless in Seattle, starring Tom Hanks, and as Bobby Jameson in the 1997 Disney comedy film Toothless, starring Kirstie Alley. He and Alley co-starred in the 1995 television film Peter and the Wolf, where Malinger played Peter. He played Adam Lippman, the Bar Mitzvah boy who liked Elaine's "Shiksa appeal", in the Seinfeld episode "The Serenity Now". He was also the original voice of T.J. Detweiler on the Disney animated TV series Recess.

<i>Hitz</i> American TV series or program

Hitz is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 26 until November 11, 1997. The series follows two record industry executives and their boss at Hitower Records in Los Angeles.

Jenny is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 28, 1997, to January 12, 1998. The series was intended to be a star vehicle for Jenny McCarthy.

"Give Me a Ring Sometime" is the first episode of the American situation comedy Cheers. Written by Glen and Les Charles and directed by James Burrows, the episode first aired September 30, 1982, on NBC in the contiguous United States and on October 14, 1982 in Alaska. The pilot episode introduces the characters at the Cheers bar in Boston: employees Sam Malone, Diane Chambers, Coach Ernie Pantusso, and Carla Tortelli; and regular customers Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin. In this episode, Diane, brought in by her fiancé, meets the employees and patrons of the bar. When she realizes that her fiancé has left her alone in the bar, Diane accepts Sam's offer to be the bar's waitress to start over.

"One for the Road" is the final episode of the American television series Cheers. It was the 271st episode of the series and the twenty-sixth episode of the eleventh season of the show. It first aired on NBC on May 20, 1993, to an audience of approximately 42.4 million households in a 98-minute version, making it the second-highest-rated series finale of all time behind the series finale of M*A*S*H and the highest-rated episode of the 1992–1993 television season in the United States. The 98-minute version was rebroadcast on May 23, 1993, and an edited 90-minute version aired on August 19, 1993.

Sally Carman-Duttine is an English actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Kelly Maguire in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Shameless (2005–2013), and Abi Franklin in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2017–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Chambers</span> Fictional character in the series Cheers

Diane Chambers is a fictional character in the American television situation comedy show Cheers, portrayed by Shelley Long and created by Glen and Les Charles. After her fiancé Sumner Sloan abandons her in the Cheers bar in the pilot episode, Diane works as a bar waitress. She has an on-off relationship with the womanizing bartender Sam Malone and a one-year relationship with Frasier Crane, who later becomes a main character of the series and Frasier. When Long left the series during the fifth season, the producers wrote her character out. After that, they added her permanent replacement Rebecca Howe, a businesswoman played by Kirstie Alley, in the sixth season. Shelley Long made a special guest appearance as Diane in the series finale, as well as in Frasier as a one-time figment of Frasier's imagination, and as the actual Diane in the crossover episode "The Show Where Diane Comes Back".

<i>Katie Joplin</i> 1999 American sitcom that aired on The WB

Katie Joplin is an American sitcom created by Tom Seeley and Norm Gunzenhauser that aired for one season on The WB Television Network from August to September 1999. Park Overall stars as the title character, a single mother who moves from Knoxville to Philadelphia and tries to balance her job as a radio program host with parenting her teenage son Greg. Supporting characters include Katie's niece Liz Berlin as well as her co-workers, played by Jay Thomas, Jim Rash, and Simon Rex. Majandra Delfino guest-starred in three episodes as the daughter of the radio station's general manager.

In 1995, Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries' United Television launched United Paramount Network (UPN) with Star Trek: Voyager as its flagship series, fulfilling Barry Diller's plan for a Paramount network from 25 years earlier. In 1999, Viacom bought out United Television's interests, and handed responsibility for the start-up network to the newly acquired CBS unit, which Viacom bought in 1999 – an ironic confluence of events as Paramount had once invested in CBS, and Viacom had once been the syndication arm of CBS as well. During this period the studio acquired some 30 television stations to support the UPN network as well acquiring and merging in the assets of Republic Pictures, Spelling Television and Viacom Television, almost doubling the size of the studio's television library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of The WB</span> History of the defunct American broadcast television network

The WB was an American broadcast television network operated as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company. Launched on January 11, 1995, it was one of two networks developed by major film and television studios in late 1993—alongside the United Paramount Network —to compete with Fox and the longer established Big Three television networks.

References

  1. 1 2 Carman, John (April 20, 1998). "'Kelly Kelly' Is Simply Awful Awful". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Rosenberg, Howard (April 20, 1998). "'Kelly Kelly' Has a Feeling of Deja Vu". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  3. Gates, Anita (April 18, 1998). "Television Review; She's a Gentile, He's a Jew. Hmm, Sound Familiar?". The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  4. Hontz, Jenny (January 6, 1998). "WBTV getting 'Kelly' on rebound from Col". Variety . Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  5. Williams, Scott (April 20, 1998). "Shelley Long Tackles a New Sitcom on WB". Daily News . p. 72.
  6. Hontz, Jenny (April 30, 1998). "WB bumps 'One' from Sundays". Variety. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  7. Gilbert, Matthew (April 20, 1998). "Long's 'Kelly' Too Short on Wit". The Boston Globe . pp. C.12.
  8. Bianculli, David (April 20, 1998). "'Kelly Kelly's' Comedy Doesn't Bear Repeating". Daily News. p. 70.
  9. Thompson, Kevin D. (April 20, 1998). "'Kelly' is 'Brady Bunch' Without Laughs". The Palm Beach Post . pp. 1.D.
  10. Liner, Elaine (April 17, 1998). "Television review; Weeding out the losers; Spring crop of sitcoms sends us crabgrass". Boston Herald . p. 55.