Harry and the Hendersons (TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Harry and the Hendersons


caption =
format = Sitcom
runtime = 30 minutes
(with commercials)
starring = Bruce Davison
Molly Cheek
Carol-Ann Plante
Zachary Bostrom
Kevin Peter Hall
Dawan Scott
Brian Steele
opentheme =
country =
network =
first_aired = January 13, 1991
creator =
last_aired = June 18, 1993
num_seasons = 3
num_episodes = 72
list_episodes =
imdb_id = 0098818
tv_com_id = 660 |

"Harry and the Hendersons" is an American sitcom based on the film of the same name, produced by Amblin Entertainment for Universal Television. It aired in first-run syndication from January 13, 1991 to June 18, 1993, with over 72 half-hour episodes produced. The series is about a family who adopt a Bigfoot called Harry.

Plot

On their way home to Denver from a camping trip, the Hendersons accidentally run over a strange and unknown creature. Unsure what else to do, they strap it to the roof of their car and take it home. Once there, the revived creature goes wild, rampaging throughout the house. Eventually, the family realizes that the creature is the legendary Bigfoot, and is actually very gentle. Given the name "Harry", the creature's curiosity leads him to escape, running through the city as sightings of him strike fear into the populace (and greed into the heart of one French Canadian). Trying to hide Harry from the Seattle authorities and the hunter who wants his hide, the Hendersons come to realize that the best thing for Harry is to return him to his home in the wilderness.

Credits contain an artistic representation of key scenes from the film.

The film was subsequently expanded into a half-hour TV sitcom, also called Harry and the Hendersons; however, the artistic representations were lost. This lasted for three seasons and 72 episodes. Bruce Davison and Molly Cheek played the parents with Carol-Ann Plante and Zachary Bostrom as the children. Kevin Peter Hall played the role of Harry in both the film and TV series, until his death late in the production of the first season. He was replaced first by Dawan Scott and then by Brian Steele in the third season (Steele had filled in for Scott in the Harry costume for numerous scenes during season two, before taking over the role full time).

In the series, George and Nancy were an upwardly mobile two-career couple, with the former working for a sporting goods company. George eventually launched his own magazine, "The Better Life", late in the second season. Initially helping the Hendersons with Harry's care, and sasquatch research, was Walter Potter, a biologist working for the Department of Animal Control. Also seen early on were the Glicks, neighbors of the Hendersons; Samantha was a pretty, young single mother and reporter, and Tiffany was her precocious little girl, a classmate of Ernie's who had an obvious crush on him. Samantha, Tiffany, and Walter were all written out after the first season, but the aspect of having a girl next door who chased after Ernie was retained through a new character, Darcy Payne, for the 1991-92 season. Darcy was more annoying than her predecessor, and spent all her waking hours trying to make the Hendersons' young son hers. However, she did catch on to the fact that the family was hiding a bigfoot, and had several close encounters with Harry; fortunately, Darcy disappeared from the show before she could have exposed the secret about him. Nancy's younger brother Bret, a photographer, moved in with the Hendersons in the second season, and was also sworn to secrecy about Harry. When George began "The Better Life" in the spring of 1992, Bret was hired as the publication's chief photographer and a financial beneficiary.

The following year brought many changes, as in the season premiere Harry's existence was accidentally exposed. Just as the Hendersons feared he would be captured by the government and possibly killed, he was rather embraced by the public and received overnight regional fame. For a while, Harry had to adjust to a high-profile life full of exhibition and additional scientific studies, but at the same time the entire family got used to resting more comfortably now that they didn't have to hide the big creature from view anymore. Hilton, a friend of Ernie's and the son of a local police chief, joined the cast in the third season.

Cast

* Kevin Peter Hall - Harry (1990-1991)
* Dawan Scott - Harry (1991-1992)
* Brian Steele - Harry (1992-1993)
* Bruce Davison - George Henderson
* Molly Cheek - Nancy Henderson
* Carol-Ann Plante - Sara Henderson
* Zachary Bostrom - Ernie Henderson
* Gigi Rice - Samantha Glick (1990-1991)
* Cassie Cole - Tiffany Glick (1990-1991)
* David Coburn - Walter Potter (1990-1991)
* Noah Blake - Bret Douglas (1991-1993)
* Courtney Peldon - Darcy Payne (1991-1992)
* Mark Dakota Robinson - Hilton Woods, Jr. (1992-1993)

Episode list

Season one

# The Arrival of Nothing
# The Day After Yesterday
# Cool Hand Luke
# Harry goes Home (1)
# Whose Forest Is It Anyway??? (2)
# The Father-Daughter Syndrome
# Banging the Big One
# Harry the Heroshima
# Curb the Roots
# The Mentor
# The Bodyguard Goes To Market
# Harry and the Homeless Man
# Harry Goes Ape Sh*t
# Pet Psychic Hotel
# The Bigfoot That Ate Starbucks
# Harry and the Masked Wrestler and the Legend of the Stone Table
# When Harry Met Sammy Davis Junior
# Harry and the Cheerleaders do Dallas

Season two

# Retrospective
# The Terror of The Trees
# Sarah Sings the Blues
# Mom
# The Ransom of Bigfoot
# Halloween
# Brett Hits Home
# George's White Light Cream Cake
# Working Stiffs
# Love Mask
# The Blue Parrotting
# Winning
# 'Til Theft Do Us Part
# The Genius
# Wild Things
# Fatherhood
# Sara Spills the Bigfoot Beans
# The Green Pea Eating Bigfoot
# The Itchologist
# Selling Out
# The Girl Who Cried
# The Busybody
# I Got Your Birthday Right Here

Season three

# Yo Richie!
# The Bigfootchurian Candidate
# The Bridel and the Glue
# Born Again
# The Old Bigfoot
# The Outing
# Hary Henderson, National Treasure Starring Nick Cage
# Retrospective Five Hundred
# Blood is Thicker Than an Arm
# Pitch, Pitch, Pitch
# Harry the Mascot
# The Big Kiss Off
# The Frenchman
# Laid Up
# Harrywood Babylon
# Witness (!)
# Harry the Hostage
# Exterminator
# Beauty and the Beast
# Big Feet, Big.....
# Surf's Downtown
# Follow Your Part
# Them Bones Need Scralling
# The Three Facts of Brett
# Ernie Confidential
# Uncle Mack Comes Back From The Grave
# Skin Deep is the Only Way To Go
# Retrospective Twelve
# The Long Goodbyes (1)
# The Long Goodbyes (2)

Notes

* The series' theme song was "Your Feets Too Big", performed by Leon Redbone.
* Before the car hits Harry in the first episode, it already had a huge dent in it.

See also

* Harry and the Hendersons

External links

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