Charles in Charge

Charles in Charge
Charles in Charge
Charles in Charge.jpg
Title screen for Charles in Charge
Format Sitcom
Created by Michael Jacobs
Barbara Weisberg
Directed by Alan Rafkin
Tony Singeltary
Lee Lochhead
(season 1)
Starring Scott Baio
Willie Aames
Julie Cobb (1984-1985)
James Widdoes (1984-1985)
April Lerman (1984-1985)
Jonathan Ward (1984-1985)
Michael Pearlman (1984-1985)
Jennifer Runyon (1984-1985)
Sandra Kerns (1987-1990)
Nicole Eggert (1987-1990)
Josie Davis (1987-1990)
Alexander Polinsky (1987-1990)
Ellen Travolta (1987-1990)
James T. Callahan (1987-1990)
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 126 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Al Burton
Jane Startz
Michael Jacobs
(seasons 2-5)
Producer(s) Michael Jacobs
(season 1)
Roseanne Leto
(first episode)
Mitchell Bank
Todd E. Kessler
(seasons 2-5)
Running time 24:30 (CBS); 22:30 (first-run syndication)
Production company(s) Scholastic Productions
Al Burton Productions
Universal Television
Distributor MCA Television
The Program Exchange (1986-present)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS (1984-1985)
first-run syndication (1987-1990)
Original run October 3, 1984 (CBS)
January 3, 1987 (first-run syndication) – April 3, 1985 (CBS)
November 10, 1990 (first-run syndication)

Charles in Charge is an American sitcom series which starred Scott Baio as Charles, a 19-year-old student at the fictional Copeland College in New Jersey,[1] who worked as a live-in babysitter in exchange for room and board.[2] Baio directed many episodes of the show, and was credited with his full name, Scott Vincent Baio.

It was first broadcast on CBS from October 3, 1984 to April 3, 1985, when it was cancelled due to a struggle in the Nielsen ratings. It then had a more successful first-run syndication run from January 3, 1987 to November 10, 1990. 126 original episodes were aired in total. The show was produced by Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television.

Contents

Premise

Charles first worked for the Pembroke family: wife Jill, husband Stan, and their three children: Lila, Douglas, and Jason.

When the show ended its run on CBS, and entered first-run syndication in 1987, the story explained that the Pembrokes sub-leased their house and moved to Seattle, and the Powells moved in instead, thereby allowing Charles to live downstairs yet again. This time, the family consisted of grandfather Walter, mother Ellen (whose husband was in the Navy and consequently could only visit his family sporadically), and her three children: Jamie, Sarah, and Adam.

Cast

Main cast

Actor Role
Scott Baio Charles
Willie Aames Buddence "Buddy" Lembeck
1984–1985
Jennifer Runyon Gwendolyn Pierce
James Widdoes Stan Pembroke
Julie Cobb Jill Pembroke
April Lerman Lila Pembroke
Jonathan Ward Douglas Pembroke
Michael Pearlman Jason Pembroke
1987–1990
James T. Callahan Walter Powell
Sandra Kerns Ellen Powell
Nicole Eggert Jamie Powell
Josie Davis Sarah Powell
Alexander Polinsky Adam Powell
Ellen Travolta Lillian

Charles' mother, Lillian, was played by Ellen Travolta, John Travolta's sister. She also played her sisters (Charles's aunts), Sally and Vanessa. She had previously played the mother of Chachi Arcola, Scott Baio's character on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi. Chachi's real name, incidentally, was also Charles.

Nicole Eggert went on to star in Baywatch (1992–1994). Josie Davis also made one appearance in a 1998 Baywatch episode. Both Charles in Charge and Baywatch were TV shows that began on network TV, before moving to first-run syndication.

Guest cast

Ben Stein guest starred as "Stanley Willard", a malevolent loan officer, guidance counselor, college professor and mental patient throughout the series.

Season 1

During the first season, Jerry Levine had a recurring role as Elliott Pembroke, Stan's nephew.

Meg Ryan guest starred as "Meagan Parker" in two episodes of the show's first season: "War" on October 24, 1984[3] and "Charles 'R' Us" on February 13, 1985.[4]

Rue McClanahan guest starred as "Irene Pembroke," the children's paternal grandmother, in "Home for the Holidays," aired on December 19, 1984, and in "Pressure from Grandma," aired on January 30, 1985.

Matthew Perry portrayed Lila Pembroke's mistaken date, "Ed Stanley," in the episode "The Wrong Guy".

Christina Applegate portrayed Lila's friend Stacy in the episodes "Slumber Party" and "Snowed In."

The episode "Snowed In" on February 6, 1985, had a minor role for Kathy Ireland.

Season 3

The Facts of Life star Mindy Cohn guest starred in one episode as Buddy's fun loving sister who has a problem with alcoholism in the episode "Bottle Baby."

Addams Family actor John Astin guest starred in the episode "The Pickle Plot" as Charles' uncle Joe, the head of a pickle company.

Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar guest starred in the episode "Runaround Charles" as a classmate of Jamie's

Season 4

For a few episodes of this season, Justin Whalin played Lillian's nephew Anthony.

Erika Eleniak, who played Charles' girlfriend on three episodes, later went on to star in Baywatch (1989–1992).[5][6]

Donny Most, who played Ralph on Happy Days, made a cameo appearance in "It's a Blunderfull Life".

Sally Struthers who played Gloria on All in the Family guest starred as Jamie's teacher in episode "Sill at Large"

Season 5

Samantha Fox appeared in one episode playing a famous singer named Samantha Steele on "Paper Covers Rock".

Paul Walker plays an illiterate friend of Sarah Powell on "Dead Puck Society".

Ami Foster plays a snobbish friend of Jamie's on "Out with the In Crowd".

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen plays Charles' girlfriend Jennifer on "There's a Girl in My Ficus".

Theme song

The theme song was composed by David Kurtz, Michael Jacobs, and Al Burton, and performed by Shandi Sinnamon. The theme music was mellower in the first season, and was remixed for the syndication run.

References in pop culture

Beastie Boys called the show "Chachi in Charge" on their song "Hey Ladies" from the album Paul's Boutique.

Relient K covered the Charles in Charge theme song and wrote additional lyrics about the show on their album Relient K.

On the Family Guy season 3 episode "The Thin White Line", a flashback shows Peter Griffin working as a security guard for George Harrison from The Beatles on the night he was attacked by an assailant. Peter is in a guard hut with his feet up and is watching the title sequence of Charles in Charge season 1 while singing along to the theme music, as a knife-wielding man scales the fence behind him and runs into the house followed by much commotion to which Peter says "Hey, quiet down in there! You wacky Beatle..."

On the Scrubs episode "My Nightingale", Ted's band sings the Charles in Charge theme song. In addition in the episode "Our True Lies", Lucy Bennett's ringtone plays the Charles in Charge theme song.

The Bloodhound Gang performed a parody in which Jimmy Pop sings the Charles in Charge theme song in an Axl Rose voice on "Shitty Record Offer" from their 1995 album Use Your Fingers.

On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the host performed the Charles in Charge theme song as Bob Dylan.

On the Season 20 episode of The Simpsons, "Father Knows Worst", there is a reference to the cooks in the Springfield Elementary cafeteria being retired TV comedy writers, with one of the cooks explaining the basic premise of Charles in Charge to the other cooks, all retired TV comedy writers.

The theme song ""Charles in Charge"" was covered by Electric Hellfire Club with a Goth and Industrial beat and style from the two cd set of 36 TV show opening tunes as cover songs by Gothic and Industrial bands. The CD titled TV Terror: Felching a Dead Horse was released in September 1997

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a 3-disc set of the first season of Charles in Charge on DVD in North America on February 14, 2006. Due to poor sales, Universal licensed the rights to release the remaining four seasons to Arts Alliance America (which has since changed its name to Virgil Films & Entertainment) during the summer of 2007. Seasons four and five are not generally available, but were both released in mid-2009 as Amazon exclusives. Soon after the release of season 5, Amazon placed a note on the season 4 and 5 product pages indicating the items could not be shipped internationally.[7][8][9][10]

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete First Season 22 February 14, 2006
The Complete Second Season 26 November 20, 2007
The Complete Third Season 26 May 20, 2008
The Complete Fourth Season 26 March 24, 2009
The Complete Fifth Season 26 July 28, 2009

References

  1. ^ "Charles in Charge - The Complete First Season DVD Review". Sitcoms Online. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/charlesinchargeseason1dvdreview.html. Retrieved March 25, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Charles in Charge (TV Series) Overview". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/work/319778. Retrieved March 25, 2009. 
  3. ^ Charles in Charge "War." IMDb.Retrieved 30 June 2007
  4. ^ Charles in Charge "Charles 'R' Us." IMDb. Retrieved 30 June 2007
  5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000143/ accessed 6/23/2009
  6. ^ http://epguides.com/CharlesinCharge/ accessed 6/23/2009
  7. ^ Where Does the 4th Season of the Scott Baio Series Currently Stand? TVShowsOnDVD.com. January 28, 2009.
  8. ^ Charles in Charge Season 4 Amazon.com. March 7, 2009.
  9. ^ Charles in Charge Season 5 Amazon.com. June 5, 2009
  10. ^ Charles in Charge - The 5th and Final Season is Available on DVD in July! TVShowsOnDVD.com. June 5, 2009

External links


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