Sons & Daughters (US TV series)

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This article is about the American television show. For other uses, see Sons and Daughters.
Sons & Daughters
Image:sons&dagutherslogo.png
The Sons logo.
Genre Improvisational comedy
Camera setup Multiple cameras
Running time 20 minutes approx.
Creator(s) Fred Goss
Lorne Michaels
Nick Holly
Starring Fred Goss
Gillian Vigman
Jerry Lambert
Alison Quinn
Max Gail
Dee Wallace-Stone
Amanda Walsh
Desmond Harrington
Country of origin USA
Original channel ABC
Original run March 7, 2006April 4, 2006
No. of episodes 11 (1 unaired)
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Sons & Daughters was a short-lived American situation comedy about an extended blended family living close together in a neighborhood (somewhat inspired by the series Arrested Development [1]). The producers, Significant Others creator Fred Goss (who also is the star of the show), Lorne Michaels (who was a co-creator of Saturday Night Live), and Nick Holly, flavored the show with a mixed atmosphere of improvisational and scripted humor. The show premiered on March 7, 2006 on ABC. The show is produced by Broadway Video (which also produces Saturday Night Live) and NBC Universal Television. It was cancelled in late April 2006 after 10 episodes aired, leaving one unaired episode.

Contents

[edit] Improvisational aspect

Sons & Daughters has been dubbed a "unique hybrid comedy"; the show followed the format used in Curb Your Enthusiasm, using a partly-scripted, partly-improvisational comedy dialogue. In an interview with co-creator Nick Holly from the Associated Press, he explained that the actors were presented not with a traditional script, but with a "short story" that "occasionally includes a line or two of dialogue, but is normally just this novelization."

Unlike the traditional sitcom, Sons & Daughters was not filmed with a live studio audience and did not use a laugh track for the show.

[edit] Plot sypnosis

Cameron and Liz Walker.
Enlarge
Cameron and Liz Walker.

Cameron Walker's (Goss) world revolves around him and his extended family, which includes wife Liz (Vigman), his son Henry (Einhorn), his mother and stepfather, Colleen and Wendal Halbert (Wallace-Stone, Gail), and his other plethora of brothers and sisters. He is considered the only sane person in his family and tries to fix any problem that arises within the family.

Cameron's sister and brother-in-law Sharon (Quinn) and Don Fenton (Lambert) seem to create more problems for him rather than themselves. The couple are almost always in deep denial about their personal issues, such as not having sex for several years.

Jenna (Walsh), Sharon and Cameron's half-sister, is a single mother of one who is continuously attracted to the "bad boy" personality, such as "Whitey" (Pitts), and steers away from the "nice guy" types, like Wylie (Harrington).

Their parents, Colleen and Wendal, love their family but have profound complications within their own relationship. Cameron constantly tries to help them solve their issues, but it doesn't always work out the way he expects.

[edit] Quotes

  • Don (after Sharon criticizes him for a bad performance in bed): "Well, what about you? It's like throwing a wrench into a closet."
  • Carrie (On her mother and father sleeping in separate beds) : "When you guys do it, does he come to your bed, or do you go to his? Does he 'stay the night', like a little 'sleepover'?"
  • Don (Mixing up his big line in his theater production): "I'm sorry to inform you sir. But it appears... the murder has been coloneled."
  • Cameron (After watching his nephew's girlfriend walk away): "Did you see that skirt? She defies gravity! She must've stood on her head 'til she was 15!"
  • Liz Walker (After taking Henry to the doctor): "It's called wishful flushing."

[edit] Cancellation

There was some question as to whether this show would've been picked up by ABC after the first season. It did not receive the ratings that would merit an automatic pickup, however it has been rumored that ABC executives liked the show. It also had a strong fanbase, and on April 17, 2006 a fan started an online petition [2] to bring the show back, which Fred Goss mentioned on his blog. It failed, and it was canceled late April, 2006. The shows cancellation was again confirmed by the creator Fred Goss on May 15, 2006.

[edit] Possible Pick Up

Fred Goss had posted on his MySpace blog that he and Nick Holly were in the process of trying to find Sons & Daughters a new home on another network. Subsequent to that post, Fred Goss has officially announced that Sons & Daughters will not be picked up on another network.

[edit] DVD

The first season was scheduled to be available on DVD in late 2006. However, these plans have been cancelled due to issues with licensing the music used in the series, according to Fred Goss's Blog

[edit] Cast

The cast of Sons & Daughters.
Enlarge
The cast of Sons & Daughters.

[edit] External links

In other languages