Unhappily Ever After
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Unhappily Ever After (often shortened to Unhappily... in promotional advertisements) was an American sitcom that aired for 100 episodes on The WB network from January 11, 1995 to May 23, 1999, for a total of four and a half seasons.
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[edit] Plot
The show was about Jack Malloy, a father overstressed from his miserable job as a used car salesman, and his dysfunctional family that consisted of Jennie, a sex-crazed wife who divorced him and moved out (after being killed off and brought back to life); Tiffany, a skimpy-dressing but overachieving daughter; Ryan, an idiot son; Ross, the younger, usually ignored son who craved attention; and Mr. Floppy, a smoking, drinking, and perverted gray stuffed animal rabbit located in the basement, that only Jack can hear (most likely as a result of his schizophrenia; a main part of the show is Jack consulting Mr. Floppy for advice).
[edit] Season 1
In the beginning the show was actually developed as a starring vehicle for Stephanie Hodge, whose character of Jennie was the focus of the first few episodes. However, the series concept was soon re-worked. The character of Jack (who had been kicked out of the house and was living in a motel) was brought back home, and began living in the basement. Soon, Geoff Pierson's weary, mentally-unbalanced but straight-talking character of Jack was clearly the star of the show, along with Mr. Floppy. Also in Season 1, Joyce Van Patten played Jennie's mother, Maureen.
[edit] Season 3 and onward
However by the show's third season it became apparent that Tiffany (Nikki Cox) was becoming a breakout character and the defacto co-star of the show along with Pierson. The producers then attempted to kill off the increasingly unnecessary character of Jennie -- but after doing so, quickly reversed their decision after negative audience reaction. On the show, the character was brought "back to life" in a deliberately bizarre sequence where a network executive wandered on to the set and announced Jennie's character was no longer dead.
Nevertheless, Jennie didn't stick around that long as several episodes later, the character abandoned her family and was never seen again.
Nikki Cox was already signed to star in a new series for the WB whenever Unhappily... ended, and the final season focused more than ever on her character of Tiffany, who dressed extremely provocatively, but was in fact a virgin (though not exactly innocent) honours student. Added to the cast was Wendy Benson, who played Tiffany's equally short-skirted rival Barbara Caufield.
The series wrapped up with a final episode in which Jack finally made enough money to send Tiffany to Harvard.
[edit] Married...with Children connection
Unhappily... is sometimes called an imitation of The FOX network's hit Married... with Children, because the characters and their relationships to each other were very similar. However Married... with Children was usually much more extreme in sexual themes and humor. Both shows were co-created by writer Ron Leavitt, and several writers worked on both shows. Additionally Geoffrey Pierson appearred as Roland Squab in the episode "Just Married... with Children" where Al and Peg (playing as Steve and Marcy Rhoades) trade zingers on a game show.
[edit] Syndication and DVDs
The show was sold into syndication for the 1999-2000 and the 2000-01 seasons, but was not re-offered the following fall due to lackluster clearance rates and low ratings. It has been off the air in America ever since, though it was shown on the UK channel abc1 between 2004 and 2005. In Canada, it has been seen in syndication on OMNI Television since September 2006.
As of December 16, 2006 there are currently no plans to release DVDs of the series.
[edit] Cast
- Geoff Pierson as Jack Malloy
- Stephanie Hodge as Jennie Malloy (1995-1998)
- Wendy Benson as Barbara Caufield (1998-1999)
- Kevin Connolly as Ryan Malloy
- Nikki Cox as Tiffany Malloy
- Justin Berfield as Ross Malloy
- Joyce Van Patten as Maureen (Season 1)
- Bobcat Goldthwait as Mr. Floppy (voice)
- Allan Trautman as Mr. Floppy (puppeteer)
