Brotherly Love (1995 TV series)

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This article is about the U.S. sitcom. For a British sitcom of the same name, see Brotherly Love (UK TV series).
Brotherly Love

Brotherly Love Logo
Format sitcom
Created by Jonathan Schmock
James Valley
Starring Joey Lawrence
Matthew Lawrence
Andrew Lawrence
Liz Vassey
Melinda Culea
Michael McShane
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 40
Production
Running time 30 minutes with commercials
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
The WB
Original run September 16, 1995 – May 18, 1997
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Brotherly Love is a sitcom that ran from 1995-1997. It starred Joey Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence, Melinda Culea, Michael McShane, and Liz Vassey.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Brotherly Love starred the Lawrence Brothers (Joey, Matthew, and Andrew) as an older half-brother, two much-younger half brothers, and a widowed mom/step-mom (Melinda Culea). Both stepmother Claire and big brother Joe were naturally take-charge types, and the late father had left Joe one-fourth of his car customizing business, so naturally there was some conflict. Another subplot involved Joe's fighting his attraction to Louise Davis (Liz Vassey), a female mechanic who worked at the business.

The series is about a family of 4, Joe, Matt, Andy, and Claire. Along with Lou Davis, and Lloyd Burwell. The show takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but it was filmed in Hollywood, California. They struggle through problems of their own due to running a small-time customizing business.

Joe Roman is a 20 year old motorcycle racer who lived on the road ever since his parents separated when he was very young. A year removed from the auto accident that killed Joey's dad, he returns to Philly to claim his portion of his dad's automobile repair garage. Joe finds he just can't leave.

Joey last saw his step family at the funeral. Joe's step mom Claire has been trying hard to keep the garage afloat and look after the family.

Joe's half-brothers are in need of a father figure as 15 year old Matt seems to have every intention of making his traumatic teen years as dramatic as possible and 7 year old Andy is a bundle of mischief and vivid imagination who needs a strong hand to help him through life.

The garage is slowly going downhill because Claire is not the best business person. The two shop mechanics Lloyd and Lou are not much help. Lovable Lloyd is a few spark plugs short of an engine, and Lou is a feisty intellectual who's absorbed in creating her conceptual art when she's not under a car.

After coming home, Joe discovers the family he has never known needs him and he likes it. With so many new responsibilities and adjustments to make, sometimes life with his family is bumpier than Joe's roughest motorcycle race, but love and laughter make it all worth while.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

  • Joe Roman (Played by Joey Lawrence) — He is the oldest of the three brothers. He is a half-brother to Matt, and Andy. Claire is his stepmother. He is cocky and arrogant at times, and thinks highly of himself. He is constantly fighting for the affection of Louise Davis. His brothers really look up to him as a role model.
  • Matt Roman (Played by Matthew Lawrence) — He is around 16 or 17 and is the middle child. He bows to peer pressure easily. He is also put down by his family with some of his doings as well. Matt was an absolute neat freak and germaphobe; at the age of one, he could change his own diaper, and he went through his entire childhood without ever catching the chickenpox. He loved washing the dishes and was known for other odd habits like making "Matt water" and folding his socks. He has a crush on Kristin. He sang twice, once in an angel costume singing the last two bars of "Silent Night" (A Roman Holiday), the other (Art Attack) when he played the guitar and sang a goofy tune called "Pigeon On Your Car" (written by Matthew Lawrence himself).
  • Andy Roman (Played by Andrew Lawrence) — He is the youngest. He is seen wearing a variety of costumes (including Wolverine and Spider-Man). He is a bundle of mischief and has a vivid imagination.
  • Louise Davis (Played by Liz Vassey) — She is a female mechanic who is seen going out with different men in a few episodes. She is an artist, even having crafted a ring for one of her suitors. She is always making sarcastic remarks to Joe from what he says about her.
  • Claire Roman (Played by Melinda Culea) — She is Joe's Stepmother, and the other two boys' birth mother. She is a take-charge kind of woman.
  • Lloyd Burwell (Played by Michael McShane) — He was in the Coast Guard for three years. He is very overweight and is sometimes needy. He used to go by the alias "The Masked Avenger", an alias he used to play pranks on Mr. Hangarter, a cruel drivers' education teacher.

[edit] Minor characters

  • Kristin (Played by Rebecca Herbst) — She used to attend house parties often, but now has cleaned up her act. She is one of Matt's best friends. She used to have a crush on Joe.
  • Silent Jim — He rarely speaks but when he does, Matt describes it as "something special". Instead of speaking he usually communicates with a laugh. He is a recurring cast member, although, he doesn't appear in many episodes.
  • Lloyd's Mother — She lives in a trailer, and is part of the reason why Lloyd is so needy. She can do cartwheels despite her age.

[edit] Settings

  • The Kitchen — This set is where the family eats dinner and is one of the most seen stage areas.
  • The Garage — Another one of the most seen stage areas, and is where cars are modified and fixed. There is also an office, where business work can be completed and where Claire and Joe answer phone calls.
  • The Living Room — This is normally where the family watches television. The room has a couch, and a television with a screen that is never seen. It has been revealed by Joe that the television has Playboy TV.[citation needed]
  • Andy's Room — This is one of the rooms in the house and is not seen frequently. It has a basketball net in the background.
  • Joe's Room — It is only a view of the bed in the camera angle.
  • Claire's Room — Claire's Room was only seen as a cameo in Claire's First Date.
  • The Alley — This is also very often visited and is in between the building and Old Man Gibb's house.
  • The Exterior — A typical establishing shot, setting the location of the following events.

[edit] Episode listing

[edit] Season 1

Sequence Episode
Number		 Original
Air Date		 Episode Title
1 1- 1 16 Sep 1995 Pilot
2 1- 2 17 September 1995 Such A Bargain
3 1- 3 24 September 1995 The Liberty Bell Show
4 1- 4 1 October 1995 A Midsummer's Nightmare
5 1- 5 8 October 1995 Uptown Girl
6 1- 6 25 October 1995 The Comic Con
7 1- 7 29 October 1995 The Sleep Over Show
8 1- 8 30 October 1995 Witchcraft
9 1- 9 12 November 1995 Bait and Switch
10 1-10 19 November 1995 Outbreak!
11 1-11 18 December 1995 A Roman Holiday
12 1-12 4 March 1996 Once Around the Block
13 1-13 11 March 1996 Remember
14 1-14 18 March 1996 Big Brotherly Love
15 1-15 25 March 1996 Bride and Prejudice
16 1-16 1 April 1996 Double Date

[edit] Season 2

Sequence Episode
Number		 Original
Air Date		 Episode Title
17 2- 1 15 September 1996 Lord of the Guys
18 2- 2 22 September 1996 Joe at 21
19 2- 3 29 September 1996 Claire's First Date
20 2- 4 6 October 1996 Other People
21 2- 5 13 October 1996 Viva la fraternite
22 2- 6 20 October 1996 Big Mike
23 2- 7 3 November 1996 Motherly Love
24 2- 8 10 November 1996 Kernel of Truth
25 2- 9 17 November 1996 Downtown Girl
26 2-10 24 November 1996 The Great Indoors
27 2-11 8 December 1996 The Driving Lesson
28 2-12 8 December 1996 Power of Love
29 2-13 12 January 1997 Party Girl
30 2-14 19 January 1997 Skin Deep
31 2-15 2 February 1997 Paging Nell
32 2-16 9 February 1997 The Comet
33 2-17 16 February 1997 Stealing Beauty
34 2-18 23 February 1997 Art Attack
35 2-19 30 March 1997 Pizza Girl
36 2-20 20 April 1997 Easy Come, Easy Go
37 2-21 27 April 1997 I Scream, You Scream
38 2-22 4 May 1997 We All Scream
39 2-23 11 May 1997 Mother's Day
40 2-24 18 May 1997 Girl Crazy

[edit] Cancellation and possible syndication

The show was first aired on NBC as part of its 1995-96 schedule and then switched to the WB for the beginning of its 1996-97 lineup. The show also aired in syndication on The Disney Channel for several years.

[edit] Awards

4 Nominations:

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The format was going to be similar to the 1960's The Bill Cosby Show format with no audience but it used a laugh track instead due to network purposes.
  • Michael McShane ad-libbed much of his dialogue.
  • Like most three camera sitcoms, Brotherly Love was not actually taped in the location contained within the narrative. Instead, it was taped at Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood.

[edit] External links

Languages