'Til Death

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This article is about an American sitcom. For the British sitcom, see Till Death.... For the album, see Til Death. For other uses, see Till Death Do Us Part (disambiguation).
'Til Death
Format Sitcom
Created by Josh Goldsmith
Cathy Yuspa
Starring Brad Garrett
Joely Fisher
Kat Foster
Eddie Kaye Thomas
J.B. Smoove
Timm Sharp
Lindsey Broad
Kate Micucci
Martin Mull
Kathleen Rose Perkins
Country of origin United States, UK (Only for Reruns)
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 81 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Josh Goldsmith
Cathy Yuspa
Producer(s) Alec Barnow
Marc Firek
Annette Sahakian Davis
Camera setup Multiple-camera setup
Running time 20–21 minutes
Production company(s) Goldsmith Yuspa Productions
Impact Zone Productions
Sony Pictures Television
Broadcast
Original channel Fox
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
720p (HDTV)
Original run September 7, 2006 (2006-09-07) – June 20, 2010 (2010-06-20)[1]

’Til Death is an American sitcom which aired on the Fox network from September 7, 2006, to June 20, 2010. The series was created by husband-and-wife team Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, who were also the writers and executive-producers. The show focuses on Eddie and Joy Stark (Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher), a couple married for 23 years who live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Premise

’Til Death centers on Eddie and Joy Stark, and their relationship and behavior after 23 years of marriage. The first two seasons often focus on the contrast between the Starks and their newlywed neighbors, Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster). The second season introduces a new character named Kenny Westchester (J. B. Smoove) who is Eddie's friend from the big brother program.

The third season focuses largely around Eddie and Joy's relationship with Kenny after he moves in with them.

The fourth season focuses on the Starks adjusting to life with their daughter Ally (Kate Micucci) and new son-in-law Doug (Timm Sharp), who live in a biodiesel powered Airstream motorhome in the Starks' backyard. The series takes place in suburban Philadelphia in Cheltenham Township.

History

The first season of ’Til Death ran from September 7, 2006 to April 11, 2007 and contained 22 episodes. The series initially aired Thursdays at 8/7c alongside fellow freshman sitcom Happy Hour. In November the series was given a full season order and then later paired with The War at Home.[2][3] Beginning in March 2007 the show was given the coveted time slot directly following American Idol's results show, which led to an improvement in its ratings. In May, ’Til Death was renewed for a second season.[4][5]

The second season ran from September 2007 to May 2008 and consisted of 15 episodes, during which it aired on Wednesdays at 8:30PM following a new comedy Back to You. Late in 2007, production was halted due to the 2007-2008 writers' strike; only 19 episodes were produced.[6] The series went on hiatus beginning November 28, but returned with a new episode on a special night in March 2008 at 9:30PM.[7] Then in April, ’Til Death moved again to Wednesdays at 8:00PM leading into Back to You.[8] In May the series was given an 18 episode order for its third season, while comedy companion Back to You was cancelled.[9]

The third season consisted of 22 episodes (4 of which were produced during the second season) and initially ran from September to October 2008. During this brief run of seven episodes, ’Til Death aired Wednesdays at 9/8c alongside a new comedy Do Not Disturb. The ratings for both shows were low and as a result, the network pulled the sitcom from its November schedule.[10] Despite not airing all of season three and low ratings, ’Til Death was renewed for a fourth season in January, 2009.[11] Fox confirmed at its upfront presentation in May that the new season would air on Friday nights in the fall.[12][13] The surprise renewal was attributed to a significant licensing discount offered to Fox by the production company of ’Til Death (Sony Pictures Television), because it needed one more season to make the program viable for syndication.[14][15]

The fourth season premiered in October 2009 at a new time, Fridays at 8:30/7:30c, following a new sitcom, Brothers, starring former NFL player Michael Strahan.[16] This season is notable in that a large number of episodes produced for the third season but previously unaired by Fox were shown alongside new episodes produced for season four. Four new episodes of ’Til Death aired sequentially on Christmas Day from 8/7c until 10/9c. The schedule changed again, when ’Til Death moved to Sundays at 7/6c and 7:30/6:30c on January 31, 2010, with these first two episodes airing against Super Bowl XLIV.[17] It was eventually paired for three episodes with the soon-to-be-canceled comedy Sons of Tucson. The fourth season finale aired on May 23, 2010, although three unaired episodes formerly consigned for season three were burned off in June. Two months prior, Fox finally cancelled production of ’Til Death after years of below-average ratings.[18]

Cast

Main characters

Name Actor Seasons Featured
Eddie Stark Brad Garrett 1–4 (regular)
Eddie is a high school history teacher who has been married to Joy for over two decades.
Joy Stark Joely Fisher 1–4 (regular)
Joy is Eddie's wife who initially works as a travel agent, and later takes a job at Eddie's school.
Jeff Woodcock Eddie Kaye Thomas 1–2 (regular)
Jeff is a newlywed next-door neighbor to the Starks and also the vice-principal at the high school where Eddie teaches.
Steph Woodcock Kat Foster 1–2 (regular)
Steph is Jeff's wife. She is unemployed and developing her master's thesis, on which she is making little progress.
Kenneth Westchester J. B. Smoove 2, 4 (recurring); 3 (regular)
Kenny is Eddie's "little brother" from the Big Brother program and a recent divorcé.
Allison Mayweather "Ally" Stark Krysten Ritter (Seasons 1–2)
Laura Clery (Season 3)
Lindsey Broad (Season 4)[19]
Kate Micucci (Season 4)[20][21] 		1–3 (recurring); 4 (regular)
Ally is Eddie and Joy's adult daughter who is away at college in early episodes, but is referenced in the pilot and shows up from time to time. During the shows 4th and final season she lives in a biodiesel powered Airstream motorhome in her parent's backyard with her boyfriend and later husband, Doug. The fact that she is played by different actresses becomes a running gag in later episodes.
Doug Von Stuessen Timm Sharp 1–3 (recurring); 4 (regular)
Doug is Allison's boyfriend and later husband who lives in a biodiesel powered Airstream motorhome in the Stark's backyard with Allison during the shows 4th and final season. He is an idealistic hippy who becomes convinced his whole life is a sitcom. His oil tycoon father George Von Stuessen, who he doesn't see eye to eye with, was portrayed by Barry Bostwick in two episodes.

Recurring characters

Cast notes

  • Kat Foster and Eddie Kaye Thomas, who played Steph and Jeff Woodcock, respectively, left the show, having "moved onto other projects."[22] However, their characters continued to appear in several episodes of season three, which were filmed during season two but not aired due to the Writers' strike. Krysten Ritter, who played the recurring role of the Starks' daughter, Allison, was also replaced in season three by Laura Clery. J. B. Smoove, who began appearing late in season two, was also added to the cast as Eddie's friend Kenny. His ex-wife appeared in the premiere episode of the third season..[23]
  • Beginning with Season 4, J.B. Smoove, who plays Kenny, was dropped from the show while Lindsey Broad and Timm Sharp were added to the main cast as Allison Stark and Doug Von Stuessen, respectively.[24] Starting episode 10, Kate Micucci took over as Allison Stark.

Episodes

Main article: List of 'Til Death episodes

DVD releases

DVD NameRegion 1Region 4Episode Number
The Complete First Season August 21, 2007 February 13, 200822
The Complete Second Season January 13, 2009 TBA18

The first season DVDs include all 22 episodes from Season one. The second season DVDs include 18 out of the 19 episodes produced for Season two in airdate order.

Syndication

On July 26, 2011, it was announced that the show was picked up for syndication by affiliates and WGN America, which debuted the program on September 12, 2011.[25] It was also announced on July 28, 2011 that Spike had picked up the show for syndication, which debuted on October 3, 2011.[26] Following low ratings on Spike, it was picked up by another Viacom network, TV Land, in June, 2013,[27] where it airs on weekends and is also expected to lead off a 5pm-8pm (EDT) weekday block. It currently also airs in local syndication, including LA 56 KDOC-TV from 4pm-5pm PST M-F, and 6pm-7pm on Saturdays.

Ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of ’Til Death on Fox:

Season Timeslot (EDT) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Thurs. 8:00 PM (September 7 - February 15)
Wed. 9:30 PM (March 14 - April 11)		 September 7, 2006 April 11, 2007 2006-2007 #82 7.1[28]
2 Wed. 8:30 (September 19 - November 14)
Wed. 8:00 P.M. (April 16 - May 14, 2008)		 September 19, 2007 May 14, 2008 2007-2008 #131 6.1[29]
3 Wed. 9:00 PM (September 10 - October 8) September 10, 2008 October 8, 2008 2008-2009 #141 4.4[30]
4 Fri. 8:30 PM (October 2–23)
Sun. 7:00 P.M. (January 31 - June 20)		 October 2, 2009 May 23, 2010[31] 2009-2010 #116 2.4[32]

References

  1. ↑ Schnieder, Michael (April 6, 2010). "Fox axes 'Sons of Tucson'". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2010. 
  2. ↑ Sullivan, Brian F. (November 16, 2006) "Fox extends 'Death,' ...". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Brian F. (November 28, 2006) "Fox Gives 'War'...". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  4. ↑ "'Til Death: FOX's Brad Garrett Sitcom Renewed", TVSeriesFinale.com, May 11, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  5. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (July 10, 2007). "Fox announces premiere dates; "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" returns Aug. 30". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007. 
  6. ↑ AP (November 7, 2007). "Production Stops on at least 7 primetime shows". Fox News. Retrieved March 28, 2010. 
  7. ↑ Fox Broadcasting (February 29, 2008) "Breaking News - Fox returns series to production". Press release, via TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Breaking News - FOX Overhauls Spring Lineup: New 'House' to Anchor Mondays". TheFutonCritic.com, February 19, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  9. ↑ "FOX Cancels Back to You, Renews 'Til Death". TVSeriesFinale.com. May 9, 2008. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2008. 
  10. ↑ http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2008/10/30/fox-pulls-til-death-from-lineup/7212/
  11. ↑ Hibberd, James (January 9, 2009) "Fox Orders More 'Til Death". The Hollywood Reporter, The Live Feed. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Fox 2009-10 Schedule Announced". Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
  13. ↑ Gorman, Bill (May 18, 2009). "Fox 2009-10 Schedule Announced". TVbyTheNumber.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
  14. ↑ Schneider, Michael (March 23, 2010). "Fox finally finds a way to kill "'Til Death"". Variety. Retrieved 2013-03-26. 
  15. ↑ http://www.avclub.com/articles/nobodys-watching-the-strange-genius-of-the-fourth,42394/
  16. ↑ Mitovich, Matt (July 28, 2009). "Fox Moves Up Two Fall Premieres; Plus a Glee Video Preview". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 31, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009. 
  17. ↑ Sullivan, Brian F. (October 28, 2009) "Exclusive: ’Til Death to get Sunday slot in January". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  18. ↑ Schneider, Michael (March 23, 2010) "Fox Finally Finds a Way to Kill 'Til Death", Variety.com. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
  19. ↑ Fox Broadcasting. " 'Til Death Fact Sheet". FoxFlash.com. Press release. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  20. ↑ Longsdorf, Amy (January 24, 2010) "Kate Micucci: 'Really exciting things are starting to happen'" The Morning Call. Retrieved March 8, 2010. Archived 4 September 2010 at WebCite
  21. ↑ Fox Broadcasting. (March 2010) "Primetime Schedule Mar 7-13". FoxFlash.com. Press release. Retrieved March 28, 2010. Archived 4 September 2010 at WebCite
  22. ↑ "Chandra" (September 10, 2008). "Interview with Brad Garrett from 'Til Death". Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  23. ↑ "Chandra" (September 6, 2008) "'Til Death Season Three Premiere Details". ComedyCentric.com. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  24. ↑ "The Futon's Upfront Notes: Fox's Returning Series Descriptions". TheFutonCritic.com, May 18, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010. Archived 27 May 2009 at WebCite
  25. ↑ http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/07/wgn-america-fall-2011-schedule-metv.html
  26. ↑ http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/07/spike-tv-fall-2011-schedule-adds-2.html
  27. ↑ TV Land Brings in 'Til Death; Alfonso Ribeiro Joins ABC Family Series sitcomsonline.com on June 12, 2013
  28. ↑ "2006-07 primetime wrap". Hollywood Reporter. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. May 25, 2007. Archived from the original on May 28, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2010. 
  29. ↑ ABC Medianet (May 28, 2008) "Season Program Rankings". Press release. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  30. ↑ ABC Medianet (May 27, 2009). "Season Rankings". ABC Medianet. Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2009. 
  31. ↑ "ABC Changes Premiere Date for Romantically Challenged; Fox Cancels Sons of Tucson, Finale Date for 'Til Death; NBC Renews Unscripted Series". SitcomsOnline.com News Blog. April 6, 2010.
  32. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 27, 2010)."Full Series Rankings For The 2009-10 Broadcast Season". Deadline.com blog.

External links

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