Condo (TV series)

Condo
Condo opening title
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Sheldon Bull
Starring	McLean Stevenson Brooke Alderson Mark Schubb Marc Price Luis Avalos Yvonne Wilder Julie Carmen James Victor
Theme music composer	George Aliceson Tipton
Composer(s)	George Aliceson Tipton
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas John Rich
Running time	24–25 minutes
Production company(s)	Witt/Thomas Productions Condo Productions
Distributor	Sony Pictures Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	February 10, 1983 (1983-02-10) – June 9, 1983 (1983-06-09)

Condo is an American television sitcom which aired on ABC from February 10, 1983 until June 9, 1983. The series stars McLean Stevenson and Luis Avalos as the fathers of two families who move into condominium units next to each other. Sheldon Bull created the series, which was executive produced by Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and John Rich. Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein were also producers.

Synopsis

James Kirkridge (Stevenson) was a middle-aged insurance salesman who was experiencing a gradual reversal in finances, so much that he and his wife Kiki (Brooke Alderson) had to put up their rambling, palatial house in the suburbs up for sale, and downsize. Jesus "Jessie" Rodriguez (Avalos), a native of the Los Angeles barrio, had recently become successful as the owner of a landscaping business, enabling him and his wife Maria (Yvonne Wilder) to trade up to a more upscale neighborhood. Both couples ended up purchasing condominium units right outside a quaint Los Angeles-area fairway, and became each other's next-door neighbors. The white-bread Kirkridges at first mistook the Rodriguezes as the groundskeepers, but when Jessie informed them that he and his clan were in fact owners of the condo next door, wariness and bigotry ensued, mostly from staunch traditionalist James. Kiki, slightly daffy but strong enough to keep James from stepping out of line, was a little more accepting of her Hispanic neighbors, but found culture shock causing occasional friction between her and feisty Maria especially.

Before James and Kiki could accept that a Hispanic family could gentrify into a neighborhood such as theirs, both families would soon have to deal with another challenge. Shortly after the families moved in, the eldest Kirkridge child, Scott (Mark Schubb), and the lone Rodriguez child, Linda (Julie Carmen) revealed that they had been dating for the past three months. This put both sets of parents into an uproar, as they tried to find ways to prevent Scott and Linda from going steady. However, in the series' second episode, the young couple eloped, and returned to inform everyone that, in addition to having been married, that Linda was expecting Scott's child. Instead of resorting to throwing their children out, the Kirkridges and Rodriguezes slowly tried to resolve their differences for the sake of their children and incoming grandchild; with James and Jessie's constant clashing over ideals and social attitudes, it was going to be a long process.

Completing the families were preteen Billy Kirkridge (Marc Price), James and Kiki's youngest son, and Maria's father, Jose Montoya (James Victor), who lived in the Rodriguez household. Jose was bold enough to demolish a portion of the wall that separated both families' condo units, and everyone reluctantly agreed to his idea of putting a doorway in so that all would have central access to the impending grandchild's nursery (in a valiant attempt to improve relations). James was especially displeased with the conversion, as he was quite content in keeping the room as his study.

Episode list

1. "The Neighbors" / 1983.02.10
2. "The Announcement" / 1983.02.17
3. "The Wedding" / 1983.02.24
4. "The Baby" / 1983.03.03
5. "The Babysitters" / 1983.03.10
6. "The First Fight" / 1983.03.24
7. "That's Entertainment" / 1983.03.31
8. "The Franchise" / 1983.04.07
9. "The Dog" / 1983.04.21
10. "Condomania" / 1983.04.28
11. "The Affair" / 1983.05.26
12. "Nouveau Poor" / 1983.06.02
13. "Members Only" / 1983.06.09

Theme music and presentation

The series' theme was "Live and Love it Up", a Latin-style arrangement combined with orchestral portions, arranged by George Aliceson Tipton. The opening lyrics were written by Paul Williams (who also wrote the lyrics for, and co-sang, the theme to another series from Witt/Thomas, It Takes Two, which aired on ABC that same season), with vocals performed by Drake Frye.

In a rare occurrence for Witt/Thomas series, Condo also featured animation in its opening title. The first animated portion has two moving trucks driving from opposite directions over a map of Los Angeles, and after the trucks collide head-on within a clover-leaf rotary, the map dissolves into the series' title growing from the ground in giant block letters. A Southwestern-style roof appears over the title, and palm trees grow around it. The "N" in "CONDO" opens as if it were a door, and leads into the cast credit procession. The animation appears again at the end of the sequence, as the "N" closes over the last live-action clip (in which both families are posing on and around the Kirkridges' living room couch, similar to how the Tates and Campbells did in the title sequence of Witt/Thomas' Soap). The animation was designed by Donald R. Beck and Patrick Davidson.

Beck and Davidson also produced custom animation that was shown in early ABC promos for the series, in which two hillbilly-like characters are shown arguing over the dividing patio fence in a drawn exterior of the Kirkridge and Rodriguez condos. As ABC voiceover Ernie Anderson narrated, "Not since the Hatfields and the McCoys have there been neighbors like this!", the hillbilly representing Jessie Rodriguez then proceeds to blow the hillbilly in James Kirkridge's place up with dynamite.

Casting

Yvonne Wilder was in reality two years older than James Victor, who was given heavy makeup and a graying beard in order to play Wilder's on-screen father. This sort of casting method was used on the later Witt/Thomas series The Golden Girls, in which Estelle Getty, who played Sophia Petrillo, was given makeup and hair that gave her a much older appearance. In real life, Getty was only a year younger than Bea Arthur, who played her daughter, Dorothy Zbornak. In another connection between the two series, McLean Stevenson would later guest star on The Golden Girls as Dorothy's brother-in-law, Ted Zbornak.

About the time he was cast on this series, Marc Price had also been slated for the occasional role of Irwin "Skippy" Handelman on NBC's Family Ties, which had premiered five months before Condo. Price's status on Family Ties enabled him to take regular roles elsewhere. Condo was cancelled by ABC in May 1983, and Price immediately had Family Ties to fall back on. As a result, Price's role as Skippy on Ties was upgraded to that of full-time regular during the 1983-84 season.

References

• Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, Random House, 2003. ISBN 0345455428

External links

• Condo at the Internet Movie Database
• Condo at TV.com