My Two Dads

My Two Dads
Title card
Genre	Family sitcom
Created by	Michael Jacobs Danielle Alexandra
Starring	Paul Reiser Greg Evigan Staci Keanan Florence Stanley Dick Butkus Giovanni Ribisi Chad Allen
Theme music composer	Greg Evigan, Lenny Macaluso & Michael Jacobs
Opening theme	"You Can Count on Me," performed by Greg Evigan
Ending theme	"You Can Count on Me" (instrumental)
Composer(s)	Don Peake (1987–1988) Ray Colcord (1988–1990)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	60 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Jacobs
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	22 mins. (approx)
Production company(s)	Michael Jacobs Productions Tri-Star Television (1987–1988) Columbia Pictures Television (1988–1990)
Distributor	TeleVentures (1990) Columbia Pictures Television (1991–1996) Columbia TriStar Television (1996–2002) Sony Pictures Television (2002–present)
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	September 20, 1987 (1987-09-20) – April 30, 1990 (1990-04-30)

My Two Dads is an American sitcom that was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions in association with Tri-Star Television (later Columbia Pictures Television) and distributed by TeleVentures. It starred Paul Reiser, Greg Evigan and Staci Keanan. The series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1987,^[1] airing three seasons through April 30, 1990.

Synopsis

The show begins after Marcy Bradford (played by Emma Samms in the second-season episode "In Her Dreams"), the mother of 12-year-old Nicole Bradford (Keanan), has died. The two men who had competed for the woman's affections before Nicole was born — Michael Taylor (Reiser), a successful financial advisor; and struggling artist Joey Harris (Evigan), former friends who hated one another because of their mutual interest in Marcy — are awarded joint custody of Nicole.^[2]

The mix-ups of two single men raising a teenage daughter provided the story each week. Judge Margaret W. Wilbur (Florence Stanley), a family court judge who awarded custody of Nicole to Michael and Joey, would frequently visit the new family. This was because she had bought the building in which Joey lived and was now the live-in landlord. Michael had originally had his own condo uptown, but Nicole staged a sit in at school in Episode 2 because she felt she had no home, and the men decided it would be better to all live in one home and chose Joey's loft.

Nicole's actual paternity was never revealed on the show. In the episode "Pop, the Question", Michael and Joey — after a falling out — had a DNA test run to determine which of them was Nicole's biological father. The test was conducted against Nicole's wishes, and she destroyed the results before opening them since she was happier not knowing who her father was. Michael and Joey later resolve their differences and reconcile. Judge Wilbur looked at the results, but threw them away without revealing them to the audience.

The series came to an end (in the episode called "See You in September?") when Joey reconnected with a former girlfriend named Sarah and eventually moved to San Francisco to live with her and her daughter, Grace. He keeps in contact with Nicole, Michael and Judge Wilbur, all of whom remained in New York. Nicole made reference to her coming out to San Francisco and visiting him, then she ended her letter to Joey by saying that no matter what or where he was or who he was with, she would always be happy with him as one of her two dads.

Cast and characters

Cast

The lead cast of My Two Dads: Paul Reiser and Greg Evigan (top); Staci Keanan (bottom)

• Paul Reiser – Michael Taylor
• Greg Evigan – Joey Harris
• Staci Keanan – Nicole Bradford
• Florence Stanley – Judge Margaret W. Wilbur
• Giovanni Ribisi (credited as Vonni Ribisi) – Cory Kupkus
• Dick Butkus – Ed Klawicki (seasons 1–2)
• Chad Allen – Zach Nichols (seasons 2–3)

Characters

The series regularly featured Giovanni Ribisi and Chad Allen as two boys (Cory Kupkus and Zach Nichols, respectively) who competed for Nicole's affections just as her two dads had done for her mother's. Florence Stanley appeared as Judge Margaret Wilbur, who was responsible for assigning Nicole's custody, and who regularly looked over the family; she was also their landlady, being the resident owner of the apartment building where the family lived. Amy Hathaway played Nicole's worldly best friend, Shelby Haskell. The cast was rounded out by former football player Dick Butkus, who managed the cafe in the building's first floor. The cafe (Klawicki's) was the second spot in the show where the plot usually revolved; the first being the family's apartment. In the third season, when Dick Butkus left the series, the diner was then run by cook Julian (Don Yesso), but there was no explanation as to what happened to Ed Klawicki. Ownership of the diner was explained to have been taken over by Judge Wilbur at this point, and it was renamed The Judge's Court Cafe.

Night Court crossover

My Two Dads had crossovers with another NBC show, Night Court. Judge Margaret W. Wilbur, played by Florence Stanley, appeared on Night Court. In turn, Richard Moll guest starred as his Night Court character Bull Shannon in the "Playing with Fire" episode of My Two Dads, protecting Judge Wilbur from a recently released criminal that she had sent to prison years before.

Episodes

Broadcast

In August 1990 USA Network paid Columbia Pictures Television Distribution about $250,000 an episode, for as many as 15 runs over a three-year period, a price that was the syndication record until Major Dad surpassed that price two years later.^[3] Reruns of the show aired on the USA Network through the 1990s and again in the early 2000s.

The show was not aired again until it finally returned in January 2017, airing on both Antenna TV and Up. Several episodes from the first season can be streamed for free online on Crackle.

DVD release

Shout! Factory (under license from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) has released the first two seasons of My Two Dads on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was released as a Shout! Factory Exclusives title, available exclusively through their online store.^[4]

Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode best-of set entitled My Two Dads- You Can Count on Me on March 22, 2011. The single disc release features episodes from the first 2 seasons.^[5]

♦- Shout! Factory Exclusives title, sold exclusively through Shout's online store

Awards

See also

• My Sister Sam (1986)
• Three Men and a Baby (1987)

References

External links

• My Two Dads on IMDb
• My Two Dads at TV.com
• My Two Dads at epguides.com