Our House (American TV series)

*Our House*
Our House
Genre	Drama
Created by	James Lee Barrett
Starring	Wilford Brimley; Deidre Hall; Shannen Doherty; Chad Allen; Keri Houlihan; Gerald S. O'Loughlin;
Theme music composer	Billy Goldenberg
Composer	Joel McNeely
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	46
Production
Producer	Frank Fischer
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Blinn/Thorpe Productions; Lorimar-Telepictures;
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 11, 1986 –; May 8, 1988

Our House is an American drama television series that aired on NBC for two seasons from September 11, 1986, to May 8, 1988. The series centers on the Witherspoon family and the challenges they face adjusting to life with three generations living in the same house.

The series was created by James Lee Barrett, who died the year after its cancellation.

Synopsis

After his son John dies, retired widower Gus Witherspoon (Wilford Brimley) invites his daughter-in-law Jessica Witherspoon (Deidre Hall) and her three children to move to Los Angeles and live with him until Jessie gets back on her feet financially.

Despite protests from her children, fifteen-year-old Kris (Shannen Doherty); twelve-year-old David (Chad Allen); and eight-year-old Molly (Keri Houlihan) they, Jessie, and their basset hound Arthur leave Fort Wayne, Indiana, to start a new life in California. As they settle in with Gus, they realize just how difficult he can be to live with. The majority of the plots each week centers on the conflicts which tend to arise when an extended family must live together in the same house. As man of the house, Gus imposes rules on his three grandkids the same way he had raised John (and also John's brother Ben, who is seen in a two part episode); ultimately, however, he learns ways of conveying lessons to the kids without being gruff. Jessie and the kids eventually learn that beneath Gus' stern facade is a wise man, well versed in the ways of the world, who cares about them very much.

Each of the episode's five acts (before the commercial break) ends with a freeze frame shot which then occupies one of several rooms in an abstract rendering of a house figure. As the episode unfolds, more rooms are filled until finally—when the dilemma has been resolved—the final piece is put in place, completing the house.

John Witherspoon (played by Patrick Duffy) is seen in one episode and in the occasional flashback.

Cast

Wilford Brimley as Gus Witherspoon
Deidre Hall as Jessica "Jessie" Witherspoon
Shannen Doherty as Kris Witherspoon
Chad Allen as David Witherspoon
Keri Houlihan as Molly Witherspoon
Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Joe Kaplan

Episodes

Season 1 (1986–1987)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Home Again"	Jerry Thorpe	James Lee Barrett	September 11, 1986 (1986-09-11)
2	2	"The Money Machine"	Harry Harris	Jerry McNeely	September 14, 1986 (1986-09-14)
3	3	"Families and Friends"	Harry Harris	James Lee Barrett	September 21, 1986 (1986-09-21)
4	4	"That Lonesome Old Caboose"	William Scheerer	William Blinn	September 28, 1986 (1986-09-28)
5	5	"The Third Question"	Robert Scheerer	James Lee Barrett	October 5, 1986 (1986-10-05)
6	6	"See You in Court"	Robert Scheerer	Jerry McNeely	October 12, 1986 (1986-10-12)
7	7	"Small Steps up a Small Mountain"	Ray Austin	William Blinn	October 19, 1986 (1986-10-19)
8	8	"Choices"	Robert Scheerer	Scott Finkelstein	October 26, 1986 (1986-10-26)
9	9	"First Impressions"	Robert Scheerer	Christopher Beaumont	November 2, 1986 (1986-11-02)
10	10	"Different Habits"	Ray Austin	William Colombo	November 9, 1986 (1986-11-09)
11	11	"Off We Go..."	Robert Scheerer	Parke Perine	November 16, 1986 (1986-11-16)
12	12	"Heart of a Dancer"	Ray Austin	Peter Tauber	November 23, 1986 (1986-11-23)
13	13	"Green Christmas"	William F. Claxton	Lee H. Grant & Jerry McNeely & Parke Perine	December 14, 1986 (1986-12-14)
14	14	"Family Secrets"	Ray Austin	Joel J. Feigenbaum	January 4, 1987 (1987-01-04)
15	15	"A Point of View"	Bruce Kessler	Jerry McNeely	January 11, 1987 (1987-01-11)
16	16	"The Best Intentions"	Ray Austin	William Colombo	January 18, 1987 (1987-01-18)
17	17	"The 100 Year Old Weekend"	Noel Nosseck	William Blinn	February 1, 1987 (1987-02-01)
Gus feels progress has spun out of control and challenges his family to spend a weekend using only nothing invented or contrived within "the last 100 years". The family enjoys understanding the quaint ways of their Scottish ancestors, but David and Kris confess to breaking it when in town people crowded around an electronics store where a big screen TV broadcast news of a heightened US/Soviet tensions.
18	18	"Past Tense, Future Tense: Part 1"	Ray Austin	William Blinn & Jerry McNeely	February 8, 1987 (1987-02-08)
Kris wins a radio contest and gets a trip to Edwards Air Force base along with Gus as her chaperone. An airman offers to take her flying in a light plane, which turns into a disaster when mechanical failure causes them to crash into the mountains.
19	19	"Past Tense, Future Tense: Part 2"	Ray Austin	Lee H. Grant & Parke Perine	February 15, 1987 (1987-02-15)
Gus and a forest ranger (William Katt) explore the mountain range in search of Kris and the lost airman.
20	20	"Friends"	Nick Havinga	Lee H. Grant & Parke Perine	February 22, 1987 (1987-02-22)
21	21	"Giving 'em the Business"	Roy Campanella II	Kim C. Friese	March 1, 1987 (1987-03-01)
22	22	"Growing Up, Growing Old"	Nick Havinga	Lee H. Grant & Parke Perine	March 15, 1987 (1987-03-15)
23	23	"The Road out of Briarpatch"	Roy Campenella II	Kim C. Friese	March 22, 1987 (1987-03-22)
24	24	"The Children's Crusade"	Jerry Thorpe	Peter Tauber	May 3, 1987 (1987-05-03)

Season 2 (1987–1988)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
25	1	"Sounds from a Silent Clock: Part 1"	Ray Austin	Jerry McNeely & William Blinn	September 13, 1987 (1987-09-13)
26	2	"Sounds from a Silent Clock: Part 2"	Ray Austin	William Schwartz & E.F. Wallengren	September 20, 1987 (1987-09-20)
27	3	"A Silent, Fallen Tree"	Chuck Arnold	William Blinn	September 27, 1987 (1987-09-27)
28	4	"Dancing in the Dark"	Chuck Arnold	Lee H. Grant	October 4, 1987 (1987-10-04)
29	5	"The Witherspoon War"	Ray Austin	Jerry McNeely	October 18, 1987 (1987-10-18)
30	6	"The Haunting"	Win Phelps	E.F. Wallengren	October 25, 1987 (1987-10-25)
31	7	"Candles and Shadows"	Chuck Arnold	William Blinn	November 1, 1987 (1987-11-01)
32	8	"They Also Serve"	Ray Austin	Kim C. Friese	November 8, 1987 (1987-11-08)
33	9	"The Springtown Treasure"	Chuck Arnold	E.F. Wallengren	November 15, 1987 (1987-11-15)
34	10	"Call It a Draw"	Ray Austin	Michael Marks	November 22, 1987 (1987-11-22)
35	11	"Like Father, Like Son"	Chuck Arnold	William Schmidt	November 29, 1987 (1987-11-29)
36	12	"Sunday's Hero, Monday's Goat"	James Lee Barrett	William A. Schwartz	December 6, 1987 (1987-12-06)
37	13	"Balance of Power"	Ray Austin	Claire Whitaker	January 10, 1988 (1988-01-10)
38	14	"Finish the Day"	Chuck Arnold	Jerry McNeely	January 24, 1988 (1988-01-24)
39	15	"Two-Beat, Four-Beat"	Win Phelps	E.F. Wallengren & Jerry McNeely	February 7, 1988 (1988-02-07)
40	16	"Trouble in Paradise: Part 1"	Ray Austin	William Blinn & Jerry McNeely	February 14, 1988 (1988-02-14)
41	17	"Trouble in Paradise: Part 2"	Ray Austin	Lee H. Grant & E.F. Wallengren	February 21, 1988 (1988-02-21)
42	18	"Out of Step"	Nick Havinga	Lee H. Grant	February 28, 1988 (1988-02-28)
43	19	"The Ashton Street Gang"	Ray Austin	E.F. Wallengren	March 6, 1988 (1988-03-06)
44	20	"The Fifth Beatle"	Nick Havinga	Jerry McNeely	March 13, 1988 (1988-03-13)
45	21	"Neighborhood Watch"	David Huddleston	Kim C. Friese	May 1, 1988 (1988-05-01)
46	22	"Artful Dodging"	Chuck Arnold	Joel J. Feigenbaum	May 8, 1988 (1988-05-08)

Reception

Upon the show's 1986 premiere, the Associated Press called it "a family show suitable for framing." Despite positive reviews by newspaper critics and a promising start, the series did not become a ratings success, likely because of NBC scheduling it on Sundays at 7 PM (EST) opposite CBS's powerhouse 60 Minutes and numerous overruns by NFL games on its own network. The series ranked 59th in its first season (12.9 rating) ^[1] and 71st in its second (10.9 rating).^[2]

The Inspiration Network re-aired the show in the US from October 18, 2010, to December 31, 2011.^[3] Prior to that, reruns of the show aired on The Family Channel in the early 1990s and on the Faith & Values Channel, Pax TV and Odyssey Channel later that decade.

References

^ "The Fifth Estate : Broadcasting" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
^ "List of Season's Top-Rated TV Shows With AM-TV Ratings Bjt". Apnewsarchive.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
^ "INSP to Air "The Waltons" and "Our House"" (Press release). INSP – Inspiration. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-11-27.

External links

[1] "The Fifth Estate : Broadcasting" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.

[2] "List of Season's Top-Rated TV Shows With AM-TV Ratings Bjt". Apnewsarchive.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.

[INSPPressRel2010-3] "INSP to Air "The Waltons" and "Our House"" (Press release). INSP – Inspiration. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-11-27.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Our House (American TV series)

Synopsis

Cast

Episodes

Season 1 (1986–1987)

Season 2 (1987–1988)

Reception

References

External links

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