Man, Stacey Keenan had a great agent. She landed 3 starring roles in 3 sitcoms in a very short period of time (My Two Dads, Going Places, and Step By Step)
You can tell a Miller/Boyett or even a Bickley/Warren sitcom by a few characteristics: Catchy theme songs, Yellow or gold fonts, posing for the camera, a ball is involved, driving a car. Miller/Boyett and Bickley/Warren were all producers and writers for the late Garry Marshall. The yellow and gold fonts started with Happy Days. The bulk of their shows were very successful (with the exception of this one). They all ran at least five years and were primarily on ABC. NBC only had one sitcom (Valerie, Valerie's Family, then The Hogan Family) CBS had two, but they moved to CBS for their final season: The Hogan Family, and Family Matters.
You're right. They tend to have a formula to their shows opening credits. The only difference with this one is that it wasn't a Chicago/Wisconsin based show. Setting it in California was a rareity. Well...They did Full House as well, but you get the idea.
@@lavalampluva55401 The only other series that didn't have the gold fonts, but had everything else was "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" which was set in CA (Oakland) It's also a Bickley/Warren sitcom.
Amazing that Alan Ruck and Heather Locklear would reunite again 9 years later for the last 3 seasons on ABC's '90s hit Spin City with Michael J. Fox and later Charlie Sheen.
Also Ruck and Michael Boatman (who played Carter) worked together on another very short-lived series called "Muscles", about the murder of the owner of a chain of gyms (played by Adam West). I'm sure it was every bit as weird as it sounds.
FINALLY! Someone managed to pull up the *second* version of the Going Places intro! Kudos to you, "WREY". This variant only lasted one episode: "The New Job", which originally aired January 11, 1991 (this was taped from a summer repeat in early June 1991--'Places' did not air in May, at all). Holland Taylor makes her last appearance in this episode, and the following week, J.D. Daniels ("The Mighty Ducks") joins the cast, and takes Holland's place in the opening credits.
I think you could match this intro shot-by-shot with the intros for all the TGIF shows -- especially Family Matters and Perfect Strangers. And their theme songs are all pretty much the same. I love that you can watch this, without the sound, and without ever knowing the show -- but get some idea of who each character is.
I remember the show but not the theme song... which is odd since it's almost 90 seconds long. And I think everyone (including ABC execs in hindsight) would agree that "Just the 10 of Us" never should've been canceled after two years.
@@moonraker30 I can think of a few other instances when ABC cancelled a popular show, only to have the replacement tank after just one season. 1) "The Flintstones" was cancelled in the spring of 1966 because William Dozier, producer of "Batman," demanded a time slot for "The Green Hornet," which would only last a year despite having Bruce Lee in the cast. 2) "Hart to Hart" got axed in the spring of 1984 despite having decent ratings. It was replaced by "Paper Dolls," which lasted only 13 episodes before its quick cancellation. 3) "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" got its cancellation notice in the spring of 1972, in spite of the show consistently winning its time slot. It was replaced with the vastly inferior "The Paul Lynde Show."
I didn't rememeber that Alan Ruck was in this show. I got to be in a movie scene with Alan Ruck as an extra in 2006, but I have still never seen the movie to this day.
Going Places was the only M/B series to use this particular font. It used orange-colored font like all its sister shows, but the typeface is different.
I really don't remember much from this show aside from maybe two seconds of the theme. I knew it existed but I didn't watch it and it was gone before I know it.
Nah! I totally got your reference, sorry. It's just that this version had waaay too many people in it as it was, just imagine when they added MORE. Very much reminded me of Too Many Cooks. Good call.
Well, Holland Taylor was dropped from the show at mid-season, but yes, the cast did balloon during the revamp. They added more kids to the show to make it increasingly TGIF-friendly.
Cameron Frye, Lizzie McGuire's mom, Charlie and Alan Harper's mom, and Dana Foster were all in a TGIF show and I don't remember it. And I remember Baby Talk. I remember I Married Dora. I remember Free Spirit, which is not TGIF but still kind of proves my point. What kind of scarring situations were happening on this show that I repressed it?
It was definitely NOT a mid-season replacement. It was a heavily-hyped series (promos focusing mainly on Locklear and Ruck) getting a top notch prime-time spot (on TGIF leading into the then-top-rated 20/20) in the fall of 1990 in a line-up that it didn't make any sense in. The show came about on TGIF because the creators of the other shows aired on that night pressured ABC into letting them have the entire line-up, so ABC cancelled Just the Ten of Us in favor Miller-Boyett Productions' new Heather Locklear show (who was at the top of her game then), approving a full-season completely blind. You can tell it's the same because the opening credits use the same font as their other shows and they had the same type of endlessly long theme song. This particular opening credit likely came from one of the last episodes. With lead-ins like Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers -- all the other Miller-Boyett shows related to children in some way. Though PS had no kids in the cast, Bronson Pinchot really brought a great child-like quality to his character that was very popular. Those shows led into this sitcom about being television writers and being single and childless in LA. It was like "Friends" if they all lived in one glorious beach house, had tons of money and all had the same job. It didn't make any sense on Friday night. It was an awful idea. They knew it because they changed the show multiple times attempting to fit in with the rest of line-up (they added 2 kids mid-season who wound up starring in Step by Step a few months later). It never worked. Show sucked. But it *did* limp through 20 episodes aired, a full season, believe it or not. There you go, the entire story in a nutshell. ROFL
I did some research and found archived American network listings on TVTango.com. You are correct--Going Places DID return to the ABC schedule after an over two-month layoff (in which it made way for Baby Talk) on Friday, May 31, 1991. Some sources, including the renowned authority of Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh ("The Complete Directory of Prime Time..") apparently made an error, listing that this show had its final run on ABC during June-July only. May 31st was so close anyhow, so I can see why.
Mark Lennon, a member of the band Venice, and the cousin of the Lennon Sisters (of Lawrence Welk fame) sings this opening theme, and he does a VERY good job of it too!
Some of this information I had to look up and verify, and everything else was from memory. It would be nice for "WREY" to post this full episode, so I can relive some of those memories!
No, she had appeared on the hit sitcom My Two Dads before this. Yes, then she and Christopher Castile from this show went on to Step by Step, but they might not have just gotten those parts. They might've had to audition.
@@sha11235 OK, so here's the thing: Step by Step was a developed as a vehicle for Patrick Duffy and Sasha Mitchell (of Dallas, another Lorimar show). Do you think they auditioned? No. I don't think Staci and Chris had to, either.
I wasn't the only one who thought it was "cleanse"! It's one of those common lyrical misconceptions that are bound to travel through the ages, i.e. "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night" (often mis-sung as "Wrapped up like a douche, another roller in the night"). However, 'approving glance' is a common phrase, and it does make more sense than 'cleanse'. I think you are right. Now I'll have to change the title of my "pooped" Going Places intro video from "Approving Cleanse Remix".
Wow, reminiscing the good times. I think TGIF is top dog. I wish this series lasted about 3 seasons! It is great to have Stacy Keanan is in this after My Two Dads. Three of the later young actors would appear in the series replacement of Step by Step which isn't even that entertaining in my opinion!
+Kam Zeng Yeah, Step by Step was basically The Brady Bunch of the 90's.The wife's name was even named Carol! And I think their work on here got them into Step by Step, especially Christopher Castille, who came into this show late, like Jaleel White did on Family Matters and became noticed.
@VaultMasterDBT :) I aim to please! Lets see what else I can come up with... Don't know if it was a last minute switch in programming, but this was taped May 31, 1991... :)
I'll tell you now, The cancellation of Just the Ten of Us was proof of how stupid top management at a large company can be. It also reflects the stupidity of suits at networks.
The show that took "Just the Ten of Us" off of the air, just because it was produced by Warner Brothers Television, and not Miller/Boyett Productions and Lorimar - ABC admitted later on that they made a mistake in cancelling "JTTOU", as it was still getting good ratings.
That's the thing that's confusing me. I'm a huge fan of Staci Keenan ("My Two Dads" which was on NBC before this "Going Places" show was created, and "Step by Step" which happened after this "Going Places" show was cancelled) and I was watching ABC's shows on Friday night (I was a huge fan of "Just the 10 of Us", which according to comments under this video was cancelled and replaced by this "Going Places" show on ABC's Friday night line-up) and today is the first time I am learning that "Going Places" existed... yet I was watching TONS of TV back then... how the hell do I not know this show?!?!? Was I playing Sega Genesis during it's time slot or something?!? I remember watching the other ABC shows that aired on Fridays during late 1990 into early 1991 like Full House, Perfect Strangers, even the first season of Family Matters. Going Places aired at 9:30 p.m, so maybe I did tune out by then since it was the last sitcom on that night and switched over to Sega Genesis I guess? LOL. Granted, "Just the 10 of Us" aired at the time slot during late 1989 into early 1990, so once that show was cancelled maybe I gave up on that time slot and never bothered to give it's replacement (Going Places) a chance? I hated that news show 20 / 20 (that aired after all the ABC Friday sitcoms at 10 p.m) so much as a kid that maybe I "punched out" early to avoid that show and because of that I missed Going Places? Whatever it was that caused me to miss Going Places completely (to the point that I never even saw the show), apparently I'm not the only one that tuned out since this "Going Places" show was cancelled after only 19 episodes. I noticed that some of it's episodes are on RU-vid so I'm going to give it a chance.
I heard that this show was getting decent or "fair enough ratings that won't get us cancelled ratings" for parts of its run but then by the end of the tv season they still decided to go with Baby Talk. Oh and you are right about Just the Ten of Us. One of my favorites when I was little. It was just fail or fail for ABC just the ten of us was already cancelled just so they could cancel this show and Baby Talk was not needed after look who's talking.
Im from Aus so Ive never seen this show before, I wish I had though.....I know most of those people in the opening credits having seen Melrose Place, Teen Wolf, Mannequin, Ferris Bueller, Step By Step.......what an awesome show this looks :-)
@oc61579 Exactly. The reason (IIRC) was that Miller-Boyett wanted their shows to fill the entire TGIF block (with Perfect Strangers, Full House and Family Matters already in place). After they were supposed to find another time slot, ABC couldn't (wouldn't?) and pulled the plug.
Despite earning decent ratings as part of ABC's TGIF block and frequently winning its time slot, Just the Ten of Us was abruptly cancelled in the spring of 1990. It was widely speculated that it was due to Miller-Boyett Productions wanting another one of their shows in the timeslot (to join fellow programs Family Matters, Full House, and Perfect Strangers) thereby dominating the TGIF block; and ABC was simply not able to find another slot for Ten. *However, it was really a case of then ABC Entertainment president Bob Iger simply not liking the show.*
He was not. J.D. Daniels took Holland Taylor's place in the credits between Todd and MacKenzie, but that was the final change. The Wikipedia article cites Castile as being a "recurring" cast member for all of his episodes (in the episode guide section, most likely lifted from TV.com or some similar source), which indicates that his billing only appeared in the closing.
I dunno... with today's writing and production values, the finished product likely would be WAY different than the lineups of the late 80s/early 90s... :)
I wonder how many people knew of the little known law that existed in the 80s and early 90s that if a Holland Taylor sitcom is canceled Hollywood is legally obligated to have her in a new series the next tv season
...including that they had to add a kid. Because, you know, kids and TGIF. I'm thinking Perfect Strangers didn't have this problem because Balki had a lot of child-like innocence.
I remember watching this show every week while it lasted on ABC's TGIF line-up but cannot recall much about the actual episodes. Anyone know where we can find episodes on the Web or some DVD or something? Anyone recorded episodes that wants to copy a tape or create some digital files? This show was loaded with stars after watching the opening titles again. Hallie Todd was in this show way before she went on to play the mom in Disney Channel's hit Lizzie McGuire series. Plus, Heather Locklear was on this show? I can't believe NO network wants to run the very few episodes of this show just because it starred Heather Locklear before she really became famous. This show is definitely #1 on my HUNT DOWN AND FIND TV SERIES LIST. It's going to be the most difficult one to hunt down I know that... any help from anyone? Thanks!!
I vaguely remember a prank war episode that involved geese and the kiss of death coming when they felt they needed one of them to suddenly inherit a kid. I remember her making him hot chocolate and him telling her about the hot chocolate in Belgium. Sadly, that's all I remember (along with the theme song, naturally).
+Ken Heximer FYI, Heather was already famous from Dynasty and T.J. Hooker. Still, I agree--I am surprised that no network, including TV Land, featured at least ONE special airing of this show because of the names that were associated with it.
Yeah, I actually edited what I wrote originally. I meant with the same quality, etc.. They'd rather cater to reality shows and the like due to them being a lot less expensive to produce. I remember when ABC canceled a bunch of shows just to air "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" all week long forcing it down people's throats. It's funny that they decided to place game shows in the "Reality Show" category.
No, I'm pretty sure J.D. came after Hallie and before Phil, since he played Hallie's nephew on the show. They wanted to place "the Griffins" together, since Kate was left guardianship of her nephew Nick (although, all four of the gang basically took up the role).
