Mr. Belvedere

The series follows posh butler Lynn Belvedere as he struggles to adapt to the Owens household. The breadwinner, George (Bob Uecker), is a sportswriter (however, in the pilot, he worked in construction). His wife Marsha (Ilene Graff) is attending law school. At the show's start, older son Kevin (Rob Stone) is a senior in high school, daughter Heather (Tracy Wells) is a freshman, and Wesley (Brice Beckham) is in elementary school. Over the course of the series, George becomes a sportscaster (a career shared with Uecker, who balanced his role as the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers while starring in the series), Marsha graduates from law school and starts a career as a lawyer, Kevin leaves for college and gets his own apartment, Heather moves up in high school, and Wesley moves up to junior high.

Several episodes deal with the relationship between Wesley and Mr. Belvedere, who are always at odds with each other, with Wesley constantly antagonizing Belvedere. It is shown that deep down, however, they really love each other. In season two's "Wesley's Friend" – one of the series' many very special episodes – Danny, one of Wesley's classmates, contracts HIV via Factor VIII treatment for hemophilia (the same way Ryan White contracted HIV). Danny is taken out of school due to the ignorance and uncertainty that is shared by the parents of many of the other children at Wesley's school. After hearing rumors from his friends about how HIV can be spread, leading them to shun him if he keeps spending time with Danny, Wesley begins to avoid Danny in fear of getting the disease himself. Mr. Belvedere is there for him and the child, and he helps Wesley to shed his fear of the boy and publicly accept him as his friend.

Throughout the series, Mr. Belvedere serves as a mentor of sorts to Wesley as well as to the other children. Being a cultured man with many skills and achievements (having even once worked for Winston Churchill), he also comes to serve as some sort of a "counselor" to the Owens clan, helping them solve their dilemmas and stay out of mischief. Mr Belvedere is the only one who can tame Wesley.

Each episode, except "Deportation Part 1" (Season 3) and "The Counselor" (Season 4), ends with Mr. Belvedere writing in his journal, recounting the events of the day (which is heard by the audience via his narration) with the Owens family and what he gets out of it in terms of a lesson.

A frequent gag on the show involves Heather's air-headed best friend Angela (Michele Matheson), who almost always mispronounces Mr. Belvedere's name (such as calling him "Mr. Bumpersticker", "Mr. Bellpepper", "Mr. Butterfinger" or "Mr. Velveeta"). Belvedere's penchant for junk food is shown in many episodes, often being playfully mocked by other characters. Another frequent gag involves George and Mr. Belvedere butting heads, with George being annoyed with his "nosy English housekeeper" always interfering. Yet another recurring gag features George always trying to be initiated into a local charity club, the "Happy Guys of Pittsburgh". Wesley's highly acrimonious relationship with the never-seen next door neighbors, the Hufnagels (whose first names all began with the letter H), and the shenanigans he pulls on them is another recurring plot element.

Broadcast History

[5]

• March 1985–April 1985, ABC Friday 8:30–9:00
• August 1985–March 1987, ABC Friday 8:30–9:00
• May 1987–September 1987, ABC Friday 8:30–9:00
• October 1987–January 1988, ABC Friday 9:00–9:30
• January 1988–February 1988, ABC Friday 8:30–9:00
• March 1988–July 1989, ABC Friday 9:00–9:30
• August 1989–September 1989, ABC Friday 8:30–9:00
• September 1989–December 1989, ABC Saturday 8:00–8:30
• July 1990, ABC Sunday 8:30–9:00

The show's theme song, "According to Our New Arrival," was performed by ragtime singer Leon Redbone. It was written by Judy Hart-Angelo and Gary Portnoy,[6] who also co-wrote the theme songs to Cheers and Punky Brewster. In the original pilot, an unidentified studio vocalist sang the theme.

The song was composed in 1984 for a rejected television pilot called Help (which was later resurrected in 1987 as Marblehead Manor, produced by Paramount Television and aired in first-run syndication). With a minor lyrical rewrite (changing the word "arrivals" to "arrival"), it quickly became the theme song to Mr. Belvedere.[7] In 2007, Portnoy released a never-before-heard full-length version of the theme on his CD, Destiny.

The show used four different closing themes during its original run:

1. The Pilot and early ABC promos of the show used a rock version of the main theme, with a guitar lead.
2. Seasons 1 and 2 and one Season 3 episode featured an instrumental version of the theme song.
3. Season 3 featured a Dixieland rendition of the ending theme.
4. Seasons 4-6 employed a jazzier rendition of the ending theme.

Mr. Belvedere did not place within Nielsen's Top 30 shows at any time during its six-season run; however it did have a relatively solid ratings base, and often won its time slot.

Its first season (1985) was exempt from the Nielsen ratings as it aired too few episodes before the end of April to be counted.[8] In its second season (1985–86), the series ranked at #45 with a 14.8 rating.[9]

During season three (1986–87), the show fell to 51st place with a 13.7 rating.[10] At the end of the 1986–87 season, ABC decided to cancel the show after three seasons,[11] but negative feedback from fans of the series led the network to reverse its decision and order a fourth season that debuted in October 1987.[12] In season four (1987–88), the show fell to 64th place and an 11.5 rating for the year.[13] For its fifth season (1988–89), the show rose to a 12.2 rating, placing it at #47 for the season.[14]

For its sixth and final season (1989–90), Mr. Belvedere left its longtime Friday night slot (which began its evolution into the long-running TGIF block that season) and was moved to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday nights. The move led Mr. Belvedere to suffer a steep ratings decline, falling to a 6.3 rating. The final episode to air before it was put on hiatus on December 30, 1989 ranked #70 out of 83 shows.[15][16] ABC canceled the series for good in February 1990.[17] The two-part finale, which aired on July 1 and July 8, 1990, ranked #59 and #37, respectively, out of the 86 shows that aired during those weeks.[18][19]

In addition to its existing prime time airings, ABC aired reruns of the first three seasons of Mr. Belvedere on the network's daily daytime schedule from September 7, 1987 to January 15, 1988, filling the gap between the cancellation of the game show Bargain Hunters and the premiere of the talk show Home.[20]

On September 11, 1989, (about the time the show entered its final season), and continuing in sporadically until 1997, it was seen in local syndication on select Fox affiliates. Along with the addition of seasons four through six, ten previously unaired episodes (two from season five and eight from season six), were also added to the syndication package. The syndication package initially consisted of all 95 half-hour episodes produced up until the end of season five in 1989; the following year, season six (the remaining 22 half-hour episodes) was finally included in the package.

In the early 2000s, reruns of the series aired on Foxnet (a master feed of the Fox network for markets without a local affiliate, which aired syndicated programs outside of network programming),[21] and on CTS in Canada from 2002 to 2004.

On December 17, 2009, American Life Network aired both of the series' Christmas-themed episodes, as part of the network's month-long block of holiday-centered episodes of series from 20th Century Fox Television (season four's "Christmas Story" and season six's "A Happy Guy's Christmas"). This was the first time in over a decade that Mr. Belvedere was syndicated in U.S.[21] On or around October 3, 2011, reruns began airing on FamilyNet, marking the first time that the series had been regularly syndicated in over 15 years. Around November 2012, Dish Network began broadcasting FamilyNet's successor channel, Rural TV, making the show viewable throughout the U.S. on weeknights (with commercial bumpers intact briefly).[21] On January 5, 2015, Antenna TV began airing reruns of the series, initially airing seven days a week. These have been completely unedited, and include alternate pilot credits without Leon Redbone singing. It aired until April 1, 2018.

Shout! Factory (under license from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) has released the first four seasons of Mr. Belvedere on DVD in Region 1, featuring the original unedited prints of the episodes.[22][23][24] Currently, Shout! Factory does not have the DVD rights to seasons five and six, and has been involved in protracted negotiations to acquire those remaining episodes (46 in total) for future releases.[25]

On September 8, 2015, Shout! re-released season 4 on DVD as a full retail release.[26]

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

In the Futurama episode "A Leela of Her Own", the head of Bob Uecker, during a call of a game, says "I've never seen anything this bizarre, and I've seen Mr. Belvedere naked."

Mr. Belvedere plays a big part in 2006's Family Guy Video Game!, where Peter, after being smashed on the head by the PTV satellite dish, wakes up in the hospital and sees a spotlight identical to the Bat-Signal, only in the shape of Mr. Belvedere. Believing that Belvedere has kidnapped his family and for some reason wants him dead, Peter rampages across town in an effort to destroy him and save his family. But later in the game, Lois confronts Peter, telling him that there is no Mr. Belvedere, that his actor had already died, and that he had destroyed half of Quahog looking for Belvedere. Later at the Drunken Clam, Peter is confronted by Belvedere again, who rips off a disguise revealing none other than Ernie the Giant Chicken. After defeating Ernie and rejoining his family, Peter sees the Belvedere spotlight again, which turns out to be Adam West making shadow puppets.

• Mr. Belvedere is also mentioned in the TV Series itself as characters make references to the series.

In the Married... with Children episode "He Ain't Much, But He's Mine," it is suggested by Al Bundy that he and Peggy have sex while Mr. Belvedere aired.

The show's theme song, "According To Our New Arrival" has been used as the theme song for professional wrestler, Jervis Cottonbelly. It has also been prominently featured in episodes of four popular US television shows:

• On April 9, 2006, the "Deep Throats" episode of the Fox animated series Family Guy concludes with Stewie Griffin singing its theme as his family simultaneously discusses drug use, specifically marijuana.
• On January 3, 2007, the “Brace Yourself” episode of the long running CBS comedy The King of Queens plays the main theme during a scene in which side character Spence babysits unruly children.
• On November 5, 2015, Seth Rogen performed the theme on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
• On November 16, 2015, the "Everything Stays" episode of the Adventure Time miniseries Stakes, Marceline is seen singing the show's theme song in one of her flashbacks.
• In the movie American Wedding, Bear uses Mr. Belvedere's name as a persona to cover up the bachelor party at Jim's house.

• Charles in Charge (1984)
• Gimme a Break! (1981)
• Who's the Boss? (1984)

• Mr. Belvedere at IMDb
• Mr. Belvedere at TV.com
• Mr. Belvedere at epguides.com