Oh, Grow Up
Oh, Grow Up is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22 to December 28, 1999.[1][2] Created by Alan Ball, the show was based on his 1991 one-act stage play Bachelor Holiday, written before he found success as a television writer.[3] The series starred Stephen Dunham, David Alan Basche, and John Ducey as three former college roommates who share an apartment in Brooklyn.
| Oh, Grow Up | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Alan Ball |
| Starring | Stephen Dunham David Alan Basche John Ducey Rena Sofer Niesha Trout |
| Composer | Jonathan Wolff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (2 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bob Greenblatt David Janollari Alan Ball |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio Fox Television Studios |
| Distributor | 20th Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 22 – December 28, 1999 |
Plot
Construction company owner Hunter Franklin and artist Norris Michelsky are old college roommates, who share an apartment in Brooklyn, but are nothing alike. When their other college roommate, attorney Ford Lowell, splits from his wife Suzanne after coming out, Hunter and Norris invite him to move in with them. In addition, ladies man Hunter discovers that an affair from years ago has produced a child, when 18-year-old art student Chloe makes contact with him. In addition, one of the more unique aspects of the show was a dog named Mom, whose barks were subtitled with captions.[4]
Cast
- Stephen Dunham as Hunter Franklin
- David Alan Basche as Norris Michelsky
- John Ducey as Ford Lowell
- Rena Sofer as Suzanne Vandermeer
- Niesha Trout as Chloe Sheffield
Recurring
- Ed Marinaro as Sal, Hunter's boss
Notable guest stars
- Tom Cavanagh as Bruce ("Love Stinks")
- Wally Kurth as Lewis Morris Jr. ("Clods and Monsters")
- Dan Castellaneta as Sven Jorgensen ("Hunter's Metamorphosis")
- Jack Riley as Harry Tatham ("Himbo")
- Julia Campbell as Julie Sheffield, Chloe's mother ("The Parent Trap: Part I")
Production
The series was based on Ball's experiences in New York City in the early 1990s, before he had found success as a writer on other series such as Grace Under Fire and Cybill.[4] ABC promoted the series as "a comedy for immature audiences", and initially scheduled Oh, Grow Up on Wednesday nights after Top 20 series The Drew Carey Show. The series, which debuted the same week as Ball's critically acclaimed film American Beauty was released, suffered from mixed reviews.[4]
In November 1999, ABC announced that the series would move to Tuesday nights, between hits Spin City and Dharma & Greg. However, just after airing only three episodes in its new time slot, ABC cancelled the series on December 22, 1999, reportedly to make room for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on the same night.[2] Only one more episode aired before ABC pulled the series, leaving two of the 13 episodes produced unaired.[5] Despite the cancellation, the series placed at #61 for the overall season, with an average of 10.7 million viewers per week.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Andy Cadiff | Alan Ball | September 22, 1999 | |
| 2 | "Good Pop, Bad Pop" | Tom Cherones | Alan Ball | September 29, 1999 | |
| Hunter is shocked to discover he has previously had a one-night stand with Chloe's roommate. Meanwhile, Ford's attempts to save Suzanne's job see him cross-dressing, and Norris deals with a client who refuses to pay him. | |||||
| 3 | "Love Stinks" | Mark Cendrowski | Maria Brown | October 6, 1999 | |
| Hunter and Norris try to set up Ford on a date, but come to find that guys they believe to be gay are actually straight. | |||||
| 4 | "President of the House" | Tom Cherones | Steve Joe & Greg Schaffer | October 13, 1999 | |
| Ford and Norris fight to be the head of the household. | |||||
| 5 | "Marathon Men" | Ted Wass | Chris Downey | October 20, 1999 | |
| 6 | "Clods and Monsters" | Ted Wass | Kirk J. Rudell | October 27, 1999 | |
| 7 | "Hunter's Metamorphosis" | Tom Cherones | Chuck Tatham | November 3, 1999 | |
| 8 | "Himbo" | Brian K. Roberts | Rick Nyholm | December 7, 1999 | |
| 9 | "The Parent Trap: Part I" | Tom Cherones | TBA | December 14, 1999 | |
| 10 | "The Parent Trap: Part II" | Steve Zuckerman | Rick Nyholm & Paul Ruehl | December 21, 1999 | |
| 11 | "Duckboy Flies Again" | Craig Zisk | Jill Condon & Amy Toomin | December 28, 1999 | |
| 12 | "Goodwill Hunter" | Steve Zuckerman | Paul Ruehl | Unaired | |
| 13 | "Baby It's Cold Outside" | Andrew Tsao | Chuck Tatham & Chris Downey | Unaired | |
References
- Wallenstein, Andrew (September 1, 1999). "'Oh Grow Up': Sharp writing won't save this dud from ABC". Medialife Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- Keller, Julie (December 22, 1999). "ABC, Like, Cancels Two More Shows". E!Online. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- "TV.com: Alan Ball". Retrieved July 19, 2012.
- Miller, Daryl H. (September 22, 1999). "TV: Reviewing the New Season : A Dreamy Case of Double Exposure : Alan Ball captures the big screen ('American Beauty'), then shoots for the small screen ('Oh Grow Up')". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- Keith Fenimore, Mark Scherzer. "Excerpt from "Hire Me Hollywood!" - David Janollari, Head of Programming - MTV". Writers Store. Retrieved September 19, 2012.