The Hogan Family

Originally, the show was known as Valerie and its stories revolved around Valerie Hogan (Valerie Harper), who lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and struggled with everyday problems raising her three sons during her airline pilot husband Michael's (Josh Taylor) long absences due to his demanding work schedule. She contended with the regular uproar caused by girl-crazy and sometimes narcissistic 16-year-old David (Jason Bateman) and his 12-year-old fraternal twin brothers, irresponsible and jockish Willie (Danny Ponce), and brainy Mark (Jeremy Licht)—whose spotless academic and behavioral record at school came to be pierced by occasional bursts of rebellion.

Valerie worked as the buyer for an auction house and was matched in wit and charm by her best friend, Barbara Goodwin (Christine Ebersole). The family dog, Murray, died in a season-one story line; although the plot of the episode ("Dog Day Afternoon") mentions that Murray was 17 years old and already in mediocre health, his death is the result of injuries he suffered from a fall from a storm-downed tree in the Hogans' backyard.

In season two, Harper and producer/husband Tony Cacciotti had increasing creative control over the show, and the candy-coated tinges of storytelling were completely replaced by realistic humor. Barbara was written out of the show, and the close friend/cohort role became occupied by neighbor Annie Steck (Judith Kahan), mother of a teenage daughter Rebecca (played in one episode by Paula Hoffman). Another neighbor, busybody Patty Poole (Edie McClurg), began appearing occasionally, as did David's friend Rich (Tom Hodges). A jock with a big-man-on-campus attitude, Rich was especially known for calling David "Hogie" (or "Hoagie"). Valerie had switched careers, now working as a freelance graphic artist, so she could be more available to her sons.

Like most American sitcoms in the 1980s, the series sometimes dealt with moral conflicts, but not in a heavy-handed fashion. In the very special episode "Bad Timing", which first aired February 7, 1987, David and a former girlfriend debate whether to have sex.[1][2] The episode featured the first use of the word condom on a prime time television program.[3] Parental advisory warnings were issued in ads for the episode and NBC placed an advisory warning before the episode aired stating that parents may want to watch the episode with their children. Because of the episode's subject matter, some of NBC's affiliates either aired the show outside of prime time or refused to air it at all. The episode was later released to home video, especially for teachers and health educators to use as a tool to promote safe sex.

After a modest start in the ratings that was countered by critical success, Valerie had begun to show growth in the Nielsens by the end of the 1986–87 season. Its most significant ratings jump occurred after its moving to Mondays at 8:30/7:30c in March 1987, following ALF. NBC renewed the series for a third season in May. In light of the show's success, Harper and Cacciotti approached their producers and NBC about per-episode salary increases and a larger cut of future syndication revenue.[4] When all of the couple's requests were refused, Harper and Cacciotti walked out on Valerie. Harper had prior history in this situation, as she staged a walk out in 1975 following the first season of her hit series Rhoda, which successfully resulted in a pay increase.[4]

The couple continued to negotiate with Miller-Boyett Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures and NBC during the next few months as the behind-the-scenes struggle became well publicized. NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff, who was unhappy with the feud, publicly stated that he would replace Harper with another actress if the fighting did not cease. Tartikoff suggested Sandy Duncan as a replacement to Miller and Boyett, who both sided with the network chief in this possible casting decision. Duncan had recently signed a contract with NBC for a starring vehicle, and Tartikoff felt that this would be the best opportunity for her to make use of it.[4] The announcement was unprecedented at the time. There was never a show that had a lead actor or actress fired from a show named after him or her, with the series continuing with a different star. Harper and Cacciotti felt Tartikoff was trying to spite them with this attempt of a threat and criticized his notion that marquee stars of a television series were dispensable.

In late July 1987, it appeared that a suitable new payment agreement was reached by all parties involved. Harper returned to shoot the third-season premiere in early August. However, shortly after the episode was completed, news had come that Harper and Cacciotti were holding out again. As a result, the cast shot scenes around Harper for the next few episodes. After the couple failed to be on the set for three consecutive episodes, Lorimar decided they had had enough, and fired Harper. The Valerie Hogan character was written out of the show by having the character die in a car accident. NBC explained that the series would take on difficult conflicts facing the family during the grieving process. To make good on their promise, Miller-Boyett and Tartikoff brought in Sandy Duncan as the series' new lead. The third-season premiere was hastily rewritten and shot to feature the shocking change in the storyline.

Harper took both NBC and Lorimar to court for breach of contract. Both in the press and in court, Miller and Boyett made claims that Harper became difficult to work with, citing combativeness towards much of the staff and breakdowns of sorts, suggesting that salary demands were just surface issues with the actress. The producers insisted that Harper approached them on one occasion and exclaimed that the series was "being taken away" from her, since the show was putting slightly more emphasis on Jason Bateman's character of David Hogan at that time. (The producers admittedly wanted to capitalize on the heartthrob status Bateman had been receiving for the last few years, via his roles on Silver Spoons and It's Your Move.) Miller and Boyett also claimed that Harper and Cacciotti were displeased over the possibility that writing would shift to the more slapstick stories that had been a secondary component of their sitcoms at Paramount. Harper and Cacciotti denied these episodes of behavior and accused Miller and Boyett of lying, resulting in a counter libel suit against Harper.[5]

Though the NBC case was dismissed, Harper and Cacciotti won their trial against Lorimar on September 16, 1988, and were awarded a grand total of $1.82 million in damages which they both later donated to various charities.[4][5]

In 1990, after spending three of the last four years on Monday nights at 8:30/7:30 (having been on Sundays before that), NBC opted not to respond to an agreement made with Lorimar insisting that the network had to exercise renewal options on the series before April 1. Despite the series still sporting decent ratings, NBC stated that it chose not to renew The Hogan Family "because of the strength of our current development."[6] Lorimar Television subsequently signed a deal with CBS that moved The Hogan Family to the latter network beginning that fall. Mysteriously, CBS placed the series on Saturday nights at 8:30/7:30c, with a new Miller/Boyett sitcom, The Family Man, as its lead-in.

At the start of The Hogan Family's sixth and final season, John Hillerman joined the cast as Sandy and Michael's father, Lloyd. The season premiere has Mike, Sandy, and the boys visit Lloyd in California, upon hearing that he and his wife (Mike and Sandy's mother) have just been divorced. Lloyd clearly has trouble with the events, and at one point in the hour-long episode goes missing, with the family fearing that he might have been killed boating during a storm. The senior Hogan materializes safe, and in the end, follows the family to Oak Park. During the same season, Cara and Brenda become full-time regulars, as Mark's and Willie's love interests. Also that fall, the twins lose their job at Bossy Burger after Willie pressures Mark to skip work with him in order to see a concert (Sandy and Mrs. Poole filled in for them that evening, impromptu). Eventually, in the episode "A Sneaking Suspicion" (aired July 10, 1991), Mark and Willie get new jobs at a shoe store in the local mall.

Early in the season, Sandy Duncan was reunited with Valorie Armstrong, her former costar on Funny Face. Armstrong made a guest appearance as Mrs. Gordon in the episode "The Baby Stops Here" (September 29, 1990).

In the December 1, 1990, episode, "Best of Friends, Worst of Times", Tom Hodges reprised the role of Rich after over a year's absence from the show. The main plot begins with David and Burt shooting a video project for one of their college classes, at the local hospital in Oak Park. In the midst of their work with various patients on-camera, Rich shows up in the waiting room greeting an older man (guest star Al Fann), when David and Burt discover him. Rich is happy to see them, but his expressions also indicate nervousness and a rush to avoid his friends. David says that Burt and he had been trying to get in touch with him for months, and Rich explains that he had stayed over in Europe for an extended time, alluding to the fact that he had met a woman while there. After the three initially reunite, the older man with whom Rich was first seen talking tells David that he can find Rich in the wing "with all the other AIDS patients".

In a combination of shock and fear due to his confused knowledge of the disease as he had preconceived notions that the illness only affected gay men and drug addicts, David struggles to come to terms with Rich having AIDS. He avoids the situation until Sandy comes forward and reveals to David that an old college friend of hers died of AIDS several years earlier. David, Burt, and the rest rally around Rich, who at first wanted little to no attention, but soon opened up, and try to make the most of the time they had with him. As the episode concludes, the timeline advances three months, with Sandy and David speaking at the high school's assembly about HIV and AIDS. David touches upon his experiences with Rich, dispels common myths associated with the disease and how to prevent it, and breaks the news of Rich's passing, which had occurred the night before.

The decision to bring such closure to the character of Rich was partially made by the actor who portrayed him, as Hodges co-wrote the episode.

That December, due to dismal Saturday night ratings, CBS dropped the show from its weekly schedule. The series did not return until eight months later, in July 1991, when it finally aired the remaining episodes left for the season. In the interim, CBS announced they had not renewed the show for a seventh season, and would burn off the leftover episodes twice a week in July.

Four unaired episodes had been produced before it was put on hiatus. During the hiatus, production was shut down. The Hogan Family was not given the chance to end with a proper finale. When the leftover episodes aired, they were scheduled on Wednesday nights for two consecutive weeks, July 10 and 17, 1991, before the last two episodes of the series aired in an hour-long block on Saturday, July 20, 1991. The 1990 Christmas show (which had not made it to air the previous December) was the final original episode of The Hogan Family produced, and the last network broadcast of the show, that aired at 8:30/7:30 on Saturday, July 20.

The executive producers (besides Miller and Boyett) were Tony Cacciotti (Valerie Harper's husband since 1987), series creator Charlie Hauck (for the pilot episode only) and Out of the Blue producer Irma Kalish, who helmed the final season. Rich Correll served as co-producer for the first two seasons and later became consulting producer.

Directing credits included James Burrows, Peter Baldwin, Howard Storm, and beginning in 1988, Jason Bateman, who was the youngest-ever director to be registered into the Directors Guild of America (at age 18). Jason's father Kent Bateman also directed some episodes.

The theme song, "Together Through the Years," was performed by Roberta Flack and composed by Charles Fox. The lyrics were written by Stephen Geyer.

Fox, a holdover from Miller and Boyett's Paramount years, was the principal score composer for the first two seasons, with Bruce Miller taking over from seasons three through six. This was the only Miller/Boyett series from the Lorimar/Warner Bros. era to have not used the songwriting, composing, and underscoring talents of Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay for most of its run. Frederick and Salvay, however, did score selected episodes of the series: the first in November 1986, another in April 1987 (which they co-scored with Steven Chesne), and a third in the spring of 1988. Conversely, Valerie was the only Miller/Boyett series to have featured scoring by Fox during the producers' Lorimar era.

The series utilized four different credit fonts during its six seasons. Originally, the principal typeface for all credits was in orange, black-embossed, italicized Bookman Old Style font. Its usage ceased when the second season of Valerie went into production; it later showed up on three more Lorimar programs: the 1989 NBC sitcom Nearly Departed, and ABC's Family Matters and Getting By (the latter two of which were direct sister shows to Valerie, as they were Miller/Boyett series). During the second season of Valerie, the font used in the title sequence and first and final scenes was a gold, condensed version of Cooper Black font. Second season closing credits were in a Windsor font (also seen on All in the Family and Who's the Boss?). Seasons three through six switched to the traditional Cooper Black font, now set in yellow and used in all credits.

As was the case with Perfect Strangers, the first season did not use the familiar Miller/Boyett Productions logo set in Century 751 type; the "Miller/Boyett Productions" byline appeared in the show's main font instead. The proper logo made its debut in the second season, with the main byline accompanied on the side by a larger "M/B" in the same font. Near the end of season two, the byline dispensed the "M/B", and it continued to appear without it for the rest of the series. (The full version of the Miller/Boyett logo, with the "M/B", would reappear as a stand-alone vanity plate on their shows from 1996 to 1998.)