Too Close for Comfort is an American
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom which ran on the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
series
Keep It in the FamilyKeep It in the Family is a British comedy television series that aired for five seasons between 1980 and 1983. It was about a likable and mischievous British cartoonist, Dudley Rush. Also featured were Dudley's wife, Muriel and their two daughters, Jacqui and Susan...
, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S. Its name was changed to
The Ted Knight Show when the show was retooled for its final season.
Synopsis
Ted KnightTed Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...
and
Nancy Dussault star as Henry and Muriel Rush, owners of a two-family house in San Francisco. The two story red house, seen at the opening and closing of each episode, was shot at 171–173 Buena Vista Avenue in the city.
Henry is a conservative cartoonist who authors a comic strip called Cosmic Cow. During scenes in which Henry draws in his bedroom, Knight used his earlier acquired ventriloquism talents for comical conversations with a hand-puppet version of "Cosmic Cow." Muriel is a laid back freelance photographer, having been a band singer in her earlier days. They have two grown children, older daughter, brunette Jackie (
Deborah Van ValkenburghDeborah Gaye Van Valkenburgh is an American actress. She is most widely known as Ted Knight's daughter in the role of Jackie Rush on the ABC television situation comedy Too Close for Comfort.-Movies:*Backwoods...
) who works for a bank; and younger daughter Sara (
Lydia CornellLydia Cornell is an American actress, writer, novelist, comedienne, blogger, and talk-radio host.-Early life and acting career:...
), a blonde bombshell and a college student.
At the start of the premiere episode, Jackie and Sara are living with their parents in a cramped, awkward arrangement. Their longtime downstairs tenant, Myron Rafkin, recently died. The family discovers Rafkin was a
transvestiteTransvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
, and the many strange women Henry had been opening the door for all those years were actually Rafkin himself. Jackie and Sara convince their parents to allow them to move into the now-vacant downstairs apartment. In a running gag, Henry falls off of the girls' ultra-modern chairs or couch every time he attempts to sit down. Despite the daughters' push for independence and moving into the downstairs apartment, Henry proves to be a very protective father and constantly meddles in their affairs.
Due to an actors' strike led by the
Screen Actors GuildThe Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
and the
American Federation of Television and Radio ArtistsThe American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists , promo and voice-over announcers and other...
, new programming for the fall 1980 season was pushed back several months. As a result, Too Close for Comfort did not debut until November 11, 1980, and its initial season consisted of 19 episodes. The show garnered high
ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, benefiting from its placement in
ABC'sThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
powerhouse Tuesday night lineup following hits like
Happy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
,
Laverne & ShirleyLaverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
and
Three's CompanyThree's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....
.
A few episodes into the series, Sara's addle-headed friend Monroe Ficus, played by actor Jim J. Bullock, made an appearance. Although Monroe was originally intended to be used for only a single episode, producers added the character to the series and he became just a "friend" of Sara's, and Henry's principal (if unintended) foil. During the first two seasons,
Selma DiamondSelma Diamond was a Canadian-born American comic actress and radio and television writer, and is known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series Night Court.-Life and career:Diamond was born in Montreal, Quebec,...
made guest appearances as Mildred Rafkin, sister of the late Myron. Sardonic, deadpan Mildred initially showed up to collect belongings left by Myron in the downstairs apartment, but continued to hang around thereafter. Seemingly, there were sentimental reasons, but occasionally she would attempt to make time with the much younger Monroe, whom she had an eye for.
Also added in early 1981 was Arthur Wainwright (
Hamilton CampHamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
), Henry's boss and head of Wainwright Publishing, who nearly decided to force the veteran cartoonist, and Cosmic Cow, into retirement in order to maintain a youth-oriented staff. The short-statured Mr. Wainwright, who spoke with Shakespearean diction and fancied himself an amateur detective (as a result of the famous mystery novels his company published), eventually let Henry stay with the firm, after the latter proved adept in helping him solve the mystery of Sara's stolen purse. Wainwright no longer appeared in person after the first season, but was referred to. Later, at the start of the fifth season,
Graham JarvisGraham Jarvis was a Canadian character actor in US films and TV from the 1960s.Born in Toronto, Jarvis attended Williams College before moving to New York to pursue a career in theater...
began appearing as Wainwright in a few guest appearances.
Developments in Seasons two and three
Ted Knight's character Henry became famous for wearing sweatshirts from various American colleges and universities. It was revealed in one episode that he wore the different sweatshirts because he himself had never gone to college. Eventually fans would send in sweatshirts from universities around the country hoping they would be used during filming.
During its second season, the series' principal stories are focused around Muriel's pregnancy. Additionally, Henry's niece April (Deena Freeman) comes from
DelawareDelaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
to live with the Rush family. The season concludes with Muriel giving birth to a son, Andrew (later played regularly by twins William and Philip Cannon from 1983-84).
For the third season, April departs and the character of Muriel's mother, Iris Martin (
Audrey MeadowsAudrey Meadows was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners.-Early life:...
) is added in order to help take care of Andrew. Also that fall, Jackie becomes engaged to her steady boyfriend, police officer Brad Turner (played in a few guest appearances by Jordan Suffin), but they broke it off after a short time. Jackie eventually moved into the field of fashion design, taking courses and producing her own clothing templates, which she later had produced as "The Jacqueline Rush Collection". Sara, meanwhile, decided to major in communications and, while continuing her studies, became a weather girl for a time at a major San Francisco TV station. At one point, she auditioned for a news anchor position, but she was passed over in favor of a female candidate who may have not had Sara's looks, but had greater experience in hard news. This caused Sara to learn the valuable lesson that her sex appeal alone would not get her everywhere. Monroe seemed to be detached from Sara's circle of friends, but was taking the same major as her and became a security guard around campus.
In the fall of 1982, ABC moved the series to Thursday nights, which proved to be a disaster for the show. Paired with failures such as
Joanie Loves ChachiJoanie Loves Chachi is an American television spin-off of the popular American sitcom Happy Days that was originally broadcast on ABC from March 23, 1982 to September 13, 1983...
,
Star of the FamilyStar of the Family was a short-lived television situation comedy starring veteran actor, Brian Dennehy, as fire chief Leslie "Buddy" Krebs, and Kathy Maisnik as his singer daughter, Jennie Lee Krebs...
and It Takes Two, Too Close for Comforts ratings plummeted. At the conclusion of the season, Too Close for Comfort was canceled by ABC. The last first-run episode broadcast by ABC on May 5, 1983 was a pilot for a proposed
spin-offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series called Family Business. The series was to have focused on the misadventures of Lucille Garabaldi (
Lainie KazanLainie Kazan is an American actress and singer.-Personal life:Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie and a Turkish Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and...
) and her two sons (played by George Deloy and
Jimmy BaioJames Joseph "Jimmy" Baio is an American actor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is the cousin of actor Scott Baio.Baio first appeared onscreen in 1975 at age 13...
) as they tried to run a construction business. ABC aired reruns of the show at 11:00 a.m. (ET) from June 27 to September 16, 1983.
First-run syndication
During the early 1980s, TV station owner
MetromediaMetromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
was expanding its portfolio of original syndicated programming through its production subsidiary, Metromedia Producers Corporation. Its efforts would eventually lead to the creation of the
Fox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. When Too Close for Comfort was canceled by ABC, Metromedia Producers Corporation elected to pick up the series and began producing all-new episodes to run on various stations throughout the country.
Starting in April 1984, a total of 14 new episodes were broadcast for the show's fourth season, featuring the same cast as seen on the ABC episodes. Monroe and Iris were still around to bother Henry (although Meadows had cut back her involvement to guest shots only), and Jackie and Sara were still downstairs. Monroe eventually moves in to a remodeled attic, with the entrance from the Rushes' kitchen.
The show's
ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
improved in syndication, and Metromedia ordered an additional 30 episodes, airing through November 1985. When the fifth season began, a single child actor, Joshua Goodwin, took over the role of Andrew Rush (which he would hold for the remainder of the series). Henry was now working out of his own fancy office at Wainwright Publishing, as a result of toddler Andrew's "
terrible twosTerrible twos may refer to the following:* A child development stage which normally occurs around the age of two and consists of toddlers often saying no and throwing temper tantrums....
" behavior interfering with his concentration at home. Everyone else's worldly, or, in the case of Monroe, wacky affairs, were also proving to be an intense distraction, considering they were all living under the same roof. Near the end of the season, Jackie accepted a job offer in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
that would help further her clothing line, with her family and friends giving her a big send-off. With a total of 107 episodes of Too Close for Comfort having been produced, the show became a popular staple for syndicated reruns throughout the late 1980s.
The Ted Knight Show
In late 1985, several changes were made before further episodes were produced, including changing the show's title to The Ted Knight Show (not to be confused with the short-lived 1978
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
show of the same name). With the Jackie character being written out, the decision was made to write out the Sara character, having her move out from her parents' watchful eyes after years of them doubling as her landlords. Henry, Muriel, and Andrew, along with Monroe, move to a house in
Marin CountyMarin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
, north of San Francisco. Henry leaves the cartoonist profession and becomes editor and 49% owner of a newspaper, The Marin Bugler, while Muriel takes a job with the paper as a photographer. Monroe becomes a reporter-in-training at the paper, and under the Rushes' supervision, proves to be more resourceful than in years past. Hope Stinson (
Pat CarrollPatricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...
), owns the other 51% of the Bugler, creating friction with Henry. Lisa (Lisa Antille) was also added to the cast as the Rushes' maid and eventual romantic interest for Monroe. Along with the new title, a new opening was filmed in Marin County. The theme song was re-recorded in a smoother style.
First-run episodes of The Ted Knight Show were broadcast starting in April 1986. A total of 22 episodes were produced prior to the summer of 1986. The revamped show continued to be successful and was scheduled to resume production for another season, but Ted Knight, who had been battling colon cancer since 1985, died on August 26, 1986, aged 62, and the series was not continued. First-run episodes continued to air through September 1986.
With only a single season complete, The Ted Knight Show was added to the Too Close for Comfort re-run syndication package. However, The Ted Knight Show title in the revamped opening was replaced with the original Too Close for Comfort logo and name instead.
Syndication
The syndication rights for Too Close for Comfort are held by DLT Entertainment, a production and distribution company. Reruns of the series began airing on the
Antenna TVAntenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
digital broadcast network in January 2011.
DVD release
The first two seasons of Too Close for Comfort were released on
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in Region 1 by
Rhino EntertainmentRhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
. Rhino did not obtain the original versions of the episodes for the releases and instead used the versions edited for syndication, which are missing several minutes of footage, including the final scene of each episode before the closing credits. There are no known plans for additional releases.
| DVD Name |
Ep # |
Release Date |
| The Complete First Season |
19 |
November 2, 2004 |
| The Complete Second Season |
22 |
June 7, 2005 |
External links