Unhappily Ever After

Unhappily Ever After

Unhappily Ever After opening sequence
Also known as ''Unhappily...''
Genre Sitcom
Created by Ron Leavitt
Arthur Silver
Starring Geoff Pierson
Stephanie Hodge
Kevin Connolly
Nikki Cox
Bob Goldthwait
Justin Berfield
Opening theme "Hit the Road Jack"
Performed by Ray Charles
Composer(s) Paul Buckley
Jonathan Wolff
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 100 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Ron Leavitt
Arthur Silver
Sandy Sprung
Marcy Vosburgh
Producer(s) Stewart J. Burns
Brian LaPan
Christina Lynch
Harriette Regan
Running time 2224 minutes
Production company(s) Touchstone Television
Distributor Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network The WB
Original release January 11, 1995 (1995-01-11) – May 23, 1999 (1999-05-23)

Unhappily Ever After (often shortened to Unhappily... in promotional advertisements) is an American sitcom that aired for 100 episodes on The WB network from January 11, 1995, to May 23, 1999, for a total of five seasons. The series was produced by Touchstone Television.

Synopsis

The series was initially intended to be a starring vehicle for Stephanie Hodge, whose character of Jennie was the focus of the first few episodes. However, the series concept was soon re-worked. The character of Jack (Geoff Pierson), who had been kicked out of the house and was living in an apartment, was brought back home and began living in the basement. Soon, Jack a family man with schizophrenia whose only friend is a talking toy rabbit became the central character of the show, along with the rabbit, Mr. Floppy. Also, in seasons one and two, storylines featured Jennie's mother, Maureen Slattery (Joyce Van Patten). When Van Patten left the show, her character was killed-off.

By the show's third season, Tiffany (Nikki Cox) was becoming a breakout character and the de facto co-star of the show along with Pierson. Stories began focusing on Tiffany and Ryan's high school (and later community college) escapades, and the producers attempted to kill-off the increasingly unnecessary character of Jennie, who returned as a ghost. After doing so, however, they quickly reversed their decision because of negative audience reaction. The character was brought back to life in a deliberately bizarre sequence in which a network executive wandered on to the set and announced Jennie's character was no longer dead. Nevertheless, Jennie was soon gone again, as several episodes later, the character abandoned her family for a lesbian lover (Hodge choosing to leave the show) and was never seen again.

Cox was already signed to star in a new series for the WB when Unhappily... ended, and the final season focused more on the character of Tiffany. A new character was added to the cast, Tiffany's rival Barbara Caufield (Wendy Benson). The series wrapped up with a final episode in which Jack finally made enough money to send Tiffany to Harvard University. Once Jack started making money, he no longer needed Floppy and his schizophrenia was cured; Floppy returned to being just a stuffed animal, dying. Jack soon went insane from drinking again, however, bringing Floppy "back from the dead".

Main characters

Additional characters

Recurring characters

Episodes

Season Episodes First aired Last aired
1 13 January 11, 1995 (1995-01-11) May 17, 1995 (1995-05-17)
2 22 September 6, 1995 (1995-09-06) May 22, 1996 (1996-05-22)
3 22 September 8, 1996 (1996-09-08) May 18, 1997 (1997-05-18)
4 21 September 7, 1997 (1997-09-07) May 10, 1998 (1998-05-10)
5 22 September 13, 1998 (1998-09-13) May 23, 1999 (1999-05-23)

Production notes

The series was created by Ron Leavitt and Arthur Silver, who also worked on Married... with Children. Unhappily was often compared to Married... with Children as both series had similar themes.[1][2][3]

Unhappily Ever After was one of the four sitcoms that aired as part of the original Wednesday night two-hour lineup that helped launch The WB network (along with The Wayans Bros., The Parent 'Hood and the short-lived Muscle).

Theme song and opening sequence

When the show first began its run, the original opening started with the "wedding photo" (even though they are moving in it) of the Malloys, with their smiles fading, and showed clips of the father leaving and walking through the slum to his new place. While walking, a man runs by him holding a TV, chased by another man who stops, takes a shooting stance, and fires a gun at the thief. The next clip shows the father as he walks past the first man lying face down, TV near his hands, as he enters his apartment. The theme song played over the opening was Bobcat Goldthwait (and possibly others) singing "We married young, because of cupid. And had three kids, but we were stupid. She kicked me out, she's not my honey. But she still wants me, when she needs money. Now I'm alone, come rain or sunny. But who needs love? I've got my bunny." In the final scene of the final episode, this is the song Jack sings with Mr. Floppy, but with slightly modified lyrics. "I married young, because of cupid. And had three kids, but you were stupid. I could've been rich, instead I'm a loser. But at least we're happy, 'cause you're a boozer. Now I'm alone, come rain or sunny. But who needs love? I've got my bunny."

Beginning with the second season, the series' theme song was "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles; the song is a reference to Jennie kicking Jack out of the house. The opening is a sequence of bizarre events from the first season and the male vocals are lip-synched by Floppy while the female vocals are lip-synched by Jennie, Tiffany and Maureen for Seasons 1 & 2, Jennie and Tiffany for Seasons 3 & 4, and Tiffany, Jack, Ryan and Ross for Season 5. In reruns and syndication, the Season 1 opening was replaced with the "Hit The Road Jack" opening with clips from the show.

Syndication and international airings

The show was sold into syndication for the 1999-2000 and the 2000-01 seasons, but was not re-offered the following fall due to lackluster clearance rates and low ratings. It has been off the air in America ever since.

In the United Kingdom, it was shown on ABC1 between 2004 and 2005.

In Canada, it was seen on Omni Television during the 2006/2007 season.

As of October 2007, it airs on the TV3 network in Estonia as Armastuseta sinu (Yours Without Love).

In Germany, the show first aired on RTL Television in November 1997, was since rerun on RTL II and currently (as of June 2007) airs on Comedy Central on a daily basis. It is titled Auf schlimmer und ewig ("For worse and ever"), a pun on the phrase "Auf immer und ewig" ("Forever and ever").

References

  1. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007-10-17). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1455. ISBN 0-345-49773-2.
  2. Childs, T. Mike (2004). The Rocklopedia Fakebandica. Macmillan. p. 111. ISBN 0-312-32944-X.
  3. Leonard, John (1995-01-30). "The Next Next Generation". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 28 (5): 83. ISSN 0028-7369.
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