Grace Under Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grace Under Fire | |
|---|---|
 The Season 4 cast of Grace Under Fire (from left to right), Floyd, Nadine, Wade, Libby, Grace, Patrick, Quentin, Jean and Russell. |
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| Format | Sitcom |
| Created by | Chuck Lorre |
| Starring | Brett Butler Dave Thomas Julie White Casey Sander Jon Paul Steuer Sam Horrigan Kaitlin Cullum Dylan and Cole Sprouse Peggy Rea |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 112 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 29, 1993 – February 17, 1998 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Grace Under Fire is a television series which ran on ABC from 1993 to 1998. The show starred Brett Butler. It began on September 29, 1993. It was the highest rated new comedy of the 1993–1994 season.
Contents |
[edit] Premise of show
Grace Under Fire was produced by Carsey-Werner International, a production company responsible for such hit shows as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Cybill, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That '70s Show. Grace Under Fire was part of a wave of shows in the late 1980s and 1990s that were built around a comedian (and in some cases, closely based on his or her comedy routine). ABC also ordered a show based around the standup comedy of Margaret Cho at around this time. As for Carsey-Werner, many of their shows were based around non-traditional, non-nuclear families.[1]
Grace Under Fire followed a similar formula; Butler starred as Grace Kelly, a divorced single mother and recovering alcoholic. The show begins after the main character divorces her abusive alcoholic husband of eight years in an attempt to start life anew and prevent her children from making the same mistakes she did. The show revolved around Grace; her neighbors Nadine and Wade, along with the town's bachelor pharmacist, Russell Norton (played by Dave Thomas of SCTV fame), helped Grace keep whatever shreds of sanity she had left.
Grace Kelly is not the only character named after famous Kellys from the entertaining world. Grace has in-laws named Jean Kelly (homophone for Gene Kelly), Emmett Kelly, and DeForest Kelly.
[edit] Cast
- Brett Butler as Grace Kelly
- Dave Thomas as Russell Norton
- Julie White as Nadine Swoboda (1993–1997)
- Casey Sander as Wade Swoboda
- Jon Paul Steuer as Quentin Kelly
- Sam Horrigan as Quentin Kelly (replacing Steuer)
- Kaitlin Cullum as Elizabeth Louise "Libby" Kelly
- Dylan and Cole Sprouse as Patrick Kelly
- Peggy Rea as Jean Kelly (1995–1998)
- Don 'D.C.' Curry as D.C. (1997–1998)
- Lauren Tom as Dot (1997–1998)
- Tom Poston as Floyd Norton (1995–1998)
The role of Nadine was originally offered to Sheila McCarthy, who declined the role since she did not want to commute between her home in Toronto and the Los Angeles filming location.
[edit] Ratings and recognition
The show was the highest rated new show in its first season. In the month before Grace Under Fire first aired, Showtime broadcast the Carsey Werner-produced Brett Butler Special, a half-hour comedy performance by Butler.
Grace Under Fire was nominated for three Golden Globe awards: Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995 and 1997 and Best TV Series Comedy/Musical in 1995.
Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker from All in the Family) was nominated for the 1995 Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy series Emmy Award for playing Aunt Vivian in the episode "The Road to Paris Texas." Diane Ladd was nominated for the same award the previous year for playing Louise Burdett in the episode entitled "Things Left Undone."
[edit] Controversy and cancellation
After the first season, the creative aspect of the show experienced a revolving door of producers and writers. These changes were a result of creative clashes between the production team and Butler. Butler constantly fought for (and eventually won) more creative control for her character and show. These arguments led to the removal of the show's Creator/Executive Producer, Chuck Lorre, from production work, although he stayed with the show as a "comedy consultant." As with Roseanne and Cybill, the back-stage conflicts of Grace Under Fire were well publicized. Butler's battle for creative control on the show was categorized by the press as the behavior of a woman being "difficult[citation needed]."
In the fourth and fifth seasons of the show, Butler was fighting a painkiller addiction, for which she eventually sought medical help. During Butler's addiction and subsequent treatment, clashes with other cast members occurred. Butler allegedly flashed her breasts at actor Jon Paul Steuer, who was 12 years old at the time and was playing the son of Butler's character. Cast member Julie White left the show after Season 4, citing Butler's behavior as the reason.[2]
The show was cancelled in February 1998. The last episode aired on February 17, 1998. It can currently be seen on the Oxygen Network in the United States and TVtropolis in Canada.
[edit] International remakes
The show was remade in Russia as Lyuba, Children and the Factory in 2003.
A Polish adaptation titled Hela w opałach (Hela Under Fire, Hela is short form from Helen) is being broadcast by TVN from September 2006. The third season is scheduled to be aired in Autumn 2007. The title character's full name Helena Trojańska (played by Anna Guzik) may be translated as Helen of Troy. The series is praised the light and liberal approach in depicting lower class life, in opposition to its major competitors like Plebania (The Parish) broadcast by the public TVP. Piotr Gąsowski playing one of the main characters was nominated to a prestigious Telekamery 2007 Award.
