Mr. Belvedere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mr. Belvedere | |
|---|---|
 Mr. Belvedere title card, from seasons 3-6 |
|
| Format | Sitcom |
| Created by | Gwen Davenport |
| Developed by | Frank Dungan Jeff Stein |
| Directed by | Don Corvan Noam Pitlik Tony Sheehan Alan Bergmann Gerren Keith Tony Singletary Rob Stone Howard Storm Michael Zinberg |
| Starring | Christopher Hewett Ilene Graff Rob Stone Tracy Wells Brice Beckham Bob Uecker |
| Opening theme | According to Our New Arrivals, by Judy Hart-Angelo & Gary Portnoy, performed by Leon Redbone |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 117 (8 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Frank Dungan Jeff Stein Tony Sheehan |
| Producer(s) | Patricia Rickey |
| Associate producer(s) |
Gerilyn Maddern |
| Location(s) | ABC Television Center |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production company(s) |
Lazy B/F.O.B. Productions 20th Century Fox Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | March 15, 1985 – July 8, 1990 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom based on the Lynn Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere. The series stars Christopher Hewett in the title role, who takes a job with an American family headed by George Owens (Bob Uecker).
The show was originally broadcast on the ABC network from March 15, 1985 until July 8, 1990.
Contents |
[edit] Format
The character of Lynn Belvedere was originally created by Gwen Davenport in her 1947 novel, Belvedere. The following year, the title character was portrayed by Clifton Webb in the film Sitting Pretty. Webb's performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Sitting Pretty told the story of an arrogant genius who answers an employment ad for a baby sitter for three bratty kids. He accepts such employment because he is secretly writing a novel about a community filled with gossips and busybodies. Clifton Webb reprised his role as Mr. Belvedere in two more movies, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) and Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951).
As early as the 1950's, attempts were made to adapt the character to the small screen, with 3 pilots made during the 50's and 60's, including a 1965 version starring Victor Buono in the title role. All efforts were however, unsuccessful, until 1985 when ABC was finally able to get the show up and running with British actor Christopher Hewett playing Lynn Belvedere, this time accepting employment as a housekeeper for the Owens Family in Beaver Falls, PA.
The premise of the program was that a middle-class family in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, takes in an English butler after he immigrates to the United States.
The posh butler, Lynn Belvedere, struggled to adapt to the Owens household. The breadwinner, George, was a sportswriter. His wife Marsha was attending law school. At the time the show started, Kevin was a senior in high school, Heather was a freshman, and Wesley was in elementary school. Over time, Marsha graduated from law school and started a career as a lawyer, Kevin went off to college and got his own apartment, and Heather moved up in high school.
Several episodes dealt with Belvedere and Wesley, with whom he shared a close, if often adversarial, relationship. In one of many very special episodes, one of Wesley's classmates contracted HIV via Factor VIII, not unlike what happened to the real-life teenager Ryan White. When all of Wesley's classmates shunned him for still associating with his friend (due to believing the stereotypes of AIDS being mainly associated with drug addicts and gay men), Belvedere was there for him and the child, and he helped the other students befriend the boy. In another episode, Wesley confronts a scout leader who had touched him inappropriately. Mr. Belvedere served as a mentor to Wesley any time he had trouble, and also helped the other children when needed.
Each episode ended with Mr. Belvedere writing in his diary about the day in the Owens home.
A frequent gag on the show involved Heather's best friend Angela Chatsikovich, played by Michelle Matheson, often mispronouncing Mr. Belvedere's name, with such variations as "Mr. Velveeta" and "Mr. Bellpepper". Another frequent gag involved Mr. Belvedere making fun of Wesley's best friend Miles Knobnoster, played by Casey Ellison, because of his "headgear" (braces).
Still another frequent gag was Wesley's highly acrimonious relationship with the never-seen next door neighbor family, the Hufnagels. Apparently, they meant to make all sorts of trouble between them and the Owenses, but usually, the Owenses won out.
The show's theme song was performed by popular ragtime singer Leon Redbone. It was written by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy, who had previously written the theme songs to Cheers and Punky Brewster. A never before heard full length version of the theme was recently released by Gary Portnoy on his latest CD, Destiny.
[edit] Ratings
Mr. Belvedere had an average-sized ratings base, but it was never a phenomenally popular show; the show did not rate in the Top 30 shows in any of its six seasons. The show was quietly canceled in 1987, but was brought back due to higher-than-expected fan interest, and premiered its fourth season in December of that year.
In late 1989, in the middle of its sixth season, Mr. Belvedere was shelved and no episodes aired for the rest of the season. Speculation emerged that the show had been abruptly canceled, so ABC aired the final two episodes (the two-parter series finale, in which Mr. Belvedere marries and moves to Africa) in the summer of 1990. The show was seen in syndication for a time, but has since disappeared from the air. Currently, there are no plans for the show to be released on DVD or aired in syndication.
[edit] Cast
- Christopher Hewett as Mr. Lynn Belvedere
- Ilene Graff as Marsha Owens
- Rob Stone as Kevin Owens
- Tracy Wells as Heather Owens
- Brice Beckham as Wesley T. Owens
- Bob Uecker as George Owens
[edit] Recurring Characters
- Casey Ellison as Miles Knobnoster
- Michelle Matheson as Angela Chatsikovich
- Jack Dodson as Carl Butlam
- Norman Bartold as Skip Hollings
- Robert Goulet as Himself
[edit] References in other media
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
The 1986 episode “All Shook Up” of the TV comedy Sledge Hammer! contains this dialogue:
Yamamoto: I’m not answering any more questions! Leave! Right now! I want to get home in time to watch “Mr. Belvedere”.
Sledge Hammer: I guess somebody has to.
This started a feud between the producer of Sledge Hammer!, Alan Spencer, and the producers of Mr. Belvedere. Bob Uecker responded to the Sledge Hammer! insult with one of his own on The Tonight Show. Alan Spencer retaliated with an even bigger insult on the second season episode "The Last of the Red Hot Vampires." The dialogue in this episode included the following lines:
Dori Doreau: How did your father die?
Malovia Lagarski: He was watching television, and he just fell asleep and never woke up.
Sledge Hammer: I hope he wasn't watching Mr. Belvedere. I'd hate to think the poor fella went out suffering.
Ironically, both shows were on the same network – ABC.
In 1991, Saturday Night Live did a sketch entitled "The Guy Who Played Mr. Belvedere Fan Club." In the sketch, a group of the actor's fans are meeting to discuss their mutual love for "Mr. Belvedere" (no mention of Christopher Hewett's actual name is ever made). As the meeting progresses, it quickly becomes evident that most or all of the fan club members are insane. The first order of business the fans undertake is to vote on a nickname for Mr. Belvedere. Several ridiculous ideas are brought forth until they finally settle on one: Brocktoon [1]. Tim Meadows plays a stand-up comic who shows up in the middle of their meeting, intending to wait for his show later in the day. The chairman (played by Tom Hanks) promptly asks him if he is a fan of "Brocktoon" (an odd question, considering they had just created the name). Tim Meadows sits and observes the fans and the many abhorrent ideas they present as to what they would like to do with "Mr. Belvedere" if they ever meet him (one wants to kill him, which is promptly dismissed, until another member interjects that they "usually vote"). Chris Farley states that he wants to "keep him in a big jar" in his basement. Tim Meadows finally interjects, shouting that what they are doing is wrong. The sketch ends with a cut to a shot of Meadows inside a giant glass jar, screaming for help. The sketch eventually appeared on the DVD Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tom Hanks.
The "Mr. Belvedere" character was later parodied on the MTV animated series Clone High in which a mad scientist creates electronic butler named "Mr. Butlertron", who refers to everyone as "Wesley" (originally, the creators wanted to name it Mr. Belvetron, but did not for legal reasons).
The Stewie Griffin character (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) attempts to watch the program in an episode of Family Guy and is forced to loudly sing the theme song aloud when characters in the background drown out the TV volume. Another one of MacFarlane's shows, American Dad, also references Mr. Belvedere. Roger mentions that he is a fan of the show. During Late Night with David Letterman one of David Letterman's top 10 was "Things I, Peter Griffin, would say" and number six was "This is the best moment of television since Mr. Belvedere sat on his own nuts and fainted!"
In the Family Guy Video Game!, Mr. Belvedere is Peter Griffin's nemesis. Peter gets hit on the head throughout the game and constantly thinks that Belvedere is real and has kidnapped his family. Peter destroys half of Quahog looking for his family and revenge on Mr. Belvedere. He follows a spotlight in the sky which has an outline of Belvedere's head depicted in it, similar to the signal used by Batman.
In an episode of Futurama, entitled "A Leela of Her Own," the head of Bob Uecker (voiced by Bob Uecker) is announcing a blernsball game when he comments, "This is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen, and I've seen Mr. Belvedere naked. Woooo."
In the television show The King of Queens, there is an episode in the 9th season where Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt) is a butler for the Palmers. The theme from Mr. Belvedere is played, and the family gathers around the couch as the Owens family did during the credits of the show.
In the bachelor party scene of American Wedding, Bear comes up with the name Belvedere when asked by Mrs. Flaherty.
In the musical adaptation of The Wedding Singer, Robbie Hart wakes up with a hangover and says, "It feels like Mr. Belvedere sat on my skull."
In the song "8 Millions Stories" by early 1990s hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, a lyric is "Who the hell do you think I am, Mr. Belvedere?"
Pop-punk band Nerf Herder mentions Mr. Belvedere in the songs "Love Sandwich" and "Welcome to My World."
In the song "Triple Trouble" by the Beastie Boys, there is a line "If you want a drink call Mr. Belvedere".
Mr. Belvedere makes a cameo appearance in Start of Darkness, one of the prequel books to The Order of the Stick, in which it is implied that he is killed by the character of Eugene Greenhilt. Greenhilt's narrative describes Belvedere as having "more hitpoints than [he] expected".
In the movie, " Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" he calls the owner of the mansion Mr. Belvedere.
[edit] Trivia
|
|
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Mr. Belvedere, alongside Full House, Perfect Strangers, and Just the Ten of Us, was a charter show for TGIF, which was a popular programming block on ABC.
- Noam Pitlik was a frequent director for the show. Pitlik was a noted character actor who played many guest roles on TV shows, including the recurring role of Officer "Swanny" Swanhouser during the first season of Sanford and Son.
- Stacy Ferguson, currently known as "Fergie" guest starred in an episode titled, "Valentine's Day". She played Beth, a love interest for Wesley.
- Hewett also portrayed the character in a special tribute episode of the FOX sitcom Ned and Stacey.
- When shown in reruns in syndication, the short version of the 1986-1987 opening credits was used for all seasons except for the 1989-1990 season. [2]
- In syndication, 8 unaired episodes from the 1989-1990 season, made their debut: "Love Fest", "Donuts", "Runaways", "The Pageant", "The Baby", "Bad Marsha", "Home", and "Mumsy". [3]
[edit] External links
- Mr. Belvedere page
- Mr. Belvedere at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. Belvedere at TV.com
