STILL STANDING

:''For the song by The Rasmus, see Still Standing (song).''
'''Still Standing''' was an American comedy television series. It debuted on CBS on September 30, 2002, and ended March 8, 2006. Lifetime obtained the U.S. syndication rights to the show in February 2005 and now airs every weekday on TBS and in syndication on cable networks and various broadcast stations.

Contents

Plot

Episodes

Main Characters

Guest / Recurring Roles

Trivia

Nielsen Ratings

References

External links

Plot

A working class couple in Chicago try to instill good values in their three kids, but their own past experiences often conflict with the lessons they try to teach to their children.

Episodes

All of the episodes have the word ''still'' at the beginning, with the exception of the pilot.
Main articles: List of Still Standing episodes

Main Characters

★ 'Bill Miller' (Mark Addy): The want-to-be cool father of the Miller family, he is often perceived as an overweight, lazy Homer Simpson-like character. Bill has a tendency to partake in "macho" activities such as watching sports, carpentry, and drinking beer. Bill is not the most intelligent person in the bunch, and only spent four days in college; but does well working at a Sears-like department store's toilet department. He tends to play the good cop when parenting his kids.

★ 'Judy Miller' (Jami Gertz): The mother of the Miller family, she is a woman in her late 30s trying not to lose touch with her younger self and trying to be the cool mom while raising her kids. Judy works as a dental assistant at a dentist's office. She is more intelligent than Bill (although that isn't saying too much), and often after seemingly foiling his schemes joins him.

★ 'Brian Hopps Miller' (Taylor Ball): The son and eldest child of the Miller family, Brian is a gifted student in high school. However, Brian is relatively unpopular at school, and is widely regarded as a geek, nerd, or lame. Although he is straight, Brian's sexual orientation has been questioned several times by his parents because he reads ''Vogue'' magazine (he justifies this by saying that "sometimes those models wear see-through clothes, and it gets cold in those studios"), twirls a baton, and is a school cheerleader (ultimately revealed as his way to meet cute girls). In later seasons he is ignored and even neglected by his parents.

★ 'Lauren Barley Miller' (Renee Olstead): The irritable, hormonal, and spoiled teenage older daughter of the Miller family, Lauren is one of the popular girls at school, and is younger than Brian. She gets in trouble for breaking her parents' and the school's rules. She is smart, but doesn't apply herself as much as her brother does. Lauren is shown to have a talent for the arts- in one episode she is found to be a gifted singer, and in another she stars in the school play.

★ 'Tina Noreen Miller' (Soleil Borda): The youngest child and mismatched daughter of the Miller family, Tina could be described as an obnoxious second grader. Tina's family see her as a clueless child, but viewers see that she is one of the most clever in her family. In a few episodes, Tina is also portrayed as a "creepy kid" who isn't afraid to take a practical joke to the next level.

★ 'Linda Michaels' (Jennifer Irwin): Judy's younger sister, Linda spends much of her time hanging around the Miller house—much to Bill's chagrin. She suffers from low self-esteem and seems to feel sorry for herself. She later marries Perry, a singer in a Foghat cover band.

★ 'Daniel "Fitz" Fitzsimmons' (Joel Murray): Bill's best friend, credited as so for seasons 3 and 4. He works with Bill as a salesman and has a gay son.

Guest / Recurring Roles

★ 'Perry' (James Patrick Stuart): Linda's husband, a musician who performs in Reno, NV.

★ 'Marion Fitzsimmons' (Kerri Kenney): Danny's wife. In one episode, she plays Mary Simmons, a volunteer at Tina's school.

★ 'Gene Michaels' (Steven Gilborn): Judy's father.

★ 'Helen Michaels' (Janet Carroll during seasons 1-2; Swoosie Kurtz during seasons 3-4): Judy's mother.

★ 'Al Miller' (Paul Sorvino): Bill's father, a retired steelworker.

★ 'Louise Miller' (Sally Struthers): Bill's manipulative mother who moved to Chicago after her divorce.

★ 'Johnny' (Clyde Kusatsu): Louise Miller's new love interest and eventual husband.

★ 'Bonnie' (Ashley Tisdale): Brian's girlfriend.

★ 'Becca' (Lauren Schaffel): Lauren's best friend. She is also very afraid of Judy.

★ 'Ted Halverson' (Kevin Nealon): The Millers' religious neighbor. He can be competitive.

★ 'Matt Halverson' (Shawn Pyfrom): Ted's son and one of Lauren's boyfriends. Also has good handyman skills.

★ 'Shelly' (Julia Campbell) and 'Terry' (Justine Bateman): The Millers' lesbian neighbors.

★ 'Chris' (Sean Marquette): Lauren's boyfriend in several episodes; Shelly and Terry's son.

★ 'Kyle Polsky' (Todd Stashwick): Bill's irresponsible, immature next-door neighbor who has a large collection of toys and is related to the famous (fictional) Polsky beer family.

★ 'Carl' (David Koechner): Bill's best friend during season's 1 & 2. Works with Bill at the Department store.

★ 'Jeff Heckman' (Chris Elliot): Also works with Bill.

Trivia

★ The fourth season ended right before The New Adventures of Old Christine premiered. Old Christine's high ratings sealed the show's cancellation.

★ In one episode, Judy and Bill attend a Blink-182 concert. The camera zooms in on the two from behind the stage, where one member of the band (probably meant to be Tom DeLonge) is seen singing "First Date" while holding a microphone in both hands. Most fans of Blink-182 will remember that Tom DeLonge played guitar, and Mark Hoppus played bass while singing during performances.

★ Mark Addy was born in England and used a Midwestern American accent in his portrayal of Bill Miller, an "average Joe" from Chicago.

★ The name of Jami Gertz's character is Judy Miller. This was also the name of the over-imaginative little girl played by Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live. Gertz played Radner herself in the TV movie, ''Gilda Radner: It's Always Something''. Jennifer Irwin, who played Linda on the show, also co-starred in that movie, playing the role of Jane Curtin.

★ Sally Struthers is only 15 years older than Mark Addy, who plays her son on the show.

★ 'You Make Me Happy' (the theme song) is sung by Will Hoge.

★ Bill and Judy both graduated in 1982, as shown by the banner at their high school reunion.

★ Bill and Judy's wedding anniversary is April 22nd, which Bill remembers with the poem "Bill and Judy said I do on April Twenty-two."

★ All episode titles begin with the word "Still," with the exception of the pilot.

★ Lauren's middle name is Barley and Brian's is Hopps.

★ The name of Linda's defunct cat, Nathaniel Pawthorne, comes from the name of the 19th century American novelist and short story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.

★ Bill and Judy both are huge fans of AC/DC.

★ Judy has a tattoo of Aerosmith, another band the two are huge fans of, on her lower back, which she acquired during one episode. The tattooist was Vince Neil, lead singer of Mötley Crüe, who is also a licensed tattooist in California.

★ Judy suffers from high cholesterol. Oddly, Bill, who is much larger than her, doesn't.

★ Dr. Gerber's (Judy's boss) wife's name is Beverly, and his mother's name is Evelyn.

★ Bill wore #42 when he played linebacker for his high school football team.

★ The show format is often compared to King of Queens whereby a fat and lazy man is paired with a much more attractive female counterpart.

★ A recurring joke in the beginning of the series was Judy always asking Bill "What did you do?" with a suspicious tone every time he tried to cover up some goof he did.

★ Bill says the last line of the series: "You hear that, Judy? I'm dealing blackjack." In response to when Brian tells them he told all of his friends Bill is a CARDiologist.

★ In the shows last episode, Judy and Bill are moving Brian's dresser and they say that it must not have been moved in fifteen years. But in the first episode Brian has a different dresser in the same spot. Therefore the dresser had to have been moved. In the pilot episode much of the Miller's house is different.

★ Lauren's birthday is November 9

★ In the episode entitled "Still the Bad Parents", Tracy Nelson guest stared as president of the PTA and parent to one of Brian's friends. Judy (Jami Gertz) gets excited when she is asked by Nelson's character to help solve some of the issues affecting the kids. This episode turned out to be a reunion of sorts as both Tracy and Jami were cast members in the CBS show Square Pegs that aired during the 1982-83 season.

★ Besides acting, Renee Olstead is an accomplished jazz singer. She has already released one album and expects to release her second album in late 2007. Renee exhibited her talents on one episode of the show during a dream sequence in which she sang a portion of "Summertime" from her first album.

Nielsen Ratings

2002-2003 Season: #19
2003-2004 Season: #28
2004-2005 Season: #44
2005-2006 Season: #87

References

★ "Lifetime Adds ''Still Standing''" (Variety)

★ "''Still Standing'' Readies for its Final Bow" (USA Today)

★ "''Still Standing'' Survives Critical Mass" (USA Today)

★ ''Still Standing'' TV Character Biographies at TVacres.com

★ List of Productions at CBS Studio Center

★ "July 7th Development Update" (TheFutonCritic.com)

External links

★

★ ''Still Standing'' on Lifetimetv.com

★ ''Still Standing'' on CBS.com

★ Hooking the Showrunner: Ari Eisner, ''Still Standing'' writers' assistant, shares the story of ''Still the Man'', his first episode ever produced

★ Floorplan for Stage 20, ''Still Standing's home at CBS Studio Center

★ Petition to get "Still Standing" on DVD