THE HOGAN FAMILY

'''The Hogan Family''' was an American television situation comedy that aired from March 1, 1986 to July 20, 1991.

Contents

''Valerie''

''Valerie's Family''

''The Hogan Family''

Syndication

Theme song

Production

Notable episodes

"Very special episodes"

External links

''Valerie''

Early in the series' life, the show was known as '''Valerie''', and its stories revolved around show's star, Valerie Harper. She played Valerie, the matriarch of the Hogan family, who struggled with everyday family problems while her husband, Michael (Josh Taylor), was an pilot who was seldom around due to his demanding schedule (at least in the early seasons). Other stars included Jason Bateman as her eldest, girl-crazy son, David and Danny Ponce and Jeremy Licht as her fraternal twin sons, Willie and Mark (Mark was the brainy one, Willie the irresponsible one). During the 1987 summer taping hiatus, Harper had a falling out with the show's producers, after which she was dismissed and her character was written out of the show as being killed in a car accident. NBC explained that the series would take on difficult issues facing the family during the grieving process.

''Valerie's Family''

When the 1987-1988 season premiere aired, the show was retitled '''Valerie's Family'''. The timeline of the second season began six months after Valerie's death. Taking her place in the household was Sandy Duncan as Michael's sister, Sandy, who had moved in with her brother to help the family in their time of loss. She took a job as a guidance counselor at the high school the boys attended following her recent divorce. Later, the network dropped Valerie's name from the title completely, partially to avoid further legal issues involved in continuing to use the original star's name and partially to move on from the very public and sensational attention being drawn to her dismissal.

''The Hogan Family''

The series was retitled '''The Hogan Family''' in June 1988.
NBC's decision to continue the series despite the departure of Valerie Harper was considered shocking at the time. It turned out to be a success; the show continued its run on the network for several years.
In 1990, NBC informed the producers that it would cancel the series due to declining ratings. CBS then picked it up, marking it one of the rare programs to jump networks. In the final season, Michael and Sandy's father Lloyd (John Hillerman) moved in with the family.

Syndication

ABC Family currently holds the U.S. syndication rights to the program, and began airing episodes twice daily in September 2006, however this only lasted for several weeks. The program is not currently aired on any U.S. network, and no plans to release episodes on DVD have been announced.

Theme song

The theme song, "Together Through the Years", was performed by Roberta Flack and composed by Charles Fox.

Production

The program was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar-Telepictures (1986-1988); Lorimar Productions (1988-1991).

Notable episodes

During its five and a half-year run, "'The Hogan Family'" was known to poke fun at sitcom clichés, such as defying the traditional "happy ending in 30 minutes" structure. In that episode, Willie, it seems, is obsessed with a "Leave it to Beaver"-knockoff sitcom, which frequently used the "happy ending" plot device (Willie sees a boy confess to his father that he stole money from his wallet, who tells his son the important fact is his honesty, and he lets the boy go to a much-anticipated party). Willie, on a dare from a friend, takes his father's Mustang to a downtown fast food joint. The fact he is unlicensed and not a trained driver causes him to unknowingly be in a shunt-and-bump accident and says nothing when the police track down the accident and tell his mother. Valerie is furious at David, who is blamed because he is the only son in the family who is a licensed driver. David suspects Willie is guilty and, after finding proof, confronts him, but Willie denies his involvement. Later, he sees a positive resolution to his predicament played out in a fantasy sequence (When Willie admits his wrongdoing, Valerie is proud of the fact Willie was honest with her. She gave Willie a brief lecture about lying, then let him go to a much-anticipated party), making him reason he has nothing to lose. Willie admits what happened, but the "real life" ending is much different – Valerie becomes very angry and tells him he may have damaged a lot more than just the car, specifically, her trust. She then tells Willie that the lecture will continue after she apologizes to David and demands Willie apologize to David as well. The episode ends with Willie staring into space, either because he learns that he should not equate real life with what is seen on TV, or that admitting one's guilt does not in itself absolve the wrongful act, or both.

"Very special episodes"

There were several serious episodes, however, including:

★ David and a former girlfriend renew their relationship. Shortly thereafter, they decide to sleep together, then reverse themselves when they realize they are not ready for the accompanying responsibility. The episode sub-titled "Bad Timing" addresses birth control and contains the first prime-time use of the word "condom". Parental discretion warnings were issued in ads for the episode.

★ Shortly after Valerie's death, the house catches fire (an electrical short in a lamp stored in the attic), rekindling the family's grief over Valerie (as most of her photos were burned), and having to deal with the fact all the heirlooms of the past, such as sports trophies and family albums, have been destroyed.

★ When David jeopardized a long-standing friendship with his friend, Rich (Tom Hodges) by refusing to let him drive home from a party while drunk. David locks him in a closet until he sobers up, to which Rich then thanks him for not letting him drive drunk, then locks Dave in the closet in jest.

★ Mark and Willie rent an X-rated movie with no opposition from the video store. When they try to hide it from Sandy, it becomes stuck in the VCR. Sandy later discovers this, then confronts the boys about the tape, then says she is angrier with the video store manager in allowing them to rent it with no proof of ID, and is angriest with the pornography industry, and proceeds to say how lovemaking is important among a man and woman, and the industry has transformed it into a spectator sport.

★ In the series finale, when David learns Rich had contracted AIDS.

External links

★

★

★ The Hogan Family at Sitcom Online

★ Jump The Shark - The Hogan Family