'' was a
Television Sitcom that aired on
ABC from
1992 to
1997 .
Mark Curry played the title role; it also starred
Holly Robinson . The show took place in
Oakland, California .
The show began in
1992 on Tuesday nights. In the first season, the characters were Mark Cooper, Vanessa Russell, and Robin Dumars. They all lived as roommates in one house that was owned by Mark (Vanessa and Robin were the tenants). In the pilot episode, Mark got a job as a substitute teacher for a science class. Though later, he got a job teaching
Physical Education , which is what he wanted to teach. Robin was a music teacher in the same school that Mark taught. In the middle of the first season, Mark lost the house and it was purchased by the parents of Tyler Foster, who were Mark's neighbors. After purchasing the house, Tyler's father told Mark, Vanessa, and Robin that they were allowed to stay in the house for one month. However, after Tyler told his parents that he liked Mark, Vanessa, and Robin, they decided to let them stay.
Mark briefly played basketball with the
Warriors but was soon cut from the team.
The show moved to Friday nights in the second season as part of the
TGIF block. It also was remodeled into more of a family-oriented show instead of an adult oriented show like the first season. In the second season premiere, Tyler mentioned that Mark had purchased the house back from his parents. Also in the second season premiere, Mark's cousin Geneva Lee, and her daughter, Nicole Lee, moved in with Mark and Vanessa. Robin was no longer living with Mark and Vanessa. Geneva was a music teacher at the school Mark worked at (the same occupation that Robin had). Around the time Geneva and Nicole joined the show, the school Mark worked at got a new principal, P.J. Moore (played by
Nell Carter ), who was Mark's babysitter when he was a child. In the fourth season, Geneva became principal.
In
1996 , Mark proposed to Vanessa in the episode ''Will She or Won't She''. This episode was a
Cliffhanger Season Finale that was aired on
May 10 , 1996. The following
Season Premiere episode (''The Ring'') was not aired until
June 21 ,
1997 , more than a year later. Vanessa accepted Mark's proposal in this episode. ''The Ring'' was the first episode of the fifth and last season of the series. The last season was 13 episodes long, half the length of most television seasons, and was aired in the summer, when most television shows are in reruns. In addition, this season was aired on Saturday nights -- a move away from its traditional Friday night slot on TGIF.
The
Series Finale (''Getting Personal'') was aired
August 30 , 1997. In this episode, Vanessa wrote a personal ad in the newspaper and wanted Mark to figure out which ad was hers and to answer it. Mark decided to answer all ads in the paper, tell everyone to look for the man with the
Rose , and then not wear a rose. Mark figured that Vanessa would be happy enough that Mark answered her ad and would not worry about the rose, and that the other women would not get mad at him because, without a rose, they would not know that Mark is the one who answered their ads. Earvin knew about Mark's plan and decided to go to the restaurant with the rose so that he could get a date with one of the women whose ad Mark had answered. Vanessa and the other women figured out that the same man had answered all their ads. They decided that the man with the rose would be the dead man with the rose. When Earvin showed up, they all got mad at him, thinking he was the one who answered their ads. The finale ended with a goodbye from the cast.
- On an interesting note, the series finale was preempted, halfway through, on the west coast, as ABC News was breaking the story of Princess Diana's car accident in Paris , which would mark the demise of the princess. There were a few complaints from viewers, but nothing of significant note as the show aired on a Saturday Night, and was one of the lowest rated programs on ABC at the time. The show, however, aired in syndication.
- In the series' pilot episode, the show was filmed on the set of Growing Pains . Alan Thicke made a brief appearance.
- The season one episode entitled ''Hangin' with Michelle'' featured a guest appearance by Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen as her Full House character Michelle Tanner . In addition, John Stamos also appeared briefly in the episode as Jesse Katsopolis , when he was dropping Michelle off at Mark's house. Both ''Full House'' and ''Hangin' with Mr.Cooper'' were created by Jeff Franklin .
- Mark Linn-Baker from the show '' Perfect Strangers '', which was also on TGIF, had two guest appearances on ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', as a character named Larry Weeks. Mark Linn-Baker also directed a few episodes of ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper''.
- Two other TGIF shows, ''Perfect Strangers'' and '' Dinosaurs '' also were on hiatus for around a year before their last season, which was aired during the summer, and was shorter than most seasons.
