'' is an
American television
Situation Comedy that aired from
March 1 ,
1986 to
July 20 ,
1991 .
Early in the series' life, the show was known as , to reflect the show's star,
Valerie Harper . She played the matriarch of the Hogan family, Valerie. Other stars were
Josh Taylor as her husband, Michael, an airline pilot (who, in the early seasons, was seldom around);
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).
Episodes were typical of most family sitcom fare of the era. Despite this, the show was popular with fans.
A huge change came in
1987 . During the summer taping hiatus Harper had a falling out with the show's producers and left the series. As a result, her character was written out of the show by being killed in a car accident.
When the
1987 -
1988 season premiere aired, the show was retitled . Taking Valerie's place in the household was
Sandy Duncan as Michael's divorced sister, Sandy (she took a job as a guidance counselor at the high school where the boys attended). The show later dropped Valerie's name completely, being retitled '''The Hogan Family''' in June
1988 .
The other big change came in
1990 when Michael and Sandy's father, Lloyd (
John Hillerman ) moved in. The series, which had aired on
NBC , moved to
CBS for its final season.
The show's theme song, "Through the Years", was sung by
Roberta Flack . The song was composed by Charles Fox (from
Happy Days ).
The show was produced by
Miller-Boyett Productions in association with
Lorimar -
Telepictures (1986-1988);
Lorimar Television (1988-1991).
During its five-year run, "" was known to poke fun at sitcom clichés, such as defying the "happy ending in 30 minutes" ending. In that episode, Willie causes a hit-and-run accident and says nothing when David is blamed. Willie, it seems, is obsessed with a "Leave it to Beaver"-knockoff sitcom, which frequently used the "happy ending" plot device. 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 (Valerie 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 grounds him (specifically prohibiting him from going to the party), tells him he has to apologize to David and that he has to face his father when he comes home.
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 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.
- 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.
- In the series finale, when David learns Rich had contracted AIDS .
