Il cane di papà

Widower Dr. Harry Weston, Richard Mulligan (London Suite), was a pediatrician with two daughters: Carol Weston, who was very neurotic, played by Dinah Manoff (Ordinary People). She was a little neurotic but very funny. Barbara Weston, the young daughter Kristy McNichol (Family) was the cute and sane one in the family. Doctor Weston was a wonderful dad. Dr. Weston's receptionist was Laverne, Park Overall (Undercover Blues) a very southern woman, who was always talking about her home town Hickory. She was adorable. Charley Dietz was the neighbor who was always running out of food and everything else and was always coming over to borrow something and eat their food. When David Leisure (The Brady Bunch Movie) played this part he was also making commercials for Isuzu, and he was a liar in the commercial. To some extent Carley had a bit of that edge and was a complete womanizer. The Westons lived next door to the Golden Girls, and sometimes one of them would come by and make guest appearances. One of them was Estelle Getty (Golden Girls) Sophia Petrillo, the little old lady who took her pocket book everywhere including to bed. As in every family show the Westons had a cute dog. This was a nice series. I have found memories of it.

Empty Nest was one of my favorite sitcoms growing up, I was exposed to Empty Nest as a preteen quite simply because I was a fan of The Golden Girls. Empty Nest was a sort of quasi-spin off of The Golden Girls. A little piece of trivia but you can actually see the original concept of Empty Nest during Season 2 of The Golden Girls in the episode "Empty Nest". The original concept had veteran character actors Rita Rudner and Paul Dooley playing a couple coping with their children all leaving home. Thank god they didn't go with this original concept as it was dreadful. After poor audience response they re-tooled the show as a showcase for Mulligan, a successful widower doctor with two very different daughters still living at home.

Late in Season 2 the character of Barbara (Kristy McNicol) was written off the show allegedly because McNicol was diagnosed with Severe Bipolar Disorder. Thankfully though we would be reunited with the character of Barbara in the shows series finale. Her departure however was rather unfortunate as she was a good counter to the character of Carol, who was a neurotic psychological mess. Park Overall was the true firecracker of the show. She was easily the funniest character and her scenes seemed to always elevate an episode.

Empty Nest was part of the infamous "Miami Trilogy" which aired for several years on NBC Saturday nights. Empty Nest, The Golden Girls, and Nurses (All shows created by Susan Harris by the way) were all part of the same "universe", so to speak. They all took place in the same Miami, various characters from the shows lived & worked near or with one another and guest spots among characters appearing on the other shows was not uncommon. Even Estelle Getty (The Golden Girls feisty elderly lady Sophia) joined the cast in it's final 2 seasons. However during these last two seasons the show "Jumped The Shark" when main character Dr. Harry Weston left his job at the hospital and started a free clinic in a "not-so-nice" neighborhood with fellow doctor, Marsha Warfield (Of Night Court fame). Empty Nest remains one of my favorite sitcoms from that era. I have heard mixed things about a possible DVD release. Despite the show lasting 7 seasons and consistently being in the Nielsen Top 10 a DVD release is probably unlikely any time in the near future considering the show has become all but forgotten. I won't forget though.

The show was a spin-off of Golden Girls about their neighbor, Dr. Harry Weston, a widower and doctor, who lived down the street with his beautiful dog, Dreyfuss. He gets frequent visitors like David Leisure who played the womanizing pilot, neighbor and friend. His daughters were played by Kristy McNichol and Dinah Manoff, both professional actresses with long histories. Of course, who could forget his nurse, Park Overall as Laverne. The show last seven seasons probably because it fell on after Golden Girls huge success. Richard Mulligan won awards for his performance and he was the heart and soul of the show's existence in my opinion. Marsha Warfield joined the cast late and there was some trouble especially with Kristy professionally and personally. Anyway the show was a lot better written than most of today's sitcoms. It dealt with lot of issues like death, relationships, etc. always with a good dose of laughter along the way. It was never the Golden Girls nor did it pretend to be and sometimes they would visit the show.

This show always was one of the better ones. Right up in my top 20. At times, Carol's character got annoying, but there are people like that. And her sisters, Barbara and Emily, had great portrayers. Park Overall as Lavern was a great part of the show. Too bad it got thrown off primetime!

It's difficult to find great comedy without being to risky for some people. Shows such as Seinfeld, Golden Girls, and Empty Nest can always light a smile on anybody.

I really liked David Leisure's character on this show "Charlie". He would just walk in the neighbors house grab a beer and off he went. He was so stupid and inept, he was funny.

Park Overall and Marsha Warfield added character to the show as well.

It did what TV supposed to do, make you laugh and forget about your problems.

Richard Mulligans passing was a great loss.