Empty Nest Information

Empty Nest is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1988 to 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first three seasons, Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions in association with Touchstone Television.

The show concept borrowed some elements from the British comedy series Father, Dear Father, also featuring a father living with his two daughters and large dog. However, unlike that series (in which the daughters are still teenagers and the ex-wife and her new husband are both conspicuously present), the two daughters in Empty Nest are self-supporting adults, and the lead character is a widower.

Empty Nest was part of NBC's Saturday night block of programming, and during its first four seasons it aired at 9:30pm ET, directly following The Golden Girls.

History

An incarnation of the series was initially featured in the Season 2 Golden Girls episode "Empty Nests". In the episode, George and Renee Corliss (played by Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno respectively) were introduced as the Girls' neighbors, a middle-aged couple suffering from empty nest syndrome. The set of the Corliss house was exactly the same as the one that later became the Weston residence, and they also had an annoying neighbor played by David Leisure (although named Oliver). However, the premise was later extensively revamped.

Plot

The show revolves around pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), whose life is turned upside down when his wife, Libby, dies, and two of his adult daughters move back into the family home in Miami. Early episodes established that The Golden Girls were neighbors of the Westons (Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White all guest-starred as their Golden Girls characters, and vice-versa). Though Weston loved his daughters and was close to them, he always wanted a boy and occasionally expressed regret at never having had one.

Eldest daughter Carol (Dinah Manoff) was a neurotic and high-strung recent divorcée, while middle daughter Barbara (Kristy McNichol) was a tough undercover police officer. The two sisters frequently bickered and vied for the attention of their father, whom they still called "Daddy." The Westons' large dog Dreyfuss was also prominently featured.

In 1992, Kristy McNichol left the show and the youngest Weston daughter, Emily (Lisa Rieffel), joined the cast. Her character had not been seen before, but had been previously mentioned as being away at college. Rieffel left after one season and for the show's final two seasons, only Carol remained of the Weston children. McNichol returned for the series finale in 1995.

Another main character was the Westons' neighbor, Charley Dietz (David Leisure), a womanizing cruise ship employee who frequently barged into the house unannounced to borrow food or make sexist comments. Charley had a father-son relationship with Harry and a love-hate relationship with Carol.

Harry's job was another major focus for the show. For the first five seasons Harry worked at a hospital where he was aided by his wise-cracking Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall). In season six, Harry retired, eventually going to work for a struggling inner-city medical clinic run by the tough-talking Dr. Maxine Douglas (Marsha Warfield). Laverne, having been fired by Dr. Weston's replacement, came to work there as well.

Other characters who later joined the cast were Carol's boyfriend, Patrick (Paul Provenza), an artist who was almost as eccentric as she. Patrick convinced the Westons to let him use their empty garage as his new painting studio, and when his relationship with Carol became serious, he eventually moved in altogether. Their romantic bliss was short-lived, as they broke up at the beginning of season six. However, this was not before Carol became pregnant with Patrick's child; their son, Scotty, was born in November 1993, and Carol chose to raise the baby on her own. Estelle Getty reprised her Golden Girls character Sophia Petrillo during Empty Nest's final two seasons (after the cancellation of The Golden Palace). It was explained that Sophia had moved back into the nearby Shady Pines retirement home.

Cast

• Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston
• Dinah Manoff as Carol Weston
• Kristy McNichol as Barbara Weston (1988"1992, 1995)
• David Leisure as Charley Dietz
• Park Overall as Laverne Todd
• Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo (1993"1995)
• Paul Provenza as Patrick Arcola (1992"1993)
• Lisa Rieffel as Emily Weston (1992"1993)
• Marsha Warfield as Dr. Maxine Douglas (1993"1995)
• Bear the Dog as Dreyfuss

Notable guest stars

• Don Adams
• Diana Muldaur
• Loni Anderson
• Mayim Bialik
• Eddie Bracken
• Garth Brooks
• Patricia Crowley
• Stephen Dorff
• Morgan Fairchild
• Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Marla Gibbs
• Bobcat Goldthwait
• Lee Grant
• Pat Harrington
• Phil Hartman
• Earl Holliman
• Gordon Jump
• Carol Kane

• Joey Lawrence
• Jane Lynch
• Audrey Meadows
• Edie McClurg
• Jerry Orbach
• Matthew Perry
• Geraldo Rivera
• Doris Roberts
• Debra Jo Rupp
• Peter Scolari
• Liz Sheridan
• Yeardley Smith
• Renée Taylor
• Jeffrey Tambor
• Danny Thomas
• Adrian Zmed

Nielsen ratings

• 1) 1988"89: #9 (19.2)
• 2) 1989"90: #9 (18.9)
• 3) 1990"91: #7 (16.7)
• 4) 1991"92: #23 (14.3)
• 5) 1992–93: #45 (N/A)
• 6) 1993–94: #62 (N/A)
• 7) 1994–95: #118 (N/A)

Production notes

In 1991, Empty Nest spawned its own spinoff, Nurses, a sitcom about a group of nurses working in the same hospital as Dr. Weston. The three series (Empty Nest, Golden Girls and Nurses) represented one of the few times in American television history that three shows from the same producer, all taking place in the same city and explicitly set up with the characters knowing each other from the very beginning, aired on the same network in one night. On at least two occasions, Harris wrote storylines which carried through all three series.

Theme song

The show's theme song was "Life Goes On", written by John Bettis and George Tipton and performed by Billy Vera. For the first three seasons, the song was done in a slower, more melancholy yet comical arrangement. The original opening titles sequence showed Harry Weston taking Dreyfuss for a walk around town, with still images of the other regular cast members shown as they were credited.

When the third season began, a new opening sequence debuted. This was made up of footage from series episodes showing each of the regular cast members. For the final four seasons the theme song was done in a higher, more upbeat arrangement with female backup singers and the titles sequence style introduced in the third season remained.

Crossovers

The following is a list of Empty Nest episodes featuring characters from The Golden Girls and Nurses.

Season One

• Episode 4: "Fatal Attraction" - Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls
• Episode 10: "Libby's Gift" - Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls
• Episode 14: "Strange Bedfellows" - Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls
• Episode 17: "Dumped" - Dorothy Zbornak from The Golden Girls

Season Two

• Episode 6: "Rambo of Neiman Marcus" - Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls

Season Four

• Episode 8: "Windy" - Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls
• Episode 20: "Dr. Weston and Mr. Hyde" - Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls

Season Five

• Episode 20: "Love and Marriage" - Jack Trenton from Nurses

Season Six

• Episode 2: "Bye-Bye, Baby... Hello: Part 1" - Casey MacAfee from Nurses
• Episode 7: "Mother Dearest" - Casey MacAfee from Nurses

Syndication

The series ran in syndication from September 1993 to September 2000. During this time, Empty Nest aired on TBS from September 16 to December 6, 1996 and on WGN from September 16, 1996 to March 26, 1999, with both stations airing the series as part of the regular syndication run (both TBS and WGN were superstations). In the subsequent decade, the series did not air on American television. Hallmark Channel, which also owns the rights to The Golden Girls, picked up the rights to the show in early 2011 and aired it for several months before removing it again.

In Canada, the series was rerun by CBC during the 1990s.

Awards

In 1989, Richard Mulligan won both the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The series received a number of other Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations over the years, especially for Mulligan and for Park Overall who was nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award.