Delta House Information

Delta House is an American sitcom that was adapted from the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House. The series aired from January to April 1979 on ABC.

Casting

Cast members reprising their roles from Animal House included John Vernon (Dean Wormer), Stephen Furst (Flounder), Bruce McGill (D-Day), and James Widdoes (Hoover). Priscilla Lauris, who played Dean Wormer's secretary in the movie also returned to reprise her role and her character was given a name this time...Miss Leonard. Josh Mostel was cast as Jim "Blotto" Blutarsky, brother of Bluto, the character played in the film by John Belushi. Despite Bluto's absence, the scriptwriters made running references to his character. In one episode, Blotto announced that he'd received a letter from his brother Bluto, prompting a Delta brother to respond "I didn't know Bluto could write!" and another Delta brother to riposte "I didn't know Blotto could read!" Delta House also served as an early vehicle for future star Michelle Pfeiffer, who played 'The Bombshell'.

Production and scheduling problems

Because of television Standards and Practices, the raunchy humor, drug references, and foul language featured in Animal House didn't survive the transition to TV. As a result, Delta House suffered in comparison. That it aired during the so-called "family hour" (8:00 PM on Saturday nights) led to even more watering down.

In addition, the other two broadcast networks rushed onto the airwaves their own sitcoms that were "inspired" by Animal House: NBC's Brothers and Sisters and CBS' Co-Ed Fever.

Delta House initially did well in the ratings. However, executive producers Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman's constant fights with ABC over content, led the network to cancel the show after 13 episodes.

Theme song

The theme song was written by Jim Steinman to lyrics written by Lampoon editors Tony Hendra and Sean Kelly. Steinman later reworked the melody into the song "Dead Ringer for Love", made famous by Meat Loaf and Cher from the album Dead Ringer, and a portion of the lyrics into the song "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" from the movie Streets of Fire (incidentally, Meat Loaf had been an alternate choice for the role of Bluto in Animal House had John Belushi dropped out).

In the episode "Lady in Weighting", the song "Pizza Man" was performed during a beauty pageant talent showcase. It was taken from National Lampoon's Off-Broadway sketch revue Lemmings, a send-up of the Woodstock Festival where it was originally sung by actress Alice Playten.

Cast

• John Vernon - Dean Wormer
• Stephen Furst - Flounder
• Bruce McGill - D-Day
• James Widdoes - Hoover
• Josh Mostel - Blotto
• Richard Seer - Pinto
• Peter Fox - Otter
• Gary Cookson - Doug Neidermeyer
• Susanna Dalton - Mandy Pepperidge
• Wendy Goldman - Muffy
• Brian Patrick Clarke - Greg Marmalard
• Lee Wilkof - Einswine
• Peter Kastner Prof. Jennings
• Michelle Pfeiffer - The Bombshell

Episodes

See List of Delta House episodes for more information