Rules of Engagement Information

Rules of Engagement is a sitcom that debuted on CBS on February 5, 2007 as a midseason replacement. The series is produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions in association with CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television (SPT controls North American rights; CBS controls international rights).

On May 21, 2012, CBS renewed Rules of Engagement for a seventh season of 13 episodes to air midseason, bringing the total number of produced episodes to 100. Season 7 began airing on Mondays at 8:30, starting February 4, 2013.

Premise

Two couples and their single friend deal with the complications of dating, commitment and marriage. It looks at different relationships in various stages, starring Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price as a long-married couple, Oliver Hudson and Bianca Kajlich as newly engaged sweethearts, and David Spade and Adhir Kalyan (the latter added in season 3) as their still-single friends. They often gather to enjoy a meal at "The Island Diner". The show features writers from the Emmy Award"winning Everybody Loves Raymond.

History

The show was heavily promoted by CBS during Super Bowl XLI and launched the following night, the first of seven episodes in its first season. The pilot episode remains the highest rated episode of the show. The series was renewed for a second season which began as a midseason replacement for The New Adventures of Old Christine on Monday, September 24, 2007, with production halted after nine episodes on November 6, 2007, in the wake of a writers' strike. After the strike ended, CBS announced that the show would return April 14, 2008, with a further six episodes.

Seasons three and four were both mid-season entries launched in March 2009 and March 2010. On May 18, 2010, it was announced that CBS had renewed Rules of Engagement for a 5th season. It was later announced that this season would start in September, in contrast to its usual midseason start, and received an expanded 24-episode order. (The fifth season was the first and only season to have a full-season order.) The first 15 episodes aired on Monday nights, usually in the 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central time slot following How I Met Your Mother. Then on February 24, 2011, the series moved to Thursdays at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central, following The Big Bang Theory, after the cancellation of $h*! My Dad Says.

On May 17, 2011, the series was renewed for a sixth season to begin airing in fall 2011. One day later, CBS announced that Rules of Engagement would move to Saturday nights at 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central as part of the network's new Comedytime Saturday block; the first time in six years that an original CBS program would air on that night. It also marked the fourth night that the series would air on, with it previously airing on Mondays, Wednesdays (two airings), and Thursdays. On October 7, 2011, however, it was announced that Rules of Engagement would move back to its 8:30PM EST Thursday timeslot following The Big Bang Theory, replacing new sitcom How to Be a Gentleman which was moved to the new Saturday time slot.

Effective January 12, 2012, CBS removed Rules of Engagement from its Thursday lineup, replacing it with the new sitcom Rob starring Rob Schneider. CBS later announced that Rules would return to its Thursday 8:30 PM time slot on March 29, after Rob had finished airing its 8-episode order, resulting in a total of 15 season 6 episodes.

The series was officially renewed for a seventh season of 13 episodes on May 21, 2012. It returned on February 4, 2013 airing in the Monday night 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central timeslot, where it aired for one and a half seasons.

Cast

Main characters

• Patrick Warburton as Jeff Bingham, a financial manager and the overly-macho husband of Audrey since August 12, 1995. He loves sports (NY Giants, NY Mets, NY Rangers), shuns anything that might resemble sensitivity and often views his marriage as a competition, refusing to let Audrey "win" the upper hand at anything. He is also very frugal and extremely careful with his money " to the extent where he will buy socks in New Jersey to avoid paying additional tax on them " and tries to discourage Audrey from overspending while planning for their future. He has also been known to use coupons from the Entertainment coupon book, as mentioned in an episode. But he had no hesitation in buying on impulse an expensive 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS. He also often reminisces about his college days at Syracuse.
• Megyn Price as Audrey Bingham (née Curtis), an editor at Indoor Living magazine and is an assertive, modern wife of Jeff. She likes to do things on spur of the moment, such as when she buys furniture on the Internet or makes Jeff's shirts into a quilt. She tolerates her husband's insensitivities because she knows he is not malicious and will do whatever it takes to make the situation right once he realizes his mistake. Audrey does not make fun of her friends as much as her friends make fun of each other, but she will frequently save her most-biting criticisms for Russell. She often insists that she is a "people person", but her attempts to prove it usually result in embarrassment, such as having a co-worker lodge a sexual harassment complaint against her.
• Oliver Hudson as Adam Rhodes, a sensitive and well-intentioned " but extremely naive " co-worker of Russell and Timmy, and Jennifer's fiancee. He is a neighbor of Jeff and Audrey, looks up to Jeff, and often acts on Jeff's relationship advice (which is hardened by years of marriage) to try to get more sex out of his relationship with Jennifer. This usually results in making the situation worse for himself. As an example, he once revealed to Jennifer his strategies for avoiding her bad moods, because he was proud that Jeff considered them to be a good idea. Sometimes because of his childlike naivete, people find it hard to explain things to him. He cannot keep secrets, and he never thinks before he speaks. He once stated that Timmy was part of an al-Qaeda group, instead of an a capella group (Season 5, Episode 15). Adam also frequently exhibits feminine or flamboyant behavior and characteristics, which make him the target of many barbs from Jeff and Russell regarding his homosexual tendencies. For example, in Season 5, Episode 13, Adam reveals he was a cheerleader in high school, leading to several "gay" jokes from Jeff and Russell.
• Bianca Kajlich as Jennifer Morgan, the charismatic live-in fiancee of Adam, who endures his faults because of his good looks and underlying good nature. She is very self-conscious of his naivete, and will often try to spare him from embarrassment. She also has a need for thrills and can easily manipulate Adam into doing whatever she wants, but often feels guilty about it afterwards.
• David Spade as Russell Dunbar, a shallow, womanizing single friend of the main characters and co-worker of Adam and Timmy. Russell is an eternal optimist when it comes to women, often ignoring multiple sexual harassment lawsuits leveled against him in the pursuit of sex. He is also an inept manager in his father's company, and if left to his own devices and forced to fend for himself without assistance (e.g., from Timmy), he would completely destroy his offices in minutes. He is often mocked because of his height (especially by Jeff), choice of wardrobe, and his penchant for prostitutes and young women with "daddy" issues. He is also very wealthy, as a result of his father's success, and frequently acknowledges this to lure women and do whatever he wants.
• Adhir Kalyan as Timir "Timmy" Patel (recurring Season 3; regular cast from Season 4), a mild-mannered immigrant of Indian heritage from South Africa (Although constantly mistaken for being British) who quickly becomes jaded and sardonic once he is hired as Russell's assistant. Although he is fluent in seven languages and holds an MBA, he is often forced to do menial work or to solve Russell's trivial problems. While many of Russell's schemes disgust him, Timmy will often see them through so that he can enjoy Russell's come-uppance. Throughout the series, Russell, and occasionally others, will often relate him to something involving Native Americans and their heritage, leaving him to exclaim, "I'm not that kind of Indian."

Major recurring characters

• Diane Sellers as Doreen, waitress at The Island Diner.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Liz, an unlikeable, annoying, unattractive neighbor and friend of Audrey's who lives directly upstairs from the Binghams; for a brief story arc in season six she was married to Russell, but they are now separated (although not yet divorced).
• Sara Rue as Brenda, Jeff's lesbian softball teammate who agrees to be a surrogate mother for Audrey and Jeff.
• Nazneen Contractor as Suneetha, Timmy's fiancée in an arranged marriage, who becomes an object of Russell's affections.
• Susan Yeagley as Tracy, a man-hungry co-worker of Audrey's.
• Taryn Southern as Allison, the object of Timmy's affections, which blossoms into an intra-office romance then ends when she moves and breaks up with Timmy.
• Geoff Pierson as Franklin Dunbar, Russell's wealthy, lecherous father.
• Orlando Jones as Brad, Jeff's gay friend from his gym who eventually makes friends with the rest of the gang.

Episodes

See List of Rules of Engagement episodes for more information

U.S. ratings

Seasonal ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Monday 9:30PM	7	February 5, 2007	14.83	March 19, 2007	9.26	2007	#36	12.38
2		15	September 24, 2007	12.23	May 19, 2008	12.29	2007-2008	#33	10.89
3		13	March 2, 2009	11.82	May 18, 2009	12.87	2009	#23	11.37
4	Monday 8:30PM	13	March 1, 2010	9.73	May 24, 2010	8.23	2010	#50	7.91
5	Monday 8:30PM (2010"2011) Thursday 8:30PM (2011)	24	September 20, 2010	8.35	May 19, 2011	8.80	2010-2011	#49	8.77
6	Thursday 8:30PM	15	October 20, 2011	11.45	May 17, 2012	7.17	2011-2012	#42	10.10
7	Monday 8:30PM	13	February 4, 2013	9.40	TBA	TBA	2012-2013	TBA	TBA

Syndication

In June 2011, the series was picked up for syndication by both CW affiliates and WGN America, making its debut on September 10, 2012.

On Wednesday, January 2, 2013, the series began airing weekdays on TBS at 2/1c, but moved to 11/10c beginning on Monday, January 28, 2013.

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment owns the rights to release DVDs in Region 1 " so far, the first five seasons are available. The fifth season of the series was made available beginning February 7, 2012, exclusively as a made-on-demand release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in conjunction with amazon.com. Similarly, the sixth season received a MOD release from online retailers, on October 2, 2012.

Paramount Pictures, in conjunction with CBS Home Entertainment, will start releasing the series on DVD internationally in 2011. Season One was released in the UK (Region 2 DVD) on April 4, 2011.

DVD name	Release date	Ep #
The Complete First Season	September 4, 2007	7
The Complete Second Season	October 14, 2008	15
The Complete Third Season	September 14, 2010	13
The Complete Fourth Season	January 11, 2011	13
The Complete Fifth Season*	February 7, 2012	26
The Complete Sixth Season*	October 2, 2012	13

Note: Following the events of Charlie Sheen's departure from Two and a Half Men, CBS ordered an additional two episodes for Rules of Engagement's fifth season, bringing the total number of episodes to 26 from the initial 24 ordered. Despite the episodes, "Scavenger Hunt" and "Cheating," airing during the sixth season, they were originally produced for the fifth season, and are included in the fifth season collection. Therefore, the sixth season's DVD release features the 13 episodes produced over that time period, versus the 15 that were broadcast by CBS.

International broadcasters

Country	Network	Series Premiere	Timeslot
	Network Ten Eleven TV1	February 13, 2008 May 15, 2012 2010	Sunday 7:00 PM Tuesday 8:00 PM Wednesdays 7:30 PM
	ORF eins Puls 4	May 21, 2012 December 19, 2012	Monday " Friday, 12:05 PM Wednesday " Friday, 10:55 AM
	VIER		Monday " Friday, 7:20 PM
	RTRS
	Sony
	Fox Life		Wednesday 21:00 PM
	City	February 5, 2007	Thursday 8:30 PM
	Fox Life
	FOX Greece	October 12, 2012	Monday " Friday, 11:00 PM
	TV2		Fridays, 02:00 PM
	Fox Life		Weekdays, 05:05 PM (replay) and 07.55 AM, 09.30 AM
	M6	April 1, 2011	Monday " Friday 10:15 AM
	kabel eins Fox Channel Comedy Central	November 12, 2009 January 2, 2012 November 12, 2012	between seasons Monday " Friday, 11:00 PM Monday " Friday, 11:05 PM
	FOX Greece	October 12, 2012	Monday " Friday, 11:00 PM
	Viasat3	12 May 2010	Weekdays, 07:25 (replay) and 07.55 PM
	Big CBS Love		Monday " Friday 9.00 PM
	RTE 2		Saturdays, 00:30
	Xtra HOT HOT family/yes stars Base	2007 January 4, 2009	Unknown Sundays, 8:15 PM, 11:45 PM
	Comedy Central, Italia 1	June 21, 2009	Saturdays & Sundays, 1:00 PM
Kosovo	Fox Life	September 10, 2009	Monday " Friday 9.00 PM
Latin America	Sony Entertainment Television1		Mondays, 10:30 PM
	SET		Weekdays, 05.35 PM (replay) 07.30 PM, 03.00 AM and 06.15 AM
	Fox Life
	Veronica		Monday " Friday, 7:30 PM
	FOUR		Tuesdays, 8:00 PM
	TV 2 bliss		Weekdays,
	Sony Entertainment Television		Mondays, 12.00 AM
	Polsat, Comedy Central Polska	January 6, 2008	Fridays, 9:00 PM
	AXN White		Mondays, 10:25pm (Mainland and Madeira)/9:25pm (in Azores)
	Fox Life, Nacionalna	July 7, 2009	Weekends
	Sony Entertainment Television	2009	Weekdays
	POP TV	2008	Weekends
	SABC 3		Mondays, 9:40 PM
	Paramount Comedy, FDF		Thursdays, 11:15 PM
	VIJESTI TV,	2012	Monday " Friday
	Kanal 5		Tuesdays, 10:00 PM
	SF zwei	September 9, 2011	Tuesday " Friday, 7:30 PM
	Star World		Weekdays, 07:35 PM
	True Series		Tuesdays, 9:00 PM
	ComedyMax		Weekdays, 08:00 PM
	Comedy Central UK E4		Times and days vary (Re-runs) Weekdays, 4:00 PM " 5:00 PM (Re-runs)
	CBS (orig. network) Broadcast syndication (reruns) WGN America (reruns) TBS	February 5, 2007 September 10, 2012 September 10, 2012 January 2, 2013	Mondays 8:30 PM Various Sunday-Friday 12:00 AM and Wednesdays 10:00 PM Weekdays 11:00 AM

¹ Rights in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Polish version

See Regu"?y Gry for more information Polish channel TVN started filming its own version of the show, called Regu"?y Gry (literally meaning Rules of the Game in Polish). It premiered on 16 February 2012 on TVN sister channel TVN 7 as its first original production.