Ann Jillian (TV series)
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Ann jillian tv series premiere print ad.jpg
| caption = Series premiere print advertisement
| genre = Sitcom
| creator = {{Plainlist|
- Deidre Fay
- Stuart Wolpert
}}
| writer =
| director =
| starring = {{Plainlist|
- Ann Jillian
- Lisa Rieffel
- Amy Lynne
- Zachary Rosencrantz
- Noble Willingham
- Chantal Rivera-Batisse
- Cynthia Harris
}}
| composer = Ray Colcord
| country = United States
| camera = Multi-camera
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 13 (3 unaired)
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| network = NBC
| company = {{Plainlist|
- 9-J Inc.
- Dahn Tahn Productions
- Castle Rock Entertainment
}}
| first_aired = {{Start date|1989|11|30}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1990|08|19}}
}}
Ann Jillian is an American sitcom television series created by Deidre Fay and Stuart Wolpert, starring Ann Jillian that aired on NBC from November 30, 1989, to August 19, 1990.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Ann+Jillian+Situation+Comedy%22&pg=PA68 |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |author-link1=Tim Brooks (historian) |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |year=2007 |edition=9 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present |section=Ann Jillian (Situation Comedy) |pages=68–69 |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |access-date=2024-07-16 }}
Plot
After the death of her firefighter husband, Ann McNeil, an ex-Radio City Music Hall Rockette, and her 14-year-old daughter Lucy, move from New York to a small northern California village named Marvel, where Ann and her husband went for their honeymoon. Lucy is apprehensive of her new surroundings in a new town and at first misses the fast-paced atmosphere of New York City, but she begins to adjust and makes new friends. Ann is also learning to adjust as well as she starts a new job at a gift shop run by Mrs. Hufnagel. The teens that Lucy hangs out with are Kaz, Melissa, and Robin. Kaz's well-meaning grandfather, Duke, helps Ann and Lucy in their new surroundings.{{cite web |author=Vernon Scott |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-27-ca-286-story.html |title=New, Improved and Funnier Ann Jillian Launches TV Assault |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=United Press International |date=November 27, 1989 |access-date=2017-06-17}}
Cast and characters
- Ann Jillian as Ann McNeil
- Lisa Rieffel as Lucy McNeil
- Noble Willingham as Duke Howard
- Cynthia Harris as Sheila Hufnagel
- Zachary Rosencrantz as Kaz Sumner
- Chantal Rivera-Batisse as Melissa Santos
- Amy Lynne as Robin Winkle
Production
The pilot for the series was produced in early 1989, when it was called The Ann Jillian Show.{{cite web |author=Diane Haithman |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-24-ca-293-story.html |title=TV Pilots Ready for an Air War |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 24, 1989 |access-date=2017-06-17}} Retitled Ann Jillian, it premiered as a series on NBC on November 30, 1989, running for 7 episodes before it was put on hiatus in January. The series returned briefly in August 1990, running three additional episodes before being cancelled after a final broadcast on August 19. Three further episodes had been produced, but never aired.
At the time the pilot for the series was produced, Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced the show, also had another pilot produced for NBC named The Seinfeld Chronicles starring stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld. When it tested poorly, and Ann Jillian tested more positively, Castle Rock Entertainment committed to Jillian's series, which was picked up for a full season order. However, the show would only last one season, whereas the subsequently re-titled Seinfeld lasted for nine seasons, ending in 1998, becoming among the most successful sitcoms in television history.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/seinfeld-finale-at-20-hidden-tales-vault-a-comedians-bizarro-world-1111377 |title='Seinfeld' Finale at 20: Hidden Tales From the Vault of a Comedian's Bizarro World |last=Freeman|first=Marc |publisher=Hollywood Reporter |date=May 13, 2018 |website=Encyclopedia of Things |access-date=May 16, 2018 |quote=Castle Rock, which owned the series, had two pilots at NBC that year: Seinfeld and one with Ann Jillian. Whereas Seinfeld tested poorly, Ann Jillian tested through the roof and earned a 13-episode commitment. Castle Rock decided to focus on that.}}
Episodes
{{Episode table
|total_width=
|overall=
|title=
|director=
|writer=
|airdate=
|prodcode=
|episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1
|Title=California Dreamin'
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Deidre Fay & Stuart Wolpert
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1989|11|30}}
|ProdCode=03-0101
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=2
|Title=Interrupted Melody
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Deidre Fay & Stuart Wolpert
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1989|12|03}}
|ProdCode=03-0102
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=3
|Title=Love-15
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Efrem Seeger
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1989|12|10}}
|ProdCode=03-0105
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=4
|Title=Since I Don't Have You
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Lyla Oliver & Patrick Cleary
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1989|12|17}}
|ProdCode=03-0108
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=5
|Title=Buddy System
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Stephen Neigher
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1989|12|31}}
|ProdCode=03-0103
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=6
|Title=Career Week
|AltTitle=Shoots and Ladders
|RAltTitle={{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Barbara Hall
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1990|01|07}}
|ProdCode=03-0107
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=7
|Title=The Crush
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Dick Bensfield & Jack Elinson
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1990|01|20}}
|ProdCode=03-0109
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=8
|Title=Run for the Roses
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay|s=Lyla Oliver & Patrick Cleary|t=Lyla Oliver & Patrick Cleary and David S. Cohen & Roger Schulman}}
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1990|08|05}}
|ProdCode=03-0111
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=9
|Title=Old Friends
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Shelly Zellman
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1990|08|12}}
|ProdCode=03-0112
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=10
|Title=It's a Mall World After All
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Tom Straw
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1990|08|19}}
|ProdCode=03-0113
|ShortSummary=Note: This episode, the last produced, effectively served as a "pilot" to a rebooted version of the series – from this episode forward, the focus of the series would have shifted to Ann McNeil's new job as the activities director of the local Marvel shopping mall and the characters she worked with there.{{cite book |author=Vincent Terrace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxTx1xK-q14C&q=%22Ann+Jillian%22+August+19%2C+1990&pg=PA14 |date=February 12, 2013 |title=Encyclopedia of Television Pilots, 1937–2012 |section=The Ann Jillian Show |page=184 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-476-60249-3}}
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=11
|Title=Good Citizen
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Stephen Hattman & Stuart Wolpert
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|ProdCode=03-0104
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=12
|Title=A Housewarming
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Deidre Fay & Stuart Wolpert
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|ProdCode=03-0106
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=13
|Title=The Anniversary
|DirectedBy=John Bowab
|WrittenBy=Lyla Oliver
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|ProdCode=03-0110
|ShortSummary=
|LineColor=
}}
}}
Reception
Howard Rosenberg of Los Angeles Times reviewed the comedy negatively, quipping that the series "has more Anns than laughs."{{cite web |author=Howard Rosenberg |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-30-ca-26-story.html |title=TV REVIEWS : More Anns, Fewer Laughs in NBC's 'Ann Jillian' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 30, 1989 |access-date=2017-06-17}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|96533}}
Category:1980s American multi-camera sitcoms
Category:1990s American multi-camera sitcoms
Category:1989 American television series debuts
Category:1990 American television series endings
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Category:Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment