Mr. President (TV series)
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Mr president georgecarlinglynn.jpg
| caption = Carlin Glynn and George C. Scott
| alt_name =
| genre = Sitcom
| creator = Ed. Weinberger
Johnny Carson
| developer =
| writer = David Lloyd
Johnny Carson
Gene Reynolds
Ed. Weinberger
| director = Marc Daniels
| creative_director =
| presenter =
| starring = George C. Scott
| judges =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = Patrick Williams
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = Bill Maxwell
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 2
| num_episodes = 24
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Gene Reynolds
| producer =
| editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 30 min.
| company = Carson Productions
| channel = Fox
| first_aired = {{Start date|1987|5|3}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1988|2|13}}
| related =
}}
Mr. President is an American sitcom created by Johnny Carson's company, Carson Productions, that starred George C. Scott and premiered on May 3, 1987. It was part of the Fox Broadcasting Company's premiere season of prime time entertainment, alongside Married... with Children, The Tracey Ullman Show, and Duet.{{cite video | people = Keith Olbermann | title = Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2007-04-05) | medium = Television | publisher = MSNBC | date = 2007-04-05 }}
Plot
The series centered around newly elected President Samuel Arthur Tresch, the former governor of Wisconsin. Others in the cast were Meg Tresch, Samuel's wife, who left him at the start of the second season, and Samuel's children, 16-year-old Cynthia and 12-year-old Nick. Charlie Ross was the Chief of Staff.
The show takes place in the near future relative to its airing: it is mentioned in the episode “Freedom of Speech” that Tresch won the 1988 United States presidential election and a newspaper headline in “Strange Bedfellows” indicates that the events of that episode take place around October 8, 1990. It is implied in “Loisgate” that Meg and Samuel separated in April 1991.
Cast
- George C. Scott ... President Samuel Arthur Tresch
- Conrad Bain ... Charlie Ross, the President's Chief of Staff
- Carlin Glynn ... First Lady Meg Tresch; she leaves the President at the beginning of the second season
- Maddie Corman ... Cynthia Tresch, the President's youngest daughter
- Susan Wheeler Duff ... Jennifer, the President's eldest daughter (married)
- Andre Gower ... Nick Tresch, the President's son
- Madeline Kahn ... Lois Gullickson, the President's sister-in-law; after the President's wife leaves him, she moves into the White House to help care for the children
- Earl Boen ... Dave
- Allen Williams ... Daniel Cummings
Production
In the summer of 1986, Johnny Carson went to the residence of George C. Scott to propose starring in a half-hour sitcom involving the day-to-day life of a man who "just happened to be the President of the United States", complete with 13 episodes as a premiere show for the upstart Fox Broadcasting Company, which had started in April. Scott found it an alluring challenge and chance to make a show better than the status quo type of programming. The result was a show that saw Scott butt heads with the attempts to emphasize gags and topical humor to go with shtick despite taking the time out of his Connecticut home to go to the West Coast (complete with a request for a motor home near the shooting stage) to volunteer services for story conferences. Scott came up with an idea for an episode where his character must appoint a Vice President and he picks a highly qualified black woman that sees repercussions ensue. However, the concept was rejected despite Scott paying a writer for a first draft, with Scott quoting the executive producer as saying, "I don't know how to do a story like that." In the buildup to the premiere, Carson described it as “not a situation comedy...I would call it more of a drama – with humor and with comedy and all the other emotions people have within a family", while Scott cited the talent alongside the chance to ensure his retirement with money.{{Cite web |last= |date=1987-05-01 |title=CARSON'S 'MR. PRESIDENT' STARS GEORGE C. SCOTT |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1987/05/01/carsons-mr-president-stars-george-c-scott/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Sun Sentinel |language=en-US}}
The show was cancelled in the winter of 1987. Scott, describing the working situation as "positively Byzantine", wrote an article to the Los Angeles Times relating his experience with the show within a sardonic conversation between himself and his conscience (named Sam Tresch) after he had dealt with an acute myocardial infarction in January 1988; he stated that the show had managed to succeed only in "trivializing the presidency."{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=George C. |date=1988-04-03 |title=The Casual Assassination of 'Mr. President' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-03-ca-926-story.html |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Episode list
=Season 1 (1987)=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; background:#fff;" |
| style="background:#;"| No. overall ! style="background:#;"| No. in ! style="background:#;"| Title ! style="background:#;"| Directed by ! style="background:#;"| Written by ! style="background:#;"| Original air date {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=1 |EpisodeNumber2=1 |Title=Pilot |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|5|3}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |EpisodeNumber2=2 |Title=The Magnetic Presidency |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|5|10}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |EpisodeNumber2=3 |Title=Cabin Fever |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|5|17}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |EpisodeNumber2=4 |Title=Freedom of Speech |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|5|31}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=5 |EpisodeNumber2=5 |Title=Meet the People |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|6|7}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=6 |EpisodeNumber2=6 |Title=Private Moments |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|6|21}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=7 |EpisodeNumber2=7 |Title=The First Son-in-Law |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|6|28}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=8 |EpisodeNumber2=8 |Title=Uncle Sam |DirectedBy= Burt Brinckerhoff |WrittenBy= Bruce Feirstein |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|7|12}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=9 |EpisodeNumber2=9 |Title=Strange Bedfellows |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|7|19}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=10 |EpisodeNumber2=10 |Title=Love's Labor Last |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|7|26}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} |
|---|
=Season 2 (1987–1988)=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; background:#fff;" |
| style="background:#;"| No. overall ! style="background:#;"| No. in ! style="background:#;"| Title ! style="background:#;"| Directed by ! style="background:#;"| Written by ! style="background:#;"| Original air date {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=11 |EpisodeNumber2=1 |Title=Dear Sam: Part 1 |DirectedBy=Greg Antonacci |WrittenBy=Peter Noah |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|9|27}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=12 |EpisodeNumber2=2 |Title=Dear Sam: Part 2 |DirectedBy=Greg Antonacci |WrittenBy=Peter Noah |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|10|4}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=13 |EpisodeNumber2=3 |Title=Armageddon Kinda Sore |DirectedBy=Marc Daniels |WrittenBy=David Cohen & Roger S.H. Schulman |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|10|11}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=14 |EpisodeNumber2=4 |Title=He'll Have to Go |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy=Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|10|18}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=15 |EpisodeNumber2=5 |Title=The Language Barrier |DirectedBy=Marc Daniels |WrittenBy=David Lloyd |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|10|24}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=16 |EpisodeNumber2=6 |Title=Loisgate |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|10|31}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=17 |EpisodeNumber2=7 |Title=Yes, Mr. President |DirectedBy=Marc Daniels |WrittenBy=Christian Williams |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|11|7}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=18 |EpisodeNumber2=8 |Title=Lois Gets Lucky |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy=Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|11|14}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=19 |EpisodeNumber2=9 |Title=The President's Brother |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|11|21}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=20 |EpisodeNumber2=10 |Title=The Christmas Story |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1987|12|26}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=21 |EpisodeNumber2=11 |Title=Insecurity |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1988|1|2}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=22 |EpisodeNumber2=12 |Title=A Royal Send Off |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy=Sybil Adelman & Martin Sage |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1988|1|16}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=23 |EpisodeNumber2=13 |Title=All About Jean |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1988|2|6}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=24 |EpisodeNumber2=14 |Title=Get a Job |DirectedBy= |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1988|2|13}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} |
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References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0092407|title=Mr. President}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister President (TV series)}}
Category:1987 American television series debuts
Category:1988 American television series endings
Category:1980s American sitcoms
Category:1980s American political comedy television series
Category:Television shows set in Washington, D.C.
Category:Television series by Universal Television
Category:Television series by Carson Productions