Mr. Belvedere
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| Mr. Belvedere | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Creator(s) | Gwen Davenport |
| Developer(s) | Frank Dungan Jeff Stein |
| Starring | Christopher Hewett Ilene Graff Rob Stone Tracy Wells Brice Beckham Bob Uecker |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 117 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Frank Dungan Jeff Stein Tony Sheehan |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | March 15, 1985 – July 8, 1990 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from March 15, 1985 until July 8, 1990.
The character of Mr. Belvedere was created by Gwen Davenport in her novel Belvedere, and was originally portrayed by Clifton Webb in a series of theatrical films in the late 1940s and early 1950s. There was also a television pilot in 1965 starring Victor Buono in the title role.
The premise of the 1980s era program was that a middle-class family in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, takes in an English butler after he emigrates to the United States.
The posh butler, Lynn Belvedere, struggled to adapt to the Owens household. The breadwinner, George, was a sportswriter. His wife Marsha was attending law school. At the time the show started, Kevin attended high school, Heather was in junior high, and Wesley was in elementary school. Over time, Marsha graduated from law school and started a career as a lawyer, Kevin went off to college, and Heather moved on to high school.
Several episodes dealt with Belvedere and Wesley, with whom he shared a close relationship. In one of many very special episodes, one of Wesley's classmates contracted HIV via a blood transfusion, not unlike what happened to the real-life teenager Ryan White. When all of Wesley's classmates shunned him for still associating with his friend, Belvedere was there for him and the child, and he helped the other students befriend the boy. In another episode, Wesley confronts a scout leader who had touched him inappropriately. Mr. Belvedere served as a mentor to Wesley any time he had trouble, and also helped the other children whenever they needed help.
Each episode ended with Mr. Belvedere writing in his diary about the day in the Owens home.
A frequent gag on the show involved Heather's best friend Angela Chatsikovich, played by Melissa Matheson, often mispronouncing Mr. Belvedere's name as Mr. Velveeta.
Another frequent gag involved Mr. Belvedere making fun of Wesley's best friend Miles Knobnoster, played by Casey Ellison, because of his "headgear" (braces). In addition to his role as Miles Knobnoster, Ellison simultaneously played Allen Anderson on Punky Brewster.
The show's theme song was performed by popular ragtime singer Leon Redbone. It was written by the husband-and-wife team of Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy, who had previously written the theme songs to Cheers and Punky Brewster. A never before heard full length version of the theme was recently released by Gary Portnoy on his latest CD, "Destiny".
Mr. Belvedere had an average-sized ratings base, but it was never a phenomenally popular show; the show did not rate in the Top 30 shows in any of its six seasons. In fact, the show was canceled in 1987, only to be renewed after much fan protest.
In late 1989, in the middle of its sixth season, Mr. Belvedere was shelved and no episodes aired for the rest of the season. Speculation emerged that the show had been abruptly canceled, so ABC aired the final two episodes (the two-parter series finale, in which Mr. Belvedere marries and moves to Africa) in the summer of 1990. The show has since been seen sporadically in syndication.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Christopher Hewett as Mr. Lynn Belvedere
- Ilene Graff as Marsha Owens
- Rob Stone as Kevin Owens
- Tracy Wells as Heather Owens
- Brice Beckham as Wesley T. Owens
- Bob Uecker as George Owens
[edit] Recurring Characters
- Casey Ellison as Miles Knobnoster
- Melissa Matheson as Angela Chatsikovich
- Jack Dodson as Carl Butlam
- Norman Bartold as Skip Hollings
- Robert Goulet as Himself
[edit] References in other media
In 1991, Saturday Night Live did a sketch entitled "The Guy Who Played Mr. Belvedere Fan Club." In the sketch, a group of the actor's fans are meeting to discuss their mutual love for "Mr. Belvedere" (no mention of Christopher Hewett's actual name is ever made). As the meeting progresses, it quickly becomes evident that most or all of the fan club members are insane. The first order of business the fans undertake is to vote on a nickname for Mr. Belvedere. Several ridiculous ideas are brought forth until they finally settle on one: Brocktoon [1]. Tim Meadows plays a stand-up comic who shows up in the middle of their meeting, intending to wait for his show later in the day. The chairman (played by Tom Hanks) promptly asks him if he is a fan of "Brocktoon" (an odd question, considering they had just created the name). Tim Meadows sits and observes the fans and the many abhorrent ideas they present as to what they would like to do with "Mr. Belvedere" if they ever meet him (one wants to kill him, which is promptly dismissed, until another member interjects that they "usually vote"). Chris Farley states that he wants to "keep him in a big jar" in his basement. Tim Meadows finally interjects, shouting that what they are doing is wrong. The sketch ends with a cut to a shot of Meadows inside a giant glass jar, screaming for help. The sketch eventually appeared on the DVD Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tom Hanks.
The "Mr. Belvedere" character was later parodied on the MTV animated series Clone High in which a mad scientist creates electronic butler named "Mr. Butlertron", who refers to everyone as "Wesley" (originally, the creators wanted to name it Mr. Belvetron, but did not for legal reasons).
The Stewie Griffin character (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) attempts to watch the program in an episode of Family Guy and is forced to loudly sing the theme song aloud when characters in the background drown out the TV volume. Another one of MacFarlane's shows, American Dad, also references Mr. Belvedere. Roger mentions that he is a fan of the show.
Hewett also portrayed the character in a special tribute episode of the FOX sitcom Ned and Stacey.
In the Family Guy Video Game!, Mr. Belvedere is Peter Griffin's nemesis. Peter gets hit on the head throughout the game and constantly thinks that Belvedere is real and has kidnapped his family. Peter destroys half of Quahog looking for his family and revenge on Mr. Belvedere. He follows this spotlight in the sky that has an outline of Belvedere.
In the bachelor party scene of American Wedding, Bear comes up with the name Belvedere when asked by Mrs. Flaherty.
In the song "8 Millions Stories" by early 1990s hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, a lyric is "Who the hell do you think I am, Mr. Belvedere?"
In an episode of Futurama, entitled "A Leela of Her Own," the head of Bob Uecker (voiced by Bob Uecker) is announcing a blernsball game when he comments, "This is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen, and I've seen Mr. Belvedere naked. Woooo."
In the musical adaptation of The Wedding Singer, Robbie Hart wakes up with a hangover and says, "It feels like Mr. Belvedere sat on my skull."
Pop-punk band Nerf Herder mentions Mr. Belvedere in the songs "Love Sandwich" and "Welcome to My World."
[edit] Trivia
- Mr. Belvedere, alongside Full House, Perfect Strangers, and Just the Ten of Us, was a charter show for TGIF, which was a popular programming block on ABC.
- Noam Pitlik was a frequent director for the show. Pitlik was a noted character actor who played many guest roles on TV shows, including the recurring role of Officer "Swanny" Swanhouser during the first season of Sanford and Son.
[edit] External links
- Mr. Belvedere page
- Mr. Belvedere at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. Belvedere at TV.com
