 | This article is written like a story. (June 2024) |
| Day by Day | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Opening theme | "Day by Day" performed by Clydine Jackson |
| Composer | Robert Kraft |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | February 29, 1988 – June 4, 1989 |
| Related | |
| Family Ties | |
Day by Day is an American television sitcom created by Andy Borowitz and Gary David Goldberg, which aired on NBC from February 29, 1988, to June 4, 1989. It stars Douglas Sheehan, Linda Kelsey, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Thora Birch in her television debut role.
The show centers on Brian and Kate Harper, a married couple with two successful careers (Brian as a stockbroker, Kate as a lawyer) and a teenage son named Ross. After the couple had a second child, their daughter, Emily, they decided to quit their jobs because they had missed all the best times of Ross growing up and decided not to make the same mistake with Emily.
With that thought in mind, they decided to open a daycare center in their home. The episodes mixed stories about the daycare center with those about Ross and his friends. At first, Ross was not too enthusiastic about the idea of his father and mother being at home all the time, because he loved his independence and girl-chasing. He was more than a bit put out with all the bonding his father wanted to do now.
Louis-Dreyfus played Eileen Swift, their materialistic next-door neighbor who was also once a business associate of Brian's. She did not much like the idea of the Harpers running a day care center, and often tried to persuade them both to return to their former careers, always to no avail. Eileen, who was single and childless, was prone to make some very sarcastic quips about the children's activities, but Brian and Kate did not let it bother them.
Thorne-Smith played the baby's nanny Kristin, who also worked in the daycare center. Kristin was perhaps the reason that Ross relented about his parents running the day care center; he had a crush on her.
Day by Day was connected to another NBC series, Family Ties. The family patriarch, Brian Harper (played by Sheehan) was a college roommate of Steven Keaton (Michael Gross). A total of 33 episodes were produced.
The episode titled "A Very Brady Episode" aired on February 5, 1989, and reunited six cast members from The Brady Bunch – Ann B. Davis, Florence Henderson, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Maureen McCormick, and Robert Reed.
In this episode, Ross is lectured by Brian and Kate about his poor study habits. Ross's explanation that he was watching a Brady Bunch marathon only angers his parents more, and he is warned to shape up. Ross bemoans his predicament, noting Mike Brady would never yell at him because he had flagging grades.
Ross falls asleep, and finds himself in the opening credits of The Brady Bunch., where he dreams that he is the Bradys' long-lost son, Chuck. After he gets his hair permed at Mike's suggestion, he visits with the various family members (except Greg, Jan, and Cindy), who reprise some of the scenes in the Bradys' most famous episodes ("Chuck" and Marcia running against each other for class president, "Chuck" being bullied by Buddy Hinton episode, etc.)
After "Chuck" gets some advice about his poor grades from Mike, the family begins to repeat their dialogue. "Chuck" wonders what is amiss, and Carol explains what he is seeing is a rerun. Everything becomes chaotic and Ross wakes up, vowing to improve his study habits.
Christopher Daniel Barnes, who played Ross on the series, would later portray Greg Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | February 29, 1988 | May 29, 1988 | |
| 2 | 20 | October 30, 1988 | June 4, 1989 | |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Rating/share (households) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Birthday Presence" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz | February 29, 1988 | 18.6/28[1] |
| 2 | 2 | "How to Succeed in Day Care" | Will Mackenzie | Philip LaZebnik | March 3, 1988 | 28.1/43[1] |
| 3 | 3 | "One Big Happy Family" | Will Mackenzie | Janis Hirsch | March 6, 1988 | 17.3/26[1] |
| 4 | 4 | "That Saturday Feeling" | Will Mackenzie | Jeffrey Sachs | March 13, 1988 | 14.4/21[2] |
| 5 | 5 | "Community Service" | Will Mackenzie | Matt Ember | March 20, 1988 | 15.4/23[3] |
| 6 | 6 | "Birth Wait" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz & Janis Hirsch | March 27, 1988 | 13.7/21[4] |
| 7 | 7 | "What I Did for Love" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz | April 3, 1988 | 9.7/17[5] |
| 8 | 8 | "Great Expectations" | Will Mackenzie | Janis Hirsch | April 10, 1988 | 15.0/23[6] |
| 9 | 9 | "How Now, Dow Jones" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz | April 17, 1988 | 13.5/22[7] |
| 10 | 10 | "Life at a Glance" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz | April 24, 1988 | 13.7/22[8] |
| 11 | 11 | "The Age of Dinosaurs" | Will Mackenzie | Philip LaZebnik | May 1, 1988 | 11.7/18[9] |
| 12 | 12 | "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" | Will Mackenzie | Peter Schneider & Ben Cardinale | May 15, 1988 | 12.0/20[10] |
| 13 | 13 | "The Field Trip" | Will Mackenzie | Janis Hirsch | May 29, 1988 | 7.7/17[11] |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) | Rating/share (households) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "My World and Welcome to It" | Sam Weisman | Janis Hirsch | October 30, 1988 | 22.7[12] | 14.4/21[12] | |
| 15 | 2 | "Won't You Be My Neighbor" | Matthew Diamond | Philip LaZebnik | November 6, 1988 | 18.8[13] | 12.1/17[13] | |
| 16 | 3 | "Trading Places" | Matthew Diamond | Janis Hirsch | November 27, 1988 | 21.9[14] | 13.6/19[14] | |
| 17 | 4 | "Girl Wars" | Asaad Kelada | Bruce Rasmussen | December 4, 1988 | 26.7[15] | 16.3/24[15] | |
| 18 | 5 | "Harper and Son" | Matthew Diamond | Matt Ember | December 11, 1988 | 22.5[16] | 13.7/21[16] | |
| 19 | 6 | "Merry Kristin" | Matthew Diamond | Susan Borowitz & Katie Ford | December 18, 1988 | 17.5[17] | 11.8/18[17] | |
| 20 | 7 | "You Gotta Be a Football Hero" | Matthew Diamond | Ben Cardinale | January 1, 1989 | 18.8[18] | 11.0/17[18] | |
| 21 | 8 | "Smart Women, Nice Refreshments" | Sam Weisman | Bruce Rasmussen | January 8, 1989 | 22.8[19] | 14.0/20[19] | |
| 22 | 9 | "Out for a Stretch" | Matthew Diamond | Andy Borowitz | January 15, 1989 | 16.8[20] | 10.4/15[20] | |
| 23 | 10 | "The Music Man" | Matthew Diamond | Susan Strauss | January 29, 1989 | 21.6[21] | 13.1/19[21] | |
| 24 | 11 | "A Very Brady Episode" | Asaad Kelada | Andy Borowitz | February 5, 1989 | 24.6[22] | 14.5/20[22] | |
|
With Ross's grades falling off by him watching too much TV (especially with The Brady Bunch), Ross wishes that he lived with the Bradys. He dreams of living with the Bradys as their son Chuck, which he adapts to, but later starts to not like it. Florence Henderson, Robert Reed, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland and Ann B. Davis reunite as matriarch Carol, patriarch Mike, Marcia, Peter, Bobby and housekeeper Alice, respectively | ||||||||
| 25 | 12 | "My Momma Done Tol' Me" | Matthew Diamond | Philip LaZebnik | February 12, 1989 | 19.1[23] | 11.8/17[23] | |
| 26 | 13 | "Fraternity" | Matthew Diamond | Matt Ember | February 19, 1989 | 18.6[24] | 11.5/17[24] | |
| 27 | 14 | "Tears of a Clown" | Art Dielhenn | Bruce Rasmussen | February 26, 1989 | 18.3[25] | 11.5/17[25] | |
| 28 | 15 | "Harmless Helper" | Carol Scott | Philip LaZebnik & Bruce Rasmussen | March 5, 1989 | 26.4[26] | 16.0/24[26] | |
| 29 | 16 | "Three Men and a Babe" | Matthew Diamond | Philip LaZebnik | March 12, 1989 | 18.1[27] | 11.4/17[27] | |
| 30 | 17 | "Foul Play" | Matthew Diamond | Jodi Lampert | March 23, 1989 | 29.8[28] | 20.0/33[28] | |
| 31 | 18 | "The Reunion" | Will Mackenzie | Andy Borowitz | April 2, 1989 | 18.4[29] | 11.6/18[29] | |
| 32 | 19 | "The Lost Weekend" | Carol Scott | Story by : Matt Ember Teleplay by : Bruce Rasmussen & Philip LaZebnik | April 16, 1989 | 15.7[30] | 9.9/16[30] | |
| 33 | 20 | "Father Knows Best" | Tony Mordente | Lloyd Garver | June 4, 1989 | 12.4[31] | 8.7/16[31] | |
After the show's initial run, reruns were shown on the Lifetime Television network and TV Land for several years.
One episode of the series has been released to DVD in the November 5, 2013, "Family Ties: The Complete Series" DVD boxset release. The episode included is "Trading Places", which featured a crossover between Family Ties and Day by Day, wherein Steven Keaton dropped Andy off for daycare with the Harpers.
