Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Eight Is Enough
Eight Is Enough is an American comedy-drama/sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 15, 1977, to May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.
The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: 22-year-old David, 21-year-old Mary, 20-year-old Joanie, 19-year-old Susan, 18-year-old Nancy, 16-year-old Elizabeth, 15-year-old Tommy, and 8-year-old Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (based on Tom Braden, played by Dick Van Patten), is a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan, based on Joan Braden, was a homemaker and took care of the children.
Joan was played by actress Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner) and in early 1977, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While performing a mastectomy, doctors discovered her cancer had metastasized. During filming her health suddenly deteriorated, and Hyland died on March 27, 1977, having filmed only four episodes. As a result, her character's death was written into the second season of the series.
The second season begins in the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually meets and falls in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a widowed schoolteacher who comes to the house to tutor Tommy after he breaks his leg in a football game. Abby and Tom marry in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt that the character of Miss Collins, the sympathetic high school gym teacher she had played in the 1976 film Carrie, would translate seamlessly to the series.
In the fourth season, in another of the series' TV movie broadcasts in September 1979, both David and Susan get married in a double wedding. As the series progresses, Abby receives her Ph.D. in education and starts a job counseling students at the local high school; oldest son David starts his own construction company; second-eldest daughter Joanie works as a TV producer; eldest daughter Mary becomes a medical doctor; third daughter Susan marries a baseball player, Merle "The Pearl" Stockwell, and has a baby; second-youngest son Tommy becomes a musician in a rock-and-roll band. Ralph Macchio also joins the cast as Jeremy Andretti, Abby's orphaned nephew.
In the pilot (filmed in April of 1976), the role of David was played by Mark Hamill, Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck, and Tommy was played by Chris English. When ABC screened the pilot, they were reportedly unhappy with the performances of Beck and English, who were let go and replaced by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames. After the pilot initially failed to sell, Beck wanted to play a prominent role on the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, so the network granted her a release from her Eight Is Enough contract. Hamill sought to get out of his five-year contract on Eight Is Enough to take the film opportunities that followed his starring role as Luke Skywalker in George Lucas's Star Wars. After Hamill injured his face in a car crash, Lorimar Productions granted his request and the role was re-cast with Grant Goodeve.
The show was developed by writer William Blinn and was a Lorimar Production. It was originally distributed by Worldvision Enterprises. For the first three years the show filmed interior scenes at The Burbank Studios now known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. From the fourth season the show filmed interiors at MGM Studios in Culver City.
The home featured in the exterior shots was on Chiquita Street near Lankershim Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles. The house has since been demolished and replaced. The interiors for seasons one through three were filmed on Soundstage 9 The Burbank Studio. Seasons four and five were shot on two stages at MGM in Culver City.
Hub AI
Eight Is Enough AI simulator
(@Eight Is Enough_simulator)
Eight Is Enough
Eight Is Enough is an American comedy-drama/sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 15, 1977, to May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.
The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: 22-year-old David, 21-year-old Mary, 20-year-old Joanie, 19-year-old Susan, 18-year-old Nancy, 16-year-old Elizabeth, 15-year-old Tommy, and 8-year-old Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (based on Tom Braden, played by Dick Van Patten), is a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan, based on Joan Braden, was a homemaker and took care of the children.
Joan was played by actress Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner) and in early 1977, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. While performing a mastectomy, doctors discovered her cancer had metastasized. During filming her health suddenly deteriorated, and Hyland died on March 27, 1977, having filmed only four episodes. As a result, her character's death was written into the second season of the series.
The second season begins in the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually meets and falls in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a widowed schoolteacher who comes to the house to tutor Tommy after he breaks his leg in a football game. Abby and Tom marry in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt that the character of Miss Collins, the sympathetic high school gym teacher she had played in the 1976 film Carrie, would translate seamlessly to the series.
In the fourth season, in another of the series' TV movie broadcasts in September 1979, both David and Susan get married in a double wedding. As the series progresses, Abby receives her Ph.D. in education and starts a job counseling students at the local high school; oldest son David starts his own construction company; second-eldest daughter Joanie works as a TV producer; eldest daughter Mary becomes a medical doctor; third daughter Susan marries a baseball player, Merle "The Pearl" Stockwell, and has a baby; second-youngest son Tommy becomes a musician in a rock-and-roll band. Ralph Macchio also joins the cast as Jeremy Andretti, Abby's orphaned nephew.
In the pilot (filmed in April of 1976), the role of David was played by Mark Hamill, Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck, and Tommy was played by Chris English. When ABC screened the pilot, they were reportedly unhappy with the performances of Beck and English, who were let go and replaced by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames. After the pilot initially failed to sell, Beck wanted to play a prominent role on the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, so the network granted her a release from her Eight Is Enough contract. Hamill sought to get out of his five-year contract on Eight Is Enough to take the film opportunities that followed his starring role as Luke Skywalker in George Lucas's Star Wars. After Hamill injured his face in a car crash, Lorimar Productions granted his request and the role was re-cast with Grant Goodeve.
The show was developed by writer William Blinn and was a Lorimar Production. It was originally distributed by Worldvision Enterprises. For the first three years the show filmed interior scenes at The Burbank Studios now known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. From the fourth season the show filmed interiors at MGM Studios in Culver City.
The home featured in the exterior shots was on Chiquita Street near Lankershim Boulevard in Studio City, Los Angeles. The house has since been demolished and replaced. The interiors for seasons one through three were filmed on Soundstage 9 The Burbank Studio. Seasons four and five were shot on two stages at MGM in Culver City.