| American Dreamer | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Susan Seeger |
| Starring | Robert Urich Chay Lentin Johnny Galecki Jeffrey Tambor Carol Kane |
| Composer | Peter Leinheiser |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Gary David Goldberg |
| Producer | Linda Nieber |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Ubu Productions Paramount Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 20, 1990 (1990-09-20) – June 22, 1991 (1991-06-22) |
American Dreamer is an American sitcom television series created by Susan Seeger, which aired on NBC from September 20, 1990, until June 22, 1991, as part of its 1990-91 lineup.
American Dreamer stars Robert Urich as fictional character Tom Nash, formerly a high-powered network correspondent who was forced to reassess his priorities following the death of his wife. He decided to give up his career in order to spend more time with his children. To do this, he moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he supported his family by contributing a column about "real people" to a Chicago newspaper. His editor, Joe Baines (Jeffrey Tambor), felt Tom was completely wasting his talents and drove out from Chicago weekly (a huge sacrifice, from his viewpoint) to attempt to convince Tom to return the world of "hard news". Other characters included Tom's zany secretary, Lillian Abernathy (Carol Kane), and a friendly waitress at Tom's favorite local diner, Holly Baker (Margaret Welsh).
This program was considered low-key. Tom sometimes "broke the fourth wall" to address the viewers directly about his thoughts regarding the situations he encountered. This philosophizing gained only a small audience and the program was cancelled at midseason, although selected episodes were rerun the following summer.
It is not related to the film of the same name.
Cast
- Robert Urich as Tom Nash
- Margaret Welsh as Holly Baker
- Jeffrey Tambor as Joe Baines
- Carol Kane as Lillian Abernathy
- Chay Lentin as Rachel Nash
- Johnny Galecki as Danny Nash
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Sam Weisman | Susan Seeger | September 20, 1990 (1990-09-20) |
| 2 | "Guys Just Wanna Have Fun" | Sam Weisman | Gary David Goldberg | September 22, 1990 (1990-09-22) |
| 3 | "Flight of the Dodo" | Sam Weisman | Brad Hall | September 29, 1990 (1990-09-29) |
| 4 | "All God's Children Go to Wisconsin" | Sam Weisman | Bruce Helford | October 6, 1990 (1990-10-06) |
| 5 | "Corvette Man" | Sam Weisman | Theresa Rebeck | October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13) |
| 6 | "Over the Hill?" | Sam Weisman | Brad Hall | October 20, 1990 (1990-10-20) |
| 7 | "Mr. Wizard" | Sam Weisman | David Owen | October 27, 1990 (1990-10-27) |
| 8 | "Divorce, American Dreamer Style" | Sam Weisman | Susan Seeger & Brad Hall | November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03) |
| 9 | "In from the Cold: Part 1" | Sam Weisman | Seth Freeman | November 10, 1990 (1990-11-10) |
| 10 | "In from the Cold: Part 2" | Sam Weisman | Seth Freeman | November 24, 1990 (1990-11-24) |
| 11 | "The Fabulous Baker Girls" | Sam Weisman | Theresa Rebeck | December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01) |
| 12 | "A Face in the Cloud" | Sam Weisman | Gordon Farr | December 8, 1990 (1990-12-08) |
| 13 | "Don't Drink the Water" | Sam Weisman | Theresa Rebeck | May 25, 1991 (1991-05-25) |
| 14 | "Mother Knows Best" | Sam Weisman | Brad Hall & Theresa Rebeck | June 1, 1991 (1991-06-01) |
| 15 | "Papa Joe" | Sam Weisman | Seth Freeman | June 8, 1991 (1991-06-08) |
| 16 | "Heartbreak Diner" | Sam Weisman | Susan Seeger | June 15, 1991 (1991-06-15) |
| 17 | "They Shoot Ducks, Don't They?" | Sam Weisman | Brad Hall | June 22, 1991 (1991-06-22) |
References
- From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "American Dreamer"]". cocatalog.loc.gov. United States Copyright Office. Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
- "American Dreamer". Writers Guild of America West. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, Ballantine Books, p. 47.