The Baxters
The first interactive sitcom with audience discussion segments.
The Baxters is a sitcom that aired in broadcast syndication from September 1979 to August 1981. The original American incarnation of the series aired locally from 1977 to 1979 on the Boston station WCVB-TV; in 1979, Norman Lear took over production, and a recast version aired nationally in the 1979–80 television season. It is notable as the first interactive sitcom, with each episode split between a dramatized vignette and a live studio audience talk show segment. The series originated locally on Boston station WCVB-TV before being produced nationally by Norman Lear and later by a Canadian firm.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- Hubert Jessup
- Developer
- Norman Lear
- Theme music
- Marvin Laird
- Country
- United States; Canada
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 2
- Episodes
- 50
- Executive producers
- Season 1:
- Norman Lear
- Season 2:
- Chet Collier
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
The original local run on WCVB featured married couple Stanley and Susan Baxter, their children Dennis and Amy, and Grandma Lizzie. Stan was a high school shop teacher, Susan attended night school, Dennis was in college, and Amy in high school. During the first nationally syndicated season, the Baxters were an average middle-class family in a St. Louis suburb: Fred Baxter (Larry Keith) an insurance salesman, Nancy (Anita Gillette) a housewife, adopted daughter Naomi (Derin Altay, age 19), son Jonah (Chris Petersen, age 14), and youngest Rachel (Terri Lynn Wood, age 10).
Episodes dealt with controversial issues such as whether to commit Mother Baxter to a nursing home, whether Jonah’s teacher being homosexual would harm him, and whether Fred should convert a money-losing apartment house into condominiums, forcing out tenants. The second season introduced an all-new cast: Jim Baxter (Sean McCann) a schoolteacher, wife Susan (Terry Tweed) returning to work, and children Allison (Marianne McIsaac, 19), Gregg (Sammy Snyders, 14), and Lucy (Megan Follows, 10).
The format remained consistent: the first half presented an open-ended family dilemma, and the second half was an instant-analysis talk show with a live studio audience and guests. Stations could produce their own local discussion segments or air a national version, which in the first season came from Los Angeles and in the second from Toronto. The moderator varied by city, and some local markets allowed viewer call-ins.
Production
The program began as a local production at WCVB-TV Boston in early 1977, created by former divinity student Hubert Jessup as part of his Sunday morning public-affairs show. Jessup persuaded station management to move it to early evening, where it gained a loyal following. The initial cast consisted primarily of local Boston actors. After two local seasons, Norman Lear offered to produce the show in Hollywood for nationwide syndication in the 1979–80 season.
The Lear incarnation was recast with nationally known actors including Larry Keith, Anita Gillette, and Chris Petersen (sometimes misspelled as Chris Peterson in online sources). Poor ratings led to the show being slated for cancellation, but it was acquired by Canadian firm Wilks and Close Productions, which moved production to Toronto and recast it with Canadian actors—Sean McCann, Terry Tweed, Sammy Snyders, and Megan Follows—playing a different Baxter family.
Lear withdrew at this point. In Canada, broadcast and syndication were handled by CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, while American distribution rights reverted to the original Boston creators. The retooled version lasted one season, ending in 1981. Rue McClanahan stated in an interview that she performed the pilot episode for Norman Lear but declined to continue with the series; that pilot is held at the Paley Center for Media, and a script binder from her personal collection was later discovered.
More in 1980s American Television Talk Shows
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