 Empty Nest
1 9 8 8 - 1 9 9 5 (USA)
170 x 30 minute episodes
Widowed paediatrician Dr Harry Weston has plans to get along
with his new life alone, but two of his three daughters move back
into the family home.
The creators of this NBC sitcom were also behind The Golden
Girls and on several occasions characters from that show
appeared in Empty Nest (Notably Estelle Getty as the
irascible Sophia).
Kristy McNichol (who played one of Harry's daughters, police
officer Barbara) left the show in 1992 due to an ongoing struggle
with her bipolar disorder.
She returned for the show's final
episode in July 1995. Lisa Rieffel joined the cast as another
Weston daughter, Emily in 1993, but stayed for only half a season.
Dreyfuss, the dog who served as a best pal to Dr Weston was a
mix of Saint Bernard and golden retriever. But as far as co-star
Dinah Manoff was concerned, all that counted was that the big,
lovable pooch upstaged her: "Enough with the dog already.
Okay?" the actress complained when asked about Dreyfuss (his
real name was Bear) by an interviewer in 1989.
 "I mean, I have to say nice things about everyone in the
show, but I'm getting a little tired of hearing about that damn
dog. My friends say, 'Oh, Dinah, we love your show, but what's it
like working with that dog?' Everyone wants to know about the damn
dog. What is the dog, John Travolta?".
Paul Provenza who came on board as a boyfriend for Manoff's
Carol in 1992, lasted only a season, but was around long enough to
get Carol pregnant (her son was born the following season).
TRIVIA NOTE
Seventeen months before the series' premiere in the USA, NBC
aired a pilot of Empty Nest as if it was an episode of The
Golden Girls. In this, Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno were cast
as George and Renee Corliss, the Golden Girls' next-door
neighbours, a middle-aged couple who have to repair their marriage
after their daughter Jenny (played by Jane Harnick) goes off to
university.
Of the principal cast, only David Leisure appeared in both the
pilot and the full series, albeit as different characters.
Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty
appeared in the pilot in their Golden Girls roles of
Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia.
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