''Fired Up'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series created by

Arleen Sorkin Arleen Sorkin (born October 14, 1955) is a retired American actress, screenwriter, presenter and comedian. Sorkin is known for portraying Calliope Jones on the NBC daytime serial ''Days of Our Lives'' and for inspiring and voicing the DC Comics ...

and Paul Slansky, that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from April 10, 1997 to February 9, 1998, for two

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

and 28 episodes. The series, the first from Grammnet Productions, starred

Sharon Lawrence Sharon Elizabeth Lawrence (born June 29, 1961) is an American actress who played Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in the ABC drama series '' NYPD Blue''. The role garnered her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in ...

as a self-centered promotions executive and Leah Remini as her mouthy assistant. When the pair got fired from their jobs, they teamed up to create a business as equal partners. The tagline of the series was ''"First she got fired, then she got fired up."''

Plot

Gwendolyn Leonard epitomized the term "self-involved." After being fired from her corporate job, she was reduced to moving in with her former assistant, spunky Terry Reynolds, and starting up a new promotions business as her partner. Terry and her brother Danny shared a loft apartment atop a clock tower in New York City, and Danny worked as bartender at Clockworks, the restaurant below, while he pursued his dream of becoming a writer. Clockworks was owned by Guy Mann, an average Joe who adamantly pursued Gwen, though she kept him at arm's length (his response to each of her blow-offs was "Oh, yeah!"). Also regularly seen was Mrs. Francis, a crotchety unemployment agent whom Gwen ultimately inspired to quit her job and open an eggroll shop; Ashley Mann, Guy's son who worked as a female impersonator; Scott Bickley, Danny's lecherous agent who moonlighted as a suit salesman; and Steve Summer, a former classmate of Gwen's who'd carried a torch for her for decades. Infrequently seen were Gwen's snobbish mother Rita (

Dixie Carter Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American actress. She starred as Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–1993) and as Randi King on the drama series ''Family Law (American TV series), Family La ...

) and Terry and Danny's loud-mouthed mother Tina (

Randee Heller Randee Heller (born Randee Antzis; June 10, 1947) is an American television and film actress known for playing Alice in the 1970s sitcom ''Soap (TV series), Soap'' – one of television's first lesbian characters – as well as for portraying Li ...

Cast

as Gwen Leonard * Leah Remini as Terry Reynolds *

Mark Feuerstein Mark Feuerstein (; born June 8, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He had an early, recurring role in several episodes of '' Caroline in the City'', playing the title character's new boyfriend, and later gained notice in a ...

as Danny Reynolds *

Jonathan Banks Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...

as Guy Mann *

Francesca P. Roberts Francesca P. Roberts (born December 19, 1953) is an American film and television actress known for playing Big Bertha in the live action movie ''Super Mario Bros.'' in 1993, as well as Anita Craig in ABC's sitcom TV series ''Baby Talk'', which ...

as Mrs. Francis *Mark Davis as Ashley Mann * Thomas F. Wilson as Steve Summer *

Timothy Omundson Timothy Michael Omundson (born July 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is notable for his supporting roles as Sean Potter on the CBS television series ''Judging Amy'', Eli on the syndicated series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', Carlton Lassiter i ...

as Scott Bickley

Episodes

Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1997–98)

History

''Fired Up'' was a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a sh ...

on NBC. It premiered on April 10, 1997, and ended the first season on June 23 after 8 episodes. The second season premiered on September 22, 1997, and the last episode aired on February 9, 1998. It was a contemporary of shows like '' Caroline in the City'' and ''

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, ...

'', and at one point, all three shows were part of a Monday-night promotion: "The Ladies of Monday Night."

Reception

Caryn James of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said the series had a "topical premise and an edgy lead character, just what most sitcoms lack" but that after a promising start, its first season episodes lost the "sharp writing this series needs." ''Fired Up'' premiered in the "cushy Thursday night slot after ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''" through May 15, 1997, on a night that NBC promoted as

Must See TV Must See TV is an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of ...

. It started out strong in the ratings; the premiere garnered an 18.8 rating and 29 share,''Fired'' tops last of the crop
from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' but after NBC changed its timeslot, the show lost its audience and NBC canceled it.

Syndication

''Fired Up'' had a brief syndication run on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0118315, Fired Up Television series by CBS Studios 1990s American sitcoms 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s American workplace comedy television series NBC original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in New York City