''Just the Ten of Us'' 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 ...

starring

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family with eight children living in

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt B ...

. The series is a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

of ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the ...

'', in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same character on a recurring basis. As the series progressed, Coach Lubbock's four eldest daughters, the teenagers Marie ( Heather Langenkamp), Cindy ( Jamie Luner), Wendy ( Brooke Theiss), and Connie ( JoAnn Willette), became the primary focus of the show. ''Just the Ten of Us'' aired on ABC starting with a trial run from April 26 to May 17, 1988. After the first four episodes in an abbreviated first season were aired, the show was renewed for two more seasons, eventually ending after 47 episodes on May 4, 1990. The show was a part of ABC's early '' TGIF'' programming block.

Synopsis

The series focuses on Graham Lubbock ( Bill Kirchenbauer), a Catholic gym teacher who used to teach at the high school that ''

'' characters Mike and Carol Seaver (

Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor and evangelist. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom '' Growing Pains'' (1985–1992), a role for which he was nominated for two Golden Glo ...

and

Tracey Gold Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom '' Growing Pains''. Acting career Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi pri ...

) had attended on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, and the father of eight children. In the pilot episode (which aired on ''

'' in the spring of 1988), Graham's job is in jeopardy due to district budget cutbacks. Mike leads a protest after he learns that Lubbock is trying to support a large family (including yet another baby on the way). Despite this, Graham loses his job but soon receives an offer at St. Augustine's Academy, an all-boys private Catholic school in Eureka, California. Graham and his pregnant wife Elizabeth promptly move their family to California. By special arrangement, the older children — four teenage girls — were allowed to attend St. Augustine's, much to the chagrin of the school's administration (and, of course, the delight of the male students). They were: * Marie ( Heather Langenkamp) – the oldest, most responsible, and most pious. * Cindy ( Jamie Luner) – Wendy's older twin sister, and the most ditzy. * Wendy ( Brooke Theiss) – Cindy's younger twin sister, and the most flirtatious. * Connie ( JoAnn Willette) – the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, and also occasionally

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

. The younger children — two girls and two boys — were: * 11-year-old Graham, Jr. ( Matt Shakman), familiarly known as "J.R." * eight-year-old Sherry ( Heidi Zeigler) * toddler Harvey (Jason and Jeremy Korstjens) * infant Melissa – not yet born when the show began. The first season consisted of four episodes for a trial run in the spring of 1988. ABC was pleased with their success and ordered a second season. In the second season, Cindy and Wendy seemed to switch personalities, with Cindy becoming more ditzy, and Wendy becoming the schemer. Also, the show focused more and more on the four older girls and frequently revolved around the family's efforts to save money, dating, and other typical family

issues. In later episodes, the four teenage girls formed a singing group called "The Lubbock Babes" (partly to help bring in much-needed extra income). The girls had many boyfriends and love interests that Graham took great pride in testing—and in most cases, fending off—but the most permanent fixture among them was Marie's goofy boyfriend, Gavin Doosler (Evan Arnold). Those on the St. Augustine's staff included Father Robert Hargis ( Frank Bonner), the affable headmaster; Coach Duane Johnson ( Dennis Haysbert), Graham's earnest young assistant during the first two seasons and pulled some strings with Father Hargis to hire Lubbock; and in the third season, featured teachers Father Budd (

Lou Richards Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards, (15 March 1923 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played 250 games for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1941 and 1955. He captained the team ...

) and elderly, madcap Sister Ethel ( Maxine Elliott).

Cast

* Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham T. Lubbock *

Deborah Harmon Deborah Harmon (born May 8, 1951) is an American film and television actress. Harmon was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended The Second City troupe in Chicago until moving to Los Angeles to pursue an active acting career. She is probably b ...

as Elizabeth Lubbock * Heather Langenkamp as Marie Lubbock * Jamie Luner as Cynthia "Cindy" Lubbock * Brooke Theiss as Wendy Lubbock * JoAnn Willette as Constance Sarah "Connie" Lubbock * Matt Shakman as Graham "J.R." Lubbock, Jr. * Heidi Zeigler as Sherry Lubbock * Jason and Jeremy Korstjens as Harvey Lubbock * Frank Bonner as Father Frank Hargis, Headmaster of St. Augustine's Academy * Dennis Haysbert as Duane Johnson, Coach Lubbock's assistant (1988–1989) *

Evan Arnold Evan Arnold is an American actor who has played Richie Flanscopper on ''Growing Pains'', Gavin Doosler on ''Just the Ten of Us'', Ned Carlson on ''The West Wing'', Jeffrey Ambor on ''Close to Home'', Chef Alan on ''Suburgatory'', Dr. Ditmer on ...

as Gavin Doosler *

as Father Bud (1989–1990) * Maxine Elliott as Sister Ethel (1989–1990)

Response

Ratings

A week after the series debuted on April 8, 1988, the show placed 7th in

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, ...

s. The second season garnered a total of 20.1 million viewers.

Episodes

Syndication

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 Madi ...

picked up the entire series in reruns shortly after it was canceled, and aired the show on a daily basis until 1996.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{TGIF (ABC) 1980s American sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 1988 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American television spin-offs English-language television shows Growing Pains Television series about families Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in California TGIF (TV programming block)