''Raising Miranda'' is an American sitcom that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in 1988 as part of its fall lineup. Starring

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. He is best known as Michael Bower on '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984-1992) and was also notable for his earlier role as the astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season telev ...

and Royana Black, it depicted the struggles of a father and his teenage daughter to adjust to their circumstances after their wife and mother abandons their family.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 683.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, Sixth Edition'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , pp. 852–853.

Premise

Donald Marshack, a building contractor in

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, suddenly finds himself a single parent when his wife Bonnie attends a self-improvement class and abruptly abandons him and their smart-but-sensitive 15-year-old daughter, Miranda, in order to go and "find herself." The un-domestic Donald is forced to serve as both father and mother to a distressed teenage girl.Nostalgia Central RAISING MIRANDA
/ref> Marcine Lundquist is Miranda's lifelong best friend and confidante and Jack Miller is a new transfer student Miranda has befriended at school. Joan and Bob Hoodenpyle are the Marshacks' noodly neighbors and friends. Miranda's wacky and unemployed Uncle Russell is Donald's brother-in-law and buddy and lives in a van permanently parked in the Marshacks' driveway.

Cast

as Donald Marshack *Royana Black as Miranda Marshack *

Miriam Flynn Miriam Flynn (born June 18, 1952) is an American voice and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' and Grandma Longneck in ''The Land Before Time'' franchises. She has acted in other films ...

as Joan Hoodenpyle *

Steve Vinovich Steve Vinovich (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor. Biography Vinovich was born in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Jennie J. (née Kuhel), a secretary, and Stephen J. Vinovich, an insurance salesman. His paternal grandparents are Croatian. ...

as Bob Hoodenpyle *Amy Lynne as Marcine Lundquist *

Michael Manasseri Michael Manasseri (born February 28, 1974) is an American actor and film director. Biography Michael Manasseri is a 2020 Independent Spirit Award winning producer (John Cassavetes Award) for his work on the critically acclaimed comedy ''Give Me ...

as Jack Miller *

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...

as Russell

Production

Despite its rather grim premise — a wife and mother abandoning her family — the show was billed as a situation comedy, the humor being derived from the Donald Marshack character's challenges in parenting after the departure of his wife. Portraying Donald's brother-in-law and Miranda's uncle, Russell,

appeared in his first regular primetime television role in ''Raising Miranda''.

Reception

''Raising Miranda'' received generally poor reviews from critics.

Broadcast history

''Raising Miranda'' aired on

on Saturday nights at 8:30 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

, up against

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 ...

's hit sitcom ''

Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and ...

''. It premiered on November 5, 1988. After seven episodes averaged a poor 6.0 rating, CBS cancelled the series. Its last episode was broadcast on December 31, 1988, leaving two of its nine episodes unaired.

Episodes

SOURCES tv.com Raising Miranda Season 1 Episode 8 Russell's Broken Heart
/ref>

References

General

Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0094532
''Raising Miranda'' opening credits on YouTubeOpening credits
for ''

Trial and Error Trial and error is a fundamental method of problem-solving characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the practicer stops trying. According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan (18 ...

'' and ''Raising Miranda'' on YouTube
1988 CBS promo for ''Raising Miranda'' on YouTube
CBS original programming 1980s American sitcoms 1988 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings English-language television shows Television shows set in Wisconsin