''Sunday Dinner'' 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 ...

television series which 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 ...

from June 2, 1991, until July 7, 1991. The series was produced by Norman Lear, and marked his return to television producing after an absence of several years. Lear's current wife Lyn Davis Lear served as co-producer on the series, which was the first official Lear show to be made under his latest production marquee Act III Television.

Synopsis

The series starred

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

as Ben Benedict, a widowed 56-year-old businessman in Long Island who falls in love with a 30-year-old lawyer, Thelma Todd "TT" Fagori (

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film '' Tom ...

). Being true to Lear fashion, the situation of Ben and TT's age difference was an issue in itself, but the show also tackled other environmental and social issues in the way that his earlier shows (''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', '' Maude'', etc.) did, with a dose of spirituality. Ben's kids, who were all around TT's age, resented her involvement with their father, except for beloved son Kenneth (

Patrick Breen Joseph Patrick Breen (born October 26, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life Breen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 26, 1960. Career He has acted primarily on TV but has also appeared in numerous films, ...

), a real estate agent on the fast track, who seemed to root them on. The cast also included

Marian Mercer Marian Ethel Mercer (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer. Career Born in Akron, Ohio, Mercer was the daughter of Samuel and Nellie Mercer. She graduated from the University of Michigan, then spent several ...

as Ben's sister Martha Benedict, who had been living with Ben's family since the death of his wife. Ben's daughters were airheaded Diana ( Kari Lizer), who worked in fashion design, and forthright intellectual Vicky (

Martha Gehman Martha Gehman (born 1955) is an American actress and acting coach, perhaps best known for her role as Ophelia in the 1985 cult classic '' The Legend of Billie Jean''. She also had supporting roles in ''The Flamingo Kid'', '' F/X'', ''Threesome' ...

), a microbiologist, who was back living at home after her divorce, along with her precocious young daughter, Rachel (

Shiri Appleby Shiri Freda Appleby (born December 7, 1978) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her leading roles as Liz Parker in the WB/UPN science fiction drama series '' Roswell'' (1999–2002) and Rachel Goldberg in the L ...

). In every episode, some stressful confrontation or incident between TT and the Benedicts would occur. These situations were usually the result of Diana and Vicky's feeble attempts to undermine Ben and TT's romance. They refused to get past the surface image of TT being "just another bimbo" who, despite being in a well-paying profession herself, may have only been after an older man for his money. At every situation's climax, TT would retreat to a private corner and address "The Chief", engaging in a one-sided talk with

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

about her issues. Lear insisted on making TT a devout

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 ...

as well as an environmentalist, to further reflect the study of spirituality up against politics and American family values in the series. In fact, the format for ''Sunday Dinner'' was based upon Lear's marriage to his third wife Lyn, who was considerably younger than he was.

Cast

as Ben Benedict *

as TT Fagori *

as Kenneth Benedict *

as Vicky Benedict *

as Martha Benedict * Kari Lizer as Diana *

as Rachel

Episodes

Time slot

CBS was sure that Lear's comeback would be successful, and in the process moved summer reruns of '' Murder, She Wrote'' to 9 p.m. in order to air ''Sunday Dinner'' on Sunday nights at 8/7c, alongside reruns of Lear's classic ''

'' (at 8:30/7:30c). After two weeks, however, both programs swapped time slots. Neither the press or scheduling helped; the show only lasted six weeks due to middling ratings.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Dinner (Tv Series) CBS original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television 1990s American sitcoms 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings English-language television shows Television shows set in New York (state) Television series created by Norman Lear