''The Single Guy'' 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 that ran for two seasons on NBC, from September 21, 1995, to April 14, 1997. It starred Jonathan Silverman as struggling New York City writer Jonathan Eliot and followed several of his close friends (some of whom came and left as the show was re-tooled between seasons). The series also starred Joey Slotnick as Eliot's best friend Sam Sloan, Ming-Na Wen as Sam's wife Trudy and

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

as doorman Manny, throughout its entire run. ''The Single Guy'' was created by

Brad Hall William Bradford Hall (born March 21, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known as a ''Weekend Update'' news anchor on '' Saturday Night Live'' and for creating the sitcoms ''The Single Guy'' and ''Watching Ellie''. ...

Cast

Main

* Jonathan Silverman as Jonathan Eliot * Joey Slotnick as Sam Sloan *

as Manny Cordoba * Ming-Na Wen as Trudy Sloan * Mark Moses as Matt Parker (season 1) * Jessica Hecht as Janeane Percy-Parker (season 1) *

Shawn Michael Howard Shawn Michael Howard (born July 31, 1969) is an American film, television and theater actor. Howard was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Olivia C. and Frank Howard, Jr., brother of Brad Howard and Tyrone Scott Howard. Father of Elijah Howard ...

as Russell (season 2) * Olivia d'Abo as Marie Blake (season 2)

Recurring

Jensen Daggett Jensen Daggett (born June 24, 1969) is an American film and television actress. She has appeared in the films '' Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan'' and '' Major League: Back to the Minors''. She had a recurring role as Nancy Tayl ...

as Charlie McCarthy (season 2) *

Dan Cortese Daniel James Cortese (; born September 14, 1967) is an American actor and director. He played Perry Rollins on '' Veronica's Closet'' and Vic Meladeo on '' What I Like About You''. Early life and education Of Italian (Calabrese) descent, Cortes ...

as Dan Montgomery (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (1995–96)

Season 2 (1996–97)

Beginning and reception

While the series was favored enough by NBC to earn a timeslot in its coveted " Must-See-TV" Thursday night line-up, it ultimately failed to generate enthusiasm with critics and viewers. It was largely written-off as one in a long line of "singles in the city" sitcoms that emerged in the mid-1990s, following the success of ''

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 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

''. Many of that hit show's calling cards were emulated in ''The Single Guy'', from the neurotic best friend who occasionally does reprehensible things, to its main character's rotating cast of flawed girlfriends. Jonathan and friends would also regularly hang out at a local coffee shop, The Bagel Cafe, which was seen by some viewers as too similar to that of the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom, ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'' of which they had a guest star crossover with

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...

's character, Ross Geller.

Ending

Perhaps aware of its impending cancellation, the series ended its second and final season with Jonathan Eliot married in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

, thus ending his single status. Ultimately, it was one of the highest rated shows to ever get canceled, consistently attaining 4th or 5th place in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. Most attribute this to the fact that it was hammocked in the coveted 8:30pm EST slot, between ''

'' and ''

''. According to ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'', when the show was moved to a different time slot, its position in the ratings plummeted. Ross Geller (played by

), a character from the sitcom ''

'', appeared on the show.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Single Guy, The 1995 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1990s American romantic comedy television series NBC original programming 1990s American sitcoms Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in New York City English-language television shows Latino sitcoms