''Thunder Alley'' 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 ...

that aired from March 9, 1994 to July 4, 1995, on ABC.

Premise

The show stars

Edward Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...

as retired race-car driver Gil Jones. The unaired original

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

featured

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

in the role of Bobbi Turner, Gil's daughter. When ABC picked up the series, Huffman was replaced with Diane Venora. The pilot was reshot and Venora played the role for eight episodes before she was replaced by

Robin Riker Robin Riker (born October 2, 1952) is an American actress and author. She made her big screen debut in the 1980 horror film ''Alligator'' and later went to star in the Showtime comedy series '' Brothers'' (1984–1989). Riker had starring roles ...

in the second season, who played the role for the remainder of the series. The story involved Bobbi returning to her old hometown, after a divorce to live with her father. In tow were her three children: Claudine ( Kelly Vint); Jenny ( Lindsay Felton); and Harry ( Haley Joel Osment). The new family quintet lived in Gil's home above Thunder Alley, the specialty racing garage Gil operated. Rounding out the cast was Gil's dim-witted mechanic sidekick, Leland DuParte (

Jim Beaver James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series ...

). In the show's second season,

Andrew Keegan Andrew Keegan (born January 29, 1979) is an American actor best known for his roles in television shows including '' Trinkets'', '' Moesha'', ''Party of Five'' and '' 7th Heaven'' and in films such as ''10 Things I Hate about You'' (1999), '' The ...

joined the cast as Jack Kelly, a local boy who helped around the garage. The first season was set in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, followed by

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

in the second season.

Production and broadcast history

''Thunder Alley'' was created and

executive produced Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

by Matt Williams,

Carmen Finestra Carmen Finestra (born 1947) is an American producer and TV writer who currently is partnered with Matt Williams and David McFadzean in Wind Dancer Productions, a firm which Finestra also co-owns and co-founded with actor Tim Allen. For Wind Dance ...

and David McFadzean for Wind Dancer Productions and

Touchstone Television The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

. The director of a majority of episodes was

Robby Benson Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; January 21, 1956) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the sports films '' One on One'' (1977) and '' Ice Castles'' (1978). He subsequently ...

. The show debuted to good ratings, finishing its first season the number 12th program with an average household share of 15.9, helped in part by its being paired with the hit ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'', coming from the same producers. However, it struggled in its second season when it was slotted as the lead-off show on Wednesday nights. It was canceled in the spring of 1995.

Cast and characters

as Gil Jones * Diane Venora as Bobbi Turner (season 1) *

as Bobbi Turner (season 2) * Kelly Vint as Claudine Turner, Bobbi's eldest daughter * Lindsay Felton as Jenny Turner, Bobbi's second eldest daughter * Haley Joel Osment as Harry Turner, Bobbi's youngest son *

as Leland DuParte *

as Jack Kelly (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (1994)

Season 2 (1994–95)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Home Improvement 1990s American sitcoms 1994 American television series debuts 1995 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Home Improvement (TV series) Television series by ABC Studios Television shows set in Detroit Television shows set in Indianapolis