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

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

in 1988 as part of its fall lineup. Starring

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. On television he is best known as astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season television series ''Planet of the Apes''. He won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical ...

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 Marshak, a building contractor in Racine,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, suddenly finds himself a single parent when his wife Bonnie attends a self-improvement class and abruptly abandons him and their smart, sensitive 15-year-old daughter Miranda, in order to go "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 Marshaks' noodly neighbors and friends. Miranda's wacky, unemployed Uncle Russell is Donald's brother-in-law and buddy and lives in a van permanently parked in the Marshaks' driveway.

Cast

as Donald Marshack *Royana Black as Miranda Marshack *

Miriam Flynn Miriam Flynn is an American Voice acting, voice and character actor, character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation (film series), National Lampoon's Vacation'' films and Grandma Longneck in ''The ...

as Joan Hoodenpyle * Steve Vinovich as Bob Hoodenpyle *Amy Lynne as Marcine Lundquist * Michael Manasseri as Jack Miller *

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor. After taking minor roles in television, he established himself as a leading actor in both comedic and dramatic Bryan Cranston filmography, works on stage and screen. He has received ...

as Russell

Production

Despite its rather grim premise — a wife and mother abandoning her family — the show was billed as a

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

, the humor being derived from Donald Marshak'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, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

, up against

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's hit sitcom ''

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) 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 Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

''. 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''

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 ( ...

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