Eight is Enough
| Eight Is Enough | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Comedy-drama |
| Developed by | William Blinn |
| Starring |
Dick Van Patten Diana Hyland Betty Buckley Grant Goodeve Lani O'Grady Laurie Walters Susan Richardson Dianne Kay Connie Newton Willie Aames Adam Rich |
| Theme music composer | Fred Werner (Season 1 & 2 opening theme) Song: from Season 3 onwards – "Eight Is Enough" Music by Lee Holdridge Lyrics by Molly-Ann Leikin |
| Composer(s) |
John Beal Alexander Courage Earle Hagen Miles Goodman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 112 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Philip Capice Lee Rich |
| Producer(s) | Robert L. Jacks Gary Adelson Greg Strangis Phil Fehrle |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Lorimar Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | March 15, 1977 – August 29, 1981 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion (1987) and Eight Is Enough: A Wedding (1989) |
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.
The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford, was a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan (Diana Hyland) took care of the children. Hyland was only in four episodes before falling ill; she was written out for the remainder of the first season and died five days after the second episode aired.
The second season began in the fall of 1977 with the revelation that Tom had become a widower. Tom fell in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott, (Betty Buckley) a schoolteacher who came to the house to tutor Tommy who had broken his leg in a football game. They were married in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt the character of the sympathetic teacher she had played in the 1976 film Carrie would also be great for the series. In another TV movie event in September 1979, David and Susan were both married in a double wedding. As the series progressed, Abby got her Ph.D. in education and started a job counseling students at the local high school, oldest sister Mary became a doctor, while second-youngest son Tommy became a singer in a rock-and-roll band.
The actors' ages varied greatly from their characters. Hyland was 41 when the show began, Buckley was 29, Goodeve was 24, O'Grady was 22, Walters was older than Buckley at 30, Richardson was 25, Kay was 22, Needham was 17, Aames was 16, and Rich actually was eight.
In the pilot, the role of David was played by Mark Hamill, Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck, and Tommy played by Chris English. When ABC screened the pilot they were unhappy with a couple of performances. Beck and English were let go and replaced by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames. Hamill sought to get out of his contract on Eight Is Enough to take the opportunity to star in George Lucas' Star Wars. His request was rejected by Lorimar Productions as he had signed a five-year-contract with them. However, in December 1976 Hamill had been involved in a car crash that resulted in his needing reconstructive facial surgery. By the time ABC had greenlit the series, Hamill was still hospitalized and unavailable. They let him out of his contract and the role was re-cast with Grant Goodeve now playing David for the series.
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