The Torkelsons
| The Torkelsons | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Also known as | Almost Home (season 2 title) |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Lynn Montgomery |
| Developed by | Michael Jacobs |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Michael Jacobs & Ray Colcord |
| Opening theme | "A New Day Promises", performed by The Judds (season 1) "Almost Home" performed by Jennifer Warnes and Joey Scarbury (season 2) |
| Composer(s) | Ray Colcord |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 33 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael Jacobs Charlotte Brown (season 2) |
| Producer(s) |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Michael Jacobs Productions Walt Disney Television season 1 Touchstone Television (season 2) |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | September 21, 1991 – June 6, 1993 |
The Torkelsons is an American sitcom which aired on the NBC television network from September 21, 1991 to June 6, 1993. Produced by Walt Disney Television in season 1 and Touchstone Television in season 2, the series starred Connie Ray, Olivia Burnette, and William Schallert. For the second and final season, the series was retooled and renamed Almost Home. The series lasted a total of two seasons, consisting of 33 episodes.
Living in Pyramid Corners, a fictional suburb of Vinita, Oklahoma, Millicent Torkelson (Connie Ray) did what she could to survive financially, after her husband, Randy (Gregg Henry) left the family. Randy later returned and was seen in several episodes, and the two parents ended up divorcing. The pilot episode deals with Millicent being so far in debt that she even has appliances in her home repossessed. In order to support her family, Millicent gets a boarder named Wesley Hodges (William Schallert), who ends up living with them for the year in the house basement.
Millicent's children were 14-year-old Dorothy Jane (Olivia Burnette), sweet and exceptionally articulate for her age, who also served running commentary throughout the show by having talks with the "Man in the Moon" by her bedroom window; 12-year-old Steven Floyd (Aaron Michael Metchik), the athletic second oldest; 10-year-old Ruth Ann (Anna Slotky), who was musically inclined; 8-year-old Chuckie Lee (Lee Norris), the bug collector, always recognizable with his thick-rimmed glasses; and the youngest, 6-year-old Mary Sue (Rachel Duncan), who acted as if nothing was ever wrong. The pilot also involves Dorothy Jane meeting the new neighbor for the first time, 18-year-old Riley Roberts (Michael Landes), and becoming completely infatuated with him. Throughout the remainder of the first season Riley remains oblivious to the torch Dorothy Jane carries for him, mainly due to their age difference (she was a freshman in high school, and he a senior), but the two develop a strong connection nonetheless. Another neighbor of the Torkelsons was Kirby Scroggins (Paige Gosney), a pesky but well-meaning nerdy teenage boy clad in plaid who was forever chasing an uninterested Dorothy Jane. Dorothy Jane is also quite embarrassed by her family and their situation, even though she would never let someone else make fun of them.
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