Valerie's Family: The Hogans

The Hogan Family
Season 2 Promotional Photo for Valerie
Also known as	'Valerie (1986–87) Valerie's Family (1987–88)
Created by	Charlie Hauck
Starring	Valerie Harper Jason Bateman Danny Ponce Jeremy Licht Christine Ebersole Josh Taylor Judith Kahan Edie McClurg Sandy Duncan Tom Hodges Steve Witting Angela Lee Josie Bissett John Hillerman
Theme music composer	Charles Fox (music) Stephen Geyer (lyrics)
Opening theme	"Together Through the Years", performed by Roberta Flack
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	110 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Charlie Hauck (pilot episode) Thomas L. Miller Robert L. Boyett Tony Cacciotti (1986–87) Irma Kalish (1990–91)
Producer(s)	Ronny Hallin (1986, 1990–91) Linda Marsh (1986) Margie Peters (1986) Richard Correll (1985–88) Judy Pioli (1986–90) Chip Keyes (1985–90) Doug Keyes (1985–90) Laura Schrock (1986–87) Steven Pritzker (1986–87) Deborah Oppenheimer (1988–90) Bob Keyes (1988–90) Shari Hearn (1990–91) Michael Loman (1990–91) Larry Spencer (1990–91)
Camera setup	Film; Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	Miller-Boyett Productions TAL Productions, Inc. (1986–87) Lorimar Productions (1986) Lorimar-Telepictures (1986–88) Lorimar Television (1988–91)
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC (1986–90) CBS (1990–91)
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	March 1, 1986 (1986-03-01) – July 20, 1991 (1991-07-20)

The Hogan Family (originally titled Valerie, and later, Valerie's Family) is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from March 1, 1986, to May 7, 1990, and on CBS from September 15, 1990, until July 20, 1991. It was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions, along with Tal Productions, Inc. (1986–87), and in association with Lorimar Productions (1986), Lorimar-Telepictures (1986–88), and Lorimar Television (1988–91).

The show was originally titled Valerie and starred Valerie Harper as a mother trying to juggle her career with raising her three sons by her often absent airline pilot husband. Harper was written out of the series after the second season because of a dispute with the show's producers. Sandy Duncan joined the cast as the boys' aunt, who moved in and became their surrogate mom. During the show's third season (Duncan's first as the show's star), the series was known as Valerie's Family, The Hogans, and finally as The Hogan Family.

Originally, the show was known as Valerie and its stories revolved around Valerie Hogan (Valerie Harper), who lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and struggled with everyday problems raising her three sons during her pilot husband Michael's (Josh Taylor) long absences due to his demanding work schedule. She contended with the regular uproar caused by girl-crazy 16-year-old David (Jason Bateman) and his 12-year-old fraternal twin brothers, irresponsible Willie (Danny Ponce), and brainy Mark (Jeremy Licht)—whose spotless academic and behavioral record at school came to be pierced by occasional bursts of rebellion. Valerie worked as the buyer for an auction house and was matched in wit and charm by her best friend, Barbara Goodwin (Christine Ebersole). The family dog, Murray, died in a season-one story line.

In season two, Harper and producer/husband Tony Cacciotti had increasing creative control over the show, and the candy-coated tinges of storytelling were completely replaced by realistic humor. Barbara was written out of the show, and the close friend/cohort role became occupied by neighbor Annie Steck (Judith Kahan), mother of a teenage daughter Rebecca (played in one episode by Paula Hoffman). The other neighbor, busybody Patty Poole (Edie McClurg), began appearing occasionally, as did David's friend Rich (Tom Hodges). A jock with a big-man-on-campus attitude, Rich was especially known for calling David "Hogie" (or "Hoagie"). Valerie had switched careers, now working as a freelance graphic artist, so she could be more available to her sons.