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Step by Step (TV series)

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Step by Step
GenreFamily sitcom
Created by
  • William Bickley
  • Michael Warren
Developed by
Starring
Theme music composerJesse Frederick & Bennett Salvay
Opening theme"Second Time Around",
performed by Jesse Frederick and Teresa James
Ending theme"Second Time Around" (instrumental)
(season 1, used sporadically afterwards)
Composers
  • Jesse Frederick &
    Bennett Salvay (both; seasons 1–2)
  • Gary Boren (seasons 3–5)
  • Steven Chesne (seasons 3–7)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes160 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Thomas L. Miller
  • Robert L. Boyett
  • William Bickley
  • Michael Warren
  • Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz (season 1)
  • Ross Brown (seasons 2–7)
  • Bob Rosenfarb (seasons 6–7)
Production locations
Camera setupFilm; Multi-camera
Running timeapprox. 23 minutes (per episode)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20) –
August 15, 1997 (1997-08-15)
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1997 (1997-09-19) –
June 26, 1998 (1998-06-26)

Step by Step is an American television sitcom created by William Bickley and Michael Warren that ran on ABC as part of its TGIF Friday night lineup from September 20, 1991, to August 15, 1997, then moved to CBS, where it aired from September 19, 1997, to June 26, 1998, with a total of 160 half-hour episodes spanning seven seasons. The series follows Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers who star as single parents Frank and Carol, respectively, each with three children, who wed and form a blended family.

Premise

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Frank Lambert, a divorced contractor whose wife left him,[1] has three children: John Thomas (J.T.), Alicia (Al), and Brendan. Carol Foster, a widowed salon owner, also has three children: Dana, Karen, and Mark. Both families live in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

Frank and Carol marry while vacationing in Jamaica after a whirlwind courtship. They planned to keep their marriage a secret, but Frank accidentally reveals to J.T. that they are married during a barbecue he and Carol hold to introduce all the children, leaving them surprised and angry at first.

Each episode depicts typical situations for a new blended family. Family members' differences cause arguments and resentments, but over time they grow to tolerate and become loyal to one another.

Cast and characters

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Cast of Step by Step (seasons 2–5)

Main Cast

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Recurring

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  • Jeff Juday as Jake "Flash" Gordon (season 5, appearing in four episodes)[2]
  • Alexandra Adi as Samantha Milano (seasons 6–7)

Episodes

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Main article: List of Step by Step episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
122September 20, 1991 (1991-09-20)April 24, 1992 (1992-04-24)ABC
224September 18, 1992 (1992-09-18)May 21, 1993 (1993-05-21)
323September 24, 1993 (1993-09-24)May 20, 1994 (1994-05-20)
424September 23, 1994 (1994-09-23)May 19, 1995 (1995-05-19)
524September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22)May 17, 1996 (1996-05-17)
624March 7, 1997 (1997-03-07)August 15, 1997 (1997-08-15)
719September 19, 1997 (1997-09-19)June 26, 1998 (1998-06-26)CBS

Production

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The series was created and executive produced by William Bickley and Michael Warren, and developed and executive produced by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett.[3] It was produced by Bickley-Warren Productions, Miller-Boyett Productions and Lorimar Television.

Although there was and still is a Six Flags theme park near Wisconsin, the title sequence was instead filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. A coastline was digitally added to aerial establishing shots to convey the impression that the theme park sits next to Lake Michigan. The roller coaster prominently depicted in the show's title sequence is Magic Mountain's former Colossus wooden roller coaster.[4]

ABC chose to delay the series' sixth season to the 1996–97 mid-season (premiering in March 1997), in order to make room on that season's fall schedule for freshman sitcoms Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clueless, which joined established series Family Matters and Boy Meets World on the TGIF lineup; the network canceled it after six seasons in May 1997, due to declining ratings. CBS concurrently reached a deal with Miller-Boyett Productions to acquire the rights to it and Family Matters from ABC, as that network attempted to build its own Friday night lineup of family-friendly situation comedies for the fall of 1997, called the "CBS Block Party".[5] The series' ratings, which had been declining for several seasons, continued to decline, and the show ended its run in June 1998. It ended without an official series finale, although the last episode centered on Frank and Carol considering selling the house. According to Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin, the series was supposed to end with Dana and Rich's wedding at the house, and elaborate preparations were underway for it prior to the series' abrupt end.[6]

Syndication

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In September 1995, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution began distributing the series for broadcast in off-network syndication.

ABC Family was the first to acquire cable television rights to the series, and it became one of the cable channel's longest-running off-network syndicated programs in its history. Reruns began airing on there in 2001 (on what was then known as Fox Family), airing in various timeslots during its run ranging from late afternoon to the morning hours. On March 26, 2010, ABC Family's contract expired after less than nine years.[7]

The series returned to U.S. syndication on October 7, 2013, when the Hub Network began airing reruns;[8] the network dropped it on October 13, 2014, when the network became Discovery Family.

In Australia, Step by Step aired on the Seven Network from 1991 to 1995 and on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2000. In 2011, Step by Step was acquired by 7TWO. In 2015, 111 Greats started airing the whole series.[citation needed]

In the U.K., Seasons 1 and 2 of Step by Step aired sporadically on ITV weekday mornings at 10 throughout parts of the spring and summer in 1994 and 1995.[9] Episodes were also shown to a lesser extent during 1996 and 1997.

On September 29, 2017, Hulu acquired the streaming rights to Step by Step along with fellow Warner Bros. TV properties Family Matters, Full House, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Perfect Strangers,[10] in addition to fellow ABC programs Boy Meets World, Dinosaurs and Home Improvement.[11]

On October 1, 2021, Step by Step began streaming on Max after its streaming rights expired from Hulu.[12]

TruTV aired reruns from December 30, 2022 to 2023 as part of their "Comfort Food" block.[13]

Home media

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Warner Home Video originally released a six-episode Television Favorites collection on DVD on June 27, 2006 until September 26, 2023 when the complete series set was finally released for the first time.[14] Warner Archive Collection has released individual seasons on DVD in Region 1.[15][16][17][18][19][20] These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, available from Warner's online store and Amazon.com.

DVD Name Ep # Release dates
Region 1
The Complete First Season 22 June 12, 2018
The Complete Second Season 24 September 18, 2018
The Complete Third Season 23 November 20, 2018
The Complete Fourth Season 24 February 12, 2019
The Complete Fifth Season 24 November 5, 2019
The Complete Sixth Season 24 February 11, 2020
The Complete Seventh and Final Season 19 April 21, 2020[21]
The Complete Series 160 September 26, 2023

Reception

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Reviewing the pilot episode, Jean Rosenbluth of Variety wrote that, despite being an unoriginal clone of The Brady Bunch, it is a "modestly amusing, occasionally heartwarming show".[22]

References

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  1. ^ "He Wanted Wings". YouTube. June 3, 2018.
  2. ^ Michael Portantiere (July 23, 2001). "Just Jeff – Theater News – Jul 23, 2001". theatermania.
  3. ^ "Step by Step Review - TV Reviews and News - EW.com". EW.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2008.
  4. ^ Blake, Lindsey (August 14, 2014). "Scene It Before: Colossus Roller Coaster from "Step by Step"". Los Angeles Magazine.
  5. ^ Hal Boedeker (July 18, 1997). "He's A Goober But CBS Has A Lot Riding On Urkel TV". Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  6. ^ Christine Lakin and Alaa Khaled, "Worst Ever Podcast with Christine and Alaa," Episode 6, Staci Keanan (My Two Dads, Step By Step), Part 1, podcast audio, May 18, 2017, https://audioboom.com/posts/5935340-episode-6-with-staci-keanan-my-two-dads-step-by-step-part-1
  7. ^ Step by Step Leaving ABC Family After 9 Years; ABC Family March 2010, Sitcoms Online, February 10, 2010.
  8. ^ "'Step by Step' to Premiere October 7 on the Hub" (Press release). Hub Network. September 6, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016 – via TV By The Numbers.
  9. ^ Step By Step on ITV, tvrdb.com, archive TV listings.
  10. ^ Pedersen, Erik (July 27, 2017). "Hulu Gets SVOD Rights To 'Full House,' 'Family Matters' & Other 'TGIF' Comedies – TCA". Deadline. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  11. ^ Hatchett, Keisha (September 29, 2017). "This Is Not a Drill: Boy Meets World Is Now On Hulu". TVGuide.com. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  12. ^ ""Dune," "The Many Saints Of Newark," The Third Season Of "Succession," And The Final Season Of "Insecure" Arrive On HBO Max This October". WarnerMedia Pressroom. September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  13. ^ "Step by Step - trutv.com". Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  14. ^ "Step by Step (Television Favorites Compilation) (1991)". Amazon. June 27, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
  15. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete First Season".
  16. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Second Season".
  17. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Third Season".
  18. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Fourth Season".
  19. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Fifth Season".
  20. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Sixth Season".
  21. ^ "Step by Step: The Complete Seventh Season (MOD) – WB Shop". www.wbshop.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020.
  22. ^ Rosenbluth, Jean (1994). Variety TV REV 1991–92 17. Taylor & Francis. September 20, 1991. ISBN 9780824037963.
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