The Torkelsons

The Torkelsons is an American sitcom television series 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. Synopsis Living in Pyramid Corners, a community near 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 2 episodes, and the couple ended up divorcing. The pilot episode deals with Millicent being so far in debt that she even has her home appliances repossessed. 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. In the first episode, Dorothy Jane meets 18-year-old new neighbor Riley Roberts (Michael Landes) for the first time and becomes infatuated with him. Throughout the first season Riley remains oblivious to this, mainly because of her being a high-school freshman while he was a senior, but they do develop a strong connection. Meanwhile, pesky but well-meaning Kirby Scroggins, a plaid-clad nerd, was forever chasing an uninterested Dorothy Jane. Although her family embarrasses her, Dorothy never let anyone else make fun of them. The pilot also featured Ernie Lively as Jacob "J.W." Presley, a butcher who is smitten with Millicent. In the pilot episode, Benj Thall and Elizabeth Poyer played Steven Floyd and Ruth Ann Torkelson. All these actors were originally to be permanent parts of the show so were credited in the pilot's opening sequence, but the children were subsequently recast, and the character of J.W.