The Family Man

The Family Man is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 11, 1990, to July 24, 1991. The series, starring Gregory Harrison, was created by William Bickley and Michael Warren, who also served as executive producers with Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett. Martha Williamson served as supervising producer, with Ross Brown as co-executive producer. In addition to being produced by Lorimar Television and Miller-Boyett Productions, the show was also under the Catalina Television marque (Harrison's production company). Lasting for 22 episodes, The Family Man originally aired on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. alongside the established Miller-Boyett series The Hogan Family, which had moved to CBS from NBC. Premise The Family Man was Harrison's first television starring vehicle since his most-popular role of Dr. "Gonzo" Gates on Trapper John, M.D. in 1986, just before that series ended. Harrison assumed this series directly from Lorimar Television after playing the featured role of businessman Michael Sharpe in the ninth (final) season of the CBS drama Falcon Crest, another Lorimar show. Harrison played Los Angeles fire captain Jack Taylor, a recent widower trying to hold his family together with inept help from his father-in-law Joe Alberghetti (Al Molinaro, also returning to series TV after many years off, and in his third Miller/Boyett sitcom). Joe's stay with the family after his daughter Teri's death was supposed to be temporary, but by the end of the pilot, after Jack and his kids showed how much they needed him in their lives, he decided to permanently move out from New York City. Jack's four children were 16-year-old Jeff (John Buchanan), headstrong and athletic; 14-year-old Steve (Scott Weinger), the resident troublemaker who was working to improve himself and his self-image; 11-year-old Brian (Matthew Brooks), who had the hardest time dealing with his mother's death; and wise-beyond-her-years 6-year-old Allison (Ashleigh Blair Sterling), who could do no wrong.