Charles in Charge was an American sitcom series broadcast on CBS which starred Scott Baio as Charles, a college student working as a live-in babysitter.
| Charles in Charge | |
|---|---|
| Charles in Charge title screen.jpg The title screen for Charles in Charge | |
| Created by | Michael Jacobs Barbara Weisberg |
| Starring | Scott Baio Willie Aames et al. |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 126 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Al Burton |
| Running time | 24:30 (CBS); 22:30 (Syndication) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS (1984-1985) Syndicated (1987-1990) |
| Release | October 3, 1984 - July 24, 1985 (CBS) – January 3, 1987 - December 8, 1990 (syndication) |
It was first broadcast from October 3, 1984 until July 24, 1985 and then syndicated from January 3, 1987 until December 8, 1990. 126 original episodes were aired in total.
Charles first worked for the Pembroke family: wife Jill, husband Stan, and their three children, Lila, Douglas and Jason. When the show ended its run on CBS and entered syndication in early 1987, the story was explained so that the Pembrokes moved away and the Powells moved into their house, allowing Charles to live downstairs yet again. This time the family consisted of grandfather Walter, mother Ellen (whose husband was in the military and could only visit his family sporadically), and her three kids, Jamie, Sarah and Adam.
Cast
Main Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Scott Baio | Charles Smith |
| Willie Aames | Buddy Lembeck |
| 1984–1985 | |
| Jennifer Runyon | Gwendolyn Pierce |
| James Widdoes | Stan Pembroke |
| Julie Cobb | Jill Pembroke |
| April Lerman | Lila Pembroke |
| Jonathan Ward | Douglas Pembroke |
| Michael Pearlman | Jason Pembroke |
| 1987–1990 | |
| James T. Callahan | Mr. Walter Powell |
| Sandra Kerns | Mrs. Ellen Powell |
| Nicole Eggert | Jamie Powell |
| Josie Davis | Sarah Powell |
| Alexander Polinsky | Adam Powell |
| Ellen Travolta | Lillian |
| Justin Whalin | Anthony (1988) |
Trivia
- The now infamous line from one of the final episodes, "Lost Resort," has become a insidious pop-culture reference: "packing the magnet". The phrase is akin to "jumping the shark", but denotes the period at which a show should clearly no longer be on the air. Buddy utters the phrase while hiding a listening device in Mr. Powell's suitcase. Mr. Powell had been looking for his lucky magnet throughout the episode, and suspected that Buddy had it all along. The listening device was later used to learn information about Mr. Powell's secret girlfriend.
- The theme song was composed by David Kurtz, Michael Jacobs, and Al Burton.
- The theme song was one of the songs Brian Griffin and Stewie Griffin sing in their TV medley on the Family Guy Live in Vegas album. It was also sung by Peter Griffin during a flashback scene in which he was a security guard at the estate of George Harrison. Peter sang it, staring at the television, while George Harrison's attacker climbed the fence and entered the house.
- The theme song was one of the songs on Relient K's debut, self-titled album.
- The theme song was performed by The Worthless Peons on the episode "My Nightingale" (2.02) of the sitcom Scrubs and appear on their debut album, Riding the Wave.
- Conan O'Brien often breaks into the chorus when discussing TV themes, his own singing voice, or Scott Baio. O'Brien sings the theme song in an operatic tone.
- Charles's mother was played by Ellen Travolta, John Travolta's sister. She had previously played the mother of Chachi Arcola, Scott Baio's character on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi. Chachi's real name, incidently, was also Charles.
- Charles' last name was never revealed in the series; in fact the writers sometimes went out of their way to avoid revealing it.
- Nicole Eggert went on to star in Baywatch as Summer Quinn. Another actress who appeared on this show and later went on to star in Baywatch was Erika Eleniak. Baio reportedly dated both actresses during the late-1980s and 1990s; however, both he and Eggert, though admitting they were attracted to each other, have denied that they ever dated.[1] Both Charles in Charge and Baywatch were TV shows that began on network TV before moving to first-run syndication.
- Scott Baio directed many episodes of the show and is credited with his full name Scott Vincent Baio.
- The house depicted in the title screen is actually located on George Street in New Brunswick, NJ, in the Rutgers University district.
DVD Release
Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a 3-disc set of the complete first season of Charles in Charge on DVD in Region 1 on February 14, 2006. Due to poor sales, it is unknown if Universal will ever release the remaining four seasons.
| Cover Art | DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:CharlesInCharge S1.jpg | Season 1 | 22 | February 14 2006 |
Notes
- ^ Scott Baio, Nicole Eggert, Willie Aames, Josie Davis, Erika Eleniak, Alexander Polinsky, Elizabeth Koopman, Elena Miliaresis, Timothy Kelley (2006-05-21). "Charles in Charge". The E! True Hollywood Story. E! Entertainment Television.
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