Charles in Charge

Charles in Charge
Title screen for Charles in Charge
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Michael Jacobs Barbara Weisberg
Directed by	Alan Rafkin Tony Singeltary Lee Lochhead (season 1)
Starring	Scott Baio Willie Aames Julie Cobb (1984-1985) James Widdoes (1984-1985) April Lerman (1984-1985) Jonathan Ward (1984-1985) Michael Pearlman (1984-1985) Jennifer Runyon (1984-1985) Sandra Kerns (1987-1990) Nicole Eggert (1987-1990) Josie Davis (1987-1990) Alexander Polinsky (1987-1990) Ellen Travolta (1987-1990) James T. Callahan (1987-1990)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	126 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Al Burton Jane Startz Michael Jacobs (seasons 2-5)
Producer(s)	Michael Jacobs (season 1) Roseanne Leto (first episode) Mitchell Bank Todd E. Kessler (seasons 2-5)
Running time	24:30 (CBS); 22:30 (first-run syndication)
Production company(s)	Scholastic Productions Al Burton Productions Universal Television
Distributor	MCA Television The Program Exchange
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS (1984-1985) first-run syndication (1987-1990)
Original run	October 3, 1984 - April 3, 1985 (CBS) – January 3, 1987 - December 22, 1990 (first-run syndication)

Charles in Charge is an American sitcom series which stars Scott Baio as Charles, a 19-year-old student at the fictional Copeland College in New Jersey,^[1] who worked as a live-in babysitter in exchange for room and board.^[2] Baio directed many episodes of the show, and is credited with his full name, Scott Vincent Baio.

It was first broadcast on CBS from October 3, 1984 to April 3, 1985, when it was cancelled due to a struggle in the Nielsen ratings. It then had a more successful first-run syndication run from January 3, 1987 to December 22, 1990. 126 original episodes were aired in total. The show was produced by Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television.

Transition from CBS to first-run syndication

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 first-run syndication in 1987, the story explained that the Pembrokes sub-leased their house and moved to Seattle, and the Powells moved in instead, thereby allowing Charles to live downstairs yet again. This time, the family consisted of grandfather Walter, mother Ellen (whose husband was in the military, and consequently could only visit his family sporadically), and her three children, Jamie, Sarah, and Adam.

Cast

Main cast

Charles' mother, Lillian, was played by Ellen Travolta, John Travolta's sister. She also played her sisters (Charles's aunts), Sally and Vanessa. She had previously played the mother of Chachi Arcola, Scott Baio's character on Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi. Chachi's real name, incidentally, was also Charles.

During the first season, Jerry Levine had a recurring role as Elliott Pembroke, Stan's nephew. For the first half of the fourth season, Justin Whalin played Lillian's nephew Anthony.

Nicole Eggert went on to star in Baywatch (1992–1994). Another actress who appeared on this show and later went on to star in Baywatch (1989–1992) was Erika Eleniak, who played Charles' girlfriend on 3 episodes of the 4th season ^[3][4]. Josie Davis also made one appearance in a 1998 Baywatch episode. Both Charles in Charge and Baywatch were TV shows that began on network TV, before moving to first-run syndication.

Meg Ryan guest starred as "Meagan Parker" in two episodes of the show's first season: "War" on October 24, 1984^[5] and "Charles 'R' Us" on February 13, 1985.^[6]

Rue McClanahan guest starred as "Irene Pembroke", the children's grandmother, in "Home For The Holidays" on December 19, 1984 and "Pressure From Grandma" on January 30, 1985.

A young Matthew Perry can be seen as Lila Pembroke's mistaken date, "Ed Stanley", in the episode "The Wrong Guy".

Ben Stein also guest starred as "Stanley Willard," a malevolent loan officer, college professor, mental patient, and other multiple roles throughout the series.

The episode "Snowed In" on February 6, 1985, had minor roles for a young Kathy Ireland, Christina Applegate, and Alicia Goranson.

'80s singing star Samantha Fox appeared in one episode playing a famous singer named Samantha Steele. Though married, she tries to entice Charles into an affair, but he holds onto his morals and refuses.

Episodes

Theme song

The theme song was composed by David Kurtz, Michael Jacobs, and Al Burton, and performed by Shandi Sinnamon. The theme music was mellower in the first season, and was remixed for the syndication run.

Artists who have recorded or performed covers of the theme include

• the Australian band Smudge on their debut album, Manilow.
• the Christian rock band Relient K's debut, self-titled album, which also included a new verse about Buddy, the girl from Baywatch (referring to Jamie), and hanging out with Charles at his mom's pizza parlor with Jesus.
• The Blanks (appearing as The Worthless Peons) on the episode "My Nightingale" (2.02) of the sitcom Scrubs and appears on their debut album, Riding the Wave.
• Electric Hellfire Club, recording a gothic cover of the theme song on the compilation cd "TV Terror: Felching a Dead Horse"

It was one of the songs Brian Griffin and Stewie Griffin sang in their TV medley on the Family Guy Live in Vegas album; it was also sung by Peter Griffin in the episode "The Thin White Line."

Conan O'Brien often breaks into the chorus— in an operatic tone— when discussing TV themes, his own singing voice, or Scott Baio.^{[citation needed]}

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a 3-disc set of the first season of Charles in Charge on DVD in North America on February 14, 2006. Due to poor sales, Universal licensed the rights to release the remaining four seasons to Arts Alliance America (which has since changed its name to Virgil Films & Entertainment) during the summer of 2007. Seasons four and five are not generally available, but were both released in mid-2009 as Amazon exclusives. Soon after the release of season 5, Amazon placed a note on the season 4 and 5 product pages indicating the items could not be shipped internationally.^{[7][8][9][10]}

References

External links

• Charles in Charge at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles in Charge at TV.com
• Charles in Charge at Allmovie
• Charles in Charge Online
• Completely Unofficial Charles in Charge page