The Hogan Family

The Hogan Family is an American television situation comedy that aired from March 1, 1986 to July 20, 1991.

Related Topics:
American - Situation comedy - March 1 - 1986 - July 20 - 1991

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Early in the series' life, the show was known as Valerie, to reflect the show's star, Valerie Harper. She played the matriarch of the Hogan family, Valerie. Other stars were Josh Taylor as her husband, Michael, an airline pilot (who, in the early seasons, was seldom around); Jason Bateman as her eldest, girl-crazy son, David; and Danny Ponce and Jeremy Licht as her fraternal twin sons, Willie and Mark (Mark was the brainy one, Willie the irresponsible one).

Related Topics:
Valerie Harper - Josh Taylor - Jason Bateman - Danny Ponce - Jeremy Licht

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Episodes were typical of most family sitcom fare of the era. Despite this, the show was popular with fans.

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Then, a huge change came in 1987. During the summer taping hiatus, Harper had a falling out with the show's producers and left the series. As a result, her character was written off the show as having been killed in a car accident.

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When the 1987-1988 season premiere aired, the show was retitled "Valerie's Family." Taking Valerie's place in the household was Sandy Duncan as Michael's divorced sister, Sandy (she took a job as a guidance counselor at the high school where the boys attended). The show later dropped Valerie's name completely, being retitled "The Hogan Family" in June 1988.

Related Topics:
1987 - 1988 - Sandy Duncan - June

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The other big change came in 1990, when Michael and Sandy's father, Lloyd (John Hillerman) moved in. The series, which had aired on NBC, moved to CBS for its final season.

Related Topics:
1990 - John Hillerman - NBC - CBS

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The show's theme song, "Through the Years", was sung by Roberta Flack. The song was composed by Charles Fox (from Happy Days).

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The show was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar Television.

Related Topics:
Miller-Boyett Productions - Lorimar Television

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During its five-year run, "The Hogan Family" was known to poke fun at sitcom cliches, such as defying the "happy ending in 30 minutes" in an episode where Willie admits he caused a hit-and-run accident and tries to pin the blame on David (an angry Valerie grounds Willie, even though he came clean, and said that he also had to face his father when he got home).

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There were several serious episodes, however, including:

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• Shortly after Valerie's death, the house catches fire (an electrical short in a lamp stored in the attic), rekindling the family's grief over Valerie.
• When David jeopardized a long-standing friendship with his friend, Rich (Tom Hodges) by refusing to let him drive home from a party while drunk.
• In the series finale, when David learns Rich had contracted AIDS.