Silver Spoons

Silver Spoons is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982, to May 11, 1986, and in first-run syndication from September 27, 1986, to May 30, 1987. The series was produced by Embassy Television for the first four seasons, until Embassy Communications moved the series to syndication after being cancelled by NBC.[1]

Silver Spoons
GenreSitcom
Created by
Developed by
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Rik Howard
  • Bob Wirth
Opening theme"Together"
Ending theme"Together" (Instrumental)
ComposerRay Colcord
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes116 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • David W. Duclon (1982–1984)
  • Robert Illes
  • James Stein (1984–1985)
  • Steve Pritzker (1985–1986)
  • Jack Humphrey (1986)
  • George Burditt (1987)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Distributor
Release
Original network
Picture formatNTSC (480i)
Audio format
  • Monaural (1982–1985)
  • Stereo (1985–1987)
Original releaseSeptember 25, 1982 (1982-09-25) –
May 30, 1987 (1987-05-30)

Silver Spoons was created by Martin Cohan,[2] Howard Leeds and Ben Starr.

Synopsis

In the pilot episode, Ricky Stratton (Ricky Schroder) arrives at the mansion of the father he has never met to introduce himself, move in, and get to know him better. Edward Stratton III (Joel Higgins) epitomizes the phrase "overgrown child"; he has never taken responsibility for anything in his life, including his toy business, Eddie's Toys. Ricky recognizes that his father needs to grow up; Edward thinks his son is too uptight and needs to have more fun while he's still young.

Edward's father (Edward Stratton II) is played by John Houseman as the intelligent, well-to-do patriarch and industrialist whose demeanor starkly contrasts with Edward's and seems more similar to Ricky's (at first). Throughout the series, the comic tension arises between Grandfather Stratton's belief that people with money are obligated to make more money and Edward's belief that money should be used to make people happy. Ricky is often caught between the two, wishing only for peace and harmony within the family.

Ricky's mother is Evelyn Bluedhorn (Christine Belford). Edward and Evelyn's romantic relationship led to a week-long marriage. Now Evelyn has remarried and placed Ricky in a military boarding school. When Ricky arrives at the Stratton residence, Edward is stunned to discover that his long-ago brief marriage produced a son (when he expressed incredulousness because he "wasn't married that long," Ricky pointed out, "It doesn't take that long"). At first, he sends Ricky right back to the boarding school; later he dresses up as a swamp monster to take Ricky out of the school and back to the mansion to live with him. The mansion is stocked with arcade games and a scale-model freight train runs through it.

Edward exhibits his childishness and playfulness in many ways, such as performing a little dance while the Pac-Man game plays its theme song. Stratton's personal assistant, Kate Summers (Erin Gray), is often the voice of reason. Kate's role adds tension to the show and provides incentive for Edward to act more maturely (at least sometimes). Edward and Kate's will-they-or-won't-they relationship gives way to a third-season wedding.

During the series' early years, Ricky befriends "bad boy" Derek Taylor (Jason Bateman, seasons 1–2), smooth-talking "cowboy" J.T. Martin (Bobby Fite, seasons 1–2), and "nerdy" Freddy Lippincottleman (Corky Pigeon, seasons 1–4). They get into a lot of trouble and learn many childhood lessons along the way.

Edward's original attorney was Leonard Rollins (Leonard Lightfoot), who departed after the first season, and was replaced by the aptly named business manager, Dexter Stuffins (Franklyn Seales), who was somewhat stuffier and more erudite than Leonard had been. Dexter remained through the rest of the series and was joined in fall 1984 by his hip, breakdancing nephew Alfonso Spears (Alfonso Ribeiro, seasons 3–5), who became Ricky's new best friend. Once Ricky, Freddy and Alfonso were in high school in season four, their circle was completed by Brad (Billy Jacoby, seasons 4–5), a reintroduction of the type of "bad-boy" character similar to that of Derek during the show's early years. That year, as Kate and Edward adjusted to married life, Kate's doddering uncle, Harry Summers (Ray Walston), moved into the Stratton mansion.

Cast
The cast of Silver Spoons, season 4

Main cast

Recurring cast

Episodes
Main article: List of Silver Spoons episodes

Silver Spoons lasted for five seasons with a total of 116 episodes, from September 25, 1982 to May 30, 1987.

Production

Music

The show's theme song titled "Together" was written by Rik Howard and Bob Wirth.[3] The original version was accompanied mostly by guitar with vocals by Ron Dante. Two other versions of the theme were used during the show's run. A synthesized version was used in 1985 with a different vocalist. The third version of the theme, a rock version, was introduced in January 1986 and began in use during the second half of season 4 with vocals again by Ron Dante and composed by Ray Colcord.

Locations

The brick Tudor period mansion shown in the opening credits (representing The Stratton Mansion) is actually a private residence located in Warwickshire, England. The elaborate home, named Compton Wynyates, was built in 1481. Before Silver Spoons, it was used in the 1977 Disney film Candleshoe, starring Helen Hayes, Jodie Foster and David Niven.[4]

Broadcast history

Initial run
SeasonTime
1Saturday at 8:30–9:00 on NBC
2
3Sunday at 7:00–7:30 on NBC
4Sunday at 7:30–8:00 on NBC (September 15, 1985 – March 16, 1986)
Sunday at 7:00–7:30 on NBC (May 4–11, 1986)
5In first-run syndication

Reruns and syndication

Reruns of Silver Spoons aired as a part of NBC's daytime schedule in the summer of 1985.[5]

The show was also rerun on WWOR's superstation feed from December 28, 1992, to September 3, 1993. Select episodes were also aired on Nick at Nite in 2001 and 2005.

FamilyNet (now The Cowboy Channel) aired reruns of the series nightly, until June 30, 2017, when the network underwent a programming format change the following day. Antenna TV began airing reruns of the series starting in January 2018.[6]

Home media

On June 19, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of Silver Spoons on DVD in Region 1.[7] As of 2015, this release has been discontinued and is out of print. It is unknown if the remaining 4 seasons will be released.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete First Season 22 June 19, 2007

See also

References
  1. Silver Spoons, retrieved July 6, 2016
  2. Dore, Shalini (May 20, 2010). "Sitcom scribe Martin Cohan dies: Creator of 'Silver Spoons,' 'Who's the Boss?" was 77". Variety. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  3. Terrace, Vincent (1993). Television Character and Story Facts: Over 110,000 Details from 1,008 Shows, 1945–1992. McFarland & Company. p. 419. ISBN 0-899-50891-X.
  4. Higgins, Shriley; Higgins, Jim (March 26, 1978). "Hunting treasure in new Disney film". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. p. C11.
  5. http://www.daytimetvarchive.com/grids/1985.html
  6. "Antenna TV Adding Nine New Shows to the Mix"
  7. "Silver Spoons – Here We Are: Sony Sez Silver Spoons in June!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14.
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