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Join Date: Jan 09, 2001
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Mr. Belvedere Boned the Fish When...
http://www.bonethefish.com/viewtopics.php?1978
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Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere. The sitcom starred Christopher Hewett in the title role, who takes a job with an American family headed by George Owens, played by Bob Uecker. The show was originally broadcast on the ABC network from March 15, 1985 until July 8, 1990. The premise of the program was that a middle-class family in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, takes in an English butler after he emigrates to the United States. The posh butler, Lynn Belvedere, struggles to adapt to the Owens household. The breadwinner, George (Bob Uecker), is a sportswriter. His wife Marsha (Ilene Graff) is attending law school. At the show's start, oldest son Kevin (Rob Stone) is a senior in high school, daughter Heather (Tracy Wells) is a freshman, and Wesley (Brice Beckham) is in elementary school. Over the course of the series, George becomes a sportscaster, Marsha graduates from law school and starts a career as a lawyer, Kevin leaves for college and gets his own apartment, and Heather moves up in high school. Each episode ended with Mr. Belvedere writing in his diary about the day in the Owens home.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20070225...ptheshark.com/
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When the kids (Kevin, Heather, and Wesley) grew up, it was time to pull the plug.
Belvedere! Come here boy!
When the big fat English guy replaced Herve Villachaize as the butler.
When they did an episode about a hemophiliac with AIDS. What's funny about an incurable illness?
the minute abc announced that mr belvedere was moving to saturday that was the death sentence.
I remember the whole AIDS episode was the reason I turned on "very special" sitcom episodes. It's one thing to exhibit a social conscience in the context of comedy entertainment (since this was allegedly supposed to be an entertainment show, after all), but when the parents at the school play start freaking out over the infected child being there and Wesley responds by spouting off like a government pamphlet (that's not what they had in mind when they coined the phrase "out of the mouths of babes")...it left a false taste in my mouth. To this day, I think the "very special" episodes were a ploy for sitcom writers who couldn't be consistently funny to net humanitarian awards so they'd have something to put on their mantle, and I trace this attitude back to this single show. So there.
Laugh if you will, but Mr. Belvedere NEVER JUMPED. There must have been some sort of 4-hour block of Mr. Belvedere reruns playing during the daytime on Fox-32 in the early to mid nineties, because that is all I remember watching on sick days in elementary school and of course they were all brilliant. Like the one where Wesley makes the cookies that look like Mr. Belvedere and then Mr. Belvedere made Wesley cookies? Remember? Or maybe that was Small Wonder. Whatever.
I only watched this show once but it had one really funny moment. It's some kid's birthday party and among the guests are two rather obnoxious little boys. Obnoxious Boy #1 is a complainer with a large orthodontic appliance sticking out his mouth. #2 is a wisecracking little smartass. Bob Uecker is handing out noisemakers to the kids and #1 complains, "I can't blow this out my mouth!" (due to the orthodontic appliance, naturally). We see the look on Bob Uecker's face and we know that he's thinking exactly what we're thinking: "Blow it out your ass!" Just then, #2 starts singing, "I know what you're thinking, I know what you're thinking..." This was one of the funniest moments I ever saw on TV.
Mr Belvedere NEVER JUMPED!!!! And forget the AIDS episode. Remember when Kevin had a chance to bang Angela and he didn't...How about the time Kevin and his best friend were competing with the crippled lady for the Ferrarri and they were scammed... It was one of the best shows around and I was also happy to see Bob Uecker getting some steady work. Wesley was the sneakiest little ***** and I loved it when Angela(Heather's friend) would walk in and say "Hi there Mr. Butterfinger" or "Mr. Buttorworth can you help me?"..... Even before 'Roseanne' this program revealed the real hard times famlies go through. It dealt with the issues of the times and didn't turn it into a commercial success.. It was a story of a man, whom had been around the world and back, and decided to settle in PITTSBURGH to help a family in need. It was one of a kind and ABC never gave it the chane to 'Jump'
bob uecker has to stand up to some other guy for calling wesley tinkerbell in what was the worst episode of the worst show ever made. I'm seeking counseling for the damage my parents did by forcing me to watch it.
Hey, why hasn't anyone mentioned the episode where a male camp counselor starts "touching" Wesley? I know that's a serious and disturbing topic, but that episode was HILARIOUS. I am crying my eyes out to this very day remembering the look on Wesley's face when the camp counselor started rubbing his shoulders. UGH! Of all the kiddies at the camp to molest, he went for Wesley? The complete unrealisticness of that made this show jump over the shark and then get eaten by the shark afterwards.
I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the "very special" episode in which Wesley was molested at summer camp by one of the counselors.
Mr. Belvedere gets deported
Mr. Belvedere jumped the shark when it first aired. Probably one of the ugliest TV families in TV history. Wesley, Kevin, and the rest were all disgusting to look at. When Bob Uecker is the best looking guy on the set, the show is about to fail. In particular the episode when Kevin goes out on a mercy date with a fat chick who he ends up liking sucked to due its unrealistic portrayal of a ugly guy getting a date with a living female, when most ugly guys dates are staring back at them in the mirror.
This show jumped when someone "dropkicked your jacket, as you came through the door, no one there......According to our new arrival, life is more than mere survival..."
It's a common fallacy that if a little bit of something is good, a whole lot must be better- on TV this can show up as "sidekick inflation". Wesley's best friend is a perfect example- first there was the kid with the braces and headgear. That worked, so the writers added in a kid in a wheelchair for part of one season. Then they do a Very Special ep where Wesley's "best friend" (who we've NEVER seen before) is dying of AIDS.
I'm surprised no one else has commented on "Mr. Belvedere's" ever so slightly twisted sense of humor. Two examples: 1)Belvedere winning over the regulars at a truckstop by leading them in a rousing rendition of "I Am The Pirate King." One trucker comments, "These Gilbert and Sullivan guys have got the Oak Ridge Boys beat all to hell!" 2) The wife (can't remember her name) buys a new car with an alarm so loud it induces vomiting! Naturally Bob Eucker does something offscreen to trip the alarm, then runs inside and upstairs holding his hand over is mouth! This off the wall humor made the series very enjoyable. Christopher Hewitt and Bob Eucker played off each other very well, too, as kind of a variation of Felix and Oscar. Unfortunately, the show lost a lot of steam in it's last season, and most of the jokes seemed to be wisecracks about Belvedere's weight. THAT'S when it jumped.
this show is getting better with age, or i am becoming progressively senile as I get older
when wesley was molested at camp the show jumped. usually this happens to some other character rather than the main one. every episode after that you wondered how wesley's therapy sessions were going.
In regards to the "Very Special" episode with camp counselor, my problem isn't with the show, or with the controversial topic....my problem is with the guy who commented near the top of this list, implying that there was a much better selection of "molestable" kids at the camp rather than Wesley. If you come away from that episode without thinking that this counselor was a sick bastard, but instead, that he just suffered from poor taste, feel free to find a sharp pair of scissors and make any adjustments necessary.
Never jumped. To the person who said the cast was ugly...you're wrong dude! The daughter was HOT!!!
Mr. Belvedere was a great show, with three very strong, funny characters in Wesley, George, and Mr. Belvedere...with the rest of the family playing more like the straight men. The show unfortunately had the trifecta of cliche very special episodes, an AIDS episode, a molestation episode, and a rape episode. The show jumped for me when Heather got raped, because they hardly treated it like the horrible crime it is. They didn't treat it lightly, but Bob Eucker's reaction as the father was totally unrealistic. I know if my daughter got raped, I'd hunt the bastard down and knock the **** out of him. Sissy.
This show could never jump. It's all about the fat English guy standing by the side of the road with a big sign that says PITTSBURGH in the opening credits. That is just too classic to ever be topped. Too bad about Tracey Wells though...
Never Jumped. Any show that uses Robert Goulet as a running gag has some creativeness to it. I remember one episode where Kevin has a girl in the parents' bed and Mr. Belvedere finds one of her earrings, Wesley tries to claim it's his, so Mr. Belvedere theorizes (in a "fantasy sequence") that Wesley was running an illegal casino...good stuff. If memory serves me right (and it may not) Heather was very pretty in a smart, girl-next-door kind of way, and her friend Angela was no slouch either.
Although I regard it as a largely underappreciated sitcom, I must say that 'Mr. Belvedere' had an excellent choice in actor Brice Beckham as the little sneak Wesley. One of my favorite 'Mr. Belvedere' one-liners was in the episode where Wesley befriended an elderly woman in a nursing home as part of a school project. Anyway, before long the friendship sours when everyone accuses Wesley of theft after the old lady's purse (if I remember correctly) is reported missing. (Later in the episode its discovered that she was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease which no one had known of.) Well, naturally Wesley is distraught that he's been unjustly accused, and he pleads his innocence before Mr. Belvedere. Belvedere reassures by saying, "Don't worry, Wesley, if you had actually stolen that lady's money you have been much more sneaky and under-handed in doing so!' And, Wesley, by then relieved, answers back, 'Thank you for that compliment, Mr. Belvedere!' Classic!
I loved this show, but I thought ALL of the "very special" episodes were even worse than that category usually is. But a point of clarification: Heather wasn't raped, she was just _almost_ raped. If memory serves, the writers considered having the rape actually happen, but decided that would change the character permanently and they didn't want to deal with that. (Speaking of Heather, she was among my favorite tv characters for, um, admiring -yeah, that's the word! - in my early adolescence. 
I watched this show all the time when it was first on, but can't remember anything about storylines, accept they usually involved the little kid causing trouble, and Mr. Belvedere getting him out of trouble. I do remember Heather's ditzy friend Angela. I hope she brought protection on her dates, otherwise she would get knocked up. Should have replaced Mr. Belevedere with Mr. Tattoo, so Herve Villecheze could get revenge on Belvedere for stealing the Fantasy Island sidekick role.
Doesn't anyone remember that when the show first started, the mom and kids were just like real generic and all-American and the only actual comedy was between Bob Uecker and Belvedere exchanging barbs. Then, surely from the pressure of dysfunctional families across the nation writing letters demanding that the show represent their f*d-up lives more realistically, the kids and mom took a drastically sinister turn. the mom became more like a Roseanne Barr-type, Kevin turned into a troubled (sexually confused?) alcoholic, the daughter turned really slutty, and Wesley turned into a little scam artist. Maybe the producers thought they were adding dimension to their personalities, but this sudden change in the psyches was never explained. Maybe we're just to assume it was hormones run amok...
C'mon, how could a show jump when so many other shows made references to it? Growing Pains did with a good one: Mike: What does she look like? She must be ugly. Ben: Nah, she's got legs and curves -- she kinda looks like that girl from Mr. Belvedere. Mike: Are you sure she doesn't look like Mr. Belvedere? Funny, even though it was on Growing Pains. And the episode of Ned and Stacy when Christopher Hewitt reprised his Belvedere role was HILARIOUS!!! Yes, I just used "Ned and Stacy" and "hilarious" in the same sentence. Mr. Belvedere just had that kind of effect -- it brought everyone up to its comedic level. And Angela's constant screwing up of the name was one of the funnier small running gags on TV. The very specials were corny as all hell, but deal with it. Any show made in the 80s did the same damn thing, usually a lot more often than Belvedere did. One of the funniest episodes of TV I've ever seen was when Wesley made a Belvedere puppet and was helping everyone with it. When will Nick at Nite start airing reruns!
Two episodes that stuck in my mind that have yet to be mentioned which might even outshine their "Very Special Episodes": 1) When Bob Uecker said "To hell with the national anthem!" as the sportscaster on the local news. Try saying THAT on tv these days -- he did end up explaining his comment the next night and it was actually pretty insightful and not that cheesy. 2) Kevin gets an Amish girl to denounce her religion and, I think, they almost get married. I'm sure the Amish were pretty pissed off at this episode, but then again, they don't have tv's, so they probably never found out. Lucky us.
The 'Very Special' episodes were tedious to be sure, but EVERY family sitcom in the 80's did them. The fact that this show only had 3 in 6 years is a pretty good ratio. The thing I'll always remember from this show is Angela's constantly messing up Mr. Belvedere's name. Some episodes this was the comedic high point. My favorite scene is where Wesley is in a Spelling B final against a girl he likes. Wesley misspells the final word on purpose, so the girl will like him. The word was phlegm, he spelled it f-l-e-m, at which point George jumps up in joy, thinking Wesley had won. LOL.
Sheesh. This show was great when Wesley gave Mr. Belvedere an ulcer every week. In the end...it got too mushy. I kept waiting for Mr. Belvedere to just end it by firebombing the kitchen or something. Then.....they could pan over to him standing in the road outside. Instead of holding the "Pittsburgh" sign...he could hold a sign that said "San Quentin" or something. I'm sure FOX would sign that in a heartbeat. HEH
I LOVED this show growing up, though I haven't seen a rerun in years. The misadventures of Mr. Belvedere, Wesley and George were always good for a few laughs. I too remember Angela always bungling Mr. Belvedere's name ("Hi, Mr. Butterfinger!" "Hi, Mr. Butterworth!"), but I can't believe no one has mentioned that friend of Wesley's who always wore the headstrap of his braces 24/7. Whatever happened to that kid? I loved this show's sarcastic and dry humor. It's time someone put the reruns back on!
I loved how Robert Goulet would show up, now that is funny. The best time was when Mr. Belvedere got Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron (among others) to play a game for George's birthday and Goulet was the pitcher. Brilliant
I'm the same age as Brice Beckham, who as Wesley T. Owens was the REAL star of "Mr. Belvedere" (1985-'90). Growing up, I loved this show and I still think he was one of the most underrated TV stars of the 1980's. Wesley was a sly, clever little runt. (ie: in one episode he wins a trip to Disneyworld and instead 'gives' it to a terminally ill boy thinking he'll become famous for it!). "Mr. Belvedere" was never a great show or a top 30 hit, but it was truly one of the most earnest and likable sitcoms of it's time. They dealt with all of the 80's topics: homelessness, drugs, AIDS, teen sex, etc. but were never frivolous or offensive. Then, at the height of the show's run (the last episode of the '87-'88 season) Wesley goes to a day camp where an affable young man named 'Perry' (if I remember) 'violates' the 11 year old kid. They meant well, they even had Beckham and the late Chris Hewett adress the TV audience on the issue, but it just went to far for me! What's really sad is that the next season ('88-'89) was probably the best, ("Mr. Belvedere" is an extreme case where a sitcom actually IMPROVES with time!). But watching it was never quite the same.
Remember the 80's show "Sledge Hammer!"? Sledge, the P.I., walks into a possible homicide scene where a man is slumped over on the couch in front of a television set blaring nothing but static. Dead? Sleeping? "He was probably watching 'Mr.Belvedere'!", said Sledge. Funny stuff. Anyway, this show seemed a little too similar to "Growing Pains" - except you had a British guy, an annoying sports guy and a not-as-hot-as-Kirk-Cameron eldest brother. The middle sister was portrayed as a stereotypical, air-headed teenage girl - she was not an interesting, intelligent character a la Tracy Gold! This show stank. It was on for that long?
Mr. Belvedere is ABCs first attempt to created a "flavor of the month" show, a practice started by NBC in the 1980s. The practice involved building a television series around whatever pop culture icon was hot at the time. NBC did it with The A Team (Mister T), Night Court (Harry Anderson), Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Will Smith),& Misfits of Science (Courteney Cox). They might have done it with Clara (where's the beef) Peller too had she not died first. In the case of Mr. Belvedere, ABC tried it with Bob Uecker, who at the time was featured in a series of Miller Lite commercials. Sure, Christopher Hewitt played the title role but it seems pretty clear that ABC intended the show to be a vehicle for Uecker as the head of the household. While this "flavor of the month" show was certainly better executed than just about any of NBCs attempts, it sucked just the same, primarily because the writers didn't know how to make Uecker's character funny. "Mr. Velvet Queer", as I liked to call this show, jumped the day someone decided to create it. ABCs second attempt at a "flavor of the month" show was Max Headroom, but that's another story.
I'm ashamed to admit it, but this is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. That being said, they jumped the shark on every gut-wrenching, special episode. The AIDS, nearly raped, and camp counselor shows were terrible and hopefully the tapes will be lost due to fire.
Whoever wrote that the daughter was hot must be blind as a bat! She looked TWENTY YEARS older than the mother! The show jumped the moment the opening credits ran and showed her .
Mr. Belvedere never jumped, it was one of the great 80's sitcoms. I haven't seen an episode in a decade, but I do remember one where Jason Bateman, who was Kevin's friend and a hunky high school football star, was hitting on Kevin's mom. I remember a scene where he purposely walks into the parent's bedroom, while the mom was undressing. I think he made a few comments on how beautiful she was and then the mom yelled at him to leave. Later in the episode he grabs her in the kitchen and practically forces himself on her, with the rest of the family right in the next room. Are you kidding me? I was a teenager when I saw this, and I would've never done something like this to one of my friend's moms! Bob Uecker found out and made a comment like "If I get my hands on that kid, the next route he'll be running will be in a full-body cast!" Another classic is when Heather decides to give her virginity away to a guy who's becoming a priest. They go as far to dress up like a couple who just got married so they can check into some hotel that was, unbeknownst to them, ran by nuns. Of course seeing the nuns makes the guy feel really guilty, so they end up not having sex after all. It was a corny storyline, but it was still a good episode.
This show was a fin leaper from the get go. I guess it officially jumped when some t.v. producer made a pact with the devil - the trade off being that Bob Uecker got a show. Nice one satan, I'm still chuckling over your sense of humour there. Look out below! It's fish in a butler's suit!
First of all, Heather Owens (Tracy Wells) was very attractive. This was my favorite sitcom of all time, and fortunately, I have a few dozen on video. There were one or two awful episodes, but it stayed consistently high-quality throughout its run. My favorite episode was when Jason Bateman guest-starred as Heather's boyfriend, and started making a pass at her mother. Also, remember the episode when George (and Wesley) read Heather's diary about some mystery guy? Wesley later found birth control pills that actually belonged to Angela. The show was a great way for me to spend Friday nights, as I was in middle school at the time.
I thought the Wesley was one of the most talented children I ever watched on the telly, but then puberty strangled him. I never looked out for this show, but I couldn't watch the poor guy try to talk and this was the only thing I remember about it. Aside from Mr. Belvedere crossdressing in the original The Producers with Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel.
This show was absolutely corny, but it did have an endearing appeal that never truly wore off. The characters' conflicting personalities truly complemented one another. It was mildly amusing, and the producers were wise enough to play up the characters who truly added spice to the show, like Wesley and Tracy's idiot girlfriend.
Good show when it was primarily the interplay of Belvedere and George. Thought this was supposed to be the basis of the show, as anyone who's every seen the Mr. Belvedere movies knows. JTS when they started doing the special episodes about serious topics. I'm sorry, but shows about teenage alcoholism, attempted rape, and child molestation may show "social conscience" but they ain't comedy. Let's keep comedy in comedy, and drama in drama.
Jumped when they started getting disgusting...I remember toward the end the jokes were getting more explicit and didn't an animal die once and it was supposed to be funny? Why would such a great show with a great leading actor stoop to that level...maybe I'm remembering it wrong
Has anybody noticed that,with the exception of the title character(the late,great Mr.Hewitt),this family is a clone of the Seavers on "Growing Pains"? Both have jokey fathers (who weren't always sitcom actors in real life),pretty blonde mothers,two sons(the younger of whom is precocious and smart-alecky),and a brownette daughter in the middle who's cute and smart.Think about it.
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09-26-2013, 05:35 PM
WKRP-LOG "your one stop and only source for WKRP in Cincinatti related news and information" 
He was such a nice man!
