Shirley starring Shirley Jones in 1979 info?? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Chris Billings · 02-13-2008, 08:13 PM

Just stumbled across this show and dont remember it IMBD website says it starred Shirely Jones (from Partridge Family fame) playing a widow with kids.

Any additional details would be appreciated!! And let me know if you had the fortune or misfortune to see this one year wonder.

Chris

TVFactFan · 02-20-2008, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Billings

Just stumbled across this show and dont remember it IMBD website says it starred Shirely Jones (from Partridge Family fame) playing a widow with kids.

Any additional details would be appreciated!! And let me know if you had the fortune or misfortune to see this one year wonder.

Chris

The show Shirley premeired in October of 1979 on NBC and was cancelled in January of 1980. The show featured Shirley Jones, Patrick Wayne, Peter Baron, Rosanna Arquette, Bret Shryer, Tracy Gold, John McIntire, Ann Doran, and Cind Eilbacher. The Show was unable to compete with FANTASY ISLAND on Fridays nights which led to the cancellation of the show. I never seen the show

James28 · 02-21-2008, 11:00 PM

Shirley aired on Friday Nights along with The Rockford Files and Eischied. Episodes of the program ran for one hour. It was produced by Universal Television. All three shows were cancelled by January 1980.

ajm1972 · 03-07-2008, 09:43 AM

They aired more than 3 episodes of the show. I have some partial episodes on tape somewhere and several promos of the show.

Aj

An 80s Guy · 03-09-2008, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingofTVResearch

The show Shirley premeired in October of 1979 on NBC and was cancelled in January of 1980. The show featured Shirley Jones, Patrick Wayne, Peter Baron, Rosanna Arquette, Bret Shryer, Tracy Gold, John McIntire, Ann Doran, and Cind Eilbacher. The Show was unable to compete with FANTASY ISLAND on Fridays nights which led to the cancellation of the show. I never seen the show

I didn't know that Tracey Gold had done a weekly television show before "Growing Pains".

TVFactFan · 03-09-2008, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by An 80s Guy

I didn't know that Tracey Gold had done a weekly television show before "Growing Pains".

yup, she goes way back, to the fall of 79-lol

Coffeecup · 04-29-2008, 09:40 AM

I took it to mean all three shows, Eichied, Rockford Files and Shirley were gone by Jan of 1980. I think Shirley probably had what 3 months worth. 10-12 episodes.

ajm1972 · 08-17-2008, 08:30 AM

Okay, I follow what your saying now.

Aj

bencasey · 10-29-2008, 09:41 PM

My friend has them all.

OOliver · 02-09-2009, 02:02 PM

I remember it starred the hunky Peter Barton as one of her kids. After the show was cancelled, he turned up as "Matthew Starr" - a hunky hero with Magic powers.

TV Guy · 08-08-2009, 02:01 PM

I remember it well - it was similar in tone to "Our House" and "Eight is Enough" rather than a traditional sitcom. Shirley again played a widow, who decided to fulfill the dream she and her late husband had of moving from New York to Lake Tahoe. She had three kids, and her husband's son from a previous marriage (Peter Barton) came along, too - he didn't get along with his own mother, or something like that. I thought that was kind of interesting - in real life, Shirley has three kids of her own, plus an older stepson. Patrick Wayne (John's son) also appeared on the show, as a slightly younger man they were going to position as Shirley's boyfriend, but the show didn't last long enough for that to happen.

The other angle was that they lived in a big old house and were on a limited budget, so things were always breaking and they never had enough money to fix the place up. There was an older couple who helped out around the house, sort of like surrogate grandparents. They came with the house, and Shirley initially let them go, because she couldn't afford them. But so many things broke that only the older couple knew how to fix, that she realized she couldn't afford not to hire them.

The show only lasted for 13 episodes, I think, so they never had enough to launch it into syndication. But I remember the two-hour Christmas episode, "Visions of Christmas Past", was syndicated as a two-hour TV-movie in the 80s. In that episode, Shirley is stranded in her car in a big snowstorm on Christmas Eve. While she's waiting to be rescued, she flashes back to when the family lived in New York and her husband was still alive.

TV_on_the_Porch · 08-11-2009, 03:02 PM

The "big old house" used in this series was the Munsters' house with a new coat of paint and a few other alterations.

02-13-2008, 08:13 PM	#1
Chris Billings Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Feb 21, 2004 Location: CA Posts: 192	Shirley starring Shirley Jones in 1979 info?? Just stumbled across this show and dont remember it IMBD website says it starred Shirely Jones (from Partridge Family fame) playing a widow with kids. Any additional details would be appreciated!! And let me know if you had the fortune or misfortune to see this one year wonder. Chris

08-11-2009, 03:02 PM	#12
TV_on_the_Porch anything good on? Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Posts: 879	The "big old house" used in this series was the Munsters' house with a new coat of paint and a few other alterations.
	__________________ Turn up the good times!

02-21-2008, 11:00 PM	#3
James28 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 14, 2007 Posts: 3,978	Shirley aired on Friday Nights along with The Rockford Files and Eischied. Episodes of the program ran for one hour. It was produced by Universal Television. All three shows were cancelled by January 1980.

03-07-2008, 09:43 AM	#4
ajm1972 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 27, 2006 Posts: 291	They aired more than 3 episodes of the show. I have some partial episodes on tape somewhere and several promos of the show. Aj

04-29-2008, 09:40 AM	#7
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,183	I took it to mean all three shows, Eichied, Rockford Files and Shirley were gone by Jan of 1980. I think Shirley probably had what 3 months worth. 10-12 episodes.

08-17-2008, 08:30 AM	#8
ajm1972 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 27, 2006 Posts: 291	Okay, I follow what your saying now. Aj

10-29-2008, 09:41 PM	#9
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	My friend has them all.

02-09-2009, 02:02 PM	#10
OOliver Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 28, 2009 Location: Providence RI Posts: 569	I remember it starred the hunky Peter Barton as one of her kids. After the show was cancelled, he turned up as "Matthew Starr" - a hunky hero with Magic powers.

08-08-2009, 02:01 PM	#11
TV Guy Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 3,419	I remember it well - it was similar in tone to "Our House" and "Eight is Enough" rather than a traditional sitcom. Shirley again played a widow, who decided to fulfill the dream she and her late husband had of moving from New York to Lake Tahoe. She had three kids, and her husband's son from a previous marriage (Peter Barton) came along, too - he didn't get along with his own mother, or something like that. I thought that was kind of interesting - in real life, Shirley has three kids of her own, plus an older stepson. Patrick Wayne (John's son) also appeared on the show, as a slightly younger man they were going to position as Shirley's boyfriend, but the show didn't last long enough for that to happen. The other angle was that they lived in a big old house and were on a limited budget, so things were always breaking and they never had enough money to fix the place up. There was an older couple who helped out around the house, sort of like surrogate grandparents. They came with the house, and Shirley initially let them go, because she couldn't afford them. But so many things broke that only the older couple knew how to fix, that she realized she couldn't afford not to hire them. The show only lasted for 13 episodes, I think, so they never had enough to launch it into syndication. But I remember the two-hour Christmas episode, "Visions of Christmas Past", was syndicated as a two-hour TV-movie in the 80s. In that episode, Shirley is stranded in her car in a big snowstorm on Christmas Eve. While she's waiting to be rescued, she flashes back to when the family lived in New York and her husband was still alive.