Rules of Engagement (TV series)

Rules of Engagement
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Tom Hertz
Starring	Patrick Warburton Megyn Price Oliver Hudson Bianca Kajlich David Spade Adhir Kalyan
Opening theme	"How Many Ways" by Señor Happy
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	79 (List of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	21 minutes
Production company(s)	Happy Madison Productions CBS Paramount Television
Distributor	Sony Pictures Television
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	1080i 16:9 (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run	February 5, 2007 (2007-02-05) – present
External links
Website

Rules of Engagement is a sitcom that debuted on CBS on February 5, 2007 as a midseason replacement. The series is produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions in association with CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television (SPT controls North American rights; CBS controls international rights).

On May 17, 2011, CBS renewed Rules of Engagement for a sixth season, which premiered on October 20, 2011. Currently, the series is on hiatus while Rob Schneider's new sitcom Rob takes its place on Thursday nights. Rules will return at a later date once Rob has finished airing its 8-episode order.

Premise

Two couples and their single friend deal with the complications of dating, commitment and marriage. It looks at different relationships in various stages, starring Oliver Hudson and Bianca Kajlich as newly engaged sweethearts, Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price as a long-married couple, and David Spade as their still-single friend. They often gather to enjoy a meal at "The Island Diner." The show features writers from the Emmy Award-winning Everybody Loves Raymond.

History

The show was heavily promoted by CBS during Super Bowl XLI and launched the following night, the first of seven episodes in its first season. The pilot episode remains the highest rated episode of the show. The series was renewed for a second season which began as a midseason replacement for The New Adventures of Old Christine on Monday, September 24, 2007, with production halted after nine episodes on November 6, 2007, in the wake of a writers' strike. After the strike ended, CBS announced that the show would return April 14, 2008, with a further six episodes.

Seasons three and four were both mid-season entries launched in March 2009 and March 2010. On May 18, 2010, it was announced that CBS had renewed Rules of Engagement for a 5th season. It was later announced that this season would start in September, in contrast to its usual midseason start, and received an expanded 24-episode order. (The fifth season was the first to have a full-season order.) The first 15 episodes aired on Monday nights, usually in the 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central time slot following How I Met Your Mother. Then on February 24, 2011, the series moved to Thursdays at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central, following The Big Bang Theory, after the cancellation of $h*! My Dad Says.

On May 17, 2011, the series was renewed for a sixth season to begin airing in fall 2011. One day later, CBS announced that Rules of Engagement would move to Saturday nights at 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central as part of the network's new Comedytime Saturday block; the first time in six years that an original CBS program would air on that night. It also marked the fourth night that the series would air on, with it previously airing on Mondays, Wednesdays (two airings), and Thursdays. On October 7, 2011, however, it was announced that Rules of Engagement would move back to its 8:30PM EST Thursday timeslot following The Big Bang Theory, replacing new sitcom How to Be a Gentleman which was moved to the new Saturday time slot.

Effective January 12, 2012, CBS removed Rules of Engagement from its Thursday lineup, replacing it with the new sitcom Rob starring Rob Schneider. CBS later announced that Rules would return to its Thursday 8:30 PM time slot at a later date after Rob has finished airing its 8-episode order.

Cast

Main characters

• Patrick Warburton as Jeff Bingham, a financial manager and overly-macho husband of Audrey. He loves sports and shuns anything that might resemble sensitivity. He is also careful with his money, and tries to discourage Audrey from overspending while planning for their future.
• Megyn Price as Audrey Bingham (nee Curtis), an advertising professional and the stubborn, extravagant wife of Jeff.
• Oliver Hudson as Adam Rhodes, a sensitive and extremely naive co-worker of Russell and Timmy, and Jennifer's fiance. He is a neighbor of Jeff and Audrey.
• Bianca Kajlich as Jennifer Morgan, the charismatic live-in fiancee of Adam, who endures his faults because of his good looks and underlying good nature.
• David Spade as Russell Dunbar, a shallow, womanizing single friend of the main characters. He is also an inept manager where Adam and Timmy work. It is revealed that he only has the job because of his wealthy father.
• Adhir Kalyan as Timmy Patel (recurring Season 3; regular cast Season 4-), an immigrant from South Africa and Russell's assistant. He is often the reluctant go-to guy for solving Russell's problems.

Major recurring characters

• Diane Sellers as Doreen, waitress at The Island Diner.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Liz Dunbar, an unlikeable neighbor who lives directly upstairs from Jeff and Audrey; as of Season 6 she is the wife of Russell.
• Sara Rue as Brenda, Jeff’s lesbian softball teammate who agrees to be a surrogate mother for Audrey and Jeff.
• Nazneen Contractor as Suneetha, Timmy’s fiancée in an arranged marriage, who becomes an object of Russell’s affections.
• Susan Yeagley as Tracy, a man-hungry co-worker of Audrey’s.
• Taryn Southern as Allison, the object of Timmy's affections, which blossoms into an intra-office romance.
• Geoff Pierson as Franklin Dunbar, Russell's wealthy, lecherous father.

Episodes

Main article: List of Rules of Engagement episodes

Timeslot

• Season 1: Mondays 9:30PM
• Season 2: Mondays 9:30PM
• Season 3: Mondays 8:30PM
• Season 4: Mondays 8:30PM
• Season 5: Mondays 8:30PM (September 20, 2010 - February 7, 2011)
  Thursdays 8:30PM (February 24, 2011 - May 19, 2011)
• Season 6: Thursdays 8:30PM

U.S. ratings

Seasonal ratings

Season	TV Season	Season Premiere	Season Finale	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	2006–2007	February 5, 2007	March 19, 2007	#36	12.4
2	2007–2008	September 24, 2007	May 19, 2008	#33	10.9
3	2008–2009	March 2, 2009	May 18, 2009	#23	11.4
4	2009–2010	March 1, 2010	May 24, 2010	#47	8.5
5	2010–2011	September 20, 2010	May 19, 2011	#43	8.7
6	2011-2012	October 20, 2011	2012		10.83 (to date)

Syndication

In June 2011, it was reported that the series has been picked up for syndication by WGN America and Lifetime (TV network), to premiere in the fall of 2012.

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment owns the rights to release DVDs in Region 1 - so far, the first four seasons are available. The fifth season of the series will be available beginning February 7, 2012, exclusively as a made-on-demand release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in conjunction with amazon.com.

Paramount Pictures, in conjunction with CBS Home Entertainment, will start releasing the series on DVD internationally in 2011. Season One was released in the UK (Region 2 DVD) on April 4th 2011

DVD name	Release date	Ep #
The Complete First Season	September 4, 2007	7
The Complete Second Season	October 14, 2008	15
The Complete Third Season	September 14, 2010	13
The Complete Fourth Season	January 11, 2011	13
The Complete Fifth Season	February 7, 2012	24

International broadcasters

Country	Network	Series Premiere	Timeslot
Australia	Network Ten, TV1	February 13, 2008 & 2010	Sunday 7:00 PM, Wednesdays 7.30pm
Bosnia and Herzegovina	RTRS
Bulgaria	Fox Life		Wednesday 21:00 PM
Canada	Citytv	February 5, 2007	Thursday 8:30 PM
Croatia	Fox Life
Denmark	TV2		Fridays, 02:00 PM
Estonia	Fox Life		Weekdays, 05:05 PM (replay) and 07.55 AM, 09.30 AM
France	M6	April 1, 2011	Monday - Friday 10:15 PM
Germany	kabel eins Fox Channel	November 12, 2009 January 2, 2012	between seasons Monday - Friday, 11:00 PM
Hungary	Viasat3	12 May 2010	Weekdays, 07:25 (replay) and 07.55 PM
India	STAR World		Monday - Friday, 11:00 PM, (repeat next day) 1:00 PM
Ireland	RTE 2		Saturdays, 00:30
Israel	Xtra HOT HOT family/yes stars Base	2007 January 4, 2009	Unknown Sundays, 8:15 PM, 11:45 PM
Italy	Italia 1	June 21, 2009	Saturdays & Sundays, 1:00 PM
Latin America	Sony Entertainment Television1		Mondays, 10:30 PM
Latvia	SET		Weekdays, 05.35 PM (replay) 07.30 PM, 03.00 AM and 06.15 AM
Macedonia	Fox Life
Netherlands	Veronica		Monday - Friday, 7:10 PM
New Zealand	FOUR		Tuesdays, 8:00 PM
Norway	TV 2		Weekdays, 5:45 PM
Peru	Sony Entertainment Television		Mondays, 12.00 AM
Poland	Comedy Central Polska	January 6, 2008	Fridays, 9:00 PM
Portugal	SET		Mondays, 10:25pm WET/9:25pm (in Azores)
Serbia	Fox Life, Nacionalna	July 7, 2009	Weekends
Russia	Sony Entertainment Television	2009	Weekdays
Slovenia	POP TV	2008	Weekends
South Africa	SABC 3		Mondays, 7:30 PM
Spain	Paramount Comedy, FDF		Thursdays, 11:15 PM
Sweden	Kanal 5		Tuesdays, 10:00 PM
Switzerland	SF zwei	September 9, 2011	Tuesday - Friday, 7:30 PM
Taiwan	Star World		Weekdays, 07:35 PM
Thailand	True Series		Tuesdays, 9:00 PM
Turkey	ComedyMax		Weekdays, 08:00 PM
United Kingdom	Comedy Central UK E4		Saturday 7:00 PM Weekdays, 4.30PM

¹ Rights in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Polish station TVN started filming its own version of the show, called 'Reguły Gry' (literally: 'Rules of Game'). It will premiere in 2012, on sister chanell TVN7 as its first original program.

External links

• Rules of Engagement - Official Site
• Rules of Engagement at the Internet Movie Database
• Rules of Engagement at TV.com
• Rules of Engagement - bridestelevision.com
• THRFeed
• Rules of Engagement on Comedy Central UK