Grounded for Life: Difference between revisions
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Eddie, played by [[Kevin Corrigan]], is Sean's younger brother. He is generally up to no good, he's strange, and he is a womanizer. You can't get a straight answer out of him on many things. Claudia and Eddie often had their differences throughout the series run. The worst thing he ever did was film a porn film in the Finnerty house; for this Claudia and Sean put him out. |
Eddie, played by [[Kevin Corrigan]], is Sean's younger brother. He is generally up to no good, he's strange, and he is a womanizer. You can't get a straight answer out of him on many things. Claudia and Eddie often had their differences throughout the series run. The worst thing he ever did was film a porn film in the Finnerty house; for this Claudia and Sean put him out. |
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[[Image:DonalGrounded.jpg|thumb|left|''Grounded for Life'' cast, seasons 3-5]] |
[[Image:DonalGrounded.jpg|thumb|left|''Grounded for Life'' cast, seasons 3-5]] |
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Walt, played by [[Richard Riehle]] (recurring: seasons 3–5), is Sean and Eddie's strict father. He is often going on at Sean and Claudia for being too soft on their kids. Sean and Eddie had quite a frightening up-bringing, as Walt often scared them by telling them that their sins would send them to hell, or he would give them booklets explaining what effect sins would have on them. He was once explaining to Sean he babies were conceived, it was a little late, as he was telling him after Lily was born. Walt lost his wife, and has had little luck with women, he once had a woman that Sean and Eddie didn't like, Lily and Brad set him up on a |
Walt, played by [[Richard Riehle]] (recurring: seasons 3–5), is Sean and Eddie's strict father. He is often going on at Sean and Claudia for being too soft on their kids. Sean and Eddie had quite a frightening up-bringing, as Walt often scared them by telling them that their sins would send them to hell, or he would give them booklets explaining what effect sins would have on them. He was once explaining to Sean he babies were conceived, it was a little late, as he was telling him after Lily was born. Walt lost his wife, and has had little luck with women, he once had a woman that Sean and Eddie didn't like, Lily and Brad set him up on a date with a woman, or so they thought it was a woman, and one woman handcuffed him in the bar and robbed it. |
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Brad O'Keefe, played by [[Bret Harrison]] (recurring: seasons 1&2), is the Finnerty's geeky next-door neighbor. He had an on-off relationship with Lily. She cheated on her boyfriend Dean with Brad, and they once broke up when thay realized they cheated on each other, during a summer of being apart. They eventually got back together. In one episode, Brad was upset when his parents split up, so the Finnertys decided to celebrate his birthday at their house. He was angry to then discover that his mother, Connie, had a fling with Eddie during the party. In the end, his parents reconciled. |
Brad O'Keefe, played by [[Bret Harrison]] (recurring: seasons 1&2), is the Finnerty's geeky next-door neighbor. He had an on-off relationship with Lily. She cheated on her boyfriend Dean with Brad, and they once broke up when thay realized they cheated on each other, during a summer of being apart. They eventually got back together. In one episode, Brad was upset when his parents split up, so the Finnertys decided to celebrate his birthday at their house. He was angry to then discover that his mother, Connie, had a fling with Eddie during the party. In the end, his parents reconciled. |
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Revision as of 07:00, 12 February 2011
| Grounded for Life | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Created by | Bill Martin Mike Schiff |
| Starring | Donal Logue Megyn Price Kevin Corrigan Lynsey Bartilson Griffin Frazen Jake Burbage Bret Harrison Richard Riehle |
| Theme music composer | Ben Vaughn Dean Ween Gene Ween |
| Composers | Dean Ween Gene Ween Spek |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 91 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 min |
| Production companies | Carsey-Werner Company Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions Mike and Bill Productions Tujunga Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox (2001–2003) WB (2003–2005) |
| Release | January 10, 2001 – January 28, 2005 |
Grounded for Life is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001 as a mid-season replacement on the FOX Network. It was created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin. It ran for two seasons on the network until being cancelled only two episodes into its third season. It was immediately picked up for the rest of the third season by The WB Television Network, where it aired for two additional seasons until it ended on January 28, 2005.
The show starred Donal Logue and Megyn Price as Sean and Claudia Finnerty, an Irish American couple who lived in Staten Island, New York, while raising their three kids, Lily (Lynsey Bartilson), Jimmy (Griffin Frazen), and Henry (Jake Burbage). The show also stars Kevin Corrigan, Bret Harrison and Richard Riehle. The show has featured guest stars such as Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama (cast of That '70s Show) , Mike Vogel, Natasha Lyonne, Vincent Pastore, Miriam Flynn, Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Scott Thompson (cast of The Kids in the Hall), and Elizabeth Berridge (Kevin Corrigan's real life wife).
Premise
The show is set in an Irish neighborhood of Staten Island, New York and is about the comedic interplay of the Irish Catholic Finnerty family. One of the central aspects of the show is that Sean and Claudia Finnerty had their first child and got married when they were only eighteen years old. Thus, while they have three children, including a teenage daughter, the two parents are themselves relatively young and not out of their "wild" years. (In one episode, where Sean goes to pick up his daughter at a police station and is mistaken for her drug dealer, his father quips, "That's what happens when you're 17 and don't know what a condom is!") The show features an unusual style of storytelling, often starting with a scene at the end of the story or sometimes in the middle and filling in the gaps with flashbacks. Its main concepts are an Irish Catholic family with three children - one girl and two boys - surviving one catastrophe after another, utilizing flashbacks to further explain current situations they find themselves in.
The opening sequence is set to a guitar theme, performed by the band Ween, that also serves as the music between scenes. The first sequence, used for the first eleven episodes of Season 1, showed the family playing basketball. From the twelfth episode ("Jimmy Was Kung-Fu Fighting") onwards, it showed a mix of scenes from Season 1. The sequence was updated each year to include scenes from the current season. The opening sequence was later truncated, as cast names were shown after the sequence and over the episode itself.
Music is important in the production of the series, with musical cues used when going into and out of flashbacks. In addition, episodes are named after songs or, in many cases, are a play on the name or lyrics of songs. Also, each episode has slightly different music in the opening sequence, differing at the end of the sequence.
Two episodes from Season 3, "Oh, What a Knight" and "Part-Time Lover," did not air on primetime, but can be seen in syndication on ABC Family.
Cast and characters
Main cast
Donal Logue and Megyn Price portrayed Sean and Claudia Finnerty, a Staten Island couple who were pregnant and married by the age of 18. Sean was an electrician in the underground of the New York subway, but he later became the owner of a bar with his brother, Eddie. Claudia, who is the hottest woman in the household, worked as a hostess in Soho restaurant, and later decided to go back to college, when her daughter Lily, decided that college wasn't for her, it made Claudia realise that education is important. She regrets that she didn't go to college, but she was pregnant with Lily at the time. Sean and Claudia do the best for their kids, as they are obviously spoilt.
By their early '30s, Sean and Claudia had three children (later four), the uncontrollable Lily, played by Lynsey Bartilson. Lily is a selfish, spoilt brat, she often tries to get the attention of boys, and often turning to dorky next-door neighbor, Brad O'Keefe, who she later started dating. She also dated the drummer of Sean and Eddie's band, Dean Peramotti, who she went with for a while, until she cheated on him with Brad. Lily is mainly jealous of her mother, Claudia, as Claudia is obviously hotter than she is, with the boys checking her out, especially Brad. On several occasions Lily has been drunk, once she bumped into Claudia at a college party, and they came to an arrangement to keep it quiet from Sean. Lily was shocked to discover she was born before her parents were married, but later realised she was proof of their love.
Jimmy, played by Griffin Frazen, is the second Finnerty child and the oldest boy, he is the black sheep of the family. His choices are not always accepted by his parents, like the time he decided to become a vegetarian. Jimmy is smart and wants to do well at school, but his parents sometimes accidentally seem to hold him back. Once at a street fair, Sean and Claudia went to a Ramones' concert, and Jimmy was late with his science project, causing him to be suspended. The following day went missing, and was later discovered to have sneaked back into school. Jimmy has been bullied at school, once he fought back and was accused of being the bully. He was also bullied by a girl, and it turned out that she actually liked him.
Henry, played by Jake Burbage, is the Finnerty's youngest son, and is the most optimistic of the family. He is a little wild and sometimes annoying, but is also kindhearted to people, once he made a joke about a homeless man, and Sean taught him that the homeless are people too, so Henry decided to invite him to stay at their house. Henry walked in on Claudia and Sean having sex on Jimmy's bed once, and they tried to explain that it was natural and they was nothing wrong with it, so Henry told his whole class. Henry also believed anything he was told, like the time Jimmy told him he was a robot, to explain why there were no baby pictures of him. Jake Burbage left the show at the end of season four (in the summer of 2004) to move back east which is why he was never seen in season five. However, his character sill remained in the show, as he was mentioned a few times throughout the duration.
Gracie, Sean and Claudia's youngest daughter, was born in the last episode. Claudia discovered she was pregnant at the start of season five, and in the season finale--at Lily's graduation--she went into labor and delivered Gracie at the hospital.
Eddie, played by Kevin Corrigan, is Sean's younger brother. He is generally up to no good, he's strange, and he is a womanizer. You can't get a straight answer out of him on many things. Claudia and Eddie often had their differences throughout the series run. The worst thing he ever did was film a porn film in the Finnerty house; for this Claudia and Sean put him out.
Walt, played by Richard Riehle (recurring: seasons 3–5), is Sean and Eddie's strict father. He is often going on at Sean and Claudia for being too soft on their kids. Sean and Eddie had quite a frightening up-bringing, as Walt often scared them by telling them that their sins would send them to hell, or he would give them booklets explaining what effect sins would have on them. He was once explaining to Sean he babies were conceived, it was a little late, as he was telling him after Lily was born. Walt lost his wife, and has had little luck with women, he once had a woman that Sean and Eddie didn't like, Lily and Brad set him up on a date with a woman, or so they thought it was a woman, and one woman handcuffed him in the bar and robbed it.
Brad O'Keefe, played by Bret Harrison (recurring: seasons 1&2), is the Finnerty's geeky next-door neighbor. He had an on-off relationship with Lily. She cheated on her boyfriend Dean with Brad, and they once broke up when thay realized they cheated on each other, during a summer of being apart. They eventually got back together. In one episode, Brad was upset when his parents split up, so the Finnertys decided to celebrate his birthday at their house. He was angry to then discover that his mother, Connie, had a fling with Eddie during the party. In the end, his parents reconciled.
The black highlighted boxes indicates that an actor appears as a member of the main cast. When a starring actor has also appeared as a guest in other seasons, this is highlighted in grey, with the numbers indicating how many appearances they made. A white square indicates that the actor does not appear in the season.
| Actor | Character | Appearances | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S 1 | S 2 | S 3 | S 4 | S 5 | ||||
| Donal Logue | Sean Finnerty | |||||||
| Megyn Price | Claudia Finnerty | |||||||
| Kevin Corrigan | Eddie Finnerty | |||||||
| Lynsey Bartilson | Lily Finnerty | |||||||
| Griffin Frazen | Jimmy Finnerty | |||||||
| Jake Burbage | Henry Finnerty | |||||||
| Richard Riehle | Walt Finnerty | 3 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Bret Harrison | Brad O'Keefe | 4 | 13 | |||||
Recurring cast
Sister Helen, played by Miriam Flynn, is the nun and principal at Lily, Jimmy and Henry's school. She frequently tries to tell Sean and Claudia how to raise their kids, and is always on their backs at school, especially Lily. She has complained in the past about Lily's skirt being too short and Jimmy's hair being too long. Sean once caused her to use the F word.
Dean Peramotti, played by Mike Vogel, was the drummer of Sean and Eddie's band, and met and started dating Lily. She had been going out a while until she cheated on him with Brad.
Dan O'Keefe, played by Gregory Jbara, is Brad's father. Sean and Dan never got on and were constantly fighting. He was busted for having an affair, when Sean challenged him to a tennis match and Sean noticed that all the weekend "tennis lessons" Dan had were useless. His wife Connie discovered this, and they broke up, Connie then had a brief fling with Eddie, but they soon got back together.
Nielsen Ratings
| Season | Ep # | Time Slot | First Airdate | Last Airdate | Rank | Viewership | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 15 | Wednesday 8:30 | January 10, 2001 | May 23, 2001 | #87 | 8.9 | FOX |
| Season 2 | 22 | Wednesday 8:30 | September 26, 2001 | May 8, 2002 | #96 | 7.2 | FOX |
| Season 3 | 13 | Friday 9:30 | September 17, 2002 | May 9, 2003 | #95 | 8.10 | FOX/WB |
| Season 4 | 28 | Friday 9:00 | September 5, 2003 | May 7, 2004 | #187 | 2.79 | WB |
| Season 5 | 13 | Friday 8:30 | September 17, 2004 | January 28, 2005 | #145 | 2.7 | WB |
Syndication
United States
The series currently airs in syndication on ABC Family and has been on an intermittent basis since 2005[1], having gone through several time slot changes during its run on the network. When first aired on ABC Family, the tag scenes were cut out; but when ABC Family re-acquired Grounded for Life, newer prints with the tag scenes are now shown.
On November 16, 2009, MTV began to air the show at random during the week[2] Unlike ABC Family's airings, these airings contain the ending during the credits and the same episodes are aired more frequently.
International
| Country | Channel(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Australia
|
The Comedy Channel | Currently airing |
 Belgium
|
2BE | In English with Dutch subtitles; currently airing |
 Bulgaria
|
BTV Comedy (the former GTV) | Currently airing |
 Finland
|
TV Viisi | Goes by the name Perhe Paketissa, meaning "Family in a Package"; currently airing in English, with Finnish subtitles |
 France
|
France 2 | -broadcast on France 2 and France 4 |
 Germany
|
Goes by the name Keine Gnade für Dad, meaning "No Mercy for Dad" | |
 Ireland
|
RTÉ Two | Aired up until the show's cancellation in 2005 |
 Israel
|
HOT3 | Goes by the name ככה זה בחיים (Kacha Ze BaChayim), meaning "That's How Life Works" |
 Macedonia
|
Nasa TV | Goes by the name Доживотно казнет |
 Norway
|
TV Norge | Goes by the name Familietrøbbel, meaning "Family Trouble" |
 The Netherlands
|
Comedy Central | In English with Dutch subtitles; currently airing |
 Sweden
|
TV3 TV4 Komedi |
Currently airing |
 Turkey
|
ComedyMax | Currently airing |
 United Kingdom
|
Trouble ITV1 |
Trouble closed 1 April, 2009; no longer broadcasts on ITV1 |
Awards and nominations
Grounded for Life has been nominated for a number of Young Artist Awards for best TV comedy choice, best family TV comedy series, best performance by a guest star in a TV comedy series and best supporting actor in a comedy or drama series[3], it has also won a Young Artist Award for supporting young actor in a TV comedy series. It has also been nominated for an Artios Award[4], Teen Choice Award[5], GLAAD Media Award and an Emmy Award.
| Year | Result | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Nominated | Artios | Best Casting For TV, Comedy Pilot - Meg Liberman, Camille H. Patton |
| 2001 | Nominated | Teen Choice Award | TV - Choice Comedy |
| 2001 | Nominated | Emmy | Outstanding Choreography - Kenny Ortega for episode: "Mrs Finnerty, You Have a Lovely Daughter" |
| 2002 | Won | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Supporting Young Actor - Griffon Frazen |
| 2002 | Nominated | Young Artist Award | Best Family TV Comedy Series |
| 2002 | Nominated | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Guest Starring Young Actor - Eddie Carr |
| 2002 | Nominated | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Guest Starring Young Actor - Kevin G. Schmidt |
| 2003 | Nominated | GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) for episode: "Relax!" |
| 2004 | Nominated | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actor - Griffin Frazen |
DVD releases
Anchor Bay Entertainment has released all five seasons of Grounded for Life on DVD in Region 1. The DVD formats differ from the original TV airings. Season one was released on February 7, 2006, consisting of its original 20 episodes, where as the first season only aired 15 of the episodes. The season finale episode "Love Child" stayed intact, it was the five episodes prior to this that were included in season two.[6] The first season was also released in the UK on 5 March 2007, consisting of 15 episodes.
Season two was released on May 16, 2006, and contains its original 17 episodes, excluding the five that aired as part of the season, as they were returned to season one.[7] The second season was also released in the UK 3 March 2008, consisting of 22 episodes.
Season three was released on August 8, 2006. Nineteen episodes were originally produced for this season, but only 11 aired between its two networks, FOX and WB, with two not airing at all, and the other six included in season four. The season three DVD includes 13 episodes, including the two that were not originally aired "Oh, What a Night" and "Part Time Lover".[8]
Season four was released on November 7, 2006 with 22 episodes originally produced for this season, but 28 episodes are consistent of this set as six episodes did not air as part of season three, so they were included. The season three episodes can be told apart from season four as, Jimmy's hair goes from long to short and then to long again, and Bret Harrison's name appears as a main cast member and then a guest star.[9]
Season five is the final season of Grounded for Life. It was released on September 27, 2007, consisting of 13 episodes, and is the only season to have all it's episodes intact.[10]
| Season 1 | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
 United States
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United Kingdom
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Australia
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| 7 February, 2006 | 5 March, 2007 | |||
| Season 2 | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| United States
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United Kingdom
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Australia
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| 16 May, 2006 | 3 March, 2008 | |||
| Season 3 | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| United States
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United Kingdom
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Australia
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| 8 August, 2006 | ||||
| Season 4 | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| United States
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United Kingdom
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Australia
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| 7 November, 2006 | ||||
| Season 5 | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Dates | ||||
| United States
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United Kingdom
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Australia
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| 27 September, 2007 | ||||
References
- ^ "ABC Family gets 'Grounded for Life'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 25 October, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "MTV Acquires Grounded for Life". sitcomsonline.com. Retrieved 25 October, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "25th Annual Young Artist Awards: Winners and Nominees". youngartistawards.org. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "Casting Society of America". castingsociety.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "2001 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Comedy". imdb.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "Season 1 details". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "Season 2 details". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "Season 3 details". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
- ^ "Season 4 details". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 25 October, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Season 5 details". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
External links
- 2001 American television series debuts
- 2005 American television series endings
- 2000s American television series
- American television sitcoms
- English-language television series
- Fox network shows
- Irish-American culture
- Staten Island
- Television shows set in New York City
- Television series by Carsey-Werner Productions
- WB network shows