The Fanelli Boys

The Fanelli Boys
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Barry Fanaro Terry Grossman Mort Nathan Kathy Speer
Written by	Robert Bruce Michael Davidoff Barry Fanaro Howard Gewirtz Terry Grossman Tom Maxwell Mort Nathan Treva Silverman Kathy Speer Martin Weiss Don Woodard
Directed by	Gary Brown James Burrows Jim Drake J.D. Lobue Jack Shea David Steinberg Andrew D. Weyman Steve Zuckerman
Starring	Ann Morgan Guilbert Ned Eisenberg Joe Pantoliano Christopher Meloni Andy Hirsch Richard Libertini Vera Lockwood
Opening theme	"Why Should I Worry?"
Composer	Thomas Pasatieri
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	19
Production
Cinematography	Vincent Contarino
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	KTMB Productions Touchstone Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08) – February 16, 1991 (1991-02-16)

The Fanelli Boys is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 8, 1990 to February 16, 1991, as part of its 1990-91 prime time schedule. The series was created by the team of Barry Fanaro, Mort Nathan, Kathy Speer, and Terry Grossman, all of whom previously worked on The Golden Girls.

Synopsis

Following the death of her husband, Theresa Fanelli (Ann Morgan Guilbert) is prepared to sell the family business (a funeral home) to her son Anthony (Ned Eisenberg) and move from Brooklyn to Florida. Thwarting her plans are the arrival of her younger sons Ronnie (Andy Hirsch), who had just dropped out of school, and Frankie (Chris Meloni), whose engagement has just been broken. Another brother, the slightly disreputable Dom (Joe Pantoliano), is between hustles. Anthony learns that the funeral home is about $25,000 in debt, which he had not counted on. Soon, all of the boys are back at home with their mom, just like the old days. Advising the family, somewhat dubiously, are Theresa's brother, a Catholic priest known as "Father Angelo" (Richard Libertini), and fortune teller Philomena (Vera Lockwood).

The Fanelli Boys showed fairly strong Italian-American ethnic stereotyping; there was even an Italian flag in the program's logo. The series garnered low ratings and was cancelled in February 1991 after airing nineteen episodes.

Cast

• Joe Pantoliano.....Dom Fanelli
• Ann Morgan Guilbert.....Theresa Fanelli
• Ned Eisenberg.....Anthony Fanelli
• Chris Meloni.....Frankie Fanelli
• Andy Hirsch.....Ronnie Fanelli
• Richard Libertini.....Father Angelo
• Vera Lockwood.....Philomena

Title sequence

The show's original opening sequence was filmed footage of a dining room table (presumably the Fanellis') as it was set by its family, followed by them sitting down and serving pasta and wine, which culminated in everyone toasting. Only the family's hands were seen during the entire sequence. This was accompanied by an instrumental, old-world Italian tune.

In January 1991, a month before The Fanelli Boys was cancelled, the opening changed to featuring videotaped scenes from the show with the cast, along with an in-house rendition of Billy Joel's "Why Should I Worry?" as the new lyrical theme.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	Unknown	Unknown	September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08)
2	"You Can Go Home Again"	Unknown	Unknown	September 12, 1990 (1990-09-12)
3	"Pursued"	Unknown	Unknown	September 19, 1990 (1990-09-19)
4	"The Hex"	Unknown	Unknown	September 26, 1990 (1990-09-26)
5	"Heart Attack"	Unknown	Unknown	October 3, 1990 (1990-10-03)
6	"Take My Ex-Wife, Please"	Unknown	Unknown	October 10, 1990 (1990-10-10)
7	"Poetic Justice"	Unknown	Unknown	October 24, 1990 (1990-10-24)
8	"Father Smoke"	Unknown	Unknown	October 31, 1990 (1990-10-31)
9	"Tarnished Angel"	Unknown	Unknown	November 7, 1990 (1990-11-07)
10	"The Two Doms"	Unknown	Unknown	November 14, 1990 (1990-11-14)
11	"An Italian-American Gigolo"	Unknown	Unknown	December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
12	"A Fanelli Christmas"	Unknown	Unknown	December 8, 1990 (1990-12-08)
13	"Oh My Papas"	Unknown	Unknown	December 15, 1990 (1990-12-15)
14	"Accidents Will Happen"	Unknown	Unknown	January 5, 1991 (1991-01-05)
15	"Doctor, Doctor"	Unknown	Unknown	January 12, 1991 (1991-01-12)
16	"Rope a Dope"	Unknown	Unknown	January 19, 1991 (1991-01-19)
17	"The Undergraduate"	Unknown	Unknown	February 2, 1991 (1991-02-02)
18	"The Wedding: Part 1"	Unknown	Unknown	February 9, 1991 (1991-02-09)
19	"The Wedding: Part 2"	Unknown	Unknown	February 16, 1991 (1991-02-16)

External links

• The Fanelli Boys at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• The Fanelli Boys at epguides.com