In the Motherhood is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC as a midseason entry and ran from March 26 to July 9, 2009.[1] The series was produced by ABC Studios in association with Spud TV and Mindshare Entertainment.[2]
| In the Motherhood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by |
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| Starring | |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 26 – July 9, 2009 |
| Related | |
| Based on the online web series | |
Plot
editThe series focused on Rosemary, Jane, and Emily, loosely inspired by real-life everyday moms.
Rosemary, who has been married numerous times but currently single, is a fast and loose free-wheeling mom with a teenaged son, Sid, who seems to be more responsible than his non-traditional mother.
Rosemary's best friend, Jane, is a recently divorced mother of two girls, pre-teen Annie, and eight-month-old Sophie. As she tries to keep her career and home afloat, Jane has also hired a "manny," Horatio, to help her out with her working mother duties. Horatio also has the ability to "communicate" with Sophie and believes she is the only person that really "gets" him.
Jane's younger sister, Emily, is a model stay-at-home-super-mom for her two young children, Esther and Bill. Emily also believes in perfection which she sees as key to her family life and takes parenting as seriously as any mother could. Her home is a work of art, and her kids are polite and sweet. Emily is married to Jason, the breadwinner in the family, who likes his food to be organic and determined to make sure that his family is at the top of their class.
Cast and characters
editMain cast
edit- Cheryl Hines as Jane
- Jessica St. Clair as Emily
- Horatio Sanz as Horatio
- RonReaco Lee as Jason
- Megan Mullally as Rosemary
Recurring cast
edit- Rachael Harris as Blair
- Yara Shahidi as Esther
- Sayeed Shahidi as Bill
Production
editLoosely based on the popular online web series created by Mindshare and produced by Science + Fiction and Microsoft's Branded Entertainment and Experience Team (BEET) in 2007 in conjunction with Suave hair care products and Sprint Nextel, this adaptation chronicled the daily and hilarious perils of three mothers, with most of their stories being adapted from everyday real-life mothers. The success of the webisodes led to ABC's announcement to order 7 initial episodes for the 2008-2009 TV season after the premiere.[3] Sprint and Suave had an involvement in the series as well.[4]
Casting
editWhereas the webisodes featured Leah Remini, Jenny McCarthy, and Chelsea Handler in the lead roles, Handler was supposed to be the only cast member from the series to make the transition to the small screen.[5] But on November 24, 2008, TV Guide reported that the series would instead star Megan Mullally and Cheryl Hines. In addition, Horatio Sanz and Jessica St. Clair had also been cast, with Sanz playing Hines's manny and St. Clair playing Hines's "intimidating younger sister," who doesn't discipline her children. Handler decided to drop out of the project due to scheduling commitments to her E! show Chelsea Lately.[6]
Reception and scheduling
editThe series had not been received well by critics, and despite ABC's promotional push in the hope of weakening NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup, not many viewers, especially fans of the original web series, flocked to see the show.[citation needed]
On April 30, 2009, ABC announced that it was pulling the series.[7] Followed by the return of Ugly Betty to the schedule while on May 15, 2009, ABC announced that In the Motherhood would return once again, to burn off the remaining episodes.[8] But on June 30, 2009, ABC announced that they pulled In the Motherhood and instead doubled up on Samantha Who? for Thursday, July 2 and Thursday, July 9 at 8:30PM Eastern/7:30PM Central.[1][9]
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "It Takes a Village Idiot" | Richard Shepard | Jennifer Konner & Alexandra Rushfield | March 26, 2009 | N/A | |
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Rosemary discovers the special attention pregnant ladies are afforded. | ||||||
| 2 | "Vacation" | Beth McCarthy-Miller | Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh | April 2, 2009 | N/A | |
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Jane's vacation with baby Sophie is anything but relaxing. | ||||||
| 3 | "Bully" | Gail Mancuso | Alan J. Higgins | April 9, 2009 | N/A | |
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Jane becomes a bully at work in order to scare her boss. | ||||||
| 4 | "Practice What You Preach" | Jamie Babbit | Liz Cackowski & Maggie Carey | April 16, 2009 | N/A | |
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Emily and Jason are concerned with Bill's imaginary friend. | ||||||
| 5 | "Shepfather" | Lee Shallat-Chemel | Craig DiGregorio | June 25, 2009 | N/A | |
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Jane becomes jealous when her boyfriend Shep shows off his parenting skills. | ||||||
| 6 | "Where There's a Will, There's a Wake" | Linda Mendoza | Annie Mumolo | July 2, 2009 | N/A | |
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Emily tries to mold Jane into the perfect parent. | ||||||
| 7 | "In Sickness and In Health" | Lee Shallat Chemel | Joel Madison | July 9, 2009 | N/A | |
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Jane tries to prove that motherhood isn't getting in the way of her work. | ||||||
U.S. Nielsen ratings
edit| Order | Episode | Airdate | Rating | Share | Rating/Share (18-49) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank (Overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "It Takes a Village Idiot" | March 26, 2009 | 4.6 | 7 | 2.2/6 | 6.69 | TBA |
| 2 | "Vacation" | April 2, 2009 | 3.4 | 6 | 1.6/5 | 5.00 | TBA |
| 3 | "Bully" | April 9, 2009 | TBA | TBA | 1.3/4[10] | 4.57 | TBA |
| 4 | "Practice What You Preach" | April 16, 2009 | TBA | TBA | 1.4/5[11] | 4.70 | TBA |
| 5 | "Shepfather" | June 25, 2009 | 2.0 | TBA | 0.7/2 | 2.69 | TBA |
| 6 | "Where There's a Will, There's a Wake" | July 2, 2009 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 7 | "In Sickness and In Health" | July 9, 2009 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
References
edit- ^ a b ABC Drops "Motherhood", Shuffles Sundays, The Futon Critic, June 30, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
- ^ From The Futon Critic
- ^ "ABC cuts 'In the Motherhood' order" From Los Angeles Times (March 27, 2009)
- ^ "ABC orders 'Motherhood' episodes" From Variety.com (September 5, 2008)
- ^ "Chelsea Handler is a Mommy!" from Chisme Time (September 13, 2008)
- ^ Horatio Sanz Embraces Motherhood" TV Guide. November 24, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
- ^ NBC Yanks "Kings"; ABC Shortens "Motherhood", "Samantha" Runs Archived 2009-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, TV Week, April 21, 2009
- ^ ABC Bumps "Motherhood" Burn Off, The Futon Critic, May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
- ^ "In the Motherhood": ABC Yanks Cancelled Sitcom Again Archived 2009-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, TV Series Finale, July 1, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
- ^ Robert Seidman, Thursday Ratings: Modest success for Southland and Parks and Recreation April 10, 2009.
- ^ Robert Seidman, Thursday Ratings: Southland holds up, Parks and Recreation dips Archived 2012-09-17 at the Wayback Machine April 17, 2009.
External links
edit- In the Motherhood at IMDb (Web series)
- In the Motherhood at IMDb (Television series)
- SitcomsOnline.com Review