Davis Rules
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Danny Jacobson Norma Safford Vela
Written by	Kim C. Friese Danny Jacobson Frank Mula Fredi Towbin Norma Safford Vela
Directed by	John Bowab Ellen Falcon James Widdoes
Starring	Randy Quaid Jonathan Winters
Composer	Mark Mothersbaugh
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	29 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Marcy Carsey Danny Jacobson Caryn Mandabach Tom Werner Norma Safford Vela Douglas Wyman
Producers	Dale McRaven Frank Mula Jon Spector Fredi Towbin
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company	Carsey-Werner Productions
Original release
Network	ABC (1991) CBS (1992)
Release	January 27, 1991 (1991-01-27) – May 13, 1992 (1992-05-13)

Davis Rules is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC in 1991 and on CBS in 1992.^[1] The series was produced by Carsey-Werner Productions.

Synopsis

The series stars Randy Quaid as Dwight Davis, a widowed elementary school principal outside of Seattle, Washington who is raising his three sons (Robbie, Charlie, and Ben) with the help of his wacky father Gunny Davis (Jonathan Winters).

Cast

Randy Quaid as Dwight Davis
Jonathan Winters as Gunny Davis
Trevor Bullock as Robbie Davis (season 1)
Luke Edwards as Charlie Davis
Nathan Watt as Ben Davis
Patricia Clarkson as Cosmo Yeargin (season 1)
Rigoberto Jimenez as Rigo Cordona (season 1)
Tamayo Otsuki as Mrs. Elaine Yamagami
Debra Mooney as Mrs. Rush
Debra Jo Rupp as Ms. Higgins (season 1)
Vonni Ribisi as Skinner Buckley (season 2)
Bonnie Hunt as Gwen Davis (season 2)

Production

Davis Rules was canceled by ABC after less than one season despite having premiered after Super Bowl XXV. ABC aired it as a midseason replacement. When the series wasn't used in ABC's fall lineup, CBS bought the series in November 1991.^[2]^[3]

CBS retooled the series, adding Bonnie Hunt and Giovanni Ribisi (credited as Vonni Ribisi), but canceled it after 16 episodes.^[2]

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Network
1	13	January 27, 1991 (1991-01-27)	April 9, 1991 (1991-04-09)	ABC
2	16	December 30, 1991 (1991-12-30)	May 13, 1992 (1992-05-13)	CBS

Season 1 (1991)

Every episode of season 1 was directed by Ellen Falcon.^[4]

List of *Davis Rules* season 1 episodes
No. overall	No. in season	Title ^[4]	Original air date	Prod. code ^[4]	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"A Man for All Reasons"	January 27, 1991 (1991-01-27)	101	26.7^[5]
2	2	"Rules of the Game"	January 29, 1991 (1991-01-29)	105	23.6^[6]
3	3	"The Trouble with Women"	February 5, 1991 (1991-02-05)	106	20.8^[7]
4	4	"Guys and Dolls"	February 12, 1991 (1991-02-12)	107	21.1^[8]
5	5	"Pomahac Day Massacre"	February 19, 1991 (1991-02-19)	108	22.0^[9]
6	6	"Yes, I'm The Great Pretender"	February 26, 1991 (1991-02-26)	109	21.2^[10]
7	7	"Gimme The Ball"	March 5, 1991 (1991-03-05)	110	22.0^[11]
8	8	"Twisted Sister"	March 5, 1991 (1991-03-05)	112	24.5^[11]
9	9	"Take This Job and Love It"	March 12, 1991 (1991-03-12)	102	24.4^[12]
10	10	"Sign of the Times"	March 19, 1991 (1991-03-19)	111	20.1^[13]
11	11	"Habla Espanol?"	March 26, 1991 (1991-03-26)	103	21.0^[14]
12	12	"Mission: Improbable"	April 2, 1991 (1991-04-02)	113	22.9^[15]
13	13	"Soap"	April 9, 1991 (1991-04-09)	104	18.4^[16]

Season 2 (1991–92)

The first thirteen episodes of season 2 were directed by James Widdoes, while the final three episodes were directed by John Bowab.^[4]

List of *Davis Rules* season 2 episodes
No. overall	No. in season	Title ^[4]	Original air date	Prod. code ^[4]	Viewers (millions)
14	1	"They're Writing Songs of Love, But Nun for Me"	December 30, 1991 (1991-12-30)	201	19.4^[17]
15	2	"A Father Makes All the Difference"	January 1, 1992 (1992-01-01)	204	22.2^[17]
16	3	"Writing a Wrong"	January 8, 1992 (1992-01-08)	202	16.9^[18]
17	4	"The Moment of Youth"	January 15, 1992 (1992-01-15)	211	15.3^[19]
18	5	"Love at First Sighting (Part 1)"	January 22, 1992 (1992-01-22)	207	14.1^[20]
19	6	"Love at First Sighting (Part 2)"	January 29, 1992 (1992-01-29)	208	15.9^[21]
20	7	"Gunny's Ex"	February 5, 1992 (1992-02-05)	205	14.8^[22]
21	8	"Happy as a Clam"	February 26, 1992 (1992-02-26)	209	13.4^[23]
22	9	"Someone to Watch Over Them"	March 4, 1992 (1992-03-04)	212	14.2^[24]
23	10	"Bells, Bells, Bells"	March 11, 1992 (1992-03-11)	206	13.2^[25]
24	11	"Strike Down the Band"	March 18, 1992 (1992-03-18)	210	13.9^[26]
25	12	"Everybody Comes to Nick's"	March 25, 1992 (1992-03-25)	213	13.8^[27]
26	13	"A Foggy Day on Puget Sound"	April 8, 1992 (1992-04-08)	203	12.7^[28]
27	14	"Ferry Tale"	April 22, 1992 (1992-04-22)	214	12.4^[29]
28	15	"Brother Can You Spare a Dime"	May 6, 1992 (1992-05-06)	215	10.9^[30]
29	16	"The Girl with Someone Extra"	May 13, 1992 (1992-05-13)	216	10.0^[31]

Awards and nominations

Winters won an Emmy for his role as Gunny Davis,^[32] while Trevor Bullock and Robin Lynn Heath also won Young Artist Awards for their roles in the series.^[33]

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
1991	Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Jonathan Winters	Won
1992	Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Comedy Series	Jo Mayer (Lighting designer) (for episode "A Foggy Day On Puget Sound")	Nominated
	Young Artist Award	Best New Family Television Series	Davis Rules	Nominated
		Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Series	Trevor Bullock	Won
		Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series	Rigoberto Jimenez	Nominated
		Best Young Actress Guest Starring or Recurring Role in a TV Series	Robin Lynn Heath	Won

References

^ Tim Brooks; Earle Marsh (2003). "Davis Rules (Situation Comedy)". The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (8th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-0-345-45542-0.
^ ^a ^b Casey Davidson (February 12, 1993). "Super Bowl Bump". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
^ Bill Carter (November 19, 1991). "CBS Buys Show From ABC". The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Davis Rules"]"". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
^ Donlon, Brian (January 30, 1991). "ABC super-bowls over its rivals". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 6, 1991). "Where are the dominant series?". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 13, 1991). "A good Friday fuels ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 20, 1991). "CBS mines past and hits gold". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 27, 1991). "NBC has a week of ratings ups and downs". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (March 6, 1991). "CBS gains ratings speed". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b Donlon, Brian (March 13, 1991). "'Baby Talk' helps ABC toddle past CBS to 2nd". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (March 20, 1991). "Basketball sinks CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Sloan, Eugene (March 27, 1991). "'60 Minutes' is top hour again". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (April 3, 1991). "Oscar wins big for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Sloan, Eugene (April 10, 1991). "'Cheers', NBC rack up wins". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (April 17, 1991). "CBS ends the year with a win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b Donlon, Brian (January 8, 1992). "CBS tops a week of firsts". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Pigskin plays in to CBS win". Life. USA Today. January 15, 1992. p. 3D.
^ Gable, Donna (January 22, 1992). "Brooks ropes ratings for NBC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (January 29, 1992). "NBC's horror tale surprise". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 5, 1992). "A show of CBS strength". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (February 12, 1992). "CBS mines Olympic gold". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (March 4, 1992). "Last-place Fox is rising fast". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (March 11, 1992). "'Indy' boosts ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Hit comedies lift ABC". Life. USA Today. March 18, 1992. p. 3D.
^ "CBS ticks off another win". Life. USA Today. March 25, 1992. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (April 1, 1992). "'Room' in the top 10 for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Gable, Donna (April 15, 1992). "CBS' historic jump". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Gable, Donna (April 29, 1992). "ABC wins with news, goodbyes". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Donlon, Brian (May 13, 1992). "Finales put NBC in first". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Gable, Donna (May 20, 1992). "Weddings blissful for NBC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Emmy Database Archived April 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ Young Artists Awards site Archived April 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine