The Mommies

Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Terry Grossman Kathy Speer
Starring	Caryl Kristensen Marilyn Kentz Robin Thomas Ashley Peldon Shiloh Strong Sam Gifaldi Ryan Merriman David Dukes Julia Duffy Lane Davies Jere Burns
Composers	Steve Dorff Rich Eames Scott Gale
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	38
Production
Executive producers	Terry Grossman Tim O'Donnell Kathy Speer
Producers	Rick Newberger Julie Tsutsui
Cinematography	Darryl Palagi George Spiro Dibie
Editors	Michael Weitzman Frank Mazzaro
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Speer-Grossman Productions Paramount Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 18, 1993 (1993-09-18) – June 10, 1995 (1995-06-10)

The Mommies is an American sitcom television series created by Terry Grossman and Kathy Speer that aired on NBC from September 18, 1993, to June 10, 1995.^[1]^[2]

NBC originally canceled The Mommies after one season along with other Saturday night sitcoms Café Americain and Nurses. Due to increased ratings during summer reruns, NBC renewed the series for midseason with some tweaks in format (as well as its title shortened to simply Mommies). However, the ratings dropped again in season 2, and the series was pulled in the spring of 1995, with its final episode being burned off over the summer.

Synopsis

The series was loosely based on the real-life personas of Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz (aka The Mommies) as suburban neighbors and their families in Petaluma, California. Episodes focused on how they dealt with parenting and modern-day issues. The duo also co-produced and co-wrote the series. Neighbors "Perfect Mom" Barb Ballantine (Julia Duffy) and "Mr. Mom" Tom Booker (Jere Burns) were introduced in the middle of season one with Duffy becoming a series regular.

Season two brought several changes to the series. Jere Burns was upgraded to series regular, Paul Kellogg was recast, Marilyn got divorced, and Barb's never before seen husband (played by fellow Newhart alum Peter Scolari) became recurring. Also laugh track usage was reduced.

Cast

Main

Caryl Kristensen - Caryl Kellogg
Marilyn Kentz - Marilyn Larson
Robin Thomas (season 1) and Lane Davies (season 2) - Paul Kellogg, Caryl's husband
Ashley Peldon - Kasey Larson, Marilyn & Jack's daughter
Shiloh Strong - Adam Larson, Marilyn & Jack's son
Sam Gifaldi - Danny Kellogg, Caryl & Paul's son
Ryan Merriman - Blake Kellogg, Caryl & Paul's son
David Dukes - Jack Larson, Marilyn's husband
Julia Duffy - Barb Ballantine
Jere Burns - Tom Booker (1994-1995: recurring, season 1; main, season 2)

Recurring

Jennifer Blanc - Tiffany (1993-1994)
Peter Scolari - Ken Ballantine, Barb's husband
Courtney Peldon - Beth Booker, Tom's daughter (1994-1995)
Justin Berfield - Jason Booker, Tom's son (1994-1995)

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	First aired	Last aired
1	24	September 18, 1993 (1993-09-18)	May 7, 1994 (1994-05-07)
2	13	January 2, 1995 (1995-01-02)	June 10, 1995 (1995-06-10)

Season 1 (1993–94)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Terry Hughes	Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman	September 18, 1993 (1993-09-18)	N/A
2	2	"Those Lowdown Ultrasound Pink-or-Blues"	Terry Hughes	Linda Marr	September 25, 1993 (1993-09-25)	12.0^[3]
3	3	"Death of a Crossing Guard"	Terry Hughes	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	October 2, 1993 (1993-10-02)	11.2^[4]
4	4	"Take Me Out Anywhere But the Ballgame"	Terry Hughes	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	October 9, 1993 (1993-10-09)	14.0^[5]
5	5	"Much I Do About Nothing"	Terry Hughes	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	October 16, 1993 (1993-10-16)	12.3^[6]
6	6	"Revenge of the Mommies"	Terry Hughes	Nick LeRose	October 23, 1993 (1993-10-23)	11.8^[7]
7	7	"I Got the Music in Me"	Terry Hughes	Lisa A. Bannick	November 6, 1993 (1993-11-06)	10.9^[8]
8	8	"Doggie Dearest"	Terry Hughes	Nick LeRose	November 13, 1993 (1993-11-13)	10.5^[9]
9	9	"Thanks, But No Thanksgiving"	Terry Hughes	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	November 20, 1993 (1993-11-20)	10.4^[10]
10	10	"Friends and Mothers"	Terry Hughes	Linda Marr	November 27, 1993 (1993-11-27)	11.7^[11]
11	11	"Sleeping Around"	Terry Hughes	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	December 9, 1993 (1993-12-09)	20.7^[12]
12	12	"Christmas"	Gary Brown	Nick LeRose	December 11, 1993 (1993-12-11)	10.0^[12]
13	13	"Quality Time"	Gary Brown	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	December 18, 1993 (1993-12-18)	9.2^[13]
14	14	"The Fight"	Gary Brown	Lisa A. Bannick	January 8, 1994 (1994-01-08)	10.3^[14]
15	15	"Home Alone"	Terry Hughes	Nick LeRose	January 15, 1994 (1994-01-15)	10.8^[15]
16	16	"The Old Man Cometh"	Gary Brown	Nick LeRose	January 29, 1994 (1994-01-29)	9.7^[16]
17	17	"Bringing Home Baby"	Gary Brown	Linda Marr	February 5, 1994 (1994-02-05)	10.5^[17]
18	18	"Five Minutes Apart"	Gary Brown	Linda Marr	February 5, 1994 (1994-02-05)	10.5^[17]
19	19	"Valentine's Day"	Gary Brown	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	February 12, 1994 (1994-02-12)	10.2^[18]
20	20	"Mr. Mommie"	Gary Brown	Nick LeRose	March 19, 1994 (1994-03-19)	12.7^[19]
21	21	"The Campfire Girls"	Gary Brown	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	April 2, 1994 (1994-04-02)	11.7^[20]
22	22	"A Day in the Life"	Gary Brown	Lisa A. Bannick	April 16, 1994 (1994-04-16)	9.4^[21]
23	23	"Mommies Day"	Gary Brown	Linda Marr	May 7, 1994 (1994-05-07)	8.8^[22]
24	24	"The Exercist"	Gary Brown	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	May 7, 1994 (1994-05-07)	9.9^[22]

Season 2 (1995)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
25	1	"Tom's Deal"	Art Dielhenn	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	January 2, 1995 (1995-01-02)	11.5^[23]
26	2	"The Mother of All In-Laws"	Joanna Kerns	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	January 7, 1995 (1995-01-07)	11.0^[23]
27	3	"Enter Christine"	Frank Bonner	Story by : Tim O'Donnell Teleplay by : Nick LeRose	January 14, 1995 (1995-01-14)	11.2^[24]
28	4	"Enter Ken"	Art Dielhenn	Nick LeRose	January 21, 1995 (1995-01-21)	10.1^[25]
29	5	"Coming Apart"	Tim O'Donnell	Tim O'Donnell	January 28, 1995 (1995-01-28)	10.5^[26]
30	6	"You Must Remember This"	Art Dielhenn	Rick Newberger	February 4, 1995 (1995-02-04)	9.3^[27]
31	7	"I Do, I Do Again"	Frank Bonner	Rick Newberger	February 25, 1995 (1995-02-25)	8.2^[28]
32	8	"The Dating Pool"	Art Dielhenn	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	March 4, 1995 (1995-03-04)	10.6^[29]
33	9	"Who Am I?"	Joanna Kerns	Geoffrey Miller	March 18, 1995 (1995-03-18)	11.2^[30]
34	10	"Mystery Ride"	Art Dielhenn	Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal	March 18, 1995 (1995-03-18)	11.7^[30]
35	11	"My Roof, My Rules"	Art Dielhenn	Linda Marr	March 25, 1995 (1995-03-25)	8.6^[31]
36	12	"Selling Out"	Frank Bonner	Ellen Sandler & Cindy Chupack	April 3, 1995 (1995-04-03)	12.1^[32]
37	13	"Four Mommies and a Funeral"	Frank Bonner	Nick LeRose	June 10, 1995 (1995-06-10)	6.5^[33]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Recipient
1992	Young Artist Awards	Nominated	Best Youth Comedienne in a TV Show	Ashley Peldon
			Best Performance: Young Actress in a TV Comedy Series	Courtney Peldon
			Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten in a TV Series	Ashley Peldon
			Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten in a TV Series	Sam Gifaldi
1994		Nominated	Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series	Sam Gifaldi, Ryan Merriman, Ashley Peldon, Shiloh Strong and Joey Zimmerman
1994		Nominated	Best Actor Under Ten in a Television Series or Show	Sam Gifaldi

References

^ Doggrell, Glenn (January 12, 1995). "COMEDY : Caryl Kristensen: Mining the Mother Load Pays Off Big". Los Angeles Times.
^ Templeton, David (January 26, 2018). "Looking Back: When 'The Mommies' were Petaluma's favorite local comedians". Argus-Courier.
^ Gable, Donna (September 29, 1993). "'Dave's World,' 'Harts' help CBS to victory". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. October 6, 1993. p. 3D.
^ Gable, Donna (October 13, 1993). "New shows pick up steam in ABC win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ Graham, Jefferson; Gable, Donna (October 20, 1993). "'Home Improvement' powers to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (October 27, 1993). "World Series earns CBS a win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 10, 1993. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (November 17, 1993). "Walters gives ABC a special boost". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (November 24, 1993). "CBS sweeps back to top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (December 1, 1993). "Thanksgiving week tie for NBC, CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b DeRosa, Robin (December 15, 1993). "Midler's 'Gypsy' coming up roses for CBS". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (December 22, 1993). "ABC on top for 2nd week". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (January 12, 1994). "'Improvement' leads ABC charge". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (January 19, 1994). "'Columbo' on the case for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (February 2, 1994). "Super Bowl runs up NBC's score". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (February 9, 1994). "Lilith brings ratings to 'Frasier'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. February 16, 1994. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (March 23, 1994). "Wednesday wins for ABC". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (April 6, 1994). "ABC gets help from 'These Friends'". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. April 20, 1994. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b DeRosa, Robin (May 11, 1994). "ABC keeps hammering away". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. January 11, 1995. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (January 18, 1995). "'ER' rolls into the No. 1 spot". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (January 25, 1995). "'ER' helps NBC to No. 1". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (February 1, 1995). "Super Bowl kicks ABC to the top". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. February 8, 1995. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. March 1, 1995. p. 3D.
^ DeRosa, Robin (March 8, 1995). "'Murphy,' 'Dust' help push CBS to No. 1 tie". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. March 22, 1995. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. March 29, 1995. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. April 12, 1995. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. June 14, 1995. p. 3D.