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Charley Dietz

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Charley Dietz is a central character in the 1988 NBC sitcom Empty Nest and a guest star in its spin-off, Nurses. The neighbor of Harry Weston, Charley is a carefree, womanizing cruise ship employee who spends the majority of his time chasing women and pursuing meaningless relationship.

Charley appeared in all seven seasons of Empty Nest, and guest-starred in two episodes of its spin-off, Nurses. He is portrayed by veteran actor David Leisure.

Personality and Characteristics[]

Charley is established as a lazy, skirt-chasing mooch right from the start,[1] regularly dropping in to swipe food from Harry’s kitchen and never missing an opportunity to insult Carol, who sees him as a worthless, disgusting sex maniac. Charley spends the majority of his time chasing women and pursuing meaningless relationships. A frequent visitor to fine establishments such as Crotch Dusters and Stiffy’s, his sleezy tactics and lack of respect for women often land him in hot water. He occasionally receives death threats, and even once a voodoo doll likeness of himself. None of these failures seem to put a damper on his sex drive, and he never fails to find a cheap date somewhere. In the events that Charley finds himself in a dating slump, he often tries out new off-the-wall techniques to pick up women. Some of these include posing as a doctor,[2] putting subliminal messages onto cassette tapes, adopting a foreign accent, posing nude for an art class,[2] and even using Dreyfuss as a ladies' magnet.

The product of an unloving family, Charley craves familial acceptance as his parents don't hide the fact that they favor his brother Dieter over him. When Charley was put in the hospital for a tonsillectomy, he tried to call his parents to come and visit him, but they kept putting him on hold. Desperate for visitors, Charley hired a pair of actors from the Ocean Queen's production of Fiddler on the Roof to pose as his parents and dote on him. In "Harry Snubs Laverne", Charley reveals that his family went through "a lot of legal trouble" to make sure that he could never be buried in their family plot. The reason for this is never revealed as Charley is not allowed to talk about why as per Paragraph 2, Section 3 of the court order in question.[3]

Largely thanks to the compassion of Libby Weston, who took him under her wing when he moved into the neighborhood, Charley sees the Westons as his family, and Harry as his father figure.[4] Though his irresponsible and callous antics infuriate them, Charley truly cares about the Westons and becomes upset when he believes they are in in trouble. When Harry was hospitalized after an angina attack, Charley rushed to the hospital to see him and became distraught when he thought Harry had entered a coma.[5] Despite his antagonistic relationship with Carol, he jumped to defend her from a perceived burglar and stayed over at the house so she wouldn't be alone.[6] In "Goodbye, Mr. Dietz", Charley finally becomes aware of how his antics have harmed the Westons over the years and decides to move out. When Harry and Barbara come to plead for him to return, Charley is baffled that they want him to come back. He is elated when Harry reveals that they think of him as family and agrees to come home, calling Barbara "sis" and Harry "dad" -- and calling Carol "old maid aunt".[7]

At times, a mature, responsible Charley manages to surface. Despite his dislike for Carol, he offered to marry her so that her son won't grow up without a father figure in his life. Season 7's "A Chip Off the Old Charley" reveals that Charley is the father of a seventeen year-old boy. At first Charley takes to partying around with the boy, but soon sees the error of his ways and shapes up.[8] These responsible spells are only temporary, and he’s soon up to his old tricks again.

Biography[]

Childhood[]

Charley was born to Fred and Ursula Dietz on March 16th, 1956.[9] Charley mentions being the middle child in his family, but the only sibling ever depicted is his younger brother Dieter.[10]

When Charley was a child, he was a member of his church's children's choir. He was allegedly kicked out for trying to organize a wet choir robe contest.[11]

"Living" with the Westons[]

Some time after moving into the neighborhood, Charley befriended his neighbor Libby Weston. Libby began inviting him over and letting him hang out at their house. According to Harry, Libby recognized that Charley hadn't had the best life and believed that he could become a better person with love and compassion.[12]

1990s[]

In February of 1993 he had to perform community service at the same hospital paired with the criminal Jack Trenton.

Family tree[]

Template:Dietzfam

Career[]

Charley works on a cruise ship called the Ocean Queen, although he rarely seems to be away. What exactly he does on the ship isn't known, but his duties do include carrying around keys and passing out shuffleboard pucks. Charley periodically quits his job on the cruise to try a handful of different careers, and when these career changes inevitably falter, he somehow ends up back at his cruise ship job. According to Charley himself, "I just showed up. They never knew I was gone.”

  • Little League Coach: Charley was a coach for the Pediatric Pirates, a little league team that Harry sponsored.[13]
  • Model: Charley had a brief stint as a model for a community college's art class. He only took the job as a way to meet women.[2]
  • Pirate
  • Stand-Up Comic: Charley once tried his hand at stand-up comedy, which led to an appearance on Evening at the Improv.
  • Used Car Salesman: In "Brotherly Shove", Charley with his brother at his used car lot.
  • Weatherman: Charley once attempted to become a weatherman in order to get closer to an attractive anchorwoman. He was able to pass the audition and even got on TV, but he screwed up his first appearance and was later fired.[14]

Quotes[]

“Here lies Charley Dietz. Let down by his friends in his moment of nietz.”
— Charley dictating his epitaph; "Harry Snubs Laverne" (1989)
“Hey, Harry, you'll go to Hell if you don't stop pooping on the padre.”
— Charley defends Father O'Brien; "Between a Cop and a Hard Place" (1989)
“Hey, don't knock it. I happen to believe mature women bring a lot to a relationship. ... Sure, old broads are usually so desperate, you get 'em to spring for the room and the pizza.”
— Sage advice on dating older women; "Just You and My Kid" (1989)


Appearances[]

Empty Nest (1988-1992)[]





Template:ENSeason5Appearances

Template:ENSeason6Appearances

Template:ENSeason7Appearances

Nurses (1991-1993)[]

Template:NursesSeason1Appearances

Template:NursesSeason3Appearances

Casting and Development[]

Oliver in the Empty Nest pilot; The Golden Girls (1987)

Oliver in the Empty Nest pilot; The Golden Girls (1987)

In the original Empty Nest pilot, which aired as a backdoor pilot for the second season finale of The Golden Girls, Charley was an oversexed and irresponsible airline pilot named Oliver. Much like Charley, Oliver would often come by the Corliss's house and overstay his welcome, the reason for this never being given but implied to be that he was lonely. He was known for being particularly wild at parties, as he showed up uninvited to a New Year's party at Blanche Devereaux's home with two women on his arm and passed out in the punch bowl. His antics greatly annoyed the Corlisses, the Golden Girls, and even his own mother, who refused to talk to him because of something he did three or four months earlier.[15]

After the original backdoor pilot aired, the concept of the series was retooled extensively until it had reached what would become Empty Nest. Of the original cast and concept, David Leisure was the only one who returned for the series, as his Oliver character didn't end up changing very much -- save for the name and occupation.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • To be added.

Site Navigation[]

V - E - H
Empty Nest characters
Main Cast Barbara Weston • Carol Weston • Charley Dietz • Dreyfuss
Harry Weston • Laverne Todd • Maxine Douglas • Sophia Petrillo
Recurring Cast Ben Braxton • Doris • Emily Weston • Fred Dietz • Jeffrey Millstein • Kevin Millen • Lurlene Moss • Matt Kane • Miss Bingham • Mr. Garrison • Nick Todd • Patrick Arcola • Scotty Weston • Ursula Dietz

References[]

  1. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot”. Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (October 8th, 1988)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Empty Nest, Season 3, Episode 5, “The Tortoise and The Harry”. Garrett, Roger (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (October 20th, 1990)
  3. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 2, “Harry Snubs Laverne”. Dougherty, Pat (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (October 14th, 1989)
  4. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 3, Episode 10, “Someone to Watch Over Me”. Blake, Sydney and Braunstein, Bill (writers) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (November 24th, 1990)
  5. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 12, “Change of Heart”. Beavers, Susan (writer) & Cardiff, Andy (director) (January 6th, 1990)
  6. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 3, Episode 8, “The Boy Next Door”. LaZebnik, Rob (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (November 10th, 1990)
  7. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 20, “Goodbye, Mr. Dietz”. Perling, Toni (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (March 3rd, 1990)
  8. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 7, Episode 4, “A Chip Off the Old Charley”. Cheung, Vince and Montanio, Ben (writers) & Smart, Doug (director) (October 8th, 1994)
  9. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 3, Episode 20, “Drive, He Said”. Sacks, David (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (March 16th, 1991)
  10. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 15, “M.D. P.O.V.”.  King, David Tyron and LaZebnik, Rob and Sacks, David (writers) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (February 3rd, 1990)
  11. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 1, Episode 10, “Libby's Gift”. LaZebnik, Rob and Sacks, David (writers) & Cooper, Hal (director) (December 17th, 1988)
  12. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 3, “On The Interpretation of Dreams”. Jacobs, Gary (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (October 21st, 1989)
  13. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 4, “Between a Cop and a Hard Place”. Levy, Neil Alan (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (October 28th, 1989)
  14. ↑ Empty Nest, Season 2, Episode 24, “Still Growing After All These Years”. Jacobs, Gary (writer) & Zuckerman, Steve (director) (April 28th, 1990)
  15. ↑ The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 26, “Empty Nests”. Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (May 16th, 1987)
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