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Betty White as Rose Nylund
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Empty Nest is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC-TV from 1988 to 1995. The series was created as a spin-off of The Golden Girls by creator and producer Susan Harris. For its first three seasons, Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs. It was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions in association with Touchstone Television.[1][2]

Development[]

An early version of the series initially appeared in the 1987 Golden Girls episode "Empty Nests",[3] which was intended to act as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off, which was to begin during the fall 1987 TV season. In the episode, George and Renee Corliss (played by Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno), were introduced as the Girls' neighbors, a middle-aged couple suffering from empty nest syndrome. Appearing alongside them was their college-bound teenage daughter Jenny (Jane Harnick) and Renee's brother Chuck (Geoffrey Lewis), also appeared. The Corlisses also had an annoying neighbor played by David Leisure, who in this version was named Oliver.

Rita Moreno later criticized the Empty Nest pilot, calling it a "very, very bad show."[4] She explained that the script desperately needed rewrites from creator Susan Harris, but she was very sick the week of shooting so it was left to other writers to fix. According to Moreno, "every day they kept changing my character, to the extent that by the time we got to do it in front of an audience I couldn't remember Line 1 because the attitudes had changed so many times. That was the most embarrassing experience...we must have done, I would guess, about fifteen takes in front of an audience."[4] Ultimately, the series did not go ahead as planned and the premise was later extensively revamped with a new cast before Empty Nest debuted in 1988. The set of the Corlisses' house, however, was exactly the same as the one that later became the Weston residence.

Storyline[]

Empty Nest

The cast of Empty Nest

The show's story revolves around Miami pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston, whose life is turned upside down when his wife, Libby, dies and two of his adult daughters move back into the family home. Early episodes establish that the Golden Girls characters are neighbors of the Westons. Original Golden Girls actors, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White and Estelle Getty all guest-star as their Golden Girls characters, and Mulligan appears occasionally on The Golden Girls.

In the show, eldest daughter Carol is a neurotic, high-strung recent divorcée, while middle daughter Barbara is a tough undercover police officer. The two sisters frequently bicker and vie for the attention of their father, while their father occasionally expresses regret at never having had a son. The Westons' large dog Dreyfuss also prominently features as a member of the household.

In 1992, Kristy McNichol, who played Barbara, left the show and Lisa Rieffel joined the cast to play the third Weston daughter, Emily. Her character had previously not been shown onscreen but had been mentioned as being away at college. Rieffel left after one season, and for the show's final two seasons only Carol remained of the Weston children. Kristy McNichol returned for the series finale in 1995.

Another main character is the Westons' neighbor and best friend, Charley Dietz (David Leisure), a womanizing cruise ship employee who frequently barges into the house unannounced to borrow food or make sexist comments. Charley has a father-son relationship with Harry and a love-hate relationship with Carol.

Harry Weston's job is another major focus for the show -- for the first five seasons he works at a hospital, where he is assisted by wisecracking Southern nurse Laverne Todd, played by Park Overall. Laverne and Harry are shown to be good friends, originating with their first on-screen meeting in a sandwich shop where they start an argument over who would get the last Samms Sammich. In Season 6, Harry retires, eventually going to work for a struggling inner-city medical clinic run by the tough-talking Dr. Maxine Douglas. Having been fired by Dr. Weston's replacement, Laverne comes to work there as well.

Completing the cast is Carol's boyfriend, Patrick, an artist who is almost as eccentric as she is. Patrick convinces the Westons to let him use their empty garage as his new painting studio and, when his relationship with Carol becomes serious, he eventually moves in altogether. Carol and Patrick's romantic bliss is short-lived, and they break up at the beginning of Season 6. However, this leads into another plotline where Carol finds out she is pregnant with Patrick's child., and ultimately chooses to raise the baby, Scotty, on her own.

After the cancellation of The Golden Palace, Estelle Getty reprised her Golden Girls character Sophia Petrillo during Empty Nest's final two seasons. In the show, it is explained that Sophia has moved back into the nearby Shady Pines retirement home.

Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Episodes[]

Crossovers[]

The following is a list of Empty Nest episodes featuring characters from The Golden Girls or Nurses.

Season One
  • Episode 4: "Fatal Attraction" - Blanche becomes romantically interested in Harry.
  • Episode 10: "Libby's Gift" - Sophia comes over with a noise complaint about Harry's organ playing.
  • Episode 14: "Strange Bedfellows" - Rose comes over to return flyers Carol put up in the neighborhood.
  • Episode 17: "Dumped" - Dorothy's nephew Jim begins dating Barbara but then dumps her, which causes friction between Dorothy and Harry.
Season Two
  • Episode 6: "Rambo of Neiman Marcus" - Rose must repair Harry's car after she hits it.
Season Four
  • Episode 8: "Windy" - Sophia stops by to warn Harry about the impending hurricane. (Concurrent with "The Monkey Show".)
  • Episode 20: "Dr. Weston and Mr. Hyde" - Rose stops by for some romantic advice.
Season Six
  • Sophia appeared in all 26 episodes of this season (Estelle Getty became a series regular).
Season Seven
  • Sophia appeared in all 24 episodes of this season.

Appearances by Nurses characters[]

  • Season 5 | Episode 20 "Love and Marriage" - Jack Trenton performs community service with Charley.
  • Season 6 | Episode 2 "Bye-Bye, Baby... Hello: Part 1" - Casey appears.
  • Season 6 | Episode 4 "Mama Todd, the Sequel" - Casey appears.
  • Season 6 | Episode 7 "Mother Dearest" - Casey appears.

References[]

  1. Rosenberg, Howard (October 8, 1988). "'Empty Nest' Looks Like Good Place to Nestle Down". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-08/entertainment/ca-3135_1_empty-nest. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  2. Haithman, Diane (November 24, 1990). "'Empty Nest': TV's Unknown Hit". LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-24/entertainment/ca-4578_1_empty-nest. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  3. The Golden Girls, Season 2, Episode 26, “Empty Nests”. Harris, Susan (writer) & Sandrich, Jay (director) (May 16th, 1987)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Foundation Interviews (2012-09-13). Rita Moreno on "The Golden Girls"-EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG. YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
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