"Grace Under Fire" (1993) TV series 1993-1998

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Creator:

Chuck Lorre

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

29 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Grace is a recovering alcoholic, now divorced from an abusive marriage, struggling to bring up 2.4 children on her own.

Plot Keywords:

Pharmacist | Oil Refinery | Divorcee | Multiple Actors For One Character | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Brett Butler	...	Grace Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Casey Sander	...	Wade / ... (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Kaitlin Cullum	...	Libby Kelly / ... (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Dylan Sprouse	...	Patrick Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Cole Sprouse	...	Patrick Kelly (112 episodes, 1993-1998)
Dave Thomas	...	Russell Norton (111 episodes, 1993-1998)
Julie White	...	Nadine Swoboda (97 episodes, 1993-1997)
Jon Paul Steuer	...	Quentin Kelly #1 (73 episodes, 1993-1996)
Peggy Rea	...	Jean Kelly / ... (51 episodes, 1993-1998)
Walter Olkewicz	...	Dougie Boudreau / ... (48 episodes, 1993-1996)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Elgin, Illinois, USA

Company:

Carsey-Werner Company

Trivia:

In some episodes, cans of President's Choice Cola can bee seen. This brand of Cola is produced for Loblaw's food stores (mostly its subsidiary stores Real Canadian Superstore, Real Canadian Wholesale club and Extra foods) throughout Canada. The show was filmed in Los Angeles.

Quotes:

[Russell is complaining as Grace has bought "Alternative Medicine"]
Russell Norton: Grace, all this phoney-baloney stuff is killing me.
Grace Kelly: Russell, you shouldn't be so homeo-phobic

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1995) (TV)

A Fire that needed stoking by the end

I loved this series, starring Brett Butler as a strong, yet fallible, recovering alcoholic with three children and a history suitable for talk shows. Or I loved the first few seasons, anyway - my local station messed the show around so much that, when I finally got to see it again, the characters had changed, and most of the humour had gone. With the initial seasons of 'Grace Under Fire', I found it hard to believe the rumours about Butler's personal life intruding onto the set. In fact, I found it hard to believe that Grace Kelly (with a mother-in-law called 'Jean' Kelly - I loved those subtle references, and contradictions - how different could Grace have been from her film star namesake?) wasn't a real person. Everyone on the show in the early years were very believable and very, very funny, Butler and Dave Thomas (Russell, the pharmacist) especially. And far from being another cliched show about 'survivor'-type women, I admired the character of Grace in a way that I didn't with 'Roseanne', a show with a similar premise of a woman (and mother) battling against life. But, as with anything, I think Grace finally ran out of steam, and introducing an older, illegitimate son tipped the balance, in my opinion.