Meego (TV series)

Meego is an American science fiction sitcom television series that ran for six episodes from September 19 to October 24, 1997, on the CBS television network as part of its Friday night Block Party program block; after its cancellation, seven additional episodes that were produced but left unaired in the United States were aired in some international markets (such as on Sky1 in the United Kingdom).

Meego
GenreScience fiction sitcom
Created byRoss Brown
Developed by
Starring
Theme music composer
Composers
  • Jesse Frederick
  • Bennett Salvay
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (7 unaired) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Ross Brown
  • Thomas L. Miller
  • Robert L. Boyett
  • Michael Warren
ProducerKaren K. Miller
Camera setupVideotape; Multi-camera
Running time22 minutes (approx.)
Production companies
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 19 (1997-09-19) –
October 24, 1997 (1997-10-24)

Created by Ross Brown, and developed by Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Michael Warren, the series starred Bronson Pinchot in the title role as an alien masquerading as a human being who, after his spaceship crashlands on Earth, unexpectedly becomes the nanny to a single father's three children.

Synopsis

Meego (Pinchot) is a 9,000-year-old shape-shifting alien from the planet Marmazon 4.0. After his spaceship crashes, he is discovered by three children; Trip (Erik von Detten, later played by Will Estes), Maggie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Alex Parker (Jonathan Lipnicki). They live with their single father, Dr. Edward Parker (Ed Begley Jr.) and pass Meego off as human (he does not want anyone to know that he is extraterrestrial, and tells people he is from Canada instead). Although he plans to go home as soon as his ship is repaired, he becomes attached to the children and decides to remain on Earth to care for them.

Cast

Main
The television series' cast members.

Notable guest stars
  • Jaleel White in the episodes "Love and Money" and "The Truth About Cars and Dogs" (though seen wearing Urkel's eyeglasses, he appears here in uncredited, non-speaking roles as a disgruntled repossessor and a man who blows a whistle at a pinewood derby race).
  • Three cast members of Gilligan's Island, Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson, had a guest appearance on the episode "Mommy 'n' Meego", which was unaired in the United States.

Home exteriors

The exteriors of the Parker family home on Meego had been recycled from an earlier Miller-Boyett series, On Our Own. The footage of the home was filmed in a suburb of St. Louis, where On Our Own was set; however, in episode "Magic Parker", reference is made to "the greater Chicago area".

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		 Viewers
(millions)
1"Pilot"Joel ZwickRoss BrownSeptember 19, 1997 (1997-09-19)4751218.37[1]
Meego is made temporary babysitter for the Parker kids after his spaceship crashes in their backyard and he waits for repairs to be completed, but quickly finds himself growing attached to them and questioning his return home.
2"Love and Money"Rich CorrellLarry Kase & Joel RonkinSeptember 26, 1997 (1997-09-26)4665527.81[2]
Meego gets his first pay check, but still has a lot to learn about money; Maggie interrupts her studies to watch Trip and his friend play street hockey. Family Matters star Jaleel White has an uncredited cameo.
3"The Truth About Cars and Dogs"Rich CorrellShelly LandauOctober 3, 1997 (1997-10-03)4665518.20[3]
Maggie tries to tell her dad that the family nanny is an alien. Meanwhile, Meego goes on a date with the Parkers' next door neighbor; and Edward helps Alex build a model car for a derby. Jaleel White makes a second cameo appearance.
4"It's Good to be King"Rich CorrellBill BryanOctober 10, 1997 (1997-10-10)4665537.43[4]
When Meego hears that Trip is no longer required to study to pass history now that he's the star of the basketball team, which is coached by the history teacher, he gives his own lesson. He shrinks the teacher/coach and leaves him guarded by watchdog Barkley, while he substitutes - as King George III. Meanwhile, Edward and Alex plan a fishing trip.
5"Fatal Attraction"Rich CorrellAllison M. GibsonOctober 17, 1997 (1997-10-17)4665548.07[5]
Trip learns a valuable lesson after he takes Meego's magic wrist device and uses it to trick a popular girl into believing that he's the boy of her dreams. He initially enjoys the attention but changes his mind when his new "girlfriend" Brooke begins shadowing him and hanging on his every word. Meanwhile, Meego plays poker with Edward and some interns.
6"Halloween"Joel ZwickCary OkminOctober 24, 1997 (1997-10-24)4665568.35[6]
Maggie finds out that her secret admirer will be arriving incognito at her Halloween party and enlists Meego's aid in unmasking the mystery man, while he tends to spooky tasks of his own when he sets out to give Trip a scare.
7"Mommy 'n' Meego"Rich CorrellBill BryanUnaired (Unaired)466559N/A
On Meego's first attempt to phone his alien mom, he ends up reaching three Gilligan's Island castaways instead: Gilligan, Mary Ann and the Professor, still stranded after 35 years! While he continues his quest for a direct line to Marmazon 4.0, Trip, Maggie, and Alex try to keep his origins a secret from their suspicious and cranky grandmother.
8"Magic Parker"Rich CorrellLarry Kase & Joel RonkinUnaired (Unaired)466557N/A
Alex tricks Meego into helping him show off in front of Marcus. Maggie tries to get him to help set up Edward on a date, but while waiting for Alex to finish his martial arts lesson, he meets two other nannies (Erika & Theresa) and asks if they are available, but finds out they are "aliens." Misunderstanding them, he assumes they are from a different planet.
9"Liar, Liar"Joel ZwickShelly LandauUnaired (Unaired)466558N/A
When Trip lies to get a date with college girl Amanda, Meego embellishes it with his antics. He also encounters snow for the first time.
10"I Won't Be Home for Christmas"Rich CorrellCary OkminUnaired (Unaired)466562N/A
It's Christmas and Meego tries helping out by doing such things as teleporting the Christmas tree into the house (still tied to the roof of the car) and helping Edward get Alex the toy he wants. It is of course the most popular one of the season and in a mad rush at the department store, his wrist device is broken.
11"Saturday Night Fever"Rich CorrellR. Lee Fleming Jr.Unaired (Unaired)466555N/A
Edward has to go away for the weekend to assist an operation. Meego catches the chicken pox with strange side effects. Trip sneaks out of the house at midnight to go to an illegal rave party and Maggie is fed up with being a 'geek' when she wins the model citizen of the month award for the fifth time running so she tries changing her image.
12"Performance Art"Joel ZwickAllison M. GibsonUnaired (Unaired)466560N/A
Meego tries to persuade the kids to take their school field trip to the museum rather than the ice cream parlor. Trip plays sick to get a coveted autograph.
13"Car and Driver"Rich CorrellR. Lee Fleming Jr.Unaired (Unaired)466561N/A
Trip is desperate to get his driver's license in order to improve his dating prospects.

Broadcast

Meego was commissioned specifically for the CBS Block Party, an effort to compete with TGIF, the long-running family comedy block on ABC. Incoming CBS head Leslie Moonves saw an opportunity to take advantage of an ownership change at ABC (then being acquired by The Walt Disney Company, which was reshaping TGIF into a more teen-oriented block) and offered Miller-Boyett Productions US$40 million to bring two of TGIF's programs, Family Matters and Step by Step, to CBS. As part of the deal, Miller-Boyett also received the right to produce a new show, which became Meego.[7]

Meego was unusual among the shows in the CBS Block Party in that it was targeted mainly at children, instead of the whole family. This was a factor in the show's failure; by this point, the show's lead-in, Family Matters, consisted mostly of a cast of young adults, and its lead-out, The Gregory Hines Show (the only show on the block to be produced by CBS and Columbia TriStar Television and with no ties to either Warner Bros. or Miller-Boyett), was also a mostly adult-oriented sitcom.[7] Another factor in the show's failure was its direct competition; Boy Meets World, the program that aired on TGIF opposite Meego, reached its peak in number of viewers during the 1997–98 season. Meego was pulled from the air after six episodes. After holiday specials filled the slot for the next several weeks, Kids Say the Darndest Things replaced Meego on the CBS schedule in January 1998.

Critical reception

The show received mixed to negative reviews.[8][9][10]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient Result
1998 Young Artist Award Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series Jonathan Lipnicki Nominated
Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Supporting Young Actress Michelle Trachtenberg Won

References
  1. "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 15–21)". The Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  2. "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 22–28)". The Los Angeles Times. October 1, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  3. "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 29–Oct. 5)". The Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  4. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 6–12)". The Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  5. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. October 22, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  6. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.icon of an open green padlock
  7. Hal Boedeker (July 18, 1997). "He's A Goober But CBS Has A Lot Riding On Urkel TV". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  8. "'Meego' Is Alien To Adults". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. September 19, 1997.
  9. Tom Shales (September 19, 1997). "'Meego': A Cute Above". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  10. "'Meego' Should've Been No-go". New York Daily News. September 18, 1997.
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