Surviving Suburbia

Surviving Suburbia is an American sitcom television series starring Bob Saget and Cynthia Stevenson that aired on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from April 6 to August 7, 2009.[1] The series originally aired at 9:30 PM Eastern/8:30 PM Central following Dancing with the Stars, before moving to Fridays at 8:30 PM Eastern/7:30 PM Central for its remaining episodes. It was the first program starring Saget to air on ABC since he left America's Funniest Home Videos in 1997.

Surviving Suburbia
GenreSitcom
Created byKevin Abbott
Starring
ComposerAdam Gorgoni
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producers
  • Mindy Schultheis
  • Michael Hanel
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes (20–22 min. without commercials)
Production companies
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseApril 6 (2009-04-06) –
August 7, 2009 (2009-08-07)

On August 8, 2009, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson announced that Surviving Suburbia, along with The Goode Family, had officially been cancelled due to low ratings.[2][3]

Premise

A half-hour comedy dubbed as a male version of Roseanne, Surviving Suburbia focused on a father named Steve Patterson (Bob Saget), his wife Anne (Cynthia Stevenson), and their two children, Henry and Courtney. The Pattersons lead ordinary, uneventful lives until their new next-door neighbors begin causing several problems, turning their suburban lifestyle upside-down.

Cast and characters

Programming history

In 2008, The CW announced plans to air the comedy as part of their Sunday night programming block with Media Rights Capital or MRC. The series was set to air November 2, and 13 episodes were taped.

When the MRC block started, it faced very low ratings against other networks (especially with FOX's Animation Domination). After only a few weeks the CW pulled the entire block and announced that the status of Suburbia's air date was TBA. An additional factor in scheduling changes may have been the fact that Media Rights Capital had been unable to keep up with the set production schedule and had begun running out of episodes. CW never released any announcements concerning the series' air date.

On February 6, 2009, ABC, which had previously aired two shows with Bob Saget: Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos, announced that it would be airing Surviving Suburbia starting April 6.

When the first episode aired, it garnered 12.16 million viewers and 3.2/8 million viewers in the 18–49 demographics but ratings kept dropping and it lost a lot of the audience of its lead-in, Dancing with the Stars.

Surviving Suburbia returned to the 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central slot on Friday, June 12 and finished its first and only season on Friday, August 7.[4]

Episodes
# Title Director Writer Original Airdate
1"Hero"Emile LevisettiDon BeckApril 6, 2009 (2009-04-06)
In the series premiere Steve is forced to house sit for Onno and accidentally causes a fire. To cover up for his mistake, he claims to have stopped the fire. His daughter and neighbors praise him as being a hero, but his conscience ends up getting the best of him.
2"Project Run Away"Andrew D. WeymanDanny ZukerApril 13, 2009 (2009-04-13)
Steve challenges Courtney's teacher regarding a homework assignment. Anne must stand up for Steve when his parenting skills are questioned due to an inappropriate e-mail. Meanwhile, Henry makes it a mission to discover who is the father of Rhonda's children.
3"DMV"Robbie CountrymanVince CalandraApril 20, 2009 (2009-04-20)
Steve has a plan of using Monica's scooter to cut the line at the DMV, but his plan backfires. Meanwhile, Onno asks Anne to take Jenna to the gynecologist but when Jenna tells Anne her true reasons for going, Anne is put in a compromising position.
4"40 Days"Andrew D. WeymanClaudia LonowApril 27, 2009 (2009-04-27)
After learning about a book which describes how intimacy can be achieved with 40 days of sex, Steve talks Anne into joining a book club so that she'll read it. His plan does not go accordingly when Anne admits she has no confidence in their current relationship. Meanwhile, Courtney loses an important gift from Jenna and must confess her mistake.
5"Burn, Bougainvillea, Burn"Andrew D. WeymanKevin AbbotMay 27, 2009 (2009-05-27)

As Steve and Anne get to know their neighbors, things aren't as friendly as they seem.

Note: Despite being aired as Episode 5, the plot of this episode (in which Steve and Anne first meet their new neighbors, Onno and his daughter Jenna) clearly indicates that it was intended to come before Episode 1 in the series.
6"If the Shoe Fits, Steal It"Andrew D. WeymanClaudia LonowJune 12, 2009 (2009-06-12)
Steve falsely accuses a mother at school of stealing his daughter Courtney's shoes. Henry hides his SAT score from Anne.
7"Dirty Stevie"Andrew D. WeymanBob MyerJune 19, 2009 (2009-06-19)
Onno gives Steve a handgun and Steve likes the power that comes with it. Anne on the other hand doesn't want that gun in her house, until Steve uses that power with Henry, she sees the new macho-man in Steve and she likes it. Meanwhile, Anne has to deal with Monica after she sends her a bill of the food that Henry has eaten at her house.
8"The Game of Life"Andrew D. WeymanVince Calandra & Claudia LonowJune 26, 2009 (2009-06-26)
Steve talks about his concerns for the economy during family game night.
9"Nothing for Money"Leonard R. Garner Jr.Kevin Abbott & Pat BullardJuly 10, 2009 (2009-07-10)
Steve asks Anne to get a real job instead of volunteering.
10"School Council"Robbie CountrymanVince CalandraJuly 17, 2009 (2009-07-17)
Steve learns something about Henry life.
11"Three End Tables"Andrew D. WeymanVince CalandraJuly 24, 2009 (2009-07-24)
Anne and Steve have trouble about a table mistake. Courtney and Jenna have conflict about Henry.
12"Desperate Housewife"Robbie CountrymanDonald R. BeckJuly 31, 2009 (2009-07-31)
Steve admits that a neighbor, who is going through a divorce, flirted with him.
13"No Reception"Andrew D. WeymanPat BullardAugust 7, 2009 (2009-08-07)
In the series finale Steve tries to motivate Annie to break away from her manipulative mother after her parents abuse the new cell phones they give them; Henry is counseled after he reprimands Rhonda for glamorizing teen pregnancy in front of Courtney.

Weekly ratings
# Episode 18–49 Viewers (m) Rating Share
1 Hero 3.2/8 12.16 7.2 11
2 Project Run Away 2.8/7 10.69 6.3 10
3 DMV 2.6/6 10.86 6.6 10
4 40 Days 2.4/6 9.91 6.0 9
5 Burn, Bougainvillea, Burn 1.0/3 2.83 1.9 4
6 If the Shoe Fits, Steal It 0.6/3 2.87 1.3 3
7 Dirty Stevie 0.6/3 2.59 1.8 4
8 The Game of Life 0.7/3 2.76 1.7 4
9 Nothing for Money 0.5/2 2.23 1.8 4
10 School Council 0.7/3 2.62 1.7 4
11 Three End Tables 0.6/3 2.42 TBA TBA
12 Desperate Housewife 0.6/3 2.60 1.6 4
13 No Reception 0.7/3 2.73 1.8 4

International airings

The program premiered on October 2009 in Greece on Greece's Fox Life. In Portugal, it airs every weekday at 9:45 on Fox Life.

References
  1. "ABC Picks-Up Bob Saget Sitcom Surviving Suburbia; Me-TV Milwaukee Adds Brady Bunch, Gomer".
  2. McPherson Declares "Goode Family", "Suburbia" Dead, The Futon Critic, August 8, 2009
  3. "The Goode Family" and "Surviving Suburbia": ABC Prez Says Sitcoms Cancelled, TV Series Finale, August 8, 2009
  4. Ratings: "Law & Order" Rises, the Non-Celebrities Fall, TV Guide, June 4, 2009
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