Empty Nest

History

An early version of the series initially appeared in the 1987 Golden Girls episode "Empty Nests" and 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. Their teenage daughter Jenny (Jane Harnick), who had left for college, and Renee's brother Chuck (Geoffrey Lewis), also appeared. The Corlisses also had an annoying neighbor played by David Leisure (although in this version his character was named Oliver).

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.

Episodes

The show revolved around pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), whose life was turned upside down when his wife, Libby, died and two of his adult daughters moved back into the family home in Miami. Early episodes established that The Golden Girls were neighbors of the Westons. Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White and Estelle Getty all guest-starred as their Golden Girls characters, and Mulligan appeared occasionally on The Golden Girls. In later seasons, Getty would join Empty Nest's cast as a regular.

Eldest daughter Carol (Dinah Manoff) was a neurotic, high-strung recent divorcée, while middle daughter Barbara (Kristy McNichol) was a tough undercover police officer. The two sisters frequently bickered and vied for the attention of their father, whom they called "Daddy." (Harry occasionally expressed regret at never having had a son.) The Westons' large dog Dreyfuss was also prominently featured.

In 1992, McNichol left the show and the youngest Weston daughter, Emily (Lisa Rieffel), joined the cast. Her character had not been seen before, 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. McNichol returned for the series finale in 1995.

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

Harry's job was another major focus for the show. For the first five seasons he worked at a hospital, where he was assisted by wisecracking Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall). In season six Harry retired, eventually going to work for a struggling inner-city medical clinic run by the tough-talking Dr. Maxine Douglas (Marsha Warfield). Laverne, having been fired by Dr. Weston's replacement, came to work there as well.

Other characters who later joined the cast were Carol's boyfriend, Patrick (Paul Provenza), an artist who was almost as eccentric as she. Patrick convinced the Westons to let him use their empty garage as his new painting studio and, when his relationship with Carol became serious, he eventually moved in altogether. Their romantic bliss was short-lived, as they broke up at the beginning of season six. However, this was not before Carol became pregnant with Patrick's child; their son, Scotty, was born in November 1993, and Carol chose to raise the baby on her own. Estelle Getty reprised her Golden Girls character Sophia Petrillo during Empty Nest's final two seasons (after the cancellation of The Golden Palace). It was explained that Sophia had moved back into the nearby Shady Pines retirement home.

Cast

Nielsen ratings

1. 1988–89: #9 (19.2)
2. 1989–90: #9 (18.9)
3. 1990–91: #7 (16.7)
4. 1991–92: #23 (14.3)
5. 1992–93: #48 (10.8)
6. 1993–94: #62
7. 1994–95: #118

Crossovers

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

Syndication

The series ran in syndication from September 1993 to September 2000, shortly before the death of star Richard Mulligan. During this time, Empty Nest aired on TBS from September 16 to December 6, 1996, and on WGN from September 16, 1996 to March 26, 1999, with both stations airing the series as part of the regular syndication run (both TBS and WGN were superstations). In the subsequent decade, the series did not air on American television. Hallmark Channel, which also owns the rights to The Golden Girls, picked up the rights to the show in early 2011 and aired it from February 26 to June 26 of that year, but eventually removed it altogether.

Upon its launch on April 15, 2015, the new digital sub channel Laff began airing the series.

In Canada, the series was rerun by CBC during the 1990s.

Awards

In 1989, Richard Mulligan won both the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The series received a number of other Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations over the years, especially for Mulligan and for Park Overall, who was nominated three times for a Golden Globe Award.