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The Tortellis

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TV

Created by
  
Ken Estin

Country of origin
  
United States

Final episode date
  
12 May 1987

Program creators
  
James Burrows, Ken Estin

5.9/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Sitcom

Composer(s)
  
Perry Botkin Jr.

Original language(s)
  
English

Network
  
NBC

The Tortellis 4 The Tortellis 1987 The 10 Worst TV Show Spinoffs Complex

Starring
  
Dan HedayaJean KasemTimothy WilliamsMandy IngberCarlene Watkins

Cast
  
Dan Hedaya, Jean Kasem, Mandy Ingber, Carlene Watkins

The Tortellis is an American sitcom and the first spin-off of Cheers starring Dan Hedaya and Jean Kasem that aired on NBC from January 21 to May 12, 1987.

Contents

The Tortellis The Cast of The Tortellis Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Synopsis

The Tortellis The Tortellis Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Hedaya and Kasem had appeared on Cheers on several occasions as Nick and Loretta Tortelli, who were (respectively) Carla Tortelli's loutish ex-husband and Nick's cheerful, bubble-headed new trophy wife. The show co-stars Timothy Williams as Anthony Tortelli, Nick and Carla's teenage son, and Mandy Ingber as Annie Tortelli, Anthony's young bride, reprising their roles from Cheers.

The Tortellis httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb6

At the beginning of the series, Loretta leaves Nick and moved to Las Vegas to live with her sensible, divorced sister Charlotte (played by Carlene Watkins), and Charlotte's young son Mark (Aaron Moffat). The series follows Nick as he moves to Las Vegas to try to reconcile with Loretta, vowing to change his sleazy, conniving ways in the process. Nick and Loretta tentatively get back together, and Nick sets up a TV repair business and tries to reform—not always successfully. Anthony and Annie follow Nick to Las Vegas, and all six characters lived in the same house.

After the show was canceled, all four Tortelli characters made return appearances on Cheers, where it was revealed that Nick's TV repair business went under, but that Nick and Loretta were still together (albeit somewhat shakily) and had presumably moved back to Boston.

The Tortellis By Ken Levine Because you asked for it

The characters of Charlotte and Mark Cooper were never seen or even referred to on any episode of Cheers, either before or after The Tortellis' run.

Cast

The Tortellis The Tortellis a Titles amp Air Dates Guide

  • Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli (ex-husband of Carla Tortelli on Cheers)
  • Jean Kasem as Loretta Tortelli
  • Timothy Williams as Anthony Tortelli
  • Mandy Ingber as Annie Tortelli
  • Carlene Watkins as Charlotte Cooper
  • Aaron Moffatt as Mark Cooper

    • Guest stars

  • Rhea Perlman appeared as her Cheers character Carla in the pilot, in a dream sequence.
  • George Wendt (Norm Peterson) and John Ratzenberger (Cliff Clavin) appeared in episode 3, paying a visit to Las Vegas and meeting up with Nick.
  • Mitchell Laurance was seen in a recurring role as Pete Bruno, Charlotte's untrustworthy boyfriend.

    • Reception and cancellation

    The series drew in low ratings, ranking 50th out of 79 shows with an average rating/share of 13.3/20. As a result, NBC canceled The Tortellis after 13 episodes. The next attempt at a Cheers spin-off, Frasier, was considerably more successful, running for 11 seasons.

    References

    The Tortellis Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA