Soul Man is an American sitcom starring Dan Aykroyd that aired on ABC from April 15, 1997, to May 26, 1998. A total of 25 half-hour episodes were produced over two seasons.
| Soul Man | |
|---|---|
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| Created by | Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams |
| Written by | Sarit Catz Pat Dougherty Karin Kelly Gloria Ketterer Tom Leopard David MacFadzean Steve Paymer Jon Pollack David Richardson Elliot Shoenman Marley Sims Danny Smith Mary Pat Walsh Matt Williams |
| Directed by | Peter Bonerz Gil Junger John Pasquin Will Mackenzie Don Scardino Andrew Tsao Ted Wass |
| Starring | Dan Aykroyd Anthony Clark Kevin Sheridan Brendon Ryan Barrett Courtney Chase Spencer Breslin Michael Finiguerra Dakin Matthews Anne Lambton |
| Theme music composer | Isaac Hayes and David Porter |
| Opening theme | "Soul Man" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams |
| Producer | Gayle S. Maffeo |
| Production locations | Royal Oak, Michigan (setting) New York, NY (actual filming location) |
| Camera setup | Videotape; Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Hostage Productions Wind Dancer Production Group Touchstone Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | April 15, 1997 – May 26, 1998 |
| Related | |
| Home Improvement | |
The series premiered on April 15, 1997, and was picked up for a second season of 22 half-hour episodes after only three episodes aired for the first season. Despite ranking 29th in its 2nd and final season, it ended on May 26, 1998, with 25 half-hour episodes produced in total. A four-year-old Spencer Breslin made his TV debut and was a series regular for the three-episode-long 1997 first season, in which he played the youngest child of Aykroyd.[1][2]
The theme song was "Soul Man" written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Aykroyd was closely associated with the song, having released a cover of it in 1979 with his band The Blues Brothers.
Premise
editMike Weber (played by Aykroyd) is a widowed Episcopal priest who must deal with his four children, his quirky parishioners in Royal Oak, Michigan, and a wet-behind-the-ears curate who happens to be the nephew of his bishop.
Cast
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- Dan Aykroyd as Rev. Mike Weber
- Anthony Clark as Rev. Todd Tucker
- Kevin Sheridan as Kenny Weber, Mike's first son
- Brendon Ryan Barrett as Andy Weber, Mike's second son
- Courtney Chase as Meredith Weber, Mike's daughter
- Spencer Breslin (season 1) & Michael Finiguerra (season 2) as Fred Weber, Mike's third son
- Dakin Matthews as Bishop Peter Jerome
Home Improvement connection
editMike Weber appeared on Home Improvement as the priest of Richard Karn's character, Al Borland. He was hired to put in a new stand for a holy water basin in the season seven episode "Losing My Religion". Tim Taylor ended up cutting the hole too big, causing the basin to fall through the floor.
In the Season 1 finale episode "Cinderella and the Funeral", Al Borland appeared in order to fix the church's furnace. Reference was made to Tim and the holy water basin falling through the hole he cut.
Zachary Ty Bryan appeared in the episode "Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon" playing Brad Taylor.
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 3 | April 15, 1997 | April 29, 1997 | |
| 2 | 22 | September 30, 1997 | May 26, 1998 | |
Season 1 (1997)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Urges and Lies" | Andrew Tsao | Carmen Finestra & David McFadzean & Matt Williams | April 15, 1997 | 18.33[3] |
| 2 | 2 | "Communion Wine and Convicts" | Unknown | Unknown | April 22, 1997 | 17.69[4] |
| 3 | 3 | "Cinderella and the Funeral" | Unknown | Unknown | April 29, 1997 | 14.00[5] |
Season 2 (1997–98)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | "Mike's Awakening" | Andrew Tsao | Tom Leopold | September 30, 1997 | 17.11[6] |
| 5 | 2 | "Hello Todd, Hello Nancy, Goodbye Harley" | Andrew Tsao | David Richardson | October 7, 1997 | 17.44[7] |
| 6 | 3 | "The Lost Sheep Squadron" | John Pasquin | Danny Smith | October 21, 1997 | 14.19[8] |
| 7 | 4 | "Trick and Treat" | John Pasquin | Jon Pollack | October 28, 1997 | 12.97[9] |
| 8 | 5 | "Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon" | John Pasquin | Pat Dougherty | November 4, 1997 | 11.16[10] |
| 9 | 6 | "Camping and Housekeepers" | John Pasquin | Steve Paymer | November 18, 1997 | 16.40[11] |
| 10 | 7 | "Three Priests and a Baby" | John Pasquin | Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer | November 25, 1997 | 12.95[12] |
| 11 | 8 | "Attic Box Blues" | John Pasquin | Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer | December 2, 1997 | 13.52[13] |
| 12 | 9 | "Christmas Ruined My Life" | Gil Junger | Pat Dougherty | December 16, 1997 | 14.00[14] |
| 13 | 10 | "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" | Don Scardino | Carmen Finestra & David McFadzean | January 6, 1998 | 13.72[15] |
| 14 | 11 | "Holy Rollers" | Ted Wass | Jon Pollack | January 13, 1998 | 13.35[16] |
| 15 | 12 | "A Kiss Is Just a Kiss" | Don Scardino | Danny Smith | January 20, 1998 | 13.85[17] |
| 16 | 13 | "The Stan Plan" | Ted Wass | Pat Dougherty & Danny Smith | February 10, 1998 | 12.30[18] |
| 17 | 14 | "The Choir Boys" | Gil Junger | Steve Paymer | February 17, 1998 | 12.19[19] |
| 18 | 15 | "Todd and the Bod" | Gil Junger | Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer | February 24, 1998 | 15.60[20] |
| 19 | 16 | "Grabbed by an Angel" | Will Mackenzie | Karin Kelly | April 14, 1998 | 12.62[21] |
| 20 | 17 | "Just the Three of Us" | Peter Bonerz | Jon Pollack | April 21, 1998 | 11.76[22] |
| 21 | 18 | "Raising Heck" | Ted Wass | Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer | April 28, 1998 | 10.91[23] |
| 22 | 19 | "The Good Shepard" | Ted Wass | Danny Smith | May 5, 1998 | 10.49[24] |
| 23 | 20 | "Who Killed St. Shepherd?" | Ted Wass | Jon Pollack | May 12, 1998 | 9.38[25] |
| 24 | 21 | "Play Ball" | Unknown | Unknown | May 19, 1998 | 9.88[26] |
| 25 | 22 | "Little Black Dress" | Unknown | Unknown | May 26, 1998 | 8.69[27] |
References
edit- ^ Barry W Stanton (3 March 2016). "What Happened to Spencer Breslin - See What He's Doing Now". The Gazette Review. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ Carolyn Patricia Scott (2003-11-02). "'Cat' doesn't have his tongue - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 14–20)". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 21–27)". The Los Angeles Times. April 30, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 28–May 4)". The Los Angeles Times. May 7, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 29–Oct. 5)". The Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 6–12)". The Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 27–Nov. 2)". The Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 3-9)". The Los Angeles Times. November 12, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 17–23)". The Los Angeles Times. November 26, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 24–30)". The Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 1-7)". The Los Angeles Times. December 10, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 15–21)". The Los Angeles Times. December 24, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 5–11)". The Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 12–18)". The Los Angeles Times. January 21, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 19–25)". The Los Angeles Times. January 28, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 9-15)". The Los Angeles Times. February 19, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 16-22)". The Los Angeles Times. February 25, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 23–March 1)". The Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. April 29, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 27-May 3)". The Los Angeles Times. May 6, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 4–10)". The Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 11–17)". The Los Angeles Times. May 20, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 18–24)". The Los Angeles Times. May 28, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 25–31)". The Los Angeles Times. June 4, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
