Charles in Charge


Charles in Charge is an American sitcom television series starring Scott Baio. It debuted in 1984 and aired for a total of 126 episodes over five seasons. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television.
Baio starred as Charles, a college student attending the fictional Copeland College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, who finds a unique living arrangement with a family in need of a caretaker for their young children. The show also starred Willie Aames as Charles' best friend Buddy Lembeck.
The series premiered on CBS on October 3, 1984, and aired initially on Wednesday nights at 8 PM paired with another new sitcom, Dreams. Facing off against two hits in ABC's The Fall Guy and NBC's Highway to Heaven, neither show performed well and Charles in Charge was moved to Saturday nights after the cancellation of Dreams. CBS eventually decided to cancel the series after it made no improvement in the ratings after its move to Saturday, and Charles in Charge aired its final episode on April 3, 1985, in its original time slot.
At the time of CBS' decision to cancel Charles in Charge, a trend had emerged where network series, especially comedies, would find new life in first-run syndication after cancellation. Universal took advantage of this and relaunched Charles in Charge in syndication. The first new episode premiered on January 3, 1987, and four more seasons were produced before the show came to an end again on November 10, 1990.

Premise

When the series premiered, Charles had just taken a job with Stan and Jill Pembroke to help care for their three children, sons Jason and Douglas and daughter Lila. In exchange for his services, the Pembrokes provide Charles with room and board.
When the show returned in 1987, the Powell family was living in the home; the Pembrokes had moved to Seattle and had agreed to sublet the house, which included allowing Charles to continue living there. The family retained Charles' services as well, and he became caretaker for Ellen Powell's three children, son Adam and daughters Jamie and Sarah. In addition to them, Ellen's father-in-law Walter moved into the home to serve as his grandchildren's father figure; Ellen's husband was a Navy officer who was often on duty and thus rarely saw his family.
Charles' mother Lillian, who had not been seen in the initial series, became a more central figure in her son's life when the show moved to syndication as well.

Cast

Michael Pearlman and Jennifer Runyon are the only other actors, besides Baio and Aames, to reprise their roles on the show. Pearlman appeared in the second-season premiere, "Amityville". Runyon appeared in "Twice Upon a Time " and "Twice Upon a Time ".
In the final two seasons, Sandra Kerns only made three more appearances. Baio and Aames are the only two cast members that appear in every single episode.

Theme song

The theme song was composed by David Kurtz, Michael Jacobs, and Al Burton, and performed by Shandi Sinnamon. The theme music was mellower in the first season, and was remixed for the syndication run.
The song was performed by the a cappella group The Blanks in the medical sitcom, Scrubs, and was featured on their 2004 album, Riding the Wave.

Home media

released a 3-disc set of the first season of Charles in Charge on DVD in North America on February 14, 2006. Due to poor sales, no further seasons were released.
In September 2007, it was announced that Arts Alliance America had acquired the rights to the series. They subsequently released seasons 2–5 on DVD. Seasons 4 and 5 were Manufacture-on-Demand releases, available exclusively through Amazon.com.
DVD nameEp #Release date
The Complete First Season22February 14, 2006
The Complete Second Season26November 20, 2007
The Complete Third Season26May 20, 2008
The Complete Fourth Season26March 24, 2009
The Complete Fifth and Final Season26July 28, 2009

Streaming

All five seasons of the series were made available for streaming through Amazon Video and season one only on Hulu Plus.
In addition, the entire series can be streamed on the NBC.com app.

Syndicated stations

By January 1989, Charles in Charge was aired on television stations owned by Tribune Broadcasting, Gaylord Broadcasting Company, Cox Television, TVX Broadcast Group, Scripps-Howard Broadcasting, Gannett, The Outlet Company, and Malrite Communications groups.
CityStation
AlbanyWTEN 10
AtlantaWGNX 46
BaltimoreWNUV 54
BostonWLVI 56
BristolWEMT 39
CharlestonWVAH 11
ChicagoWGN 9
CincinnatiWXIX 19
ClevelandWUAB 43
ColumbusWWHO 53
DenverKWGN 2
Fort WayneWFFT 55
Fort WorthKTVT 11
FlintWSMH 66
GreensboroWGGT 48
HarrisburgWPMT 43
HartfordWHCT 18
HoustonKHTV 39
HuntsvilleWZDX 54
Kansas CityKZKC 62
KnoxvilleWKCH 43
LansingWSYM 47
Las VegasKRLR 21
Los AngelesKCAL 9
KTLA 5
MemphisWPTY 24
MiamiWBFS 33
MilwaukeeWVTV 18
NashvilleWZTV 17
New YorkWPIX 11
NorfolkWGNT 27
OmahaKPTM 42
OrlandoWKCF 18
PensacolaWJTC 44
PhiladelphiaWPHL 17
WGBS 57
PhoenixKNXV 15
PittsburghWPGH 53
Portland ORKPDX 49
RaleighWLFL 22
RenoKOLO 8
RichmondWRLH 35
WVRN 63
SacramentoKMAX 31
KTXL 40
Salt Lake CityKSL 5
KUTV 2
San AntonioKABB 29
San FranciscoKGO 7
San DiegoXETV 6
SeattleKSTW 11
SpokaneKAYU 28
St. LouisKDNL 30
SyracuseWSYT 68
TampaWFTS 28
ToledoWUPW 36
TucsonKTTU 18
WichitaKSAS 24
YorkWPMT 43