Sons & Daughters Information

Sons & Daughters is an American situation comedy about an extended blended family living close together in a neighborhood. The producers, creator Fred Goss (who also is the star of the show), Lorne Michaels (who was a co-creator of Saturday Night Live), and Nick Holly, flavored the show with a mixed atmosphere of improvisational and scripted humor. The show premiered on March 7, 2006 on ABC. The show is produced by Broadway Video (which also produces Saturday Night Live) and NBC Universal Television. It was canceled in late April 2006 after 10 episodes aired, leaving one unaired episode.

The whole series was aired on the Seven Network in Australia, including the final previously unaired episode, ending on August 6, 2007. Coincidentally, the Seven Network also screened the earlier Australian soap opera of the same name. In December 2010, ITV1 started showing the series in the United Kingdom for the first time, over four years since its American showing. The show has also been aired on TV3 in Ireland.

There are currently no plans to release Sons & Daughters on DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Improvisational aspect

Sons & Daughters has been dubbed a "unique hybrid comedy"; the show followed the format used in Curb Your Enthusiasm, using a partly scripted, partly improvisational comedy dialogue. In an interview with co-creator Nick Holly from the Associated Press, he explained that the actors were presented not with a traditional script, but with a "short story" that "occasionally includes a line or two of dialogue, but is normally just this novelization."

Unlike the traditional sitcom, Sons & Daughters was not filmed with a live studio audience and did not use a laugh track for the show.

Plot synopsis

Cameron Walker's (Goss) world revolves around him and his extended family living in Hamilton, Ohio, which includes wife Liz (Vigman), his son Ezra (Matthews), his daughter Marni (Jourdain) and his son Henry (Einhorn) who Cameron didn't know existed, his mother and stepfather, Colleen and Wendal Halbert (Wallace-Stone, Gail), and his other plethora of brothers and sisters. He is considered the only sane person in his family and tries to fix any problem that arises within the family.

Cameron's sister and brother-in-law Sharon (Quinn) and Don Fenton (Lambert) seem to create more problems for him rather than themselves. The couple are almost always in deep denial about their personal issues, such as not having sex for several years.

Jenna (Walsh), Sharon and Cameron's half-sister, is a single mother of one who is continuously attracted to the "bad boy" personality, such as "Whitey" (Pitts), and steers away from the "nice guy" types, like Wylie (Harrington).

Their parents, Colleen and Wendal, love their family but have profound complications within their own relationship. Cameron constantly tries to help them solve their issues, but it doesn't always work out the way he expects.

Cameron's great-aunt Rae (Hall) appeared intermittently, mostly in runaway gags and one-liners. A decrepit old woman, Rae was also a vocal anti-Semite who disliked Liz simply because she was Jewish. Throughout the series, Rae is the frequent butt of practical jokes and derisive comments. (This character is supposedly based on Goss' grandmother.)

Episodes

Below is the entire list of episodes from the series including a brief description.

#	Title	Original airdate	Prod. code	ProdCode=101	EpisodeNumber=1	ShortSummary=Cameron throws a 25th anniversary party for Colleen and Wendal which turns out to be a disaster. Meanwhile, Sharon and Don struggle with intimacy issues, which their children soon become all too aware of.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=102	EpisodeNumber=2	ShortSummary=Colleen learns the truth about Wendal's plan, and confronts him at their traditional bowling night. Meanwhile, Sharon and Don attempt to improve their sexless marriage, which have disappointing results.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=103	EpisodeNumber=3	ShortSummary=In an effort to support their awkward son Henry, Cameron and the family attend his school film festival, despite Henry's wishes. Upon watching the film, it becomes painfully obvious why he didn't want them there in the first place. Meanwhile, younger sister Jenna tries to prove to Cameron that she is a "grown-up."	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=104	EpisodeNumber=4	ShortSummary=Cameron throws his annual barbecue, which quickly becomes a comedy of errors with one miscommunication after another among family members turning what should be a fun family get-together into a group therapy session.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=105	EpisodeNumber=5	ShortSummary=When Sharon lends money to Cameron, Cameron learns that the act comes with ulterior motives. At the same time, Henry opts to confide in his stepmother, Liz, about a personal problem, instead of his own father, which angers Cameron. Whitey gets a job at Don's auto parts store, but he soon finds out that things just don't work out there.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=106	EpisodeNumber=6	ShortSummary=Cameron's lack of enthusiasm at wife Liz's acceptance into graduate school and his mockery of younger sister Jenna's aspirations to be a singer put him on the outs with the family.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=107	EpisodeNumber=7	ShortSummary=In the middle of an argument with Cameron, Colleen is rushed to the hospital with chest pains. Fearing she's had a heart attack, the family rushes to be by her side, leaving Cameron with feeling especially guilty that the stress of their fight brought it on.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=108	EpisodeNumber=8	ShortSummary=On the eve of Cameron's 40th birthday, he gets laid off from work and keeps it a secret from his family, who are planning to throw him a surprise party.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=109	EpisodeNumber=9	ShortSummary=When Don and Sharon go away for the night, they leave Jeff in charge and Jeff throws a house party. Concerned, Carrie calls her Uncle Cameron to put an end to it... but seeing it as an escape, he joins the fun and brings reluctant son Henry with him.	LineColor=ff9999 }}	ProdCode=110	EpisodeNumber=10	ShortSummary=After 35 years, Cameron and Sharon's father, Merv, returns out of the blue. They decide to have dinner with him to discuss where he's been all these years, but a sudden turn of events leaves their questions still unanswered. Meanwhile, when Jenna finds out that Whitey is dating a stripper, she forbids him from seeing their Danny.	LineColor=ff9999 }}

Cancellation

There was some question as to whether the show would have been picked up by ABC after the first season. Running against Fox Network's American Idol timeslot it did not receive the ratings that would merit an automatic pickup, however it had been rumored that ABC executives liked the show. It also had a strong fanbase, and on April 17, 2006 a fan started an online petition to bring the show back, which Fred Goss mentioned on his blog. It failed, and it was canceled late April, 2006. The shows cancellation was again confirmed by the creator Fred Goss on May 15, 2006.

This show is considered similar to current successful shows airing which were influenced by it such as Modern Family, Parenthood and The Middle.

DVD

The complete series was scheduled to be available on DVD in late 2006. However, these plans have been canceled due to issues with licensing the music used in the series, according to Fred Goss's Blog

Cast

• Fred Goss " Cameron Walker
• Gillian Vigman " Liz Walker
• Jerry Lambert " Don Fenton
• Alison Quinn " Sharon Fenton
• Max Gail " Wendal Halbert
• Dee Wallace-Stone " Colleen Halbert
• Amanda Walsh " Jenna Halbert
• Desmond Harrington " Wylie Blake
• Greg Pitts " Tommy White "Whitey"
• Eden Sher " Carrie Fenton
• Randy Wayne " Jeff Fenton
• Trevor Einhorn " Henry Walker
• Noah Matthews " Ezra Walker
• Lexi Jourden " Marni Walker
• Lois Hall " Aunt Rae