Grand

Loved the show until they wiped out half the cast.

For some reason I can remember every word of the theme, and can sing the complete tune. If anyone wants the words they are:

"Let me ask a question. You can make a guess. Who holds the keys to your happiness? Is your life up to you, or does fate have it planned? Don't think too much; just do it, do it grand.

Some were born to make it, everything they touch turns gold. Others try to fake it, but their luck is always cold. See, we're all different drummers playing in the same big band. So if you're gonna play it, play it grand!"

I didn't have a TV at the time, (Grad Student) but would offer to baby sit for my sister the nights it was on.Put the kids away, pop some corn and enjoy! I would love to see it on DVD. It's a shame you can't just call somewhere and request these great old shows. So many were great, but canceled too soon. Designing Women comes to mind as one of the few I'm aware of that came back due to public outcry. I especially loved the opening credits and the wonderful theme song. I've always wondered- Who wrote that song? It was terrific. It was right up there with Soap and Taxi for me. Bonnie Hunt sticks out in my mind, a great actress but never got the kind of roles she deserved. Totally wasted in "Cheaper by the Dozen". Same thing with Pamela Reed.

In this case, the "company town" is a town built not around a coal mine or a lumber mill, but around a piano factory.

What do I mean by "soap operetta"? Well, just as an operetta is a comedy in somewhat scaled-down opera form, "Grand" was (far more than outright soap opera spoofs like "Soap" or "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman") a comedy in scaled-down soap opera form. Also, like a typical operetta, and unlike a typical soap opera spoof, the humor was gentle, witty, and largely suitable for a family audience.

I never even knew there WAS a second season of the show, or that the second season mostly threw out the "soap operetta" format, but what I saw of the series, I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters were the sort of people you actually would want to meet, something sadly lacking in an awful lot of television.

And the open used throughout the first season was certainly one of the best sitcom opens ever constructed.

During the first season, the opening credits featured the cast lip synching the opening song. I thought it was a hilarious parody of MTV. The show never took itself too seriously, and that's what made it so refreshing. I don't ever expect to see anything like it again.

I believe that Ed Marinaro played Janice Pasetti's (ex-)husband. I forgot who played Norris Weldon's mother, Viveca, but she was really funny. You have to see it to appreciate it. I have to give a lot of credit to the writers of the show for making cutting social commentary so funny.

I saw every episode of the first season twice, but it just got weird during the second season. I only saw a couple of second season episodes. They had a different version opening song, but the cast stopped lip synching it. It was probably for the best that the show was canceled before it went on too long.

In 1990, my wife had each browsed through the new Fall TV issue of the TVG...and had both independently decided that, based on the cast and storyline, this was a show we wanted to watch. We started with episode one and loved every minute of it...and like so many others on here, were utterly blown away by the network's decision to cancel...an the worse yet, rework it.

Bonnie Hunt was wonderful in an already wonderful cast...but John Randolph made this show. His portrayal of the dour millionaire was priceless and the thing that kept the show moving.

Yet another show that should have survived.