Verducci & Sohn

A major flop for all involved. Poor writing. Poor plot lines. Poor acting. And the show just looks cheap. Why the wonderful Rita Marino ever got involved with a mass like this. Thank God the show only lasted seven episodes is a blessing.

I remembering being sad when this show disappeared. I remember thinking it was right on par with married with children. Its not quite as good... but almost.

It's a spin-off series from Married... with Children with two minor characters. In Chicago, Charlie Verducci (Joseph Bologna) is the crass father to good-natured idiot Vinnie (Matt LeBlanc). 16 year old jailbait neighbor Mona Mullins (Joey Lauren Adams) has a crush on Vinnie who gets a job at Rolling Hills country club run by Alixandra Stone (Rita Moreno). Emmet Lefebvre (Leslie Jordan) is a diminutive security guard at the club.

This one came and went real quick. I am a big fan of Married and I don't remember LeBlanc being on the show. Of course, it would be another three years before he's Joey. I think I kinda remember this show. I definitely watched it. I watched every Married episode. The Married kids keep dropping by on this show. There's no way I would miss it even if it's not that good and this is not a good show. Matt LeBlanc has plenty of charisma. Bologna fits the character but I don't think the character is optimized. Joey Lauren Adams is super cute and she could work over time. The big problem is the country club. It's not a good work setting for this show and it looks cheap. If he works at a big country club, the show can't just stay at that one cheap location. He needs to be working behind the bar. There is an overall sense of faltering sitcom energy coming from this jerry-rigged spinoff. I like some of the cast but it's a struggle to make this work.

This was a charming spin-off of "Married with Children" and lasted all too short a time. It was clever and funny and featured the inspired pairing of Joe Bologna and Matt LeBlanc as father and clueless son. It was hysterically funny--and that's what a comedy is for!

Top of the Heap was basically another Married With Children, with the exception of the mother and daughter. Basically, Charlie Verducci is another Al Bundy who has high hopes for his son, Vinnie. He convinces Vinnie to get a job at the local lavished Country Club, with hopes that he will end up marrying a wealthy woman and then take care of Charlie. Charlie also had an infatuation with the owner/manager of the country club. Many times, the stars of Married With Children would make special appearances on this show. Many episodes resembled one another, which is probably why the series didn't last. Eventually there was a spin off of this spin off, known as Vinnie and Bobby. That one didn't last long either. Good thing Matt LeBlanc got casted in Friends.