Valerie

First of all, back in late-1985, early 1986, NBC was originally gonna name the show "The Hogan Family," but later changed their mind and opted for a name that reflected its original famed star "Valerie Harper." Thus, it was retitled "Valerie."

After, the famed contract dispute over her salary, Valerie Harper left the show, or was fired - depending who's side of the story you hear- thus the show was renamed "Valerie's Family: The Hogan's." This angered "Valerie Harper" very much, and she sued the producers for still using her name as the title of the show without her permission.

Thus, the producers opted to revert back to the original suggested production title: "The Hogan Family."

In reality they were always 'The Hogan Family.'

This show really belonged to Valerie Harper, no offense to her replacement Sandy Duncan. Harper left the show under uncertain circumstances. Regardless, the show and network wrote her off sadly. While on, she was the mother to three boys and a pilot husband who was often absent. The cast was first rate including Edie McClurg as a neighbor, Christine Ebersole as her snobby unmarried sister-in-law, and the boys played by Jason Bateman, Jeremy Licht, and Danny Ponce. Ponce and Licht played fraternal twins who were as opposite as night and day. They touched on some issues like AIDS and homosexuality and other issues in this series but the show never fully recovered from the blow of Harper's absence.

There's a unique kind of warmth that lives in the television landscape of the 1980s-a mix of light comedy, subtle drama, and a gentle earnestness rarely found in today's irony-soaked content. Few shows embody this better than Valerie, later known as The Hogan Family. What began as a modest family sitcom became a quietly affecting series that dealt with loss, growth, and the shifting dynamics of home. And at its emotional core-quiet but unmistakable-was Roberta Flack's hauntingly beautiful theme song.

Flack's "Together Through the Years" is not your typical sugar-rush jingle sitcom theme. Instead, her voice moves like memory itself-gentle, reflective, touched by melancholy. The lyrics speak to love and continuity, but there's always a wistfulness, as though the song knows how fragile that love can be. It sets the tone for the show's emotional undercurrents, especially after Valerie Harper's departure from the series, which was unexpectedly echoed in the story arc with Valerie Hogan's death in a car accident, and the devastating house fire which followed, where the material traces of her were lost to the family forever. The theme never changes though, and that constancy-of voice, of sentiment-becomes more moving as the family adjusts and carries on. It's one of the most emotionally resonant theme songs in television history, and Roberta Flack sings it like she's holding something sacred.

The show's two successive stars anchored the plotlines with incredible skill and lovability -first Valerie Harper as the same-named mother, then Sandy Duncan as the same-named aunt-becoming exemplary screen role models for motherhood in both their realism and their heart. If they were the soul of the show, then it was the three sons who gave the show its heart. Jason Bateman, as David, delivered a performance far beyond his years, grounding the series in a kind of smart realism that let you believe every moment.

Two extraordinary and beautiful looking young actors named Danny Ponce and Jeremy Licht rounded out the trio of boys, providing a lovely contrast as the twins Willie and Mark. Ponce's Willie brought a highly charismatic and lovable presence-the sporty jokester of the sons, he was also at times insecure about not measuring up to his twin brother's academic achievements, which made Willie all the more lovable and sympathetic. Licht, as the bookish and sensitive Mark, offered a sincere sense of innocence and kindness, his delivery often disarmingly thoughtful. An incredibly moving example was the episode where Mark was the only one of the three sons to remember his mother's wedding anniversary, who was anxiously waiting for a call from their overseas father. The chemistry among the three brothers felt lived-in and unforced, which became even more essential as the series matured and dealt with the absence of their mother. The actors playing the twins have remained extremely close friends since the show ended, which speaks to their sense of brotherhood being a very real fact, not just an illusion.

In closing there is something profoundly bittersweet about The Hogan Family-the way it grew out of tragedy (on-screen and off) and kept moving forward. Like Flack's voice, the show quietly insisted that love can survive change, and family, in all its complications, is the enduring source of continuity in this life. It was never the loudest or flashiest sitcom on air. But it was one of the most honest and beautiful.

In revisiting it today, what lingers isn't just the jokes or the plotlines-it's that gentle theme song echoing over scenes of ordinary life, and the quiet brilliance of those three young actors growing up in front of us, together through the years.

I know that the Hogan's, and Valerie before it, didn't represent state of the art comedy, being utterly formulaic and looking like the very template for family sitcoms, but darn it, it was nice. The family was nice, the house was nice, the plots were nice. Nice, warm, fuzzy, safe family viewing. Sometimes I want hard-edged, risky comedy, but sometimes I just wanna watch TV safe in the knowledge that every episode will have a group-hug type ending. It's the perfect remedy if you're ever feeling a bit oppressed by all the stuff that's going on in the world right now. The comedy is still nice enough, but boy have the clothes and hairstyles dated!

I have a bunch of episodes on tape but would love to get more.

This show is another under the radar gem, it wasn't a show that was overlooked, the show was a hit and was popular in the 80's but as time went on it' s been forgotten. Though I never forgotten it, I actually saw a little of the show when I was about 8, though I'll admit I wasn't highly into it as there were lots of other sitcoms going on at the time, most notably "Who's the Boss" but I did like this show. The show is also kind of a lost gem as it hasn't had a DVD or Blu Ray release, hopefully somewhere along the line a release will be considered cause there are fans of the show let alone of actor Jason Bateman so why the heck not.

The only bad thing about the show would be it may seem a little uneven. Due to the fact the main star Valarie was dejected or quit, (I honestly don't know the real story), in the first half of the shows run. Which of course meant changes to keep the show going, this could put some people off as some were fans of the actress. Though personally this never really bothered me, I never watched the show for her, I'm not a fan of the actress (let alone never grew up watching the shows she was in), let alone this show by it's nature was never really all about her character it was about the entire family in general.

The change you could say is the one thing that gives the show a slight uniqueness if not complete; usually when things like that happen in any show it's a kiss of death but surprisingly it wasn't it actually worked, because they were able to keep the chemistry and bits of development going and storylines with the family interesting.

As for the rest of the format of the show, it's nothing special, but that's not a bad thing because it's everything done right. There is good comedy and like how it dealt with certain issues going on at the time and are still going on now. I like the brothers I thought they were all solid each of them are well rounded, they support each other but also clash with one another.

From Mark Hogan (Jeremy Licht) and Wille Hogan (Danny Ponce) both are fraternal twins but are total opposites, their sort of your teenage odd couple as Mark is brainier and cleaner while Wille is more athletic and messy.

Though my favorite character is David Hogan played well by Jason Bateman. This is cool because I really like the actor, this show was literally Jason's debut and it was a good start for the guy, which is true for a lot of other well known actors. But I like his character because he's an aspiring filmmaker and photographer which makes him a little relatable as I love both those things and am one myself. He's got a bit of an ego but on a small and harmless scale, he's also a bit of a smart alec in a funny sense.

Of course, there is that theme song, which is one of my favorite theme songs of all time, it's memorable and perfectly fits the show as it's really touching singing about the joy of family.

Overall, this is a solid show, it's not on the same level as other comedies/sitcoms I really like or love the best. But still if you're into vintage comedies from the 80's decade "The Hogan Family" is worth a visit.

Rating: 3 stars