A Family for Joe

I hardly remember this show, but what I can remember I liked. It didn't last long, though. Robert Mitchum, from what I can remember, played a homeless man that is taken in by kids (I think they were orphaned). I think it was intended to be a drama, but it was funny. I could be way off-base though, it's been forever since I saw this.

This was Robert Mitchum's only attempt at a television series up to this point and it didn't quite work out. Only 9 episodes of A Family For Joe were filmed before the series got the ax.

Mitchum reprises his role as the faux grandfather for the Bankstons who without his presence in the home the kids would be split up to foster parents or orphanages. The two older kids have a wider age spread with the two younger kids here than in the film. The kids are David Lascher, Juliette Lewis, Ben Savage, and Jessica Player the only one to repeat her role from the film.

The movie had some sweet and poignant moments in it. This series is your typical family situation comedy.

Never thought I'd see Robert Mitchum with a laugh track.

I'm a fan of every Robert Mitchum movie. And then this TV series came along and he played this sentimental role as homeless man, who finds a place in a family of 3 children, without parents, each needing the other to sustain their independence and for the children to not be separated into foster care. I found it to be less comedy and more on family values. Heart-warming situations every week for about the 6 episodes that it ran.

I was sad when it ended. But a couple of years ago I searched the web and found a commercial source for the DVD of the entire TV series.

Robert Mitchum was so under appreciated for his natural talent. If you look at the body of his work, he could play any type of role. My favorite was "El Dorado". "Promises to Keep" was a TV movie that showed his softer side. And, yes, he played too many "B" movies. But he didn't care. He liked not being poor and making, as he called it, "easy money". Did you know he even wrote the story, acted the lead in the movie, and recorded the song "Thunder Road"? What a guy!!!

I remember only one line from this show: A divorced woman complaining about her ex-husband--a dentist whose "idea of high adventure was using unwaxed dental floss".

I don't remember a lot about how good or bad the show was. However, I'm remembering the premise slightly differently.

For reasons that I don't remember, the kids were orphaned (not in an orphanage, just that the parents were out of the picture). Rather than have themselves be split up in a number of orphanages/foster families, they decided to find a homeless man (Mitchum), and have him pose as their uncle (or something like that).

From what I remember, the show was more of a comedy with dramatic overtones. The comedy part revolved around the differing habits of the children and the (formerly) homeless man, as well as hiding the fact that he wasn't related to them. The dramatic overtones that occasionally surfaced revolved around the loss of the parents, as well as the homeless man's growing attempts to fill that void as they bonded.