View source for Too Close for Comfort

{{Short description|American television sitcom (1980–1987)}}
{{About|the American television series}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = Toocloseforcomfortintro.jpg
| alt_name             = ''The Ted Knight Show''<br />(season 6 title)
| genre                = [[Situation comedy|Sitcom]]
| based_on             = ''[[Keep It in the Family (1980 TV series)|Keep It in the Family]]''<br />created by [[Brian Cooke]]
| developer            = [[Arne Sultan]]<br />Earl Barret
| starring             = {{Unbulleted list|[[Ted Knight]]|[[Nancy Dussault]]|[[Lydia Cornell]] (seasons 1-5)|[[Jim J. Bullock]] (as Jm J. Bullock)|[[Deborah Van Valkenburgh]] (seasons 1-5)|[[Deena Freeman]] (season 2)|[[Audrey Meadows]] (season 3, regular; seasons 4-5, recurring)|[[Pat Carroll]] (season 6)|Lisa Antille (season 6)}}
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme            = "Too Close for Comfort", performed by [[Johnny Mandel]]
| composer             = (all season 4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.12, multiples)
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 6
| num_episodes         = 129
| list_episodes        = List of Too Close for Comfort episodes
| director             = {{Unbulleted list|[[Russ Petranto]]|[[Phil Ramuno]]|[[Will Mackenzie]]|[[John Bowab]]|[[Peter Baldwin (director)|Peter Baldwin]] (season 5)|[[Phil Ramuno]] & [[Charles S. Dubin]] (season 6)}}
| executive_producer   = {{Unbulleted list|Earl Barret|Arne Sultan (seasons 1-4)|[[Aaron Ruben]] (seasons 5-6)}}
| producer             = {{Unbulleted list|[[Austin Kalish]] & [[Irma Kalish]] (seasons 1-2)|Douglas Arango & Phil Doran (season 3)|[[George Yanok]] (seasons 4-6)}}
| company              = D.L. Taffner Productions<br />[[Metromedia|Metromedia Producers Corporation]]<br />[[Fox Television Stations]] (season 6)
| camera               = [[Videotape]]; [[Multi-camera setup|multi-camera]]
| runtime              = 24 minutes
| channel              = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (1980&ndash;1983)<br />[[Broadcast syndication|Syndication]] (1984&ndash;1987)
| first_aired          = {{start date|1980|11|11}}
| last_aired           = {{end date|1987|2|7}}
| related              = ''[[Keep It in the Family (1980 TV series)|Keep It in the Family]]''<br />''Family Business'' 
}}

'''''Too Close for Comfort''''' is an American [[sitcom]] television series that aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from November 11, 1980, to May 5, 1983, and in first-run [[Broadcast syndication|syndication]] from April 7, 1984, to February 7, 1987. Its name was changed to '''''The Ted Knight Show''''' when the show was retooled in 1986 for its sixth season, which would turn out to be its last due to [[Ted Knight]]'s death. The original concept of the series was based on the 1980s British sitcom ''[[Keep It in the Family (1980 TV series)|Keep It in the Family]]''.<ref name="Brooks">{{cite book |title=[[The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present|The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present: Ninth Edition]] |last=Brooks |first=Tim |author2=Earle Marsh  |year=2007 |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.avclub.com/too-close-for-comfort-for-every-man-there-s-two-women-1798230654| title=Too Close For Comfort, "For Every Man There's Two Women"| website=[[The A.V. Club]]| date=8 March 2012}}</ref> Knight plays work-at-home cartoonist Henry Rush, who is married to Muriel. Their two adult daughters, Jackie and Sara, live in the downstairs apartment of their [[San Francisco]] two-flat. An episode involving the daughters moving across the bay to [[Oakland]] and the family complaining about crime, undrinkable water, and constant sound of police sirens saw the episode being briefly protested by Oakland politicians.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-republic-12-18-1980-too-close-fo/126354624/| title=Sitcom Portrayal Too Close For Comfort, "Sitcom protested by Oakland city officials"| website=[[Newspapers.com]]| date=12 December 1980| access-date=13 June 2023| archive-date=13 June 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613212508/https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-republic-12-18-1980-too-close-fo/126354624/| url-status=live}}</ref> The family moves to [[Marin County, California|Marin County]] for the show's final season, where Henry Rush becomes a co-owner of the local weekly newspaper.<ref name="Brooks"/>

==Synopsis==
Henry and Muriel Rush are owners of a two-unit house at 171–173 Buena Vista Avenue East<ref>*https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/too-close-for-comfort {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120104400/https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/too-close-for-comfort |date=2021-11-20 }}
*http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2016/09/29/too-close-for-comfort-final-season-filming-locations/
*https://moviemaps.org/movies/2pg {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120103756/https://moviemaps.org/movies/2pg |date=2021-11-20 }}</ref> [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]]. Henry is a conservative cartoonist who authors a comic strip called ''Cosmic Cow'' with a hand-puppet version of "Cosmic Cow." Muriel is a freelance photographer. They have two adult daughters, Jackie and Sara.

Additional characters include Sara's friend, Monroe Ficus, and Henry's boss, Arthur Wainwright, who was head of Wainwright Publishing. The character of Monroe was originally intended to be used for only a single episode but producers added the character to the series.

===Seasons 2 and 3===
[[Image:Too Close for Comfort.jpg|left|150px|thumb|The cast of ''Too Close for Comfort'' during the show's second season]]
During its second season, the series' principal stories were focused around Muriel's pregnancy. Henry's niece April comes from [[Delaware]] to live with the Rush family. The season concludes with Muriel giving birth to a son, Andrew (later played regularly by twins William and Michael Cannon from 1983 to 1984).

Knight's character became famous for wearing sweatshirts from various American colleges and universities that were sent to him by fans.

In the fall of 1982, ABC moved the series to Thursday nights, which proved to be disastrous and the show saw its ratings fall drastically. The network canceled the series at the conclusion of the season after falling from #6 for the 1981–82 season to #38 for the 1982–83 season.

===First-run syndication===
During the early 1980s, TV station owner [[Metromedia]] was expanding its portfolio of original [[broadcast syndication|syndicated]] programming through its production subsidiary, Metromedia Producers Corporation. When ''Too Close for Comfort'' was canceled by ABC, Metromedia Producers Corporation elected to pick up the series and began producing all-new episodes to run on various stations throughout the country. Starting in April 1984, a total of 23 new episodes were broadcast for the show's fourth season, featuring the same cast as seen on the ABC episodes. The show's ratings improved in syndication and Metromedia ordered an additional 30 episodes, airing through November 1985. When the fifth season began, a single child actor, Joshua Goodwin, played the role of Andrew Rush.

====''The Ted Knight Show''====
[[Image:Too_Close_For_Comfort_6th_Season_original.jpg|left|150px|thumb|''The Ted Knight Show'' title screen. Only used for first run episodes; reruns use the ''Too Close for Comfort'' title.]]
In late 1985, several changes were made before production started for Season 6. The show's title was changed to ''The Ted Knight Show'' (not to be confused with the 1978 [[CBS]] [[The Ted Knight Show (1978 TV series)|show of the same name]]), and the premise and setting were altered. Henry retires from drawing Cosmic Cow and, along with Muriel and Andrew, moves to [[Marin County, California|Marin County]] where he buys a share of a local newspaper and becomes its editor. Monroe joins the Rushes and takes a job with Henry's paper as a reporter. [[Pat Carroll]] played the role of Hope Stinson, who owns the majority share of the newspaper and serves as a foil for Henry. In addition, the Rushes hire a live-in nanny, played by Lisa Antille. The characters of Jackie, Sara and Muriel's mother Iris were not included in the retooled show.

First-run episodes of ''The Ted Knight Show'' were broadcast starting in April 1986. Twenty-two episodes were produced prior to the summer of 1986 and 12 had aired by mid-July. The revamped show was scheduled to resume production when Knight, who had been battling [[colon cancer]] since 1985, died on August 26, 1986. The ten remaining first-run episodes were broadcast from September 1986 to February 1987, and those episodes were added to the ''Too Close for Comfort'' syndicated rerun package with the original show's title.

==Cast==
* [[Ted Knight]] as Henry Rush
* [[Nancy Dussault]] as Muriel Rush
* [[Deborah Van Valkenburgh]] as Jackie Rush (1980–1985)
* [[Lydia Cornell]] as Sara Rush (1980–1985)
* [[Jim J. Bullock]] as Monroe Ficus
* [[Hamilton Camp]] as Arthur Wainwright (1981)
* [[Deena Freeman]] as April Rush (1981–1982)
* [[Audrey Meadows]] as Iris Martin (1982–1983, guest appearances thereafter)
* William and Michael Cannon as Andrew Rush (1983–1984)
* Joshua Goodwin as Andrew Rush (1985–1986)
* [[Pat Carroll]] as Hope Stinson (1986)
* [[Lisa Antille]] as Lisa Flores (1986)

===Notable guest stars===
* [[Peter Haskell]]
* [[Georgann Johnson]]
* [[Hillary B. Smith]]
* [[Selma Diamond]] as Mildred Rafkin
* [[Jordan Bennett|Jordan Suffin]] as Officer Brad Turner
* Elyse Knight (daughter of Ted Knight) as Samantha Bishop ("The Runaway," 1984)
* [[Graham Jarvis]] as Arthur Wainwright (1985)
* [[Ernie Wise]] as Ernie Dockery (1985)
* [[Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis]] (creator of the comic strip ''[[Garfield]]'') as himself (1986)
* [[Walter Lantz]] (creator of ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'') as himself
* [[Ray Middleton (actor)|Ray Middleton]] as Henry's father, Huey Rush

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Too Close for Comfort episodes}}
{{:List of Too Close for Comfort episodes}}

==Syndication==
ABC aired reruns of the show during its [[ABC Daytime|daytime]] schedule from June to September 1983. The show entered daily [[broadcast syndication]] in the fall of 1986, which continued until 2003.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.programexchange.com/programDetails.asp?programID=13| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030705173307/http://www.programexchange.com/programDetails.asp?programID=13| title=Too Close for Comfort| website=Program Exchange| archive-date=5 July 2003| access-date=14 September 2018}}</ref> The show currently airs on [[Antenna TV]] weekend afternoons at 2:00pm & 2:30pm ET.<ref>https://antennatv.tv/title-item/too-close-for-comfort/</ref> The syndication rights for ''Too Close for Comfort'' are held by [[DLT Entertainment]], a production and distribution company owned by show producer [[Donald L. Taffner]].

In the U.S., reruns currently air on streaming services [[Pluto TV]] and [[Tubi]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Too Close for Comfort: Where to Watch and Stream Online {{!}} Reelgood |url=https://reelgood.com/show/too-close-for-comfort-1980 |access-date=2024-01-01 |language=en-us |archive-date=2024-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101061948/https://reelgood.com/show/too-close-for-comfort-1980 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/5ed835f112802c001b7257d8</ref><ref>https://tubitv.com/series/300009383/too-close-for-comfort</ref>

==Home media==
[[Rhino Entertainment Company]] (under its Rhino Retrovision classic TV entertainment brand) released the first two seasons of ''Too Close for Comfort'' on DVD in [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] in 2004/2005.<ref>{{cite web| title=Too Close for Comfort - Exclusive 1st Look At Comfort-able Cover| url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Close-Comfort/2238| url-status=dead|  archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427142915/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Close-Comfort/2238| archive-date=2015-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Too Close for Comfort - Season 2: Original Episodes or Syndicated Cuts? We know! Plus Release Date & Box Art!| url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Close-Comfort/3212| url-status=dead| website=TV Shows on DVD| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427111339/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Close-Comfort/3212| archive-date=2015-04-27}}</ref> However, Rhino's release used the versions of episodes that were edited for syndication, missing several minutes of footage in each, including the tag sequences. The episodes are also dubbed to replace references to [[Oakland]] with "Oldtown", as Oakland city officials had decried the show's denigration of the city during the show's original run.

In January 2024, [[Visual Entertainment Inc.]] revealed on Facebook that they were working on a complete series box set.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/Visualentertainmentinc/posts/pfbid029x9sBw9LAUQyqdfc8n3hXsYVasPcQQtw9oEwRqDV4EwRLfcDwSGMbNJ7YUetwE1il?comment_id=846962750535469|title=Facebook|website=www.facebook.com}}</ref> That box set was released on April 3, 2024.

{| class="wikitable"
!DVD Name
!Ep #
!Release Date
|-
| The Complete First Season
| align="center"|19
| November 2, 2004
|-
| The Complete Second Season
| align="center"|22
| June 7, 2005
|-
| The Complete Series
| align="center"|129
| April 3, 2024
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0080299|Too Close for Comfort}}

{{Cooke and Mortimer}}
{{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy}}

[[Category:1980s American multi-camera sitcoms]]
[[Category:1980 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1987 American television series endings]]
[[Category:American television series based on British television series]]
[[Category:American television series revived after cancellation]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:First-run syndicated sitcoms]]
[[Category:Television series about families]]
[[Category:Television series by Metromedia]]
[[Category:Television shows about comics]]
[[Category:Television shows set in San Francisco]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company sitcoms]]