Suddenly Susan

Suddenly Susan
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Clyde Phillips
Developed by	Steven Peterman Gary Dontzig
Starring	Brooke Shields Nestor Carbonell Kathy Griffin Judd Nelson David Strickland Barbara Barrie Andréa Bendewald Currie Graham Eric Idle Sherri Shepherd Rob Estes
Composer(s)	Ed Alton
Production
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Warner Bros. Television

Suddenly Susan is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a glamorous San Francisco magazine writer who begins to adjust to being single, and who learns to be independent-minded after having been taken care of all her life. The series was developed by Gary Dontzig and Steven Peterman, who also served as executive producers during the first three seasons, and was produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Synopsis

Susan Keane (Brooke Shields) has always been taken care of by someone else. She worked as a copy editor at The Gate, a fictional San Francisco magazine. On her wedding day, she realizes that she and her wealthy, vain fiancé, Kip, are not meant for each other and that there is more to life than just being known as the "s" in "The Kip Richmonds." She abruptly leaves him at the altar. Now, she's suddenly just Susan. Susan's parents (guest stars Swoosie Kurtz and Ray Baker) were less than ecstatic about their daughter deciding to end her engagement to Kip, though her grandmother and confidant, Nana (Barbara Barrie) stands as a pillar of support for Susan.

The day after the wedding, Susan goes to her boss, Jack Richmond (Judd Nelson), the rebellious brother of Susan's former fiancé, Kip, begging for her job back. Instead, Jack assigns Susan to write a regular column about being suddenly single. Susan's coworkers include photographer Luis Rivera (Nestor Carbonell), boyish rock music reporter Todd Stites (David Strickland), restaurant critic Vicki Groener (Kathy Griffin), and, in later episodes, investigative reporter and Susan's old enemy Maddy Piper (Andréa Bendewald).

In the show's final season, The Gate is taken over by Ian Maxtone-Graham (Eric Idle) and overhauled into a men's magazine that's run out of an old warehouse in Chinatown. Along with this, Ian brings his own team of workers, including executive assistant and U.S. Navy veteran Miranda Charles (Sherri Shepherd), sports writer Nate Knaborski (Currie Graham), and freelance photographer Oliver Browne (Rob Estes). Susan is faced with a new set of problems and has to prove herself all over again.

Besides the task of putting together a magazine and focusing on the lead character's life, Suddenly Susan also focuses on the private lives of many employees in the show.

Cast

• Brooke Shields as Susan Keane
• Nestor Carbonell as Luis Rivera, Susan's co-worker and Gate photographer
• Kathy Griffin as Vicki Groener, Susan's co-worker and Gate food/nightlife writer
• Judd Nelson as Jack Richmond, Susan's boss and original love interest (Seasons 1–3)
• David Strickland as Todd Stites, Susan's co-worker and Gate music critic (Seasons 1–3)
• Barbara Barrie as Helen 'Nana' Keane, Susan's grandmother
• Andréa Bendewald as Maddy Piper, Susan's co-worker and former high school rival, and Gate journalist (Seasons 2–3; guest star, Season 4)
• Currie Graham as Nate Knaborski, Susan's co-worker and Gate sportswriter (Season 4)
• Eric Idle as Ian Maxtone-Graham, Susan's boss (Season 4)
• Sherri Shepherd as Miranda Charles, Ian's executive assistant (Season 4)
• Rob Estes as Oliver Browne, Susan's love interest and Gate freelance photographer (Season 4)

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	22		September 19, 1996 (1996-09-19)	May  8, 1997 (1997-05-08)
	2	26		September 22, 1997 (1997-09-22)	May  18, 1998 (1998-05-18)
	3	23		September 21, 1998 (1998-09-21)	May  24, 1999 (1999-05-24)
	4	22		September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20)	December  26, 2000 (2000-12-26)

Season 1 (1996–97)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
1	1	“First Episode”	Andy Ackerman	Story by : Clyde Phillips Teleplay by : Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman & Billy Van Zandt & Jane Milmore & Clyde Phillips	September 19, 1996 (1996-09-19)	30.12
2	2	“Dr. No”	Steve Zuckerman	Dan O'Shannon	September 26, 1996 (1996-09-26)	28.49
3	3	“The Best Laid Plans”	Shelley Jensen	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	October 3, 1996 (1996-10-03)	25.07
4	4	“Suddenly Susan Unplugged”	Steve Zuckerman	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	October 10, 1996 (1996-10-10)	26.61
5	5	“Hoop Dreams”	Shelly Jensen	Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious	October 17, 1996 (1996-10-17)	24.35
6	6	“Lie! Lie! My Darling”	Shelley Jensen	Ian Praiser	October 31, 1996 (1996-10-31)	23.68
7	7	“Golden Girl Friday”	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	November 7, 1996 (1996-11-07)	28.05
8	8	“Beauty and the Beasty Boy”	Steve Zuckerman	Maryanne Melloan	November 14, 1996 (1996-11-14)	28.08
9	9	“Cold Turkey”	Rod Daniel	Story by : Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman Teleplay by : Dan O'Shannon	November 21, 1996 (1996-11-21)	28.15
10	10	“Was It Something I Said?”	Steve Zuckerman	Marc Flanagan	December 12, 1996 (1996-12-12)	24.51
11	11	“The Walk-Out”	Barnet Kellman	Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious	December 19, 1996 (1996-12-19)	25.30
12	12	“The Me Nobody Nose”	Shelley Jensen	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	January 9, 1997 (1997-01-09)	28.61
13	13	“The Ways and Means”	Gail Mancuso	Jana Barto	February 27, 1997 (1997-02-27)	21.66
14	14	“What a Card”	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	March 6, 1997 (1997-03-06)	24.18
15	15	“Love and Divorce American Style: Part 1”	Shelley Jensen	Ian Praiser	March 13, 1997 (1997-03-13)	25.62
16	16	“Love and Divorce American Style: Part 2”	Pamela Fryman	Dan O'Shannon	March 20, 1997 (1997-03-20)	22.80
17	17	“Love and Divorce American Style: Part 3”	Pamela Fryman	Susan Fales	March 27, 1997 (1997-03-27)	22.45
18	18	“With Friends Like These”	Shelley Jensen	Maryanne Melloan	April 10, 1997 (1997-04-10)	22.84
19	19	“Where the Wild Things Aren't”	Shelley Jensen	Maryanne Melloan	April 17, 1997 (1997-04-17)	21.47
20	20	“A Boy Like That”	Shelley Jensen	Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman	April 24, 1997 (1997-04-24)	21.68
21	21	“Family Affairs”	Gail Mancuso	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	May 1, 1997 (1997-05-01)	21.87
22	22	“I'll See That and Raise You Susan”	Shelley Jensen	Neil J. Deiter	May 8, 1997 (1997-05-08)	21.44

Season 2 (1997–98)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
23	1	“I Love You, I Think”	Tom Moore	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	September 22, 1997 (1997-09-22)	13.02
24	2	“Past Tense”	Tom Moore	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	September 29, 1997 (1997-09-29)	11.51
25	3	“Truth and Consequences”	Pamela Fryman	Christopher Vane	October 6, 1997 (1997-10-06)	12.20
26	4	“Next Stop, Heaven”	Shelley Jensen	Becky Hartman Edwards	October 13, 1997 (1997-10-13)	12.76
27	5	“Susan's Minor Complication”	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	October 20, 1997 (1997-10-20)	11.67
28	6	“It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Maddy World”	Shelley Jensen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	November 3, 1997 (1997-11-03)	10.52
29	7	“It's My Nana and I'll Cry If I Want To”	Pamela Fryman	Chuck Tatham	November 10, 1997 (1997-11-10)	11.63
30	8	“A Kiss Before Dying...on Stage”	Tom Moore	Drew Vaupen & Phil Baker	November 17, 1997 (1997-11-17)	11.71
31	9	“The Old and the Beautiful”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	November 24, 1997 (1997-11-24)	10.69
32	10	“I Didn't Write This”	Pamela Fryman	Lisa Albert	December 8, 1997 (1997-12-08)	11.50
33	11	“Yule Never Know”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	December 15, 1997 (1997-12-15)	10.69
34	12	“A Kiss is Just Amiss”	Tom Moore	Christopher Vane	January 5, 1998 (1998-01-05)	12.85
35	13	“The Big Shalom”	Alan Rafkin	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	January 12, 1998 (1998-01-12)	12.04
36	14	“Matchmaker, Matchmaker”	Alan Rafkin	Becky Hartman Edwards	January 19, 1998 (1998-01-19)	11.81
37	15	“Car Trouble”	Shelley Jensen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	January 26, 1998 (1998-01-26)	11.12
38	16	“Ready...Aim...Fong!”	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	February 2, 1998 (1998-02-02)	12.28
39	17	“Daddy Piper”	Joyce Gittlin	Dan O'Shannon	March 9, 1998 (1998-03-09)	11.29
40	18	“Not in This Life”	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Christopher Vane	March 16, 1998 (1998-03-16)	10.03
41	19	“Models and Strippers and Wasps, Oh My!”	Tom Moore	David Kirkwood	April 6, 1998 (1998-04-06)	9.16
42	20	“Poetry in Notion”	Joanna Kerns	Becky Hartman Edwards	April 6, 1998 (1998-04-06)	9.32
43	21	“Pucker Up”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Andrew Green	April 13, 1998 (1998-04-13)	9.71
44	22	“5,947 Miles”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Jana Barto	April 20, 1998 (1998-04-20)	8.84
“A Tale of Two Pants”	May 4, 1998 (1998-05-04)	9.59
“Oh, How They Danced”	Shelley Jensen	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	May 18, 1998 (1998-05-18)	12.28

Season 3 (1998–99)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
49	1	“Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Some of These Do It”	Shelley Jensen	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	September 21, 1998 (1998-09-21)	11.96
50	2	“Feels Like the First Time”	Shelley Jensen	Christopher Vane	September 28, 1998 (1998-09-28)	10.90
51	3	“Don't Tell”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Maria Semple	October 5, 1998 (1998-10-05)	11.08
52	4	“Sleeping with the Enemy”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	October 12, 1998 (1998-10-12)	10.77
53	5	“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Susan's Party”	Alan Rafkin	Chuck Tatham	October 26, 1998 (1998-10-26)	10.35
54	6	“War Games”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Rick Singer	November 2, 1998 (1998-11-02)	11.34
55	7	“Seems Like Old Times”	Alan Rafkin	Becky Hartman Edwards	November 9, 1998 (1998-11-09)	9.05
56	8	“Trash-Test Dummies”	Alan Rafkin	Andrew Green	November 16, 1998 (1998-11-16)	9.96
57	9	“The Thanksgiving Episode”	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	November 30, 1998 (1998-11-30)	10.36
58	10	“The Apartment Hunt”	Shelley Jensen	Maria Semple	November 30, 1998 (1998-11-30)	11.61
59	11	“Merry Ex-Mas”	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer	December 14, 1998 (1998-12-14)	10.68
60	12	“Wedding-Bell Blues”	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Christopher Vane	January 11, 1999 (1999-01-11)	9.88
61	13	“On a Clear Day You Can Hear Forever”	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Becky Hartman Edwards	January 18, 1999 (1999-01-18)	10.70
62	14	“One Man's Intervention Is Another Man's Tupperware Party”	Roger Christiansen	Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman	January 25, 1999 (1999-01-25)	8.48
63	15	“Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut”	Shelley Jensen	Polly Levy	February 8, 1999 (1999-02-08)	10.08
64	16	“Ben Rubenstein, Meet Joe Black”	Shelley Jensen	Andrew Green	February 22, 1999 (1999-02-22)	10.38
65	17	“The Song Remains Insane”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Michael McCarthy	March 1, 1999 (1999-03-01)	9.66
66	18	“Revenge of the Gophers”	Roger Christiansen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	March 15, 1999 (1999-03-15)	9.61
67	19	“In This Corner...Susan Keane!: Part 1”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Chuck Tatham	May 3, 1999 (1999-05-03)	7.62
68	20	“In This Corner...Susan Keane!: Part 2”	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Andrew Green	May 10, 1999 (1999-05-10)	7.43
69	21	“The First Picture Show”	Michael Kelly	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	May 17, 1999 (1999-05-17)	7.67
70	22	“Bowled Over”	Shelley Jensen	Jana Barto	May 24, 1999 (1999-05-24)	8.63
71	23	“A Day in the Life”	Alan Rafkin	Story by : Maria Semple & Christopher Vane Teleplay by : Rick Singer	May 24, 1999 (1999-05-24)	12.35

Season 4 (1999–2000)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
72	1	“The New Gate”	Lee Shallat Chemel	Mark Driscoll & Maria Semple	September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20)	8.07
73	2	“The Billboard”	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Mark Driscoll & Maria Semple	September 27, 1999 (1999-09-27)	6.87
74	3	“The Pushkin Letters”	Lee Shallat-Chemel	David Babcock	October 4, 1999 (1999-10-04)	4.77
75	4	“Vicki Moves In”	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Sylvia Green	October 11, 1999 (1999-10-11)	6.27
76	5	“Halloween”	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	October 18, 1999 (1999-10-18)	6.59
77	6	“Cheerleaders”	Andrew Tsao	David Flebotte	November 1, 1999 (1999-11-01)	7.42
78	7	“The Wish List”	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 6, 1999 (1999-12-06)	6.69
79	8	“First Date”	Alan Rafkin	David Babcock	December 13, 1999 (1999-12-13)	6.66
80	9	“The Birthday Party”	Roger Christiansen	Joel H. Cohen	December 20, 1999 (1999-12-20)	5.94
81	10	“Susan's Ex”	Craig Zisk	Roger Peacock	December 27, 1999 (1999-12-27)	6.05
82	11	“Luis Gets His Groove Back”	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Ed Yeager	December 27, 1999 (1999-12-27)	6.21
83	12	“Dinner Party”	Andrew Tsao	Story by : David Wright Teleplay by : Stacy Traub	January 3, 2000 (2000-01-03)	7.46
84	13	“Stock Tip”	Andrew Tsao	Beth Seriff & Geoff Tarson	January 3, 2000 (2000-01-03)	7.45
85	14	“I Love You”	Andrew Tsao	Story by : Anne Rovak Teleplay by : Sylvia Green	June 6, 2000 (2000-06-06)	4.32
86	15	“The Break Up”	Andrew Tsao	Stacy Traub	June 13, 2000 (2000-06-13)	4.75
87	16	“Girls Night Out”	Dana deVally Piazza	Robert Peacock	June 20, 2000 (2000-06-20)	5.76
88	17	“The Bird in the Wall”	Gordon Hunt	Lisa K. Nelson & Tod Himmel	June 27, 2000 (2000-06-27)	4.59
89	18	“The Gay Parade”	Alan Rafkin	Lisa K. Nelson & Tod Himmel	Unaired (Unaired)	Template:TableTBA
90	19	“Susan and the Professor”	Roger Christiansen	Beth Seriff & Geoff Tarson	December 26, 2000 (2000-12-26)
91	20	“The Reversal”	Michael Kelly	Story by : Mike Dieffenbach Teleplay by : Joel H. Cohen	December 26, 2000 (2000-12-26)
92	21	“The Finale: Part 1”	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 26, 2000 (2000-12-26)
93	22	“The Finale: Part 2”	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 26, 2000 (2000-12-26)

Production

Original pilot

In the show's original pilot, written by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore and based on a dramatic script by Clyde Phillips, Susan worked at a publishing house editing children's books. After breaking up with her live-in boyfriend Ted (Brian McNamara), Susan finds herself "single" for the first time in years. Concurrently, Susan faces even greater challenges at work when her boss, Eric (Philip Casnoff), assigns her the task of working as an editor with Charlotte (Elizabeth Ashley), a hugely successful and highly opinionated romance novelist. Always on hand to provide support is Susan's grandmother, Nana (Nancy Marchand), her co-workers, acerbic best friend Marcy (Maggie Wheeler) and Neil (David Krumholtz), who has a crush on Susan.

When the series was picked up, former Murphy Brown writers/producers Gary Dontzig and Steven Peterman were brought in to redevelop the concept, being appointed as the show's co-showrunners. Other changes between the pilot and the series included Barbara Barrie replacing Nancy Marchand in the role of Nana, and Swoosie Kurtz and Ray Baker replacing Kurt Fuller and Caroline McWilliams as Susan's parents, Bill and Liz; the characters of Eric and Ted were reworked into the roles of Jack Richmond (played by Nelson) and his brother, Kip (Anthony Starke), whom Susan jilts during their wedding. (McNamara would later play Cooper Elliot, a friend of Jack's who briefly replaces him as publisher of The Gate through a poker game bet and takes Susan to Italy at the end of Season 1.) In the series, though the setting switches from a publishing house to a magazine, the main office set retained most of its features from the pilot; the most noticeable difference was that the elevator was at stage right. While the pilot's storyline featuring Elizabeth Ashley as one of the publishing house's clients was not used in the series, a cardboard cut out of Ashley that was featured in the pilot appears throughout the first three seasons of the show – it can be seen briefly behind Susan's desk, near the filing cabinets along the back wall.

The actual location for the exterior shots of the office was the Newhall Building at 260 California Street in San Francisco.

Death of David Strickland

Main article: David Strickland

David Strickland committed suicide in a Las Vegas motel room on March 22, 1999. Strickland's death was later incorporated into the show's third season finale, "A Day in the Life", which killed off his character, Todd Stites. The episode's plot finds Susan desperately trying to find Todd when she suspects he has gone missing after he fails to show up to work one morning. As the episode progresses, Susan learns about a number of good deeds that Todd had done around his neighborhood that she never knew about. In-character interviews with the supporting cast also appear throughout the episode, with each actor sharing their personal experiences they had with Strickland before his death, framed as each character's own memories of Todd. As the episode comes to an end, Todd's favorite song, "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim, plays outside of Luis' apartment as Susan and her co-workers sit in a circle praying for Todd's well-being. At last, the phone in the middle of the room rings, but the camera cuts away before the news of Todd's fate can be revealed. The episode ends with memorable clips of Strickland from the show and the memorial subtitle: "The Gods of comedy looked down upon you and smiled".

Fourth season and cancellation

Suddenly Susan Season 4 cast photo

Before production began on the fourth and final season, Judd Nelson and Andrea Bendewald left the show; Peterman and Dontzig also stepped down as showrunners, and the series replaced almost its entire writing staff (with the exception of executive producer Maria Semple, who joined the show at the start of Season 3 and took over showrunning duties alongside Mark Driscoll, one of the new writers hired for the fourth season). The departures of Nelson and Bendewald, along with the death of Strickland, prompted Driscoll and Semple to retool the series: The Gate was transformed into a men's magazine by its new owner, Ian Maxtone-Graham (Eric Idle), and relocated from its trendy uptown offices overlooking the bay to a dingy former warehouse in Chinatown. In tow, Ian brought his own team of workers, including executive assistant and U.S. Navy veteran Miranda Charles (Sherri Shepherd), sports writer Nate Knaborski (Currie Graham), and freelance photographer Oliver Browne (Rob Estes). Faced with new challenges, Susan suddenly had to prove herself all over again.

Airing between Seinfeld and ER during its first season, Suddenly Susan was initially a ratings success, attracting almost 25 million viewers per episode, despite mostly unfavorable critical reviews. When the show was moved to Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. (against the Top 30 hit Cosby) for the second season, the show experienced a large decline in viewership, sliding from #3 to #71 in one year, bringing in less than 11 million viewers. The ratings failed to bounce back, and in its final season, the show barely ranked in the top 100, prompting NBC to pull it from the schedule in January. It returned briefly in June, but at the end of the month was pulled from the network's prime-time schedule with five episodes left unaired. One episode, "The Gay Parade", remained unaired by NBC (but was eventually shown on Lifetime a few years later); the final four episodes (including the two-part series finale) were burned off from 2:00 to 4:00 a.m. EST on December 26, 2000, airing as part of the NBC All Night overnight block.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics. The website's critical consensus was: "Comedic inspiration doesn't spark Suddenly for this Susan, hampered by derivative gags that undermine Brooke Shields' energetic performance."

Caryn James of the New York Times wrote: "Like its lead character, Suddenly Susan has no identity of its own. The beauty of the magic time slot is that it gives Suddenly Susan, with its engaging star and flexible format, a well-deserved chance to grow."

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade C and called it: "A wearyingly self-conscious updating of The Mary Tyler Moore Show: nice girl trying to make it in the competitive workplace of a big town."

Ratings history

Season	TV Season	Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Time slot (ET)	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	1996–97	22	September 19, 1996	May 8, 1997	Thursday at 9:30 pm (Episodes 1–12) Thursday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 13–22)	#3	16.5
2	1997–98	26	September 22, 1997	May 18, 1998	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–19, 21–23, 25) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 20, 24, 26)	#65	7.9
3	1998–99	23	September 21, 1998	May 24, 1999	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–9, 11–22) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 10, 23)	#81	9.5
4	1999–2000	22	September 20, 1999	June 27, 2000	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–10, 12) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 11, 13) Tuesday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 14–17)	#94	6.6

^{^[a]} Twenty-three episodes were produced for season four, but episode 18, "The Gay Parade" was never broadcast.
^{^[b]} End of the series' original broadcast run. Last four episodes were aired six months later.

References

Notes

Template:Notefoot

External links

• Suddenly Susan at the Internet Movie Database