The Torkelsons

This sitcom was great. And the spin-off, Almost Home, was as well. This one had something. But, after a few episodes, we saw re-runs. Oh, why are the good things so short? Maybe it would have helped if ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX had partnered up with Disney to produce the sitcom.

Although The Torkelsons was an ensemble comedy, Connie Ray and Olivia Burnette were the obvious stars. They took characters who could have been caricatures (the frazzled, whacky southern mama and her precocious wannabe-poet daughter) and gave rich, realistic and complex performances. Dorothy Jane's crush on Riley was realistically poignant, exciting and angsty as only unrequited teen love can be. The jokes were cute, the lessons learned didn't clobber watchers over the head, and the Torkelsons had a moral-center much more admirable and realistic than most "family values" programming. Networks didn't know what to do with this show. It was so unique that it was difficult to fit smoothly into programming blocks. It was bounced around in the schedule so much that devoted fans set up calling networks to alert each other when they happened to find an episode on the air.

Almost Home tried to put The Torkelsons' heart and wit into a more marketable package, but the sarcastic city kids' reaction to the earnest Oklahomans mirrored the condescension shown by network executives.

The Torkelsons and its spin-off Almost Home, were, in my opinion, 2 of the funniest sitcoms I have ever seen. The writing is original and creative. Unlike many other shows on the Disney Channel, I can actually stand to watch this one and laugh at the same time. They should start showing the reruns of both of these shows again. Then there would actually be something worth watching on that channel.

This show should have been on longer! It's terrific!

In the small town of Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma, Millicent Torkelson (Connie Ray) is struggling to raise her five children with no money after her husband abandoned the family. She needs to rent out a room to elderly loner Wesley Hodges (William Schallert). Dorothy Jane Torkelson (Olivia Burnette) is the oldest child at 14. She is often embarrassed by her family and their poverty. She's been longtime pursued by goofy boy Kirby and has a crush on the new neighbor boy despite him being 4 years older.

This is a sincere family friendly sitcom fare first on NBC and later on the Family Channel. Sometimes, it almost gets to be an afternoon school special movie of the week. Other episodes remind me of other better shows. I do like Dorothy Jane, even her monologues. I thought that they could do more with Riley Roberts although his character was probably always one season and done. He's a senior after all. The high number of kids do keep them from having their own stories other than a couple of episodes. After one season, the show gets rebranded as Almost Home and lose two of the kids.