Mr. Belvedere

This was one of the more enjoyable family-oriented shows of the 1980's,and for good reason. This was one of ABC-TV's successful line-up of family shows that gave the network an very successful track record on shows from the mid-1980's all the way to the early 1990's. And this were all family oriented shows. With such shows as "Full House","Head Of The Class","Growing Pains","Perfect Strangers",as well as "Who's The Boss","Family Matters",and "America's Funniest Home Videos",the cult comedy "Mister Belvedere",which ran on ABC-TV from the premiere episode on March 15,1985 until the final episode of the series on July 8,1990,is still revered by many as a cult classic in the utmost sense of the word.

It is still a huge favorite within the college circuit who to this day still has a loyal following to the show. The series stars Rob Stone,Brice Beckham,and Tracy Wells as the Owens' children whom Mr.Belvedere looks after while in charge of the house. Clifton Webb's memorably eccentric character from the 1940's films was revived for the 1980's with the late Christopher Hewitt as everybody's favorite British butler,who somehow finds himself in Pittsburgh who gets a job with his latest bosses,the Owens family. The show by the way worked because the chemistry between actors Bob Uecker and Christopher Hewitt was as something as a fish-out-of-water story;a frumpy sportswriter for a major newspaper and a uptight British butler and his three rambunctious kids,including the relationship with Belvedere and the rest of the family,including the friendship with the youngest one-Wesley,who comes to him for needed support and guidance and it shows throughout the entire part of the show's six-year run. The best episode from this series came during the final episode of the show's fifth season. Belvedere in a coma after a devastating car crash,set in motion by Wesley,lies motionless as one of the best performances from a child actor(Brice Beckham)delivers a brilliant passage of dialogue in this emotional episode.

Basically this was a show that relied on dry British humor with family sitcom situations. In each episode,Belvedere would solve the family crisis around the house,when the father figure couldn't do it himself. There was also the wife,Marsha Owens(Ilene Graff) of the house,who was a law student(who received her degree during the 1987-1988 season and begun her first job as a lawyer a major firm),and the youngest daughter Heather,played by Tracy Wells. Each episode dealt with growing up along the way and getting along with each other. Not only was Belvedere the butler but everything else while the father figure constantly whined all the time. The family dog was Spot. At the end of the each episode,Belvedere would begin writing the lessons in his diary for the day. One notable guest star was Robert Goulet,who turned up among other things as well. However,the series produced over a 100 episodes and have a respectable farewell,when the final episode of this series ended on July 8,1990. In the final episode of the show, Mister Belvedere finally gets married and says farewell to the Owens'. This was a show that was underrated for years and when will we see this show finally on DVD?

After a whirlwind period of two years where the American Broadcasting Company went from riding "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in being the top network overall in the Nielsen's for 1999-2000 to having their worst season ever in 2001-02 where everything fell apart, ABC has decided that family-oriented T.V. will be their focus over the "mild raunch" (to us Canadians) of NBC and FOX and the reality-T.V. obsessed CBS. They've had a track record in the mid to late 80's and early 90's with Perfect Strangers, Head Of The Class, Full House, America's Funniest Home Videos, Growing Pains, and this cult comedy, still revered by many.

Mr. Belvedere is still a big favorite of the college crowd who have set up websites for it, and many people believed that Rob Stone, who played the oldest son, was the man who'd later become the infamous Marilyn Manson.

The late Christopher Hewitt is the title character, a very British butler who has served for many people over the years, including Queen Elizabeth II, who somehow finds himself lost in Pittsburgh. He gets a job with his latest bosses, the Owens family. The show worked because of its fish-out-of-water situation and the fact that the wacky Bob Uecker was in it. Although not a classic sit-com, it was decent enough, the acting was very good, and it relied on dry British comedy as well as family sit-com situations. Hey, any show where Uecker has to try to keep himself under control is enough reason to watch. I'd love to check this show out again someday, maybe when I go digital.

I caught this show and was a fan for a bit of time. It was one of those sitcom shows of the 80's that was not really a huge success or a big flop. It had limited success and was able to last for six seasons and it was sort of a funny show. It featured an English butler living with an American family and it most certainly had some funny moments. It also had some very disturbing moments in the form of very bad jokes or subject matter. I remember one where the daughter was just about raped or something and another where the youngest child made a completely inappropriate joke about his teacher. Mr. Belvedere for the most part did not really do any of the more off kilter jokes and was the highlight of the show. This show is also a source of the rumor that one of the two male children was Marilyn Manson, but of course those rumors are completely untrue, I am not sure if it was the older boy or younger one that supposedly grew up to be everyone's most favorite satanist. Bob Uecker played the father of he household, I find it bizarre that they got a baseball play by play man to star in their sitcom, but he does an okay job and the man playing Mr. Belvedere did good too, the mother was unmemorable and all the children were very iffy. Still, this show had some funny moments and perhaps could have thrived longer and been more successful with better writers who know what is funny and what isn't.

Wow! This was one of my favorite shows as a kid.

I always believed Mr. Belvedere was a very cool

guy with his sophisticated British accent. I feel

he was the highlight of the show.

This is a very good show. Every episode was fun to

watch and never a dull moment.

Every actor played their roles beautifully.

I am hoping Mr. Belvedere will stream on tv some

day, because it truly is a great show to watch.

I try searching and I've had no luck finding the

show anywhere. I would definitely binge-watch if

it's ever streaming online. It would be great.

This is a great comedy series in my opinion.

This is sitcom didn't appear to be that popular or well known. I'm a 90s kid and this one didn't reach enough popular to be rebroadcast or talked about a lot.

I was talking care of my Uncle during lockdown with Alzheimer's and this show came on Antenna TV. I scoffed at it at first, but a few days-I would up really enjoying this show! I loved growing pains and whose the boss quite a bit. The family and butler make the show fun and not too deep. The only issue is that it seems to directly copy issues or major themes from growing pains and the Cosby show.