| Blossom | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Sitcom[1] |
| Created by | Don Reo |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Stephen Geyer Mike Post |
| Opening theme | "My Opinionation" performed byDr. John (seasons 1–4) |
| Composer | Frank Denson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 114(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–23 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | July 5, 1990 (1990-07-05) |
| Release | January 3, 1991 (1991-01-03) – May 22, 1995 (1995-05-22)[2] |
Blossom is an Americansitcom that aired for five seasons onNBC. Debuting as a pilot preview on July 5, 1990, it premiered as a mid-season replacement on January 3, 1991, and aired until May 22, 1995.[3]Don Reo created the series, which starredMayim Bialik as Blossom Russo, a teenager who lived with her father and two elder brothers.[4][5][6] It was produced by Reo's Impact Zone Productions andWitt/Thomas Productions in association withTouchstone Television.
Blossom Russo, anItalian-American teenager, lives with her single father Nick in a male-dominated household that includes elder brothers Tony and Joey. In the beginning of the series, it is revealed Blossom's family is adjusting in the wake of their mother Maddy leaving to pursue her own life and career. Nick is a session musician who is frequently between gigs and tours, Tony is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict who eventually goes on to become a paramedic, and middle sibling Joey is a stereotypical "dumb jock" known for the exaggerated delivery of his catchphrase, "Whoa!"
Blossom's best friend Six LeMeure also plays a significant part in her life. Six, an especially fast talker, is known for her tendency to ramble. Blossom would frequently have fantasy sequences wherein she would receive advice from celebrities such asMr. T,Phylicia Rashad,David Spade,ALF,Will Smith, andGod (played byDon Novello).[7]
In 1988, series creatorDon Reo had begun a producing partnership withPaul Junger Witt andTony Thomas, in which the latter two were bringing his screenplays to television under the establishedWitt/Thomas Productions nameplate. Reo conceived of the idea that would become the genesis forBlossom when he attended a family party thrown by his longtime friendDion DiMucci, lead singer ofDion and the Belmonts. At the party, DiMucci demonstrated a "hip, with-it musician father" family dynamic with his children, inspiring Reo to develop a pilot in which the "cool" father would be a highlight.[9]
Reo was also inspired byJ. D. Salinger'sThe Catcher in the Rye and wanted to create a series about a wise-beyond-his-years, introspective teenage boy modeled closely after protagonistHolden Caulfield.[10][11] Reo decided to include both the hip father and Holden Caulfield-esque boy in the pilot, with the boy as the lead character. He first pitched the project to NBC in 1989 under the titleRichie.[10] NBC liked the screenplay, but network executive Leslie Lurie suggested that producers change the lead character to a girl[10] "because of the overabundance of coming-of-age stories with boys."[12] In the series finale episode, Reo and producer Judith D. Allison included a reference to the inspiration for Blossom's character when Blossom describes herself as a "teenage Holden Caulfield."[10]
At the timeMayim Bialik filmed the pilot episode, she had recently worked on another sitcom project forFox, entitledMolloy. The pilot episode ofBlossom was taped in the spring of 1990 and was the first of the projects to air, with NBC broadcasting the pilot as a special on July 5, 1990.[10] Four weeks later, Fox commenced a seven-episode tryout run forMolloy, whose episodes had been filmed earlier in 1989.Molloy was canceled for its low ratings, freeing Bialik to commit toBlossom whose ratings for the pilot special pleased NBC executives.[10]
Natasha Lyonne vied for the role of Six, but the role eventually went to Jenna von Oÿ.[13]
Bialik suggestedMichael Stoyanov for the role of her brother after seeing him guest star on sister seriesEmpty Nest. Bialik thought she and Stoyanov shared a strong physical resemblance and would be believable as brother and sister.[10]
NBC orderedBlossom as amid-season replacement for January 1991.[10]
NBC executives thought the depiction of an emotionally intuitive child paired alongside a super-chic father was too radical for its time; thus, Blossom has a more nuclear, conservative family dynamic in the pilot episode.[7][10] Her father was named Ted Russo and was played byRichard Masur, while her mother Barbara Russo was played byBarrie Youngfellow. In the plot of the pilot, Blossom's parents are married but she suspected their marriage was in trouble.[14]
The characters of Tony and Joey were also present in the pilot and played by the same actors from the regular series; however,Joey Lawrence's character was then named Donny. Neither of Blossom's parents had musical careers and instead worked in finance.[10] Tony was going through his first drug/alcohol rehab period (in which Terry remarked that "he had a serious problem--he missed all of 1989") and had his own separate scene with Blossom in the kitchen as he gave her sage anecdotes about their lives.[15]
The airing of the original pilot episode ranked number 3 for the week in the nationalNielsen ratings.[16] It was one spot ahead of a repeat of the pilot episode ofSeinfeld.[17] About two weeks after the pilot aired, NBC ordered more episodes ofBlossom.[18]
When NBC picked upBlossom as a regular series, Reo successfully convinced programming chiefBrandon Tartikoff to allow the lead character to have the chic, divorced musician father he had originally envisioned for the project.[7] Masur and Youngfellow's roles were recast, andTed Wass, who had previously starred in Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas' 1970s sitcomSoap, was cast as Blossom's single dad Nick Russo. Witt and Thomas persuaded Wass, who was then considering leaving acting to become a director, to take the role on the condition he could also direct multiple episodes.[10] Mayim Bialik had also enjoyed auditioning with Wass the most out of the other actors who were trying out for the role.[10]
Five seasons ofBlossom were produced, with a total of 114 episodes.[1]
Bill Bixby became a frequent director on the series in its third season, a role he continued in for several episodes into the fourth, despite his ongoing battle with prostate cancer. On November 15, 1993, shortly after learning that his illness was terminal, Bixby collapsed on theBlossom set and was hospitalized. He died six days later.[19]
In the pilot episode, the song in the opening credits isBobby Brown's 1988 hit single "My Prerogative",[7] which plays as Blossom dances in her bedroom on home video. When the show went to series, the song “My Opinionation” performed byDr. John was used as a replacement theme. The title sequence was re-shot so that Bialik's dancing was more in sync with the newer song.
The opening sequence for season two was changed to clips of dance moves by the title character on film and in front of a pastel blue/pink background. Blossom's outfit changed in each dancing scene and her dance moves ranged from belly dancing tovoguing.Barnard Hughes was added to the main cast and opening credits under the "With" heading, preceding Ted Wass.
In the third season, the dancing concept was expanded upon and main cast members Lawrence, Stoyanov, von Oÿ and Wass joined Bialik one at a time as she danced.Portia Dawson andDavid Lascher's names were included, despite the actors not being physically present in the sequence. This version of the intro lasted through the end of season four. Also beginning in season three, many scenes of the show opened and closed with the first frame frozen in a multi-colored watercolor effect. The watercolor stills lasted through the end of the series.
The fifth and final season dropped a full-fledged intro, instead simply displaying theBlossom show logo over the watercolor effect to the opening notes of "My Opinionation". During the 1994–1995 season, NBC began running its credits in the squeeze-screen format;[5] thus, cast and crew's credits were positioned at the beginning of each episode.
BecauseBlossom aired immediately afterThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on NBC for a period,[20] NBC cross-promoted the shows on two occasions.Will Smith appeared in the season 2 episode "I'm with the Band" as himself under his rap stage nameThe Fresh Prince, and later that seasonKaryn Parsons made an appearance on the show in "Wake Up Little Suzy" as herFresh Prince character Hilary Banks.[21]Estelle Getty appeared in one episode in season 1 asSophia Petrillo, her character fromThe Golden Girls andEmpty Nest.[22]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | Viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||||
| 1 | 14 | July 5, 1990 (1990-07-05) | April 29, 1991 (1991-04-29) | 46[23] | 12.1 | 19.0 | |
| 2 | 24 | September 16, 1991 (1991-09-16) | May 4, 1992 (1992-05-04) | 33[24] | 12.9 | 20.4 | |
| 3 | 26 | August 10, 1992 (1992-08-10) | May 17, 1993 (1993-05-17) | 27[25] | 13.5 | 21.0 | |
| 4 | 28 | September 24, 1993 (1993-09-24) | May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23) | 32 | 12.2 | 18.5 | |
| 5 | 22 | September 26, 1994 (1994-09-26) | May 22, 1995 (1995-05-22) | 55 | 10.4 | 15.6 | |
ThoughBlossom provided impressive ratings for NBC,[12] early critical reviews were mixed.Ken Tucker ofEntertainment Weekly felt the premise of the show was overdone, saying it is "yet another show about a nice, hapless single father (in this case,Ted Wass) coping with kids."[20] Tucker praised Mayim Bialik and said the show is "raised to a higher level by [her] uncommon charm," but called the other characters bland, saying, "the male characters could exchange each other's lines and you wouldn’t notice — they're all the same generic nice-guy wiseacre."[20][26]
CriticDavid Zurawik was amongst the few who praised the show and surmised that the lack of attention from other critics was due to many of them being "older, white men" who were more attuned to boys' coming-of-age stories.[12][27] Zurawik opined that the dearth of female representation and female-driven stories on TV madeBlossom an important show, and that by centering on a teenage girl,Blossom "is also telling adolescent girls that their concerns and feelings are as important as the concerns and feelings of adolescent boys."[12] Zurawik added that inBeverly Hills, 90210, another popular show for teens, "the boys are the main characters, and the girls come up and either create the problem or tag along. The boys talk the most . . . and they are the ones who come up with the solutions."[12] However, inBlossom, the female character is at the center and her "problems and concerns are what count. She finds her own solutions. Which is what makesBlossom such a rare show and an interesting case study of network television and our attitudes about what makes for a good TV show."[12]
Zurawik also lauded the show for its humor and its inclusion of more serious issues, writing,
"Blossom does regularly deal with serious topics: Blossom's first period, using condoms, Blossom possibly running away...But some of the plots are as simple as Blossom and Six camping out overnight to get tickets to aC+C Music Factory concert, then meeting the group members and getting to dance with them — a nice half-hour of teen fantasy that ends on some high-energy, feel-good dancing. And let's not forget those 'fave' outfits Blossom creates or Blossom's own thoughts on what the show is all about."[12]
By 1994,Variety saidBlossom was "one of the more sharply written sitcoms of the past five years."[28]
In 1993, Blossom received anEmmy Award nomination for Ouststanding Individual Achievement in Lighting Direction for a comedy series,[29] and was nominated for aHumanitas Prize for the episode "The Date",[30] written and directed by season 5 executive producer Allan Katz. Bialik, Lawrence, and von Oÿ were all nominated for multipleYoung Star Awards, with both Lawrence and von Oÿ winning in 1993 for Outstanding Young Comedian in a Television Series and Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Television Series, respectively.[31]
The show was unsuccessful when it was first syndicated,[32][33] running only from September 1995 to September 1999 in local syndication.[citation needed] Reruns also previously ran on cable'sWGN andHub Network / Discovery Family.[34]
Blossom got completely sim subbed onCBC Television at the same time as NBC via Cable in the early half of the 1990s and again in early 1995, all the seasons except season 3 where it aired onCTV following CBC’s reduction of American Shows.
Blossom was heralded for being one of the rare primetime TV shows at the time to center on a teenage girl, the other show beingClarissa Explains It All onNickelodeon.[6][7] It also received praise for addressing topics like family dysfunction, addiction, sex, single fatherhood, and depression.[10][35]Blossom was the first family sitcom to feature a teenage character dealing with substance abuse recovery.[4] In later seasons, the show increasingly tackled more mature issues, such as the dangers of sexual assault and gun violence.[5][7]
In a retrospective article forSlate, Willa Paskin wrote that "Blossom, like any sitcom with teenagers, features lots of lessons learned, but most of those lessons skirt a cheesyFull House fate because they aren’t overly simplistic," and that today, "it's still rare for sitcoms, even the good ones, to embrace ambiguity."[7]
Mayim Bialik said in 2016, "What we tried to show was the full range of emotions that human beings can have, but in particular that young women can have. The images of women that most of us raised in the '70s and '80s, and even the '60s, saw of women wasn't always appropriately complicated. A lot of times it was the bimbo or the nerd, you were either pretty or you were ugly and that's sort of how characters were written. WithBlossom we were trying to show someone who had ups and downs. Some days she felt good, some days she didn't. We did a great episode called "Blue Blossom", which was about her being depressed and those were things we were trying to normalize."[10]
Bialik added, "The character did not look like a runway model. She wore normal clothes. Some days we had flannel shirts and jeans days. And the actress playing her, me, was not a traditionally attractive female that people were used to seeing on TV, especially for lead women. The fact that it is so commonplace now… I don't know that we're uniquely responsible for that, but we definitely were the first network show I knew about at that time that was about a girl."[10]
The outfits worn by Blossom and Six turned the characters into trend setters, popularizing flowered, floppy hats,[5] baby-doll dresses, and sundresses.[36][37] Costume designer Sherry Thompson and costume supervisor Marion Kirk culled the characters' eclectic wardrobes, which would average six outfits per episode,[12] fromMelrose Avenue boutiques and chain stores.[36] In 1993, an officialBlossom clothing line was released in department stores.[38]
During the series' run and after, it was parodied or referenced in other shows likeSaturday Night Live,[39][40]The Simpsons,[41] andFriends.[42] The show was also referenced in a 2010 episode ofGlee[43] and on sitcomThe Big Bang Theory,[44] the latter which Bialik joined as a main cast member. In January 2022, the season 2 premiere ofCall Me Kat, aFox sitcom starring Bialik, featured a reunion of originalBlossom actors von Oÿ, Lawrence, and Stoyanov.[45] The trio portrayed themselves as actors from the sitcom, but did not refer to the titular character Blossom and only referenced the iconic hats and opening credit dance numbers.
On the January 14, 2025 episode ofNight Court, lead character Judge Abby Stone, who is played by Miyam Bialik's formerThe Big Bang Theory co-starMelissa Rauch, boasts how she is an avid Blossom fan, even keeping the Blossom theme song on her cell phone as her "wedding precession," dancing to the Blossom theme song with Bialik and even preferring the character to Bialik's other known roles such as those in Call Me Kat and The Big Bang Theory; Stone even notes how she did not know about Bialik'sThe Big Bang Theory role.[46] When first performing the Blossom dance with Stone, Bialik claims that Stone was the first person she can recall in recent time who asked her to doBlossom dance with.
On January 27, 2009,Shout! Factory (under license from rights-holdersABC andWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) released Seasons 1 & 2 ofBlossom on DVD in Region 1.[47] The 6-disc boxset includes all-new interviews with cast members, the original pilot episode, featurettes and audio commentaries.[48]
Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode best-of set entitledBlossom - 10 Very Special Episodes on October 12, 2010. The single disc release features episodes from the first 2 seasons.[49]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Blossom: Seasons 1 & 2 | 38 | January 27, 2009 |
For a period of time all five seasons ofBlossom were available to stream onHulu. In January 2019, the series was removed from the streaming service. On March 26, 2018, the whole series was made available oniTunes andAmazon Instant Video. In October 2023, the show was removed from Amazon Instant Video.
In March 2021, the series was again made available for streaming on Hulu. The series was removed from Hulu on March 8, 2024.[50]
InCanada, the series is available on Disney+. It also available for free, with ads, on theCTV app.[51]
In May 2023, Bialik announced that a reunion series was in the works. The script for the pilot was complete and the entire cast was on board.[52] On October 3, 2023, Bialik hinted that the reboot might not return as a sitcom.[53]
Bialik toldVanity Fair, "We're hoping to reboot it not as a sitcom, though… we want to bring back these interesting, deep characters—a child of divorce, a recovering drug addict, an alcoholic—to see them in a whole new way."[54]