A Family for Joe

A Family for Joe is an American sitcom that starred Robert Mitchum in the title role. It started out as a television movie that aired NBC on February 25, 1990, before turning it into a series that lasted from March 24 until August 19, 1990.^[2] Nine episodes of the series were filmed.^[3]

A Family for Joe
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Arnold Margolin
Written by	Philip Rosenthal[1] Oliver Goldstick[1]
Starring	Robert Mitchum Juliette Lewis Ben Savage Jessica Player David Lascher Barry Gordon
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	Sonny Grosso Larry Jacobson
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Grosso-Jacobson Productions NBC Productions Feature Films For Families
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	March 24 (1990-03-24) – August 19, 1990 (1990-08-19)

Plot

A Family for Joe is about the Bankston children, 13-year-old Nick (Chris Furrh), 11-year-old Holly (Maia Brewton), 9-year-old Chris (Jarrad Paul), and 7-year-old Mary (Jessica Player) who have been recently orphaned. Rather than have themselves split up into foster care, they find a homeless man, Joe (Robert Mitchum), to live with them and act as their grandfather. It isn't until Joe is granted monitored guardianship of the children by a family court judge when the real trial between him and them all begins.

Cast

• Robert Mitchum as Joe Whitaker
• Maia Brewton as Holly Bankston (original film)
• Juliette Lewis as Holly Bankston (series)
• Chris Furrh as Nick Bankston (original film)
• David Lascher as Nick Bankston (series)
• Barry Gordon as Roger Hightower
• Jarrad Paul as Chris Bankston (original film)
• Ben Savage as Chris Bankston (series)
• Jessica Player as Mary Bankston
• Barbara Babcock as Miss Collins
• David Nelson as George Merkel
• Anna Mathias as Annie Brewster
• Jim Hackett as Pete Brewster
• Janet MacLachlan as Judge Delaney
• Patrick Cronin as Mr. Reed
• Robert Casper as Mr. Edwards
• Richard X. Slattery as Officer Finney
• Maggie Egan as Mrs. Lewis
• John Mitchum as Preacher
• Helena Carroll as Mrs. Spruce
• Beverly Sanders as Doctor Bennett
• Patrick Campbell as Homeless Man
• Dorothy Neumann as Bag Lady
• Dennis Fimple as Man at Mission Door
• Dartanian as Punk 1
• Andrew Roperto as Punk 2
• Hugo Huizar as Punk 3
• Andrew Margolin as Young Cop
• Diane Almeida as Nurse
• Julie Ashton as Bank Cashier
• Sam Denoff as Slamburger Manager
• Nikki Cox as Carrie Lewis
• Gretchen Learman as Valerie Brewster
• Jacqueline Caru as Bonnie Brewster
• Justin Shenkarow as Pete Brewster Jr.
• Brandon Loomis as Student / BoyScout
• Jorga Caye as AA Meeting Attendee

Episodes

TV Movie

Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
"A Family for Joe"	Jeff Melman	Arnold Margolin	February 25, 1990 (1990-02-25)

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"A Little Romance"	Unknown	Unknown	March 24, 1990 (1990-03-24)
2	"The Medium"	Unknown	Unknown	March 31, 1990 (1990-03-31)
3	"Nick's Heart"	Unknown	Unknown	April 7, 1990 (1990-04-07)
4	"An Earful"	Alan Rafkin	Oliver Goldstick & Phil Rosenthal	April 14, 1990 (1990-04-14)
5	"Life of the Party"	Unknown	Unknown	April 28, 1990 (1990-04-28)
6	"Law and Order"	Unknown	Unknown	May 5, 1990 (1990-05-05)
7	"Once a Bum"	Unknown	Unknown	August 5, 1990 (1990-08-05)
8	"Night School"	Unknown	Unknown	August 12, 1990 (1990-08-12)
9	"Having a Baby"	Alan Rafkin	Renee Phillips & Carrie Honigblum	August 19, 1990 (1990-08-19)

Response

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly rated the series a D, stating that "the kids are leering little creeps, the jokes are moronic, and Joe's homelessness is already absent from the show's current scripts".^[4]

In the documentary series The Write Environment, writer Philip Rosenthal (who would go on to create Everybody Loves Raymond) talks about being a staff writer on the series.