The Cavanaughs

The Cavanaughs: Summary

Airs Next:CBS at Monday 9:30 PM (30 min.)
Status:Ended
Premiered:December 1, 1986
Last Aired:July 27, 1989
Show Categories:Comedy

Outspoken 71-year-old Irish expatriate Francis "Pop" Cavanaugh is the glue holding together his tightly-knit, yet constantly bickering, clan, who mostly all reside in the same house in a middle-class neighborhood in South Boston. That is, except for flashy, oft-divorced daughter Kit, who left the family years ago to chase her dreams of show biz. Stardom eluded Kit -- whose success was limited to the showgirl circuit -- and, after an absence of two decades, she returns home to try to mend ways with her crotchety, widowed father and act as mother figure for her conservative, widowed brother Chuck's four children: Father Chuck, Jr., a twentysomething priest who comes off more like a used car salesman; Mary Margaret, a shy, 16-year-old wallflower who's trying to find her way around the dating scene; and smart-mouthed 10-year-old fraternal twins, Kevin and John. Together, the adults all manage a family owned and run business, the Cavanaugh Bros. Construction Company.

Even with critical acclaim and decent ratings following Newhart, CBS failed to put The Cavanaughs on the fall schedule in 1987, partly because of a "controversial" religion-themed episode that brought the network negative publicity from the various religious groups, but mostly because it was the unfortunate show that former CBS programming chief Bud Grant chose to use as the replacement for Designing Women on Monday. When that series got the time slot for the '87-'88 season, that was seemingly the end of The Cavanaughs (or "That Irish piece of crap," as it was probably called in the letters of thousands of irate Designing Women fans, who flooded CBS headquarters after their show was shuffled over to Thursday in December, 1986 and pulled a month later). But the series experienced a bit of a miracle late in 1987 when Grant's corrupt successor ordered another eight episodes for midseason (perhaps because critics across America had questioned why it wasn't renewed). The cast and a lot of the crew were reassembled, and everybody went back to work. Although CBS would go on to pick up five more episodes, luck didn't strike again for the series; though it was originally slated to return in March, 1988, it was a no-show, most of the second season was used as filler that fall for the writer's strike of '88, and another order was not forthcoming.

Although it only lasted two half seasons two years apart, The Cavanaughs did have a happy ending in one respect. Music director Bill Moloney (the brother of creator Bob Moloney) and Christine Ebersole met while working on it, and were married during its second season.

Theme song
"The Cavanaughs (Main Title Theme)"
written by Dennis Polen - Paul Pilger - William Moloney

The Cavanaughs is produced by Mandy Films, Inc., in association with Paramount Television

Broadcast History
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Dec 1986-Mar 1987, Mon 9:30-10:00
Aug 1988-Oct 1988, Mon 8:30-9:00
Jun 1989-Jul 1989, Thu 9:00-9:30

First telecast: December 1, 1986
Last telecast: July 27, 1989
Show type: Multi-Camera Sitcom
Number of episodes: 27
Media: Tape Outspoken 71-year-old Irish expatriate Francis "Pop" Cavanaugh is the glue holding together his tightly-knit, yet constantly bickering, clan, who mostly all reside in the same house in a middle-class neighborhood in South Boston. That is, except for flashy, oft-divorced daughter Kit, who left the family years ago to chase her dreams of show biz. Stardom eluded Kit -- whose success was limited...