Living with Fran

Living with Fran is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB. It starred Fran Drescher and Ryan McPartlin, and was co-created by Jamie Kennedy.^[1] The series debuted on April 8, 2005,^[2] and ran two seasons before ending on March 24, 2006.

Living with Fran
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	David Garrett Jason Ward Josh H. Etting Jamie Kennedy
Starring	Fran Drescher Ryan McPartlin Misti Traya Ben Feldman
Composer	Paul Buckley
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (6 unaired)
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Fringe Producers On Time and Sober Productions Jizzy Entertainment Uh-Oh Productions Regency Television Fox Television Studios
Original release
Network	The WB
Release	April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08) – March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)

Premise

Fran Reeves is an interior designer and divorced mother of two. Her son, Josh, recently dropped out of medical school and now lives at home with his younger sister, Allison, his mother and her young boyfriend, Riley Martin. Fran deals with the visits of her sleazy ex-husband, Ted, and her divorced cousin, Merrill. Fran also must deal with the fact that others, including her son, disapprove of the relationship she has with her much younger boyfriend. In the episode "Dreaming with Fran", Fran breaks up with Riley because of the age difference but in the next episode, Riley proposes to Fran.

Cast

Main

• Fran Drescher as Fran Reeves – Fran plays an interior designer who is the mother of two. She had her first kid, Josh Reeves, at seventeen.
• Ryan McPartlin as Riley Douglas Martin – Riley is Fran's younger boyfriend who is twenty-six years old.
• Misti Traya as Allison Reeves – Allison is Fran's fifteen-year-old daughter. She and her brother Josh do not get along all the time. Unlike Josh, she does not seem to mind her mother dating a younger man.
• Ben Feldman as Josh Reeves – Josh is Fran's twenty-one-year-old son who dropped out of medical school. It is revealed that he was forced to go in the first place because of his father, but could not handle the sight of blood. He starts working at a video store. Unlike Allison, he is opposed to his mother dating a younger guy, and often makes fun of the two by comparing their ages. Despite this, he gets along quite well with Riley's father upon his appearance. He has nothing but contempt for his father and the two make barbs against each other every time they see each other.

Recurring

• Charles Shaughnessy as Ted Reeves – Ted Reeves is Fran's ex-husband. He is a surgical doctor, and the man who forced Josh into medical school. He is something of a confidence trickster. He is described in one episode as being unsupportive of Josh's dreams. He later makes an appearance in person, and seems to have a poor relationship with his kids, mainly Josh. He enjoys making fun of his son, Riley, and Fran during his appearances, but takes more "kindly" to his daughter, Allison. He also flirts a lot with younger women.
• Debi Mazar as Merrill – Merill is Fran's unmarried cousin who appears in several episodes. She later gets hooked up with one of Riley's friends, and in season two, she is engaged. During her engagement party in the last episode, Riley and Fran are broken up.
• Caitlin Crosby as Becca – Allison's best friend who at one point had a crush on Josh, which temporarily ruined her friendship with Allison until Josh told her he was not interested. She appears in several episodes in both season one and two, spending time with Allison. She plays the guitar and sings, later revealed in season two when she sings at Merill's engagement party in the episode "Reuniting with Fran".

Guest

• Marilu Henner^[3] as Donna Martin – Donna is Riley's mother who always makes rude comments about Fran's age, even comparing her to an antique. This amuses Fran's son, Josh. By the end of the episode, however, she and Fran start to get along better after he ends up in the hospital for a cut. After her first appearance, Donna makes no more appearances in person, but does call during the arrival of her daughter, Jenny, making sure she is okay.
• John Schneider^[3] as Tom Martin – Tom is Riley's father. Unlike his wife, he is not as rude, and supports his son in everything he does. He and Josh get along very well in the series, forming a father-and-son-like relationship.
• Lauren Woodland as Jenny Martin – Jenny is Riley's younger sister around Josh's age. She innocent and sweet, and Donna appears to be quite protective of her, calling Fran repeatedly before her arrival. She and Josh accidentally get married after they get drunk, but their marriage is terminated later based on the circumstances. She is engaged to be married.
• Hal Linden as Grandpa Hal – Hal is Cookie's husband and Fran's father. According to the family members, he "hates" Riley and believes Fran is taking care of him. He loses all his money to Riley in a bet, but Riley uses the money to send him and his wife on a vacation, possibly resolving their differences.
• Ryan Devlin as Todd – Todd is Allison's older boyfriend who is disliked by Fran and Riley. In season 2 he is dumped by Allison after lying to her.
• Lainie Kazan as "Nana" Cookie – Cookie is Fran's mother. She likes Riley, but her relationship with her daughter is another story. Whenever Fran tries to make a decision, she claims she is not going to say anything, but ends up disagreeing with her decision anyhow and then pointing out her mistakes. She also blames Fran for her missing a concert because she got into an accident on the exact day that Cookie was going to go see it.

Production

The series was originally titled Shacking Up, and was ordered to series by The WB for the 2004–05 television season,^[4] though it ultimately did not premiere in fall 2004 and was held for midseason.^[5] The early tapings of the show frustrated star Fran Drescher, and the series' original showrunners were replaced before the show ever aired.^[2] It was not renamed until very close to its premiere; episodes of television entertainment shows like Extra can be found on the internet discussing the show with the cast and previewing clips while still calling it Shacking Up.

The series was executive produced by actor and comedian Jamie Kennedy, known for his roles in the Scream film series. He also appeared on an episode of the first season as a flamboyant, stripper-coach Fran hires to surprise Riley for their anniversary.

On October 18, 2005, The WB removed Living with Fran from its Friday night schedule, replacing with the new series Twins, indicating that the series was just being put on hiatus and that the remaining nine episodes of the second season would air at a later date.^[6] The show returned Friday, January 13, 2006, at 8:30 p.m.^[7] The second-season finale aired on Friday, March 24, 2006. In the episode, Riley proposed to Fran; the episode was a cliffhanger, and Fran's answer was not revealed. On May 17, 2006, one day before the upfronts, it was announced that Living with Fran would not be returning for a third season in fall 2006 on the new CW network, which was the result of the merger of the former WB and UPN networks.^[8]

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	13		April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08)	May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)
2	13		September 16, 2005 (2005-09-16)	March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)

Season 1 (2005)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code [9]
1	1	"Pilot"	Jeff Melman	Jamie Kennedy & Josh Etting & David Garrett & Jason Ward	April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08)	CBR100
2	2	"Riley's Parents"	Wil Shriner	David Garrett & Jason Ward	April 8, 2005 (2005-04-08)	CBR110
3	3	"The Ex Factor"	Steve Zuckerman	Frank Lombardi & Tim Kelleher	April 15, 2005 (2005-04-15)	CBR111
4	4	"The Reunion"	Steve Zuckerman	David Regal & Cindy Caponera	April 22, 2005 (2005-04-22)	CBR112
5	5	"Oh, Baby"	Leonard R. Garner Jr.	Cindy Caponera & Mike Langworthy	April 29, 2005 (2005-04-29)	CBR109
6	6	"Who's the Parent?"	Gerry Cohen	Frank Lombardi	May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06)	CBR101
7	7	"Carriage Ride"	Gail Mancuso	Tom Burkhard	May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)	CBR108
8	8	"The Concert"	Gail Mancuso	Frank Lombardi	Unaired	CBR107
9	9	"Josh Works for Riley"	Gerry Cohen	David Regal	Unaired	CBR102
10	10	"Riley's Ex"	Gerry Cohen	Josh Etting & Jamie Kennedy	Unaired	CBR103
11	11	"School Ties"	Wil Shriner	Maria A. Brown	Unaired	CBR105
12	12	"Girl Talk"	Peter Bonerz	Cindy Caponera	Unaired	CBR104
13	13	"Plastered"	Peter Bonerz	David Regal	Unaired	CBR106

Season 2 (2005–06)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code [9]
14	1	"A Year of Living with Fran"	Lee Shallat Chemel	Frank Lombardi & Tim Kelleher	September 16, 2005 (2005-09-16)	CBR205
15	2	"Going to the Bar Mitzvah with Fran"	Barnet Kellman	Diane Wilk	September 23, 2005 (2005-09-23)	CBR201
16	3	"Sweet Sixteen Again with Fran"	Barnet Kellman	Frank Lombardi & Tim Kelleher	September 30, 2005 (2005-09-30)	CBR202
17	4	"Learning with Fran"	Barnet Kellman	David Regal	October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07)	CBR203
18	5	"Ahead of the Plan with Fran"	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Allison M. Gibson	October 14, 2005 (2005-10-14)	CBR204
19	6	"Going Crazy with Fran"	Bob Koherr	Josh Etting & Mike Langworthy	January 13, 2006 (2006-01-13)	CBR212
20	7	"Coupling with Fran"	Ken Whittingham	Mike Langworthy & Diane Wilk	January 20, 2006 (2006-01-20)	CBR208
21	8	"Healing with Fran"	Ken Whittingham	Tim Kelleher & Frank Lombardi	January 27, 2006 (2006-01-27)	CBR209
22	9	"The Whole Clan with Fran"	Katy Garretson	Yoni Berkovits & Drew Levin	February 3, 2006 (2006-02-03)	CBR210
23	10	"Masquerading with Fran"	Mary Lou Belli	Allison M. Gibson & David Regal	February 17, 2006 (2006-02-17)	CBR207
24	11	"Going to Bed with Fran"	Mary Lou Belli	David Garrett & Jason Ward	February 24, 2006 (2006-02-24)	CBR206
25	12	"Dreaming with Fran"	Bob Koherr	Davis Baldy & David Regal	March 17, 2006 (2006-03-17)	CBR211
26	13	"Reuniting with Fran"	Peter Beyt	Bob Myer	March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)	CBR213

Ratings

The premiere episode of Living with Fran airing at 8:30 p.m. on April 8, 2005, drew 3.1 million viewers and a 1.3 rating/5 share in adults 18–49 in preliminary ratings, improving on the ratings of its lead-in What I Like About You, while the followup episode of the show that the same evening at 9:30 p.m. retained approximately 90% of the audience from its lead-in Reba.^[3] The series was considered a "solid" performer in its first season according to Variety's Rick Kissell.^[10]

References

1. Steven Zeitchik (July 23, 2008). "Jamie Kennedy to produce 'Northwood'". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-05-26. [Kennedy] wrote and starred in but didn't produce 2003's "Malibu's Most Wanted," created the Fran Drescher sitcom "Living With Fran" and created and starred on WB Network's "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment."
2. Nicholas Fonseca (April 4, 2005). "Fran Drescher returns to network TV". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
3. Rick Kissell (April 10, 2005). "Frog's 'Fran' feeling fine after solid bow". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
4. Rick Kissell (May 9, 2004). "Frog, UPN face season of challenges". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-15. And promising half-hours include family laffers "Shacking Up" with Fran Drescher...
5. Michael Schneider (May 18, 2004). "Frog, Alphabet tell lessons learned". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-15. For midseason, net has Fran Drescher comedy "Shacking Up"...
6. Josef Adalian (October 18, 2005). "Frog's sked heavy on deja view". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
7. Brian Ford Sullivan (January 3, 2006). "The WB Revises 'Geek' Plans, Gives 'Fran' Last-Minute Return". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
8. Brian Ford Sullivan (May 17, 2006). "The CW Unveils New Logo, Sets Pickups". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
9. From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Living with Fran"]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
10. Rick Kissell (May 22, 2005). "Drama queen of season". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-15. The WB's "Living With Fran" and Fox's "Stacked" are two midseason preems that still look solid...

External links

• Living with Fran at IMDb
• Living with Fran at epguides.com