Soul Man (TV series)

This article is about the 1997 ABC television series. For the 2012 TV Land television series, see The Soul Man.

Soul Man is an American sitcom starring Dan Aykroyd that aired on ABC from April 15, 1997, to May 26, 1998. A total of 25 half-hour episodes were produced over two seasons.

Soul Man
Created by	Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams
Written by	Sarit Catz Pat Dougherty Karin Kelly Gloria Ketterer Tom Leopard David MacFadzean Steve Paymer Jon Pollack David Richardson Elliot Shoenman Marley Sims Danny Smith Mary Pat Walsh Matt Williams
Directed by	Peter Bonerz Gil Junger John Pasquin Will Mackenzie Don Scardino Andrew Tsao Ted Wass
Starring	Dan Aykroyd Anthony Clark Kevin Sheridan Brendon Ryan Barrett Courtney Chase Spencer Breslin Michael Finiguerra Dakin Matthews Anne Lambton
Theme music composer	Isaac Hayes and David Porter
Opening theme	"Soul Man"
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	25
Production
Executive producers	Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams
Producer	Gayle S. Maffeo
Production locations	Royal Oak, Michigan (setting) New York, NY (actual filming location)
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Hostage Productions Wind Dancer Production Group Touchstone Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	April 15, 1997 (1997-04-15) – May 26, 1998 (1998-05-26)
Related
Home Improvement

The series premiered on April 15, 1997, and was picked up for a second season of 22 half-hour episodes after only three episodes aired for the first season. Despite ranking 29th in its 2nd and final season, it ended on May 26, 1998, with 25 half-hour episodes produced in total. A four-year-old Spencer Breslin made his TV debut and was a series regular for the three-episode-long 1997 first season, in which he played the youngest child of Aykroyd.^[1][2]

The theme song was "Soul Man" written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Aykroyd was closely associated with the song, having released a cover of it in 1979 with his band The Blues Brothers.

Premise

Mike Weber (played by Aykroyd) is a widowed Episcopal priest who must deal with his four children, his quirky parishioners in Royal Oak, Michigan, and a wet-behind-the-ears curate who happens to be the nephew of his bishop.

Cast

The show's principal cast, circa Season 2.

• Dan Aykroyd as Rev. Mike Weber
• Anthony Clark as Rev. Todd Tucker
• Kevin Sheridan as Kenny Weber, Mike's first son
• Brendon Ryan Barrett as Andy Weber, Mike's second son
• Courtney Chase as Meredith Weber, Mike's daughter
• Spencer Breslin (season 1) & Michael Finiguerra (season 2) as Fred Weber, Mike's third son
• Dakin Matthews as Bishop Peter Jerome

Home Improvement connection

Mike Weber appeared on Home Improvement as the priest of Richard Karn's character, Al Borland. He was hired to put in a new stand for a holy water basin in the season seven episode "Losing My Religion". Tim Taylor ended up cutting the hole too big, causing the basin to fall through the floor.

In the Season 1 finale episode "Cinderella and the Funeral", Al Borland appeared in order to fix the church's furnace. Reference was made to Tim and the holy water basin falling through the hole he cut.

Zachary Ty Bryan appeared in the episode "Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon" playing Brad Taylor.

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	3		April 15, 1997 (1997-04-15)	April 29, 1997 (1997-04-29)
2	22		September 30, 1997 (1997-09-30)	May 26, 1998 (1998-05-26)

Season 1 (1997)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"Urges and Lies"	Andrew Tsao	Carmen Finestra & David McFadzean & Matt Williams	April 15, 1997 (1997-04-15)	18.33[3]
2	2	"Communion Wine and Convicts"	Unknown	Unknown	April 22, 1997 (1997-04-22)	17.69[4]
3	3	"Cinderella and the Funeral"	Unknown	Unknown	April 29, 1997 (1997-04-29)	14.00[5]

Season 2 (1997–98)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
4	1	"Mike's Awakening"	Andrew Tsao	Tom Leopold	September 30, 1997 (1997-09-30)	17.11[6]
5	2	"Hello Todd, Hello Nancy, Goodbye Harley"	Andrew Tsao	David Richardson	October 7, 1997 (1997-10-07)	17.44[7]
6	3	"The Lost Sheep Squadron"	John Pasquin	Danny Smith	October 21, 1997 (1997-10-21)	14.19[8]
7	4	"Trick and Treat"	John Pasquin	Jon Pollack	October 28, 1997 (1997-10-28)	12.97[9]
8	5	"Public Embarrassment and Todd's First Sermon"	John Pasquin	Pat Dougherty	November 4, 1997 (1997-11-04)	11.16[10]
9	6	"Camping and Housekeepers"	John Pasquin	Steve Paymer	November 18, 1997 (1997-11-18)	16.40[11]
10	7	"Three Priests and a Baby"	John Pasquin	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	November 25, 1997 (1997-11-25)	12.95[12]
11	8	"Attic Box Blues"	John Pasquin	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	December 2, 1997 (1997-12-02)	13.52[13]
12	9	"Christmas Ruined My Life"	Gil Junger	Pat Dougherty	December 16, 1997 (1997-12-16)	14.00[14]
13	10	"Yes Sir, That's My Baby"	Don Scardino	Carmen Finestra & David McFadzean	January 6, 1998 (1998-01-06)	13.72[15]
14	11	"Holy Rollers"	Ted Wass	Jon Pollack	January 13, 1998 (1998-01-13)	13.35[16]
15	12	"A Kiss Is Just a Kiss"	Don Scardino	Danny Smith	January 20, 1998 (1998-01-20)	13.85[17]
16	13	"The Stan Plan"	Ted Wass	Pat Dougherty & Danny Smith	February 10, 1998 (1998-02-10)	12.30[18]
17	14	"The Choir Boys"	Gil Junger	Steve Paymer	February 17, 1998 (1998-02-17)	12.19[19]
18	15	"Todd and the Bod"	Gil Junger	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	February 24, 1998 (1998-02-24)	15.60[20]
19	16	"Grabbed by an Angel"	Will Mackenzie	Karin Kelly	April 14, 1998 (1998-04-14)	12.62[21]
20	17	"Just the Three of Us"	Peter Bonerz	Jon Pollack	April 21, 1998 (1998-04-21)	11.76[22]
21	18	"Raising Heck"	Ted Wass	Sarit Catz & Gloria Ketterer	April 28, 1998 (1998-04-28)	10.91[23]
22	19	"The Good Shepard"	Ted Wass	Danny Smith	May 5, 1998 (1998-05-05)	10.49[24]
23	20	"Who Killed St. Shepherd?"	Ted Wass	Jon Pollack	May 12, 1998 (1998-05-12)	9.38[25]
24	21	"Play Ball"	Unknown	Unknown	May 19, 1998 (1998-05-19)	9.88[26]
25	22	"Little Black Dress"	Unknown	Unknown	May 26, 1998 (1998-05-26)	8.69[27]

References

1. Barry W Stanton (3 March 2016). "What Happened to Spencer Breslin - See What He's Doing Now". The Gazette Review. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
2. Carolyn Patricia Scott (2003-11-02). "'Cat' doesn't have his tongue - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
3. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 14–20)". The Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 21–27)". The Los Angeles Times. April 30, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 28–May 4)". The Los Angeles Times. May 7, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 29–Oct. 5)". The Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 6–12)". The Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 27–Nov. 2)". The Los Angeles Times. November 5, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 3-9)". The Los Angeles Times. November 12, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 17–23)". The Los Angeles Times. November 26, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 24–30)". The Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 1-7)". The Los Angeles Times. December 10, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 15–21)". The Los Angeles Times. December 24, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 5–11)". The Los Angeles Times. January 14, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 12–18)". The Los Angeles Times. January 21, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 19–25)". The Los Angeles Times. January 28, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 9-15)". The Los Angeles Times. February 19, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 16-22)". The Los Angeles Times. February 25, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 23–March 1)". The Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
21. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. April 22, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
22. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. April 29, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "National Nielsen Viewership (April 27-May 3)". The Los Angeles Times. May 6, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 4–10)". The Los Angeles Times. May 13, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
25. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 11–17)". The Los Angeles Times. May 20, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
26. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 18–24)". The Los Angeles Times. May 28, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
27. "National Nielsen Viewership (May 25–31)". The Los Angeles Times. June 4, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Soul Man at IMDb