Great Scott! is an American sitcom starring Tobey Maguire and Kevin Connolly that premiered on Fox on September 27, 1992,[1][2] and aired from October 4, 1992, until it was abruptly cancelled on November 29 of the same year. It was created by Tom Gammill and Max Pross, and produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and Claverly One Productions.[3]
| Great Scott! | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Tom Gammill Max Pross |
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Mark Mothersbaugh |
| Composers | Mark Mothersbaugh Hummie Mann |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (7 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Peter Schindler Todd Stevens (pilot only) |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Claverly One Productions Castle Rock Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | October 4 – November 29, 1992 |
Great Scott! would come to serve as Maguire's first starring role in a TV series.
Premise
editThe show centered on 15-year-old[4] Scott Melrod (Maguire), a freshman at Taft High School,[5] and his vivid imagination.[6] The main gimmick of the show is the audience experiencing Scott's imagination in different situations he is put in.[7] This is shown multiple times in all known episodes.
Cast
edit- Tobey Maguire as Scott Melrod
- Nancy Lenehan as Beverly Melrod
- Ray Baker as Walter Melrod
- Sarah Koskoff as Nina Melrod
- Kevin Connolly as Larry O'Donnell
- Vinessa Shaw as Carolyn
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Bradley Silberling | Tom Gammill & Max Pross | October 4, 1992 | |
|
Scott's dream date decides to give him another chance. | |||||
| 2 | "Hair Scare" | Bradley Silberling | Tom Gammill & Max Pross | October 18, 1992 | |
|
Scott tries to change his attitude to impress a rebellious girl, who takes him to the salon she works at to change his look. After getting into an altercation with Scott's mom at the salon, she is then fired. When she decides to egg a house where Scott's mom is at a party, Scott is forced to decide which woman means more to him. | |||||
| 3 | "Choir Mire" | Bradley Silberling | Tom Gammill & Max Pross | October 25, 1992 | |
|
After flunking out of an advanced class, Scott tries to get into a new class, but is beset by problems. Eventually he is put into choir alongside his sister. | |||||
| 4 | "Stone Moan" | Niels Mueller | Tom Gammill & Max Pross | November 1, 1992 | |
|
Scott becomes enemies with a math teacher when he defends a girl in math class. | |||||
| 5 | "Stripe Gripe" | Rick Berger | Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins | November 8, 1992 | |
|
When Larry gets injured, Scott has to take over as mascot, annoying him to no end. A drifter offers to be the mascot, but Scott realizes he may have traded one problem for another. | |||||
| 6 | "Pyrrhic Lyric" | Andy Tennant | Ken LaZebnik | November 29, 1992 | |
|
Procrastinating on a poem, Scott finds it a good idea to plagiarize thrash metal band Exodus's "Good Day to Die" from their 1992 album Force of Habit. He gets praise for the poem he plagiarized, and begins to worry that the band will hunt him down for stealing their song. | |||||
| 7 | "Book Crook" | Dean Parisot | Maria Semple | Unaired | |
| 8 | "Vacation Tribulation" | Bradley Silberling | Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky | Unaired | |
| 9 | "Whatta Sloppy Photocopy" | Matia Karrell | Jeremiah Bosgang | Unaired | |
| 10 | "Royal Toil" | John Fortenberry | George Meyer & Maria Semple | Unaired | |
| 11 | "Thief Grief" | Alex Zamm | Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins | Unaired | |
| 12 | "Garage Barrage" | Bradley Silberling | Tim Kelleher | Unaired | |
| 13 | "Date Bait" | Gerald Hughes | Jeff Schaffer & Alec Berg | Unaired | |
Jack Black and Marley Shelton guest starred in the unaired episode "Book Crook".[8]
Cancellation
editGreat Scott! was cancelled due to its poor ratings,[9][10] ranking 136th out of 139 television shows that ran ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox during the 1992 to 1993 television season. It was rated a 4.2, the highest on the list being rated a 21.9, and the lowest being a 4.0. Despite its cancellation in the states, all 13 produced episodes are known to have aired on German Television station RTL Zwei,[11] though the status of these German variants are unknown. The German version of Great Scott! is known as Super Scott!.
References
edit- ^ Moore, Fraizer (12 September 1992). "THE 1992 TV SEASON". Kentucky New Era. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ Scott Williams; Fraizer Moore (1992-09-05). "A Bow-Wow TV Season". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1E. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Great Scott! (1992) Company Credits". IMDB. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ VARIETY TV REV 1991-92 17 (17 ed.). Routledge. March 1994. p. 530. ISBN 9780824037963. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 484. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ TV Guide. "Great Scott! Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
- ^ Jeff Katz, Great Scott!, TV Guide
- ^ Leszczak, Bob (2018). Single Season Sitcoms on the 1990's: A Complete Guide. McFarland. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4766-3198-1. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
- ^ "YEAR-END RATINGS". Deseret. Deseret News. 22 April 1993. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (25 November 1992). "Fox putting 'Batman' in Sunday slot". Variety. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Claverly One Productions". Audiovisual Identity Database. 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
