The Fitzpatricks

The Fitzpatricks
Genre	Drama
Starring	Bert Kramer Mariclare Costello Clark Brandon Jimmy McNichol
Composer	John Rubinstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Production locations	Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 5, 1977 (1977-09-05) – January 10, 1978 (1978-01-10)

L-R: Clark Brandon, Bert Kramer, and Jimmy McNichol (1977)

The Fitzpatricks is an American drama series which ran on CBS during the 1977–78 season. The series premiered on September 5, 1977; it lasted thirteen episodes, and was cancelled on January 10, 1978, failing in the faces of established ABC competitors Happy Days (in its first 30 minutes) and Laverne & Shirley (in its last 30 minutes), which both aired in the show's time-slot of 8:00-9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific on Tuesday nights.

Plot

The focus was on the Fitzpatricks, an Irish Catholic family of six who lived in Flint, Michigan. The father, blue collar Mike Fitzpatrick, (Bert Kramer) worked overtime as a steelworker to provide a life for the family; while his pregnant wife, Maggie (Mariclare Costello) also worked part-time at a diner as a waitress to help support the family's income. They had four children, eldest son Sean (Clark Brandon); introspective second son, Jack (Jimmy McNichol); only daughter Maureen (nicknamed Mo) (Michele Tobin) and youngest son, Max (Sean Marshall). At various times, all of the Fitzpatrick children had held down part-time jobs to help the often cash-strapped family. They also owned a dog, aptly named Detroit. Also involved in the family was R.J. (Derek Wells), who was Max Fitzpatrick's African-American best friend. A young Helen Hunt played neighbor Kerry Gerardi, supposedly a friend of Mo's, who was interested in the older Fitzpatrick brothers, Sean and Jack, which sparked a bit of a rivalry between the two. Much of the stories deal with moral lessons and also with growing up.

Cast

• Bert Kramer as Michael Fitzpatrick, a steelworker, and the patriarch of the family.
• Mariclare Costello as Margaret "Maggie" Fitzpatrick, the matriarch, works part-time at a diner to supplement the family income.
• Clark Brandon as Sean Fitzpatrick, the oldest son (16)
• Jimmy McNichol as Jack Fitzpatrick, the second oldest (15)
• Michele Tobin as Maureen "Mo" Fitzpatrick, the only daughter (14)
• Sean Marshall as Max Fitzpatrick, the youngest at 10, delivers newspapers.
• Helen Hunt as Kerry Gerardi, the girl next door, who intensified the rivalry between Jack and Sean.
• Derek Wells as R.J., Max Fitzpatrick's best friend.

Episodes

Nº	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	Gene Reynolds	Unknown	September 5, 1977 (1977-09-05)
2	"FitzJo Co."	Harvey S. Laidman	Unknown	September 20, 1977 (1977-09-20)
3	"The Shark"	Marc Daniels	Rod Peterson & Katharyn Powers & Claire Whittaker	September 27, 1977 (1977-09-27)
4	"Superman"	Harvey S. Laidman	Dana Reno Andrews & Katharyn Powers	October 4, 1977 (1977-10-04)
5	"Halloween"	Unknown	Dana Reno Andrews & Katharyn Powers	October 11, 1977 (1977-10-11)
6	"The Cheerleader"	Harvey S. Laidman	Rod Peterson & Claire Whittaker	October 25, 1977 (1977-10-25)
7	"A Love Story"	Peter Tewksbury	Johnny Bonaduce	November 8, 1977 (1977-11-08)
8	"Marijuana"	Stuart Margolin	Dana Reno Andrews & Katharyn Powers	November 22, 1977 (1977-11-22)
9	"The Sacrament"	Lawrence Dobkin	Herman Groves & Kathryn Powers	November 29, 1977 (1977-11-29)
10	"Say Goodbye to Buddy Bonkers"	Robert Totten	Michael A. Hoey & Bruce Belland	December 6, 1977 (1977-12-06)
11	"Runaway"	Peter Tewksbury	Dennis Landa	December 20, 1977 (1977-12-20)
12	"A Living Wage"	Joseph Manduke	Carmen Culver	January 3, 1978 (1978-01-03)
13	"The New Fitzpatrick"	Georg Stanford Brown	Dana Reno Andrews & Katharyn Powers	January 10, 1978 (1978-01-10)

External links

• The Fitzpatricks at IMDb