History Series / EmptyNest

* RealitySubtext: Barbara moving to Arizona is because her portrayer, Kristy [=McNichol=] was diagnosed with UsefulNotes/BipolarDisorder and needed time off for treatment.

* PutOnABus: Barbara moves to Tucson, Arizona in season 5.

* WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties: Womanizer Charlie Dietz becomes a meteorologist on the local news and compares the size of some hailstones to the anchorwoman's breasts. Cue the trope.

* WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties: Womanizer Charlie Dietz becomes a meteorologist on the local news and compares the size of some hailstones to the anchorwoman's breasts. Cue the trope.

* DroppedAfterThePilot: As a spin-off to ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', almost everything about ''Series/EmptyNest'' was dropped after the pilot, including it's premise. The pilot starred an older married couple dealing with the fact that their children had all left home; The series was about a widower whose two adult daughters still lived at home. The only things which carried through to the series were the main character's job as a doctor, and the wacky neighbor played by David Leisure (although that character also changed name and career).

The show centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy [=McNichol=]) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when [=McNichol=] left the series due to suffering from bipolar disorder, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall), and Dreyfuss the dog. Estelle Getty also reprised her role as Sophia Patrillo from ''The Golden Girls'' and ''Series/GoldenPalace'', including as a regular cast member in the final two seasons after ''Golden Palace'' ended.

Episodes generally centered around the relationship between Harry and his daughters, who were highly competitive for 'Daddy's' attention. Harry's career as a children's doctor was also a major focus. The series ran for seven seasons and spawned its own spin-off, ''Nurses''. However, ratings declined after several cast changes and the loss of ''The Golden Girls'' as a lead-in, and the series ended in 1995.

* {{Spinoff}}: ''Nurses'', about a group of nurses who work alongside Harry. Unfortunately, however, ''Nurses'' did not have the same ratings success that ''Empty Nest'' had and thus suffered from tragic ExecutiveMeddling constantly throughout the run.

The show centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy [=McNichol=]) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when [=McNichol=] left the series, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall), and Dreyfuss the dog. Estelle Getty also reprised her role as Sophia Patrillo from ''The Golden Girls'' and ''Series/GoldenPalace'', including as a regular cast member in the final two seasons after ''Golden Palace'' ended.

* {{Spinoff}}: ''Nurses'', about a group of nurses who work alongside Harry. Unfortunately, ''Nurses'' did not have the same ratings success that ''Empty Nest'' had and thus suffered from tragic ExecutiveMeddling constantly throughout the run.

* Spinoff: ''Nurses'', about a group of nurses who work alongside Harry. Unfortunately, ''Nurses'' did not have the same ratings success that ''Empty Nest'' had and thus suffered from tragic ExecutiveMeddling constantly throughout the run.

''Empty Nest'' was an Creator/{{NBC}} sitcom which ran from 1988 to 1995. The series began as a spin-off of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', and its pilot ran as an episode of that show (season 2, episode 26), although it was dramatically changed before becoming its own series. Nevertheless, the two households were established as neighbors and characters regularly crossed between the two. ''Empty Nest'' was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs for it's first three years.

* BackForTheFinale: Kristy [=McNichol=] (Barbara) had been gone from the series for a while but came back for a scene in the series finale.

The show centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy [=McNichol=]) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when McNichol left the series, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall), and Dreyfuss the dog. Estelle Getty also reprised her role as Sophia Patrillo from ''The Golden Girls'' and ''Series/GoldenPalace'', including as a regular cast member in the final two seasons after ''Golden Palace'' ended.

The show centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy McNichol) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when McNichol left the series, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall), and Dreyfuss the dog. Estelle Getty also reprised her role as Sophia Patrillo from ''The Golden Girls'' and ''Series/GoldenPalace'', including as a regular cast member in the final two seasons after ''Golden Palace'' ended.

* RequiredSpinoffCrossover: All four leads from ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' appeared in various episodes (albeit not at the same time), and Sophia became a regular {{Transplant}} in season 6.

* DroppedAfterThePilot: As a spin-off to TheGoldenGirls, almost everything about EmptyNest was dropped after the pilot, including it's premise. The pilot starred an older married couple dealing with the fact that their children had all left home; The series was about a widower whose two adult daughters still lived at home. The only things which carried through to the series were the main character's job as a doctor, and the wacky neighbor played by David Leisure (although that character also changed name and career).

* RecurringDreams: One episode has Harry unable to sleep due to a recurring nightmare in which he's unable to escape from a tiger while wearing his wife's bathrobe. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that he's having the dream because he's due to appear at a medical conference at the hospital where she died
* {{Transplant}}: Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, beginning in season 6.

''Empty Nest'' was an NBC sitcom which ran from 1988 to 1995. The series began as a spin-off of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', and its pilot ran as an episode of that show (season 2, episode 26), although it was dramatically changed before becoming its own series. Nevertheless, the two households were established as neighbors and characters regularly crossed between the two. ''Empty Nest'' was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs for it's first three years.

Empty Nest was an NBC sitcom which ran from 1988 to 1995. The series began as a spin-off of TheGoldenGirls, and it's pilot ran as a Golden Girls episode (season 2, episode 26), although it was dramatically changed before becoming its own series. Nevertheless, the two households were established as neighbors and characters regularly crossed between the two. Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs for it's first three years.

Empty Nest centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy McNichol) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when McNichol left the series, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall), and Dreyfuss the dog. EstelleGetty also reprized her role as Sophia Patrillo from the Golden Girls and GoldenPalace, including as a regular cast member in the final two seasons after Golden Palace ended.

Episodes generally centered around the relationship between Harry and his daughters, who were highly competitive for 'Daddy's' attention. Harry's career as a children's doctor was also a major focus. The series ran for seven seasons and spawned it's own spin-off, 'Nurses'. However, ratings declined after several cast changes and the loss of the Golden Girls as a lead-in, and the series ended in 1995.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: The smart but neurotic Carol and the strong and attractive (but not so bright) Barbara Weston compete for their father's affections.

Empty Nest was an NBC sitcom which ran from 1988 to 1995. The series began as a spin-off of TheGoldenGirls, and it's pilot ran as a Golden Girls episode (season 2, episode 26), although it was dramatically changed before becoming it's own series. Nevertheless, the two households were established as neighbors and characters regularly crossed between the two series. Empty Nest was one of the year's top 10 most-watched programs for it's first three years.

Empty Nest centered around Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), a Miami pediatrician. When Harry's wife passes away, his two adult daughters, neurotic divorcee Carol (Dinah Manoff) and tough party-girl policewoman Barbara (Kristy McNichol) move back in with Harry to help support him. A third daughter was mentioned as being away at college, but was not seen until 1992 - when McNichol left the series, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) was introduced to the cast for one season. Rounding out the cast was the Weston's wacky, womanizing neighbor Charlie (David Leisure), Harry's tough Southern nurse Laverne (Park Overall)