Not to be confused with the Sylvester Stallone film of the same name.
Over the Top was a very short-lived 1997 ABC Sitcom starring Tim Curry (who was also one of the producers of the show), Steve Carell and Annie Potts.
The show focused on Simon Ferguson (Curry), a former actor and star of a daytime soap opera who was recently fired from his job (due to him showing up at work drunk once too often and forgetting his lines). He ends up at a hotel in Boston where he is reunited with his ex-wife Hadley Martin (Potts). He then ends up employed at the hotel while mooching off of Martin's kindness and dealing with not only a good-hearted yet annoying child named Daniel Martin (Hadley's son), but also a very obsessed fan, Yorgo (Carell), who happens to be the hotel's chef, and Hadley's rebellious teen daughter, Gwen.
This show provides examples of:
- Bratty Half-Pint: Averted with Daniel. Though he's an annoyance to Simon, Daniel is generally a good kid.
- Casting Gag: One episode featured Simon dressing up in drag.
- Deadpan Snarker: Simon (when he's not being a Large Ham), though, what else would we expect from Tim Curry?
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Simon's character in Days to Remember is killed in a plane crash after Simon is fired from his acting job on the show.
- Everyone Has Standards: "The Kernel" centers around Simon getting a chance to get his career back on track (returning to his old show, possibly getting a prime-time series), but only if he "plays nice" with the network president's sister. Simon goes along with it to get what he wants, but when it's time to have a night alone with her, he discovers (much to his own surprise) that he actually has some standards and self-respect.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Simon. He does have Jerkass tendencies, and he tends to think of himself more than others. But, he generally means well and does show concern for others from time to time.
- Jerkass: Simon, when he's being egotistical and selfish...which is 90% of the time.
- Large Ham: Simon is a parody of this.
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Playing Against Type: Apart from Simon's Jerkass qualities, this is one of the few roles Tim Curry plays that isn't a villain.
