Tonight, the unauthorized story of two sisters who lived completely different lives. One married a real nice guy and lived in the lap of luxury. One married a worthless bum and, well, you get the picture. Truly, the only thing the girls had in common was the dirty little secrets that their husbands kept from them...
— Part of the Opening Narration for the show.
Stand By Your Man is a short-lived Foreign Remake of Birds of a Feather which aired on FOX in 1992.
The premise is simple: Rochelle Dunphy (Melissa Gilbert) is a Trophy Wife who has a nice house, and a rich husband in Roger Dunphy (Sam McMurray). In contrast, her sister Lorraine Popowski (Rosie O'Donnell) instead married low-life Artie Popowski (Rick Hall) in a shot-gun ceremony and now lives a life of poverty in a trailer park. The series begins when the sisters learn from watching TV that their husbands have been convicted of Bank Robbery and have been sentenced to 8 years in prison. Since most of Roger's wealth has been re-claimed and Artie's trailer has been repossessed, the two are forced to live with each other, with Rochelle struggling to cope with the fact that her husband isn't around anymore and Lorraine celebrating it. Finishing the trio is Adrienne Stone (Miriam Flynn), their status-conscious snooty neighbor.
Tropes in this show:
- Adapted Out: Garth (Tracey's son in the original) doesn't seem to have any counterpart in this series. Rochelle (Tracey's counterpart) does mention two children called Josh and Chelsea, although the context of the line suggests that it's just part of her future plans.
- Adaptational Context Change: In the original, Sharon decided to live with Tracey partially as emotional support and partially to get away from her own miserable life. This show also adds the context of Lorraine having literally nowhere else to go, her trailer park home having been reprocessed after her husband was put behind bars.
- Adaptational Name Change:
- Tracey Stubbs' counterpart is called Rochelle Dunphy.
- Sharon Theodopolopodous is now renamed Lorraine Popowski.
- Dorien Greene is renamed Adrienne Stone.
- Marcus' counterpart is called Stuart Stone.
- Chris Theodopolopodous is now called Artie Popowski.
- Darryl Stubbs' counterpart is called Roger Dunphy.
- Alliterative Name: Stuart Stone, Adrienne's husband.
- Establishing Character Moment: Artie is introduced having an affair under Lorraine's nose, failing to hide it from her, and then complaining about her, showing how he is a crap husband who regularly cheats on her.
- Finding a Bra in Your Car: In the first episode, Lorraine finds a stray piece of underwear from one of Artie's affairs in their home. Naturally, he tries to pass it off as being celebrity underwear, although she doesn't buy it.
- Foreign Remake: This show is the American remake of the Brit Com Birds of a Feather.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: In one episode, Rochelle shows up at Lorraine's job at the Bargain Circus, with Lorraine's co-workers there immediately recognizing her as being the one who still sleeps with stuffed animals.Rochelle: Lorraine, you told them about Mr. Fluffy?
- Minority Police Officer: "The Prowler" features a Black Police Officer who became Sergeant after the girls' husbands were put behind bars.
- Only One Name: Scab, who helps Lorraine move into Rochelle's house and who Adrienne has an affair with.Rochelle: Do you have a last name?Scab: No. Just Scab. Like Cher.
- Opening Narration: The opening theme tune is really just an explanation of how the two girls came to be in the situation that they're in, notably narrated by Fox network's chief announcer Joe Cipriano.
- Police Are Useless: In "The Prowler", there has been a stalker prowling about the neighborhood, so the sisters hire a cop. The trouble is that the cop is so incompetent that he ends up shooting himself in the foot. Not that he was helpful in any way, as Lorraine finds the culprit herself in the end.
- Reckless Gun Usage: In "The Prowler", Greg the police officer's idea of scratching his back involves doing so with a gun. He later on accidentally shoots himself in the foot as he is preparing to chase after the stalker prowling the girls' neighbourhood.
- Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling: As in the original, the sisters have this dynamic, with Rochelle being the one who lives a life of luxury and Lorraine being the one who has to live in a trailer park. This changes once their husbands are convicted of Bank Robbery however.
- Sexless Marriage: Artie and Lorraine's marriage apparently, since Lorraine complains that she has been using the same tube of contraceptive cream since 1985.
- Titled After the Song: Although the song doesn't feature in the show, it is named for the Tammy Wynette song "Stand By Your Man".
- Trashy Trailer Home: To contrast with the lavish lifestyle of Rochelle, Lorraine is described as living in a trailer home before her husband was convicted of Bank Robbery.
