Trivia / Mr. Belvedere

• All-Star Cast: Twice, in "Separation" in season 3, and in "The Field" in season 6.
• California Doubling: The show is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but each episode was taped in front of a live studio audience in Hollywood, California.
• The Cast Showoff: Occasionally on the show, Marsha would sing a song. In real life, Ilene Graff is a well known singer who previously co-starred as Sandy Dumbrowski in the Broadway musical Grease, working alongside future husband Ben Lanzarone, who was the production's musical director and would later write incedental music for Mr. Belvedere from the third season on, as well as making uncredited guest appearances, both times as a pianist, in the season 3 episode, "Debut", in which George quits his job and decides to become a lounge singer as a result of almost getting electrocuted in the bathtub, and season 4's "Heather's Monk", in which Heather and Angela join the school chorus, and Heather falls in love with a fellow chorus member who's actually planning on becoming a priest and is looking for a night of passion before joining the seminary.
• Cast the Expert: The actor who played "Brain Busters" host Tony Hopper, Michael Burger, is an actual game show host in real life (most notably for the 1998 reboot of Match Game). At the time he appeared on the show, he was working as the show's studio audience warm up comedian.
• Casting Gag: Bob Uecker already had a long career as a sportscaster for the Milwaukee Brewers in real life before being cast as George, a sportswriter who ends up becoming a sportscaster.
• Creator Backlash: Not surprisingly, "The Counselor". Co-developer and co-executive producer Jeff Stein said "Watching it today makes my skin crawl."
• Development Hell: At one point in 2012, Dan Schneider tried to adapt the series for the cinema with Brice Beckham co-producing and Fred Savage and Tom Hooper attached at various points to direct.
• Directed by Cast Member: Rob Stone co-directed the first half of the series finale.
• Edited for Syndication: In early Syndication repeats, the episodes were often cut by over 2 minutes, and a short version of season 4 & 5's opening was used on every episode, with the exception of season 6.
• Irony as She Is Cast:
  • Despite Marsha and Heather being described as attending Church and shown celebrating Christmas with the rest of the family, Ilene Graff and Tracy Wells are actually Jewish.
  • As opposed to her role as Heather's Dumb Blonde friend Angela, Michele Matheson was actually a member of Mensa International, a society for people with high IQs.
• Limited Wardrobe: Since its ratings were fair at best, especially when compared to longtime TGIF stablemates Full House and Perfect Strangers, ABC felt it wasn't worth it to pay for a bigger wardrobe for the cast. They often recycled the same clothes throughout the entire run. In the series finale, Kevin wore the same shirt he wore in the pilot episode. Costumes were designed by Bill Belew, known for his work with Elvis Presley.
• Making Use of the Twin: Because of California's Child Labor laws, Baby Nelson in season 6's "The Baby" was played by twin brothers Dylan and Samuel Gosland.
• Missing Episode: 10 episodes. 2 from season 5, and 8 from season 6 to be more precise. You may have seen them in syndication, however.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Ilene Graff as Marsha and Sharon in "Bad Marsha".
• Real-Life Relative: As mentioned above in The Cast Showoff, Ilene Graff's real life husband, Ben Lanzarone, wrote incedental music for the series from the third season on.
• Schedule Slip: In season 3, the three remaining episodes were shelved in favor of the first season of The Charmings. They were shown in May. Also in season 4, two episodes were shelved, and didn't air until season 5. Finally, there were 10 unaired episodes (2 from season 5, and 8 from season 6).
• Screwed by the Network:
  • The show was temporarily cancelled after season 3 due to suddenly being pummeled in the ratings against Scarecrow and Mrs. King on CBS, only for ABC to later reverse the decision due to much fan protest and to fill a vacancy on the schedule after the abrupt cancellation of Max Headroom.
  • After that, for season 6, the show was moved out of its slot on Friday nights alongside Full House and Perfect Strangers to make way for Family Matters, and the ratings, already not that high to begin with, took a major nosedive, causing the series to be shelved for the rest of the season, and for the remaining episodes, save for the two-part Grand Finale, to not be seen until rerun syndication.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Originally, the role of Marsha was conceived with Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fame in mind. Amusingly, Doris Roberts, who also co-starred on Raymond as Heaton's on-screen mother-in-law, guest starred in the season 3 two-part episode, "Deportation", as Judge Westphall, the judge presiding over Mr. Belvedere's deportation hearing.
  • Developers and executive producers Frank Dungan & Jeff Stein tried to bring Mr. Mom to television with Barry Van Dyke in the Michael Keaton role, but it didn't work, and the pilot was only good enough for a burn-off on November 30, 1984 on ABC. Had it been picked up, one of two scenarios would have happened: Either Dungan & Stein would have had two shows on ABC in the middle of the 1984-1985 season, or Mr. Belvedere would not have been picked up at all.
• You Look Familiar:
  • In between his appearances as Miles, Casey Ellison appeared in the season 2 episode, "The Prize", in which Wesley sells cookies door to door to win a trip to Walt Disney World, only to give the ticket away, playing Ben, a sick kid in the hospital who's the recipient of Wesley's ticket.
  • Norman Bartold appeared as a hotel desk clerk in the season 3 episode, "Reunion", in which George goes to a high school reunion with Mr. Belvedere, and meets up with an old friend he once had a crush on. He would later get a recurring role in the form of Skip Hollings, one of the co-anchors at the TV station where George later works as a sportscaster.
  • Laura Mooney appeared in the season 4 penultimate episode, "Graduation", as Roberta, a girl who is graduating along with Wesley and his classmates and is very annoyed at his juvenile behavior. She would later make three guest appearances in season 6 as Marjorie, a girl who instead has a crush on Wesley.
  • Rosemary Forsyth appeared in the season 5 episode, "New Year's", as Ilsa Shoemaker, the housekeeper for the Hufnagels, who goes out on a date with Mr. Belvedere. She later appeared in the two-part Grand Finale, "Mr. Belvedere's Wedding", as Louise Marie Gilbert, the woman whom Mr. Belvedere marries, now credited under the name Rosemary Forsyth-Yuro.
  • Raye Birk appeared in the season 2 episode, "Requiem", as Earl, a former student of Wesley's accordion teacher, Peter Zabriskie. He later appeared in the season 4 episode, "Heather's Monk", as Mr. Grant, the teacher overseeing the chorus class which Heather and Angela join.
  • Ben Piazza appeared in the season 3 episode, "The Ticket", as Judge L. Nathan, the judge who revokes Kevin's driver's license when he gets a ticket and Marsha unsuccessfully represents him in court. He later appeared in the season 4 episode, "Marsha's Job", as Mr. Dawson, one of the partners at the law firm where Marsha works after earning her law degree.
  • Marianne Muellerleile appeared in the season 4 episode, "Kevin Nightengale", as Nurse Laetitia Hawkins, the nurse who oversees Kevin when he works at a hospital as an orderly. She later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Fixed", as Mrs. Dodd, a woman who's dog is being harassed, and is later impregnated, by Wesley's dog, Spot.
  • Larry Gelman appeared in the season 5 episode, "The Book", as the clerk of the bookstore where Mr. Belvedere holds his book-signing event for his tell-all book on the Owens family. He later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Fixed", as Mr. Sigmund, a clown who adopts the remaining puppies sired by Wesley's dog, Spot.
  • Martin Garner appeared in the season 1 episode, "What I Did for Love", as Mr. Beckman, a furrier who ends up having one of the mink coats on display in his shop get spray painted by Kevin in order to impress a girl who dislikes furs. He later appeared in the season 3 premiere episode, "The Thief", as Mr. Traeger, the owner of a record shop where Heather and Angela get jobs as salespeople and Heather deals with a boy who is stealing merchandise from the shop.
  • Debbie Barker appeared in the season 3 episode, "Kevin's Date", as Paula Sweeney, a girl with a reputation for being easy and for which Kevin goes out on a date with on his birthday in hopes of losing his virginity. She later appeared in the season 4 episode, "Fall Guy" as Rosemary/Lola, a girl who Kevin brings home on a date and later vomits all over Marsha's beloved "Home Sweet Home" pillow, for which Wesley takes the blame for its destruction.
  • Debi A. Monahan appeared in the season 4 episode, "The Wedding", as Fawn, a girl who Kevin goes out on a double date with alongside his old high school friend, Wendy, and her new fiance, Alan. She later appeared in the season 5 premiere episode, "Fat Cats", as Ginger, a girl whose cat Kevin babysits and who later takes Marsha, Heather, and Wesley hostage while completely destroying the Owens house.
  • Kim Gillingham appeared in the season 2 episode, "Delivery", as Robin, Kevin's pregnant study partner for a science project who ends up going into labor on the Owens' couch and has her baby delivered by George and Mr. Belvedere. She later appeared in the season 4 episode, "FoxTrot", as Cindy, one of the members of the sorority where Kevin works as a dishwasher.
  • Shirley Prestia appeared in the season 2 episode, "The Teacher", as Mrs. Rondanello, one of the parents at Wesley's parent-teacher party at school. She later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Fixed", as a random woman who Wesley cons with a grand prize cruise into buying the puppies sired by his dog, Spot
  • Ron Fassler appeared in the season 3 episode, "The Ticket", as the bailiff at Kevin's traffic court hearing. He later appeared in the season 4 episode, "Heather's Monk", as one of the movers who brings the Owens family a brand new grand television set with bigger monitor at the behest of Mr. Belvedere to replace the old one that Wesley accidentally broke.
  • Francine York appeared in the season 5 episode, "The Escort", as a woman who goes out on a date with Kevin when he gets a job as an escort. She later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Truckin'", as a waitress at a truck stop diner where George and Mr. Belvedere visit while transporting a truckload of pigs to West Virginia.
  • Cynthia Frost appeared in the season 3 episode, "Reunion", as a random woman attending George's high school reunion. She later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Home", as a prospective buyer of the Owens' house when George and Marsha briefly consider selling it.
  • Tom Allard and Joe Leavitt appeared in the season 5 episode, "Really Full House", as Willybez and Lamarr Bozine, members of a redneck family, who harass George, Heather, and Wesley while Marsha is busy working on a case. Both later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Truckin'", as random truckers who George and Mr. Belvedere briefly befriend while transporting a truckload of pigs to West Virginia.
  • Nick Toth appeared in the season 4 penultimate episode, "Graduation", as Bob Kincaid, an insurance salesman who befriends Wesley and later participates with him in a grand scene at his graduation ceremony. He later appeared in the season 5 episode, "Hooky", as the manager of a supermarket that is taken hostage while George and Wesley are there while respectively playing hooky from work and school.
  • Lucy Lee Flippin appeared in the season 3 episode, "Halloween", as Wilmadean Hammond, the wife of Burt Hammond, the membership director and spokesman for the Happy Guys of Pittsburgh, in which George is almost initiated as a member. She later appeared in the season 6 episode, "A Happy Guy's Christmas", as Doris Putnam, the wife of Hammond's former associate, Carl Putnam, when the Happy Guys of Pittsburgh put on a Christmas play to help sick children and Mr. Belvedere is recruited as director.
  • Oliver Clark and Mari Gorman appeared in the season 4 episode, "Moonlighting" as Burt and Beatrice Bilinski, a couple whom Mr. Belvedere moonlights as housekeeper and whose children all have an Alliterative Name gag. Both later appeared in the season 5 episode, "Hooky", as Lloyd and Doris, two people who are shopping at the same supermarket where George and Wesley are while respectively playing hooky from work and school.
  • Michael Burger appeared in the season 4 episode, "Commentary", as the sportscaster who temporarily replaces George when he is taken off the news desk for doing a controversial commentary deriding the National Anthem being played at sports games but later falls ill due to getting drunk, which necessitates George getting his job back. He later appeared in the season 6 episode, "Brain Busters", as Tony Hopper, the host of the titular game show in which Wesley and Mr. Belvedere participate as contestants.