Our House (1986-1988)
Our House is an American television drama series that aired on NBC for two seasons from September 11, 1986 to May 8, 1988. The series centers on the Witherspoon family and the challenges they face adjusting to life with three generations living in the same house. After his son John dies, retired widower Gus Witherspoon (played by Wilford Brimley) invites his daughter-in-law Jessica 'Jessie' Witherspoon (played by Deidre Hall) and her three children to move to California to live with him until they can get back on their feet financially.
Despite protests from her children, Jessie, along with 15-year-old daughter Kris (played by Shannen Doherty), 12-year-old son David (played by Chad Allen), eight-year-old daughter Molly (played by Keri Houlihan), and their basset hound named Arthur leave Fort Wayne, Indiana, to start their new lives in California. As they settle into life with Gus, they realize that he can be difficult to live with. A major part of the plot each week was centered on the conflict that can arise when extended family tries to live together in the same house. As the man of the house, Gus imposed rules on the three grandchildren the same way he raised his own children but later learned ways to convey his lessons to the kids without being gruff. Jessie and the kids learn that beneath Gus' stern facade is a man who is wise about the ways of the world and cares about them very much.
In a feature reminiscent of the 1960s T.V. series The Wild Wild West, each of the five acts of the episode before commercial ended with a freeze-frame shot, which then occupied one of the rooms in an abstract rendering of a house figure. As the episode unfolded, more rooms were filled until finally, when the dilemma had been resolved, the final piece was put in place, completing the house.
John Witherspoon (played by Patrick Duffy) was seen in one episode and in the occasional flashback.
Recent Episodes
Episode | Name | Airdate |
---|---|---|
S02E22 | Artful Dodging | May 8, 1988 |
S02E21 | Neighborhood Watch | May 1, 1988 |
S02E20 | The Fifth Beatle | Mar 13, 1988 |
S02E19 | The Ashton Street Gang | Mar 6, 1988 |
S02E18 | Out of Step | Feb 28, 1988 |
Cast
Chad Allen
Anne Haney
Shannen Doherty
Deidre Hall
Nicole Dubuc
Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Wilford Brimley
Keri Houlihan
Characters
David Witherspoon
Virginia Taft
Kris Witherspoon
Jesse Witherspoon
Bertha
Joe Kaplan
Gus Witherspoon
Molly Witherspoon
Recently Updated Shows
American Primeval
A raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West. The violent collisions of cultures, religions and communities as men and women fight and die for control of this new world – for a land they truly believe is their destiny. The ensemble tells a story of the sacrifice all must pay when they choose to enter a lawless and untamed wilderness.
Black Snow
In 1994, seventeen-year-old Isabel Baker was murdered. The crime shocked the small town of Ashford and devastated Isabel's Australian South Sea Islander community. The case was never solved, the killer never found. But in 2019, the opening of a time capsule unearths a secret that puts cold-case Detective James Cormack on the trail of the killer.
Horror's Greatest
Celebrating the very best the genre has to offer, Horror's Greatest is a deep dive into everything we love about horror. From fresh looks at classics to unearthing scores of hidden gems, this series has something for every fright film enthusiast. A gallery of ghoulish pros, including actors, directors, writers, composers, and special effects artists, draw on their unique knowledge to answer the big questions: What are the must-see films in horror's many sub-genres? What's the appeal of horror tropes, and how do today's filmmakers subvert our expectations? What shape does horror take in countries outside of the United States? The answers encompass the breath of the nightmares we watch for our entertainment.
Creature Commandos
Creature Commandos tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails... they're your last, worst option.
Return to Paradise
Set in the idyllic, beachside hamlet of Dolphin Cove, Return to Paradise is six gripping, twisting and fiendishly clever murder mysteries – all against the spectacular backdrop of the Australian coastal landscape.
Australian ex-pat Mackenzie Clarke is the seemingly golden girl of the London Metropolitan police force – with an intuitive approach to detective work, she has built a reputation for being able to crack the most impossible of cases. However, she's suddenly forced to up sticks and move back to her childhood home of Dolphin Cove, a beautiful, coastal paradise… and Mackenzie's worst nightmare.