Aired: 1997 (ABC)
DAD: Neil Diller (Richard Lewis) / Divorced
DAD’S JOB: Comedy Writer
KIDS: Brooke Diller (15)(Allison Mack)
WHERE’S MOM?: Left.
STAND-IN “MOM”: Ted Hiller (Kevin Nealon)
Funnier than the reviews would lead you to believe. The surprise is that Nealon had the better lines (and the better delivery). Picture the Dick Van Dyke Show, but concentrate on the Buddy and Sally portions of the comedy, and you’ve got the banter level.
Here’s how ABC is describing this show:
Responsible, slightly neurotic Hiller (Kevin Nealon) and impulsive, very neurotic Diller (Richard Lewis) are television comedy-writing partners and best friends. When Diller’s wife leaves their street-wise kids in his care, he transforms overnight into a model father who single-handedly molds his offspring into well-mannered little darlings who become overachievers just like Hiller’s kids … wait, that’s not what happens.
Strangely enough, this was Richard Lewis’s SECOND TV Single Dad show, following his short-lived Fox series Daddy Dearest of 1993.
Update — April 6, 1998: This show is officially DEAD. ABC can read a ratings book and tell when something Ain’t Working. Toodles, Hiller and Diller!