Step By Step

"Step by Step" is also the name of a 1990 hit single by New Kids on the Block.

"step-by-step" is a type of electromechanical telephone switch, see telephone exchange.

Step By Step was a television sitcom which was aired on ABC from September 20, 1991 to August 15, 1997 and with a network change moved to CBS from September 19, 1997 to June 26, 1998. The show starred Patrick Duffy and Sasha Mitchell of Dallas, Suzanne Somers of Three's Company, and Staci Keanan of My Two Dads.

Overview

The premise of the show, which was set in Port Washington, Wisconsin, is about rebuilding one's life one step at a time after things have fallen apart. Frank Lambert, a divorced contractor who had custody of his three children, impulsively marries attractive Carol Foster, a widowed beautician who had three children of her own. Both of them residents of Port Washington, the two met while vacationing separately in Jamaica. Their children, needless to say, were surprised and angered when they learned of the marriage.

Carol's children were 16-year-old daughter Dana, a pretty blonde who was smart but tried to be perfect; 14-year-old Karen, an aspiring model who was very vain; and Mark, an 11-year-old nerd who was into computers. Frank, meanwhile, was the father of 15-year-old John Thomas (aka J.T.), a slacker; Alicia (who always went by Al), an 11-year-old tomboyish all-American girl who became very attractive—perhaps even more so than her stepsisters—as she approached adulthood; and 7-year-old Brendan, a shy, carefree youngster. Carol took Frank's last name, though her children kept the Foster surname.

Stories depicted typical situations of a new family trying to get to know each other and become friends. That was often easier said than done, especially in the case of J.T. and Dana who could barely stand each other. In many ways, however, many of the situations mirrored that of The Brady Bunch.

The title of the show has a double meaning. One meaning deals with main idea of the show, which is getting married again after a divorce and putting your life back together. The other meaning is that every member of the family is step to half of the rest of the family, such as step brother, step mother, step sister, step father, step daughter, and step son.

The show's biggest change came in 1995, when Carol announced she was pregnant. In the 1994-1995 season finale, she gave birth to Lilly (Emily Mae Young), and was the only one to take both the Foster and Lambert surnames.

The show lasted for seven seasons and the main cast changed as the storyline progressed. Frank's nephew, Cody (whom J.T. idolized and Dana liked even less than J.T.) left the family in 1996 to travel the world (series star Sasha Mitchell, whose character became a major character during the second season, was forced out following allegations of domestic abuse). But Sasha comes in the season 1998 back in the money episode. In 1997, J.T.'s friend Rich Halke (Jason Marsden, who became a permanent fixture in the opening credits) moved in with the family after becoming Dana's boyfriend; also during that time, Al took a serious interest in acting.

Along with Family Matters, "Step By Step" moved to CBS in the fall of 1997, as that network attempted to build its own Friday night lineup of family-friendly situation comedies called the CBS Block Party. The ratings, which had been declining for several seasons, continued to fall and the show ended its run in July 1998. There was no official series finale (though the last show was about Frank and Carol considering selling the house).

Josh Byrne (Brendan Lambert) appeared less and less as the show moved on (especially after Lilly was born). When the show moved from ABC to CBS, his character was ultimately discontinued and he was dropped from the show. This was a case of the all-too-familiar Chuck Cunningham syndrome.

Episodes

Theme song and opening credits

The theme to Step By Step is called "Second Time Around", written by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay (who wrote the themes to other Miller-Boyett series including Full House and Family Matters) and was performed by Jesse Frederick and Theresa James. As the seasons progressed, the theme song and opening credits became shorter. The full opening sequence used in the first season only, lasted 1 (minute):46 (seconds). Starting with the second season, the fourth verse and a portion of the sixth verse were cut and the guitar portion of the beginning of the theme was taken out in the fourth season.

The scenes comprising the opening credits were filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. ^*

The first three seasons, the credits started with the family van passing behind a sign that said "Port Washington, Wisconsin. Population: 9,338." That was cut out after season three and after that, the sequence started with the roller coaster zooming down the track toward the camera. The opening sequence featured the Lambert-Fosters at an amusement park (J.T. playing a test your strength game, Al and Karen sliding into a ball pit, etc.). The names of most of the cast slid from both sides of the screen (though some slid from one side). In the first three seasons near the end of the sequence it featured the entire family except for Mark and (Ivy or Cody) on a roller coaster before cutting to a shot of the coaster as the camera zooms out with the producer credits shown. Another part of the sequence cut was when Carol and Frank were standing on a bridge next to a water coaster and they get splashed as it comes down the slide.

By the sixth season (the show's final season on ABC), the theme song was completely scrapped. The names of cast members and the producers' names were shown in the opening teaser. However, when the show was moved to CBS for its seventh and final season (along with Family Matters, which also dropped its theme song the same time Step By Step did) the opening theme song was back, only this time with all but the fifth verse and part of the sixth verse left. This sequence featured the amusement park but the cast were shown in still pictures on a picture reel, like one from a photo booth. The only producer credits in this sequence were that of Thomas Miller and Robert Boyett.

Trivia

Steve Urkel from Family Matters makes two guest appearances on the show: one in the show's first season and the second on the show's last season.
The name of Jason Marsden's character Rich Halke was actually taken from a crew member on the series. The real Rich Halke (also credited as Richard P. Halke) worked as a writer and story editor on the series in seasons two and three.
The Bakers (Carol's sister and mother) from the first season were written out because of a focus group's findings about the audience interest in those two characters.
Cody, played by Sasha Mitchell, was written out of the show because Disney (owners of ABC) wanted to distance themselves from the arrest of Mitchell on domestic violence charges by his wife.
An episode in the final season shows Al in a play. Frank gives her advice for remembering lines and refers to the two main guys in "Dallas" hiding their lines in different places on set. Patrick Duffy (Frank), played one of the "guys" on Dallas.
Both Patrick Duffy and Sasha Mitchell previously worked together on Dallas, in fact playing Uncle and Nephew on both shows (as Bobby Ewing and James Beaumont, respectively).
Patrick Duffy agreed to continue doing "Dallas" as long as Lorimar promised to give him a show after Dallas ended. This was the show.
In an attempt to keep the comic relief of Cody around after Sasha Mitchell left the show, writers added three characters: Rich Halke (Dana's boyfriend and J.T.'s best friend, introduced in 1995), Jean-Luc (played by Bronson Pinchot, Carol's hairsylist partner whose role should remind people slightly of his role in the movie Beverly Hills Cop; he was a fixture in the 1996-97 season), and Flash (a klutzy employee of Frank's, played by Jeff Juday, who only appeared a few times in the 1995-96 season). Out of these three characters, Rich was the only one to stay around after one season, and had his actor's name (Jason Marsden) billed into the main starring credits at the beginning of the 1996-97 season. Cody was brought back to the show for the final few episodes in a last ditch attempt to boost ratings, but it was too late.
Some episodes focused on Cody having to use his surprising martial arts ability to help someone out in a situation. Sasha Mitchell was once a world champion kickboxer and is a black belt in Taekwondo.
The first season's opening credits, a brown-haired child is seen. This could be explained by the fact that Christopher Castile was the second actor picked to play Mark Foster, and that a previous child actor was dismissed. From season two and beyond Castile is featured in the opening credits.

Eine starke Familie | Notre belle famille | Krok za krokom | Lugn i stormen

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Overview

Episodes

Theme song and opening credits

Trivia