On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. Here is a look at Free Spirit!
FREE SPIRIT
September 22, 1989 - January 14, 1990
13 episodes
ABC
Starring: Corinne Bohrer, Franc Luz, Edan Gross, Alyson Hannigan, Paul Scherrer,
Created by: Leslie Ray and Steven A. Vail
Plot: Thomas J. Harper (Luz) is a divorced lawyer trying to balance work and life with his three kids, Robb, Jessie and Gene (Scherrer, Hannigan & Gross). When Gene feels like no one in the house is paying attention to him, he accidentally summons a witch, Winnie (Bohrer) who becomes the housekeeper and caretaker.
Whew, this was a chore to get through and it was only 23 minutes long. The show was a 1960s sitcom masquerading as a 1980s sitcom. The problems is 60s sitcoms could get away with it because, despite their ridiculous premises, they were often full of charm. This series had none of the charm and all of the goofy and gimmicky plot devices that would come with a show about a witch being a housekeeper for a typical family. It also tried way too hard to be a sweet "aww" family sitcom (there was one hilariously bad line towards the end of the episode when Winnie encouraged Thomas that he should be more child-like). It should have embraced its campiness instead and it might have worked a little better.
None of the actors were good here but some were worse than others. The most notable problem was Franc Luz, who didn't have a charismatic bone in his body and had just terrible line delivery. Not a single line he said in the whole pilot rang true. But he was far from the only problem. The kids were typical sitcom kids of the era (even future star Alyson Hannigan didn't make much of an impression). Corinne Bohrer had a bunch of energy but she was a pretty obnoxious character. In a sitcom with better writing or better supporting characters, she may have worked but she didn't here. This was a complete miss.
Free Spirit was one of six new comedies that ABC debuted in the Fall of 1989. Two of them - Family Matters and Doogie Howser M.D. - went on to long runs, but the rest were one and done. Free Spirit got a preview episode after Perfect Strangers on the first ever night of TGIF but its permanent spot was Sundays at 8pm sandwiched between two other new shows (Drama Life Goes On at 7pm and comedy Homeroom at 8:30pm. This was an attempt by ABC to get a fresh start on Sunday nights and to compete against CBS's potent 60 Minutes/Murder, She Wrote combo with shows that appealed to a younger crowd.
The entire lineup struggled in the ratings but Life Goes On had the benefit of getting some critical attention whereas the 8pm comedy hour was trashed by critics. Free Spirit lasted just a couple weeks longer than Homeroom but was off the air in January. ABC meanwhile found much bigger success on Sundays starting in January with the show that replaced Free Spirit as America's Funniest Home Videos became an instant megahit and is of course still on the air today. Despite the failure of Free Spirit, networks have continued to try magical themed comedies from time to time primarily with youth-powered lineups. Corinne Bohrer starred in several more failed sitcoms in the 1990s and of course Alyson Hannigan went on to have a very successful film and TV career.
Tomorrow: A look at the first half of Season 3 of Get Smart!
Next Wednesday: A look at 1976's All Fair!
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