Empty Nest was a sitcom that did a magnificent job of eluding me all through its seven-year run. And the fact that it has never been released on DVD doesn’t help either. But as the consummate sitcom fan, I am well aware of the series, which was a spin-off from The Golden Girls. And thus, when I had the opportunity to meet a pair of members from the cast, I opted to go with a photo of the show to get jointly signed. The star of the show, Richard Mulligan, passed away in 2000, five years after the show ended, so sadly I will never get him to sign my photo. I had actually met Kristy McNichol, who played one of Mulligans two daughters Barbara Weston, in 2007.
Present at the Hollywood Show on October 8, 2011, was Dinah Manoff and David Leisure. Dinah, who had played the other daughter Carol Weston, was actually there more for the big Grease reunion. Initially I had just purchased a signed photo of her from that, but later returned to her table to have her sign the Empty Nest cast photo and take a picture of her and me with it, even though her handler refused my offer for a two-fer deal. (You can see the other encounter form the same day here).
David Leisure was more familiar to me as the Joe Isuzu, the pitch man for Isuzu automobiles. But that role was superfluous to the incredible number of TV, sitcom, and film appearances he had made over the years: Airplane!, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The Golden Girls, Sledge Hammer!, Married…with Children, The Brady Bunch Movie, and of course Empty Nest, the only sitcom in which he starred as a regular. He had played Charley Dietz, the womanizing next door neighbor of the Westons.
He was a very nice guy, and like Dinah, posed for a free picture with me. One day I hope to actually partake in viewing the show when the day comes when all sitcoms – ALL! – will be made available on DVD for public consumption.
Celebrity encounters form the Fall 2011 Hollywood Show will continue…
“Empty Nest” was a pretty good sitcom, as I remember. Both Richard Mulligan and Dinah Manoff were cast members of an earlier and zanier sitcom, “Soap”, by the same producer.
Dave Chasteen
September 23rd, 2012
I liked Empty Nest and Soap. Good commedy. I also liked Family with Kristy M.
Bev
September 30th, 2012
I could well be wrong, but I think that before ALL sitcoms are available on DVD, technology will have moved on.
Peter
May 1st, 2013
You could be right, but with more Manufacture-on-Demand DVDs being made available, I’m thinking that at some point you might have the option to either stream, order, or create your own physical DVD. That is, if that day comes before DVDs are obsolete.
Brad
May 2nd, 2013