TOGETHER WE STAND (1986-1987) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

TOGETHER WE STAND (1986-1987) – With the new attention being paid to Ke Huy Quan/ Short Round in recent years, I decided to take a look at the sitcom he co-starred in with Elliott Gould, Dee Wallace Stone and others.

Gould and Stone played David and Lori Randall, who went the adoption route only to have Lori get pregnant after all, resulting in a houseful of kids, Ke Huy Quan among them.

Co-creator Sherwood Schwarz explained that this sitcom was a revival of a failed 1974 attempt at a spinoff from the Brady Bunch titled Kelly’s Kids.

The first episode unrealistically dealt with a social worker leaning on the Randalls to adopt two more children, Sam (Quan) and an African American girl named Sally (Natasha Bobo). But hey, My Mother the Car and The Flying Nun proved long ago that realism isn’t necessary.

Elliott Gould took part in filming 10 episodes, but only 6 of those aired. His character David died offscreen in a car accident, his 4 unaired episodes were ignored and the rest of the cast carried on under the new title Nothing is Easy.

NOTEWORTHY EPISODES:

PILOT – Edie McClurg played the pushy social worker who gets the Randalls to adopt Sam and Sally to add to their other two children – adopted daughter Amy (Katie O’Neill) and biological son Jack (Scott Grimes of American Dad and The Orville).

OH, BROTHER – Sam wants lessons in how to attract a girl he has a crush on, but David and Lori intervene when they realize his crush is a much older, notoriously seductive student (Tammy Ames).

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT – While Lori frets over the possibility that she is too middle class and white to truly bond with new arrivals Sam and Sally, Sam and Andy get into trouble by trying to watch an R-rated movie from the video store.

BETROTHAL – Fresh chaos for the Randall household breaks out when the girl (Minae Noji) that young Sam was betrothed to back in his home country shows up at their doorstep.

SOCKS AND BONDS – Jack fears that his mother is growing closer to Sam than to him after a shopping trip for new clothes.

A CHICKEN IN EVERY WOK – When Sam runs for class president, Jack happily serves as his campaign manager. The two have a sitcom argument that prompts Jack to quit Sam’s campaign and run for class president on his own.

WE’RE A FAMILY – The now-widowed Lori must interrupt studying for a course crucial for her new career to try keeping Sam and Sally as part of the family. The authorities are trying to take them away, fearing the two additional kids are too much for Lori to handle alone. This episode was the first to use the new title Nothing is Easy and the new title song, which was co-written by Dee Wallace Stone.

A KISS IS JUST A KISS – When Sam is selected to wear the costume of the school’s sports mascot it leads to Jack meeting and kissing a cheerleader. Jack faints from the excitement and becomes the school joke.

DOUBLE DATE – Lori is talked into going on a double date with her single friend Marion (Julia Migenes). The kids are upset at the thought of Lori reentering the dating pool but Marion pressures her.

MOTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? – Money is tight and the kids keep nagging Lori for more spending cash so she talks them into holding a yard sale.

THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR – A mix-up results in the Randall home needing fumigated, forcing an impromptu backyard campout for Lori and the kids one night.   

SUNDAY, MONDAY AND ALWAYS – With the family still in dire financial straits, Sam and Jack resort to ticket scalping and wind up in trouble. Peter Bonerz of Bob Newhart Show fame directed this episode.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR – Sam falls in love with a girl and must deal with the pluses and minuses of such puppy love.

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