March 1996 - April 1997
NBC | 32 episodes | Sitcom
WHO'S IN IT? Anthony Clarke, Traylor Howard, Hedy Burress
SYNOPSIS: Created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, in what was their last big project before they hit the jackpot with Will & Grace, the series centered around Boyd Pritchett, a young handyman from rural Virginia, as he moved his younger sister, Wyleen, to Boston, so she could start her life as a student at the fictional Randolph Harrington College. Boyd was only supposed to stay a few days to help Wyleen get settled in before returning home, only to end up falling in love with attractive graduate student Joy Byrnes, and getting a job as a maintenance worker at the university.
VERDICT: ★★★☆☆
While the Los Angeles Times called it the "Boston Hillbillies", ratings for the series premiere were strong and Boston Common ranked eighth overall in the 1995-96 television season. Variety remarked that "if [the] program’s positioned right, its future looks good". For season two, however, ratings plummeted. Boston Common finished 51st in the overall ratings for 1996-97. Why? The show was moved from the highly coveted Must See TV Thursdays to a Sunday slot. Many viewers were not even aware that it had returned for a second season.
The writing in the pilot was pretty good – funny one-liners, interesting characters. The standout character for me was sarky Tasha, quipping to two students: “Excuse me, you’re gonna have to take 5 steps away from my desk, because you’re MAKING ME SICK!” as they discussed a bouji vacation to Botswana.
The two lead characters, Boyd and Wyleen, have Southern accents and I can imagine the series played off this - fish out of water, rural characters in the big city, etc.
CANCELLED TOO SOON? Yes, I will watch more episodes.
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