The Fanelli Boys aired from September 1990 until Febrary 1991 on NBC.
Now that her husband had passed away, and the boys were grown and out on their own, Mom Fanelli ( Ann Morgan Guilbert), was ready to sell the family home in Brookyn and move to Florida. But who's that at the door? Ronnie ( Andy Hirsch), has just dropped out of school; girl-chasing Frankie's ( Chris Meloni's) engagement is off; Anthony ( Ned Eisenberg), who took over the family funeral parlor is $25,000 in debt; and Dom ( Joe Pantoliano), the hustler, is between scores. They all moved back home so Mom could straighten out their lives, once again. Father Angelo ( Richard Libertini), was Theresa's tall, balding brother who offered dubious advice, though not so dubious as that of the neighborhood fortune-teller Pilamena ( Vera Lockwood). Could Pilamena have forseen-cancellation by the time snow flies?
A Review from USA TODAY
TV PREVIEW/ BY MATT ROUSH
Tasty 'Fanelli Boys' follow sitcom recipe
In some ways the four Fanelli Boys are only so much traditional sitcom sausage. Italian meatballs, to be more precise.
These Brooklyn brothers are awfully easy to pigeonhole . You can call them Dopey( though Hunky), cutie, Smarmy and Clammy.
And of course, there's Ma.
These boys, despite all their cocky bravado and neighborhood swagger ,still jerk to the movements of their widowed ma's apron strings. As played by Ann Guilbert-next door neighbor Millie on The Dick Van Dyke Show-Ma is a riot.
A barking prune with affection in her exasperated growl, she recalls Ruth Gordon's vigorous charisma when she wishes for fine china: " I'm 62 years old and still eating off plates Dad got at the Texaco station."
Her four sons who all sheeplishly return home in the pilot run a gamut of sitcom conventions : the slick operator whose schemes never work, the hung-up son who took over the family business ( a mortuary), the stud with a vacancy upstairs and the college boy who's sweet but aimless.
They superficially drawn, but nicely played by a sturdy, often unfamiliar cast. Ned Eisenberg gets the folded-hands posture of his trade just right, and amusingly suffers his ma's nightly kitchen-table matchmaking.
Created by a quartet schooled in the making of tart, well-shaped barbs at The Golden Girls ( much as NBC's Wings was created by a trio formerly with Cheers), The Fanelli Boys gets an enviable launch on Miss America night before moving to Wednesdays.
It's not likely to become anyone's favorite show , but is as inviting as a homemade cannoli.
An Article from USA TODAY
Published on December 21, 1990
'Fanelli Boys' just happy to be alive
By Jefferson Graham
USA TODAY
The choice at NBC was down to two new series , The Fanelli Boys or Working It Out. Which to renew?
Working, which starred Jane Curtin and Stephen Collins had been winning its timeslot, Saturday nights at 8:30 EST/PST. Fanelli airing Wednesdays at 9 , wasn't.
NBC switched the two series for a week, and the ratings reversed. Airing on Saturday, Fanelli won the time period. NBC canceled Working, despite its ratings and star power.
But there's more to the story of how Fanelli got renewed.
Fanelli is produced by KTMB productions -four fomer writers of Golden Girls, NBC's Saturday night mainstay. Kathy Speer, Terry Grossman, Mort Nathan and Barry Fanaro spent a year trying to come up with a sitcom for NBC. Then NBC Entertainment Chairman Brandon Tartikoff called with the concept: What if Danny DeVito, John Travolta, Harold Ramis and Keanu Reeves moved in with their mother in Brooklyn?"
And Fanelli was born.
The show-which stars Chris Meloni, Ned Eisenberg, Joe Pantoliano, and Andy Hirsch-had a shaky start in the ratings and was rumored to be cancellation fodder for weeks. The producers thought it was all over.
" It was difficult to live through," says Fanaro. " We had gotten ourselves mentally prepared to move on."
As KTMB prepared to film the 13th episode , NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield called to say he wanted to visit.
" You could hear the hearts thump in the room when he walked in ," says Nathan. " Everyone was so nervous."
They didn't have to be. Littlefield renewed the show for the entire season. The next morning , he called the producers of Working It Out and told them they were canceled. Renewals got the in-person treatment.
" NBC kept telling us to ignore the ratings," says Grossman. " It was quite an acting job on our part. We had to tell everybody not to worry and keep spirits up."
Now that they have the vote of confidence from NBC , their concern is just making the " funniest show we can," says Speer.
They are talking with Golden Girls star Beatrice Arthur about doing a guest spot-not playing her Dorothy character from Golden Girls however-and want the Boys to have some female interaction.
" We're looking at girlfriends and semi-regulars the guys can get involved with at work," says Speer.
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