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Short summary

Valerie Hogan is what you call "super-mom." Valerie's husband, Michael is an airline pilot, so the job of raising their three boys is left mostly to Valerie. There's girl-hungry David, Wille who's always getting into trouble, and brainy Mark. Mark and Wille are fraternal twins. Each week, Valerie encounters different experiences of what it is like to be a mother to three boys.

Valerie Harper fought with Lorimar producers over creative directions of Valerie the TV show and got fired; she was replaced by Sandy Duncan shortly thereafter. Similarly, Roseanne Barr fought with her producer Matt Williams about the direction of her show, just a year later. The difference being Matt Williams wound up getting let go, not Roseanne. As a joke, during the whole kerfuffle, Roseanne changed the name on her door to Sandy Duncan.

Many sets used in scenes inside the house were also used in Eine starke Familie (1991) and Alle unter einem Dach (1989).

Because of casting changes the name of the show was changed twice during its run. It was originally simply called "Valerie," to capitalize on the fact Valerie Harper was the star of the show. After she left at the end of the second season, the title was changed to, "Valerie's Family," even though Harper was no longer on the show, due in part to the hope she might return. For the fourth season through the end of the sixth, it was called, "The Hogan Family".

Brandon Tartikoff wrote that when Valerie Harper left the show and the title was changed to "The Hogan Family", the staff privately called it "Throw Momma from the Series". According to the scriptwriters, Valerie's character lost her life in an automobile wreck.

Lorimar producers wanted to keep the name as "Valerie" even after Valerie got fired; but Valerie Harper would not let them. She sued them and blocked this through the courts.

Even though Jeremy Licht and Luis Daniel Ponce played twins, Jeremy is actually 20 months older than Luis.

Though Josh Taylor was a regular on the show, the first two seasons only had him as an occasional character, appearing in only two or three scenes on each episode. When Sandy Duncan took over Valerie Harper's role in the third season, the producers decided to change Taylor's character to be home more often.

Edie McClurg and Judith Kahan co-starred in the Valerie years as her neighbors. Coincidentally, both played Grace the secretary in different incarnation of Ferris Bueller's Day Off: McClurg in the original 1986 movie, and Kahan in the short-lived NBC series in 1990.

Edie McClurg played a character named Mrs. Poole in "Valerie" and also in "7th Heaven".

According to Valerie Harper's biography, Carol Kane, who played Simka Gravas on Taxi and was a friend of Valerie, was having lunch with Valerie Harper after she got fired. A mutual friend of theirs stopped by and said hello. Harper at that point told the friend that she had gotten fired from her TV show. Kane told her she didn't have to tell people she got fired; she could just tell them she left. Harper responded that "it's better to be honest."

Valerie Harper fought with Lorimar producers over creative directions of Valerie the TV show and got fired; she was replaced by Sandy Duncan shortly thereafter. Similarly, Roseanne fought with Roseanne producer Matt Williams about the direction of her show, just a year later. The difference being Matt Williams got let go, not Roseanne. As a joke, during the whole kerfuffle, Roseanne changed the name on her door to Sandy Duncan. This is also ironic because years later; during the Roseanne reboot; Roseanne went on a racist twitter spree and then the show was promptly cancelled. There was then speculation in the media if the show could be resurrected the same way Valerie Harper's show was; by killing off Valerie Harper's character, who had also been fired, and having the show continue as "The Hogan Family". Valerie Harper's show continued for several seasons as "The Hogan Family" (and even cracked the top 30 ratings list one year) after Harper had been fired. The network brass at ABC pondered whether it would be possible to continue Roseanne without it's star; as "The Connner Family". Eventually ABC did greenlight "The Conners", an official spinoff to Roseanne. This is very similar to the situation with Valerie Harper getting fired in 1987 and her sitcom being renamed "The Hogan Family" afterwords. And industry insiders are predicting a similar result; that the sitcom will run without it's titular head for a couple years, and then get cancelled.

Jeremy Licht played the villainous, telekinetic and monstrous Anthony in "The Twilight Zone Movie" before he starred in Valerie.

Edie McClurg's most famous role before "Valerie" was the villainous Helen Shyers in Carrie (1976).

Sandy Duncan's most famous role is Peter Pan in the long running Broadway Musical.

Edie Mclurg concurrently appeared on both Small Wonder and Valerie/The Hogan Family throughout the late 80s.

The show's theme song, "Together Through the Years", was sung by Roberta Flack with music by Charles Fox. 13 years earlier, Fox had written the music to Roberta's Grammy winning #1 hit "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Nuliax
    I remember watching this show on Sunday afternoons when I was younger and loving them. It wasn't a philosophical show that takes after something by Shakespeare, but it was fun. A lot of my friends during that time loved it, as well. Sandy Duncan took Valerie Harper's place, and it reminded me of my friend's mother. That was another way it connected with me. It let family be funny, safe, and comfortable, just like other sitcoms. There was nothing wrong with it! It was just fun and simple! Other shows like this were "Family Matters", "Family Ties", "Cosby Show", "Roseanne", etc.. If you watch those shows, then you should find "The Hogan Family", sit back, and enjoy!
  • comment
    • Author: Kage
    I know that the Hogan's, and Valerie before it, didn't represent state of the art comedy, being utterly formulaic and looking like the very template for family sitcoms, but darn it, it was nice. The family was nice, the house was nice, the plots were nice. Nice, warm, fuzzy, safe family viewing. Sometimes I want hard-edged, risky comedy, but sometimes I just wanna watch TV safe in the knowledge that every episode will have a group-hug type ending. It's the perfect remedy if you're ever feeling a bit oppressed by all the stuff that's going on in the world right now. The comedy is still nice enough, but boy have the clothes and hairstyles dated!

    I have a bunch of episodes on tape but would love to get more.
  • comment
    • Author: Zadora
    First of all, back in late-1985, early 1986, NBC was originally gonna name the show "The Hogan Family," but later changed their mind and opted for a name that reflected its original famed star "Valerie Harper." Thus, it was retitled "Valerie."

    After, the famed contract dispute over her salary, Valerie Harper left the show, or was fired - depending who's side of the story you hear- thus the show was renamed "Valerie's Family: The Hogan's." This angered "Valerie Harper" very much, and she sued the producers for still using her name as the title of the show without her permission.

    Thus, the producers opted to revert back to the original suggested production title: "The Hogan Family."

    In reality they were always 'The Hogan Family.'
  • comment
    • Author: IGOT
    I may have only seen about 25 episodes in my life of The Hogan Family, but believe me, for a show like that, it does not take much to love it! I've gotta give a round of applause especially to Sandy Duncan, for she was funny and one heck of an actor, perfect for her character. After all, who else would you have to help raise 3 boys after their mother suddenly dies? I've got nothing against the other actors, cause they were also excellent. Of all the sitcoms that Miller-Boyett Productions and Lorimar Television did, this must be and will always be my favorite one. If you ever happen to see it on TV one of these days, please don't change that channel. It could be something you may regret. Also, I hope they put episodes on DVD someday, cause if they do, I'm gonna be in the line to buy one!
  • comment
    • Author: Querlaca
    This show really belonged to Valerie Harper, no offense to her replacement Sandy Duncan. Harper left the show under uncertain circumstances. Regardless, the show and network wrote her off sadly. While on, she was the mother to three boys and a pilot husband who was often absent. The cast was first rate including Edie McClurg as a neighbor, Christine Ebersole as her snobby unmarried sister-in-law, and the boys played by Jason Bateman, Jeremy Licht, and Danny Ponce. Ponce and Licht played fraternal twins who were as opposite as night and day. They touched on some issues like AIDS and homosexuality and other issues in this series but the show never fully recovered from the blow of Harper's absence.
  • comment
    • Author: Kelezel
    First of all Huge Val Harper Fan here from day one as far back as when she star with Mary Tyler Moore and then Her own Show Rhoda. I was excited when Valerie Family first debuted. I was such a huge Fan of the Show I loved it still do till this Day. I often try and catch it in rerun form. I have always felt never was the same once Val was gone from the show, Althou I did continue to watch it. The show always had a lovely Family vibe/cozy easy going vibe. They just do not make shows like this anymore. I feel this show never got as much respect as it should have. LONG LIVE "VALERIE" "Hogan Family" <3 (REVIEW BY: Leslie Wrona)
  • comment
    • Author: Lcena
    how can you say that the hogan family was a great show, Mark and Dave and the other guy. that was a good show, it reminded me of my neighbors. i had to register just to tell everyone how good this show was. you know what else where good shows? pete & pete, salute your shorts, and "fun house". too bad there not in syndication anywhere:(
  • comment
    • Author: DrayLOVE
    I can't remember a worse show than this. Family Hogan is boring and meaningless. I never found a laughable joke. This must be product of a lame mind. Pathetic from the very beginning, more ridiculous even than `7th Heaven', although Linkan-3 can doubt it. Too moralist, the subjects are never smart. But the Hogans will please old ladies who had never seen that machine called TV.
  • Complete series cast summary:
    Jason Bateman Jason Bateman - David Hogan 110 episodes, 1986-1991
    Jeremy Licht Jeremy Licht - Mark Hogan 110 episodes, 1986-1991
    Luis Daniel Ponce Luis Daniel Ponce - Willie Hogan 110 episodes, 1986-1991
    Josh Taylor Josh Taylor - Michael Hogan 110 episodes, 1986-1991
    Edie McClurg Edie McClurg - Mrs. Patty Poole 88 episodes, 1986-1991
    Sandy Duncan Sandy Duncan - Sandy Hogan 78 episodes, 1987-1991
    Steve Witting Steve Witting - Burt 52 episodes, 1987-1991
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