TVSquad

Hello and welcome. Please pull up a chair and enjoy this new feature on TV Squad where I (and perhaps others) will wax nostalgic about a show we feel was taken from us too soon. Now pull on your patented memory pants and get ready to remember.

Davis Rules was a show, that, while extremely funny, never stood much of a chance. In its one year of existence (1991-1992) the show switched from ABC to CBS, not exactly a move that guarantees your audience will stick around. In the beginning, the show centered around a father, Dwight Davis (Randy Quaid), who lived with his three sons and his eccentric dad, Gunny, played by Jonathan Winters. After the show made the move to CBS a few of the characters were dropped and fresher faces were brought in, including Bonnie Hunt and Giovanni Ribisi. Both actors had more than enough chops to support a sitcom, but it became clear that executives were trying too hard to force the show into popularity, and, like a plant that's been overwatered, they killed it.

Nevertheless, the show did result in an Emmy win for Jonathan Winters, whose improvisations always complimented the show, rather than serving as superfluous asides a la Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy. The show also boasted the writing of Frank Mula, who later went on to pen episodes of The Simpsons. It was a show that needed time to grow and find an audience, but different thinking prevailed at the time, and we're left with memories of a great show that should have lasted much longer than it did.