Cybill

Plot

Cast and characters

Regular and semi-regular

• Cybill Shepherd as Cybill Sheridan – Cybill is a middle aged actress who has had a varied, though mediocre career. She now finds that, due to her age, roles are becoming harder to find and that the quality of roles she is offered is diminishing. Her fortunes seem to vary over the course of the series. Sometimes, she has consistent work and appears to be relatively wealthy, other times, she scrambles to find and keep jobs, and seems to be struggling financially; this inconsistency could be attributed to the nature of her career, as even the most successful actors tend to have their professional ups and downs, both financially and creatively. Cybill is a rather eccentric feminist who practices New Age philosophy, as well as a native Southerner from Memphis, Tennessee. Her loud, public, and honest rantings about female sexuality, her perkiness, bouts of outrage, and hysteria, and her exhibitions of "down-home" Southern behavior often embarrass her two daughters, Zoey and Rachel. Cybill has a civil relationship with her ex-husbands Jeff and Ira, even tolerating their tendency to cling to her. She does sometimes spar, however, with Jeff over his past infidelities, and is quick to remind Ira of how controlling he was when they were married. Cybill's best friend is the wealthy, alcoholic divorcee Maryann Thorpe, whom she supports emotionally and assists in her bitter war with her ex-husband. Cybill has a caustic sense of humor and an acid tongue. Although eccentric and flawed, Cybill's strength and wisdom shines through in her support of her family and friends.
• Christine Baranski as Maryann Thorpe – Cybill's best friend is a former receptionist who is now fabulously wealthy due to her divorce settlement with her unfaithful ex-husband, celebrity plastic surgeon Richard Thorpe. Maryann is a bored, bitter alcoholic who often seems unstable and emotionally dependent on Cybill. When she is not stalking her ex-husband and playing elaborate and destructive pranks on him, she spends lavishly, drinks, and pursues younger men. She has a few healthy relationships with men of her own age over the course of the series, including Cybill's ex-husband Ira, but these do not last. She has a son, Justin, who infrequently visits. A passionate environmentalist with excessive liberal beliefs, Justin is at odds with her frivolous and extravagant lifestyle. Maryann's most consistent and healthy relationship is with Cybill. They seem to be endlessly sharing martinis in an upmarket Hollywood restaurant and are accomplices in each other's bad behavior. Maryann seems to spend most of her time at Cybill's house and involving herself in Cybill's family life to alleviate her own boredom. Her caustic tongue vies with Cybill's, but her remarks are more inappropriate, bitter, and cynical. She is, however, a constant support for Cybill at crucial moments. Her first name was Theresa, which her mother called her but she dropped when she moved to Los Angeles.
• Alicia Witt as Zoey Woodbine – Cybill's younger daughter, she is a high-school teenager, and is brilliant, rebellious, and more sarcastic than her mother. She is a piano virtuoso and hopes to attend the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. A self-imposed outcast, she is a vocal advocate of celibacy. She is in an on-again-off-again relationship with Maryann's estranged son.
• Alan Rosenberg as Ira Woodbine – Cybill's second husband, Ira is the polar opposite of Cybill's first husband, Jeff. Unassuming and rather neurotic, he is a brilliant writer, though prone to "writer's block". His marriage to Cybill ended because he was unable to stop trying to control her life; even in divorce, he cannot help meddling in her life. For several episodes of the second season he was involved with Maryann.
• Dedee Pfeiffer as Rachel Robbins Manning – Cybill's elder daughter, she is uptight and pretentious, and is married to Kevin Manning. She is prone to outbursts of hysteria similar to her mother's, especially during her pregnancies of the first and fourth season. Rachel and Kevin's first child is a boy named William; the second is a girl, Amanda.
• Tom Wopat as Jeff Robbins – Cybill's first husband, Jeff is a Hollywood stuntman with a roving eye. Though his many indiscretions were the cause of the divorce, Cybill and Jeff still have a good relationship, bound together by their daughter and grandson. Jeff is somewhat dim, making him a prime target for Zoey's dry wit, but possesses a good heart.

Recurring and special guests

• Tim Maculan as a waiter and friend of Cybill's. Despite his prominence, the character was never given a name. Appeared in over 50 episodes.
• Peter Krause as Kevin Manning, Rachel's equally uptight husband, an untenured assistant professor from Boston.
• Jay Paulson as Sean, Zoe's first boyfriend in Season 2 & 3.
• Ray Baker as the second Dr. Richard Thorpe, Maryann's veterinarian boyfriend who is also the namesake of her ex-husband.
• Jane Kaczmarek as Holly, Ira's girlfriend - and later fiancee - in Season 3.
• Linda Wallem appeared in 5 episodes as various characters including Julie, Cybill's co-host on a morning show in 3 episodes. Wallem was also a producer and writer on the show.
• Mary Page Keller as Julia Bishop, Zoey's piano teacher and Ira's girlfriend.
• Kim Murphy as Nina, Zoey's friend and one-time roommate.
• Morgan Fairchild as Andrea Thorpe, Cybill's rival and later wife of Maryann's often mentioned but never seen husband, Dr. Dick. She and Cybill have mutual enmity which has resulted in personal humiliations, professional loss, and injury on both sides.
• Audra Lindley as Virginia Sheridan, Cybill's mother.
• Florence Stanley as Ruth Woodbine, Ira's mother and Zoey's grandmother, who had a friendly relationship with Cybill and once posed as Maryann's mother.
• Eileen Heckart as Marge, Maryann's mother.
• Dick O'Neill as Roy, Maryann's father.

Cancellation

Awards and nominations

Home media

Region 1

Region 2