Homefront (American TV series)


Homefront is an American television drama series created by former Knots Landing producers Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick in association with Lorimar Television. The show is set in the late 1940s in the fictional city of River Run, Ohio, and aired on ABC from September 24, 1991, to April 26, 1993. The show's theme song, "Accentuate the Positive", was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer and performed by Jack Sheldon.

Series overview

Homefront begins in September 1945 and focuses on three families from different backgrounds, the Sloan, Metcalf and Davis families. The Sloans, Mike Sr. and Ruth, own a steel manufacturing factory initially responsible for making tank parts in the war. They are coming to grips with the death of their only son, Mike Jr., a soldier, and the arrival of his Italian war bride, Gina, a Jewish Holocaust survivor. The Metcalfs include widow Anne and her three children, Hank, Linda and Jeff. Anne and Linda are dealing with being displaced from their job at the plant for returning GIs, while Hank, a returning soldier, and Jeff, a baseball player for the Cleveland Indians, are involved in a love triangle with college student Sarah Brewer. Meanwhile, Linda's friend, Ginger Szabo is shocked when her boyfriend Charlie Hailey returns from the war with a British war-bride, Caroline.
Abe and Gloria Davis are descendants from slaves and work for the Sloans as a chauffeur and housekeeper respectively. Their son Robert is a decorated veteran who served in Europe with the 761st Armored Battalion. He lands a job at Sloan Industries but is isolated and belittled by his racist co-workers. In the second season, he is joined by Perrette, his white French war bride. Later cast members include Al Kahn, a Jewish union organiser and possible former Communist sympathiser who seduces Anne, and Judy Owens, a widow working as a bartender who has an affair with Mike Sr.
While the show received critical praise, it struggled in the ratings and was close to being cancelled after its first season. An April 11, 1992 issue of TV Guide ran a S.O.S campaign to save five series from cancellation, which included Homefront, and two other period pieces, Brooklyn Bridge on CBS and I'll Fly Away on NBC. Of the five, Homefront received the most votes – 99,591 – and was subsequently renewed. Abigail Van Buren of Dear Abby also dedicated a column to the show, urging fans to write into the network to save it. However ratings did not improve in its second season, and after being moved around the schedule numerous times, the show was cancelled.

Cast and characters

Episodes


Season 1 (1991–92)

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Season 2 (1992–93)

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