The Fanelli Boys


The Fanelli Boys is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 8, 1990, to February 16, 1991, as part of its 1990–91 prime time schedule. The series was created by the team of Barry Fanaro, Mort Nathan, Kathy Speer, and Terry Grossman, all of whom previously worked on The Golden Girls.

Synopsis

Following the death of her husband, Theresa Fanelli is prepared to sell the family business to her son Anthony and move from Brooklyn to Florida. Thwarting her plans are the arrival of her younger sons Ronnie, who had just dropped out of school, and Frankie, whose engagement has just been broken. Another brother, the slightly disreputable Dom, is between hustles. Anthony learns that the funeral home is about $25,000 in debt, which he had not counted on. Soon, all of the boys are back at home with their mom, just like the old days. Advising the family, somewhat dubiously, are Theresa's brother, a Catholic priest known as "Father Angelo", and fortune teller Philomena. The Fanelli Boys showed fairly strong Italian-American ethnic stereotyping; there was even an Italian flag in the program's logo.
The series garnered low ratings; in an October 5, 1990, interview, NBC executive Warren Littlefield said it could be cancelled as soon as the ratings for episode 5 came in. He added that the show is in "good shape creatively but we need to market it better. What we don't want to do is panic and say too quickly that it's not working and say goodbye to a Cheers or Family Ties," referring to NBC sitcoms that started slowly but became long-running hits. The Fanelli Boys was cancelled in February 1991 after airing nineteen episodes.

Cast

Title sequence

The show's original opening sequence was filmed footage of a dining room table as it was set by its family, followed by them sitting down and serving pasta and wine, which culminated in everyone toasting. Only the family's hands were seen during the entire sequence. This was accompanied by an instrumental, old-world Italian tune.
In January 1991, a month before The Fanelli Boys was cancelled, the opening changed to featuring videotaped scenes from the show with the cast, along with an in-house rendition of Billy Joel's "Why Should I Worry?" as the new lyrical theme.