# Silver Spoons (1982)

> A wealthy young-at-heart businessman is forced to raise the twelve-year-old son he never knew he had.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1967

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 116
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Ben Starr
- Network: NBC
- Cast: Ricky Schroder, Joel Higgins, Erin Gray, Franklyn Seales, Alfonso Ribeiro, Leonard Lightfoot, Amanda Peterson, Helene Udy
- TMDB rating: 6.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083479/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, warm, comforting, light-hearted, gently satirical

## What critics say

Audience reception is negative, with the show seen as a lightweight family sitcom whose later seasons drew weak ratings.

## Synopsis

Silver Spoons (1982-1987) is an American network sitcom created by Ben Starr for NBC. Wealthy, young-at-heart business owner Edward Stratton III (Joel Higgins) is stunned to learn that a brief marriage years earlier produced a son, Ricky Stratton (Ricky Schroder), who arrives at his living room wanting to live with the father he never knew. Edward's first instinct is to send the boy to boarding school, but he relents and lets Ricky move in with his household, where his love-struck secretary Kate Summers Stratton (Erin Gray) is already part of the picture. The engine of the series is the clash between Edward's privileged, self-centered routines and the responsibilities of raising a child, with the household staff and neighborhood friends adding a steady supply of mishaps and misunderstandings. Episodes are self-contained case-of-the-week comedies built around everyday kid problems and the adult chaos around them. Across five seasons the series keeps a breezy, warm register, with wealth gently satirized rather than condemned. Its mix of family comedy and a precocious child lead places it in the lineage of Diff'rent Strokes and Who's the Boss, and fans of those shows will find the same comforting, tidy domestic humor here.

## Shows like Silver Spoons

- [Growing Pains (1985)](https://ember.film/tv/47)
- [Diff'rent Strokes (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/2290)
- [Family Affair (1966)](https://ember.film/tv/473)
- [Charles in Charge (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/535)
- [Melissa & Joey (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/29400)
- [Shifting Gears (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/174769)
- [Step by Step (1991)](https://ember.film/tv/2486)
- [Family Ties (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/466)
- [My Three Sons (1960)](https://ember.film/tv/1442)
- [Eight Is Enough (1977)](https://ember.film/tv/4165)

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