# Empty Nest (1988)

> A widowed pediatrician juggles his young patients, two grown daughters, a wisecracking nurse and a freeloading neighbor, with his big dog as his best listener.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2682

## Facts

- Seasons: 7
- Episodes: 170
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, family
- Created by: Susan Harris
- Network: NBC
- Cast: Richard Mulligan, Kristy McNichol, Dinah Manoff, David Leisure, Park Overall, Paul Provenza, Lisa Rieffel, Marsha Warfield
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094455/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: warm, breezy, nostalgic, comforting

## What critics say

Critics generally found Empty Nest warm and well acted, with Richard Mulligan's lead performance and the ensemble carrying a familiar sitcom format.

## Synopsis

Empty Nest (1988-1995) is an American network sitcom created by Susan Harris for NBC. Richard Mulligan plays widowed pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston, a gifted doctor with a gentle touch for children who is far less adept at handling the adults around him. His daughters Barbara and Carol, played by Kristy McNichol and Dinah Manoff, keep unsettling his routines, while Park Overall's wisecracking nurse LaVerne Todd and David Leisure's obnoxious neighbor Charley Dietz turn his office and home into a constant source of friction. Each episode is built from a clinic visit or a household crisis that spills into a family argument, with the jokes landing through overlapping dialogue and quick exchanges. Harry's enormous dog Dreyfuss offers him a loyal ear when the day goes wrong. Running for seven seasons and about 170 episodes, the show balances light domestic comedy with moments of real affection between a father and the grown children he is still learning to let go. Its tone is warm, breezy and nostalgic, in the vein of Doogie Howser, M.D. and Full House, with a comfortable late-1980s and early-1990s network sitcom sensibility throughout.

## Shows like Empty Nest

- [My Three Sons (1960)](https://ember.film/tv/1442)
- [Life Goes On (1989)](https://ember.film/tv/5026)
- [Silver Spoons (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/1967)
- [Diff'rent Strokes (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/2290)
- [My Two Dads (1987)](https://ember.film/tv/1758)
- [Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989)](https://ember.film/tv/1648)
- [The Bob Newhart Show (1972)](https://ember.film/tv/1866)
- [One Day at a Time (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/2078)
- [Growing Pains (1985)](https://ember.film/tv/47)
- [Providence (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/1541)

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