1st & Ten (1984 TV series)

This article is about the 1984 HBO comedy series. For the 2003 ESPN sports talk program, see 1st and 10 (2003 TV series). For other uses, see 1st & Ten (disambiguation).
1st & Ten
Genre
  • Comedy
  • Sports
Created by Carl Kleinschmitt
Starring
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 80
Production
Executive producers
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 25 minutes
Production company The Kushner-Locke Company
Original release
Network HBO
Release December 2, 1984 –
January 23, 1991

1st & Ten is an American sitcom that aired between December 1984 and January 1991 on the cable television network HBO. Featuring series regulars Delta Burke and veteran Reid Shelton, it was one of cable's first attempts to lure the lucrative sitcom audience away from the then-dominant "Big Three" broadcast television networks, by taking advantage of their freedom to include occasional profanity and nudity.

Plot

The sports-themed series follows the on-and off-field antics of the fictional American football team, the California Bulls. The team changed owners throughout the series' history, with the premise that a woman is in charge.

During the first season Diane Barrow (Delta Burke) becomes the owner of her ex-husband's team as part of a divorce settlement, after he has an affair with the team's tight end. She quickly learns the ups and downs of pro football. In one episode, she is forced to coach the team herself after the head coach, Ernie Denardo, is placed in the hospital. She also has constant battles with her General Manager/husband's nephew, who has dealings with the local mob, and fights off advances made by her quarterback (played by Geoffrey Scott).

The second season dealt with two themes: training camp and the playoffs. Barrow was dealing with her players taking recreational drugs during training camp. During this season, O. J. Simpson joined the cast as T.D. Parker, a veteran running back who is forced to make the transition from player to coach. Two real-life football stars made cameo appearances: Marcus Allen portrayed a rookie who was taking over T.D.'s spot on the team, and Vince Ferragamo played "Mainstreet" Manneti, a veteran quarterback. Jason Beghe joined the cast to play Tom Yinessa, a walk-on quarterback who deals with his overnight celebrity.

Delta Burke left the show midway through the third season, after committing herself exclusively to CBS' Designing Women, which she had begun starring on in 1986, and which was renewed. Diane loses control of the Bulls to Teddy Schraeder, her former lover, who manipulates everyone to his own ends. His antics include having T.D. fire Ernie as coach, letting Yinessa practice without a contract, and ignoring steroid use. Legal issues force him to leave the country and turn control over to his daughter, played by Leah Ayres.

Season 4 was briefly renamed 1st and Ten: The Bulls Mean Business. Shanna Reed joins the cast as the team's new female president, representing the new owners, the Dodds Corporation. Her attempts to innovate include bringing a female soccer player in to kick, and signing an Olympic sprinter as wide receiver. Joe Namath has a cameo appearance. Shannon Tweed would replace her in Season 5, and remain with the show to the end. The show was renamed 1st and Ten: Do it Again for the fifth season. The final season was 1st and Ten: In Your Face.

Series themes

  • The Bulls somehow manage to make it to the championship football game, yet lose in a controversial, heartbreaking manner.
  • Mad Dog and Dr. Death haze the rookies and rally the defense.
  • Bubba and Jethro help each other with their various (often sex-related) mishaps. Bubba's voracious appetite is also a running gag
  • The volatile ownership position of the franchise.
  • Controversial aspects of professional sports in the late 1980s: steroids, the instant replay, women in the locker room, the role of free agency, multi-sport stars, endorsements.

Game footage

Footage was used from USFL's Los Angeles Express. During simulated game shots, the Bulls football helmet has a decal of horns on the side. When the show uses actual game footage, you can clearly see the letters "L" and "A" on the helmets side, representing the L.A. Express. The Bulls quarterbacks wore #14 to match the actual game footage of L.A. Express real-life quarterback Tom Ramsey. Many generic shots of USFL stadiums were used to depict where the Bulls were playing. As the series went on, aerial shots were used of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to represent the Bulls home stadium. Game footage from the USFL stopped midway through the third season, as scripted football plays were being used instead, and the USFL had ceased operations by that point.

At one point, Denardo suggests trading for a running back. He mentions the Bulls from "that other league." He was talking about the Jacksonville Bulls from the United States Football League.

Characters

Only Donald Gibb, Cliff Frazier, Prince Hughes and Reid Shelton appeared in all six seasons. John Kassir and O.J. Simpson joined the cast the second season and stayed till the show's end.

Main

Guest Stars

  • Mariann Aalda as Ellen
  • Robert Costanzo as Jake
  • Alexa Hamilton as Kay
  • Liam Sullivan as Doctor

Special Guest Star

  • Roy Thinnes as Teddy Schrader
  • Mark Lonow as Max Green

Episodes

Season 1: 1984–85

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1 1 "By the Bulls" Unknown Unknown December 2, 1984
2 2 "The Opener" Unknown Unknown December 2, 1984
3 3 "All Roads Lead to Dayton" Unknown Unknown December 9, 1984
4 4 "The Slump" Unknown Unknown December 16, 1984
5 5 "Play Me or Trade Me" Unknown Unknown December 23, 1984
6 6 "You Are Who You Eat" Unknown Unknown December 30, 1984
7 7 "Uneasy Lies the Head" Unknown Unknown January 6, 1985
8 8 "The Sins of the Quarterback" Unknown Unknown January 13, 1985
9 9 "I Only Read Defenses" Unknown Unknown January 20, 1985
10 10 "Wine Time" Unknown Unknown January 27, 1985
11 11 "Rona's Fling" Unknown Unknown February 3, 1985
12 12 "Not Quite Mr. Right" Unknown Unknown February 10, 1985
13 13 "Super Bull Sunday" Unknown Unknown February 17, 1985

Season 2 (The Championship, 1986–87)

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
14 1 "The Rookies" Unknown Unknown August 25, 1986
15 2 "The Veterans" Unknown Unknown September 1, 1986
16 3 "A Second Chance" Unknown Unknown September 8, 1986
17 4 "Quarterbacks Tell No Tales" Unknown Unknown September 15, 1986
18 5 "California Freeze Out" Unknown Unknown September 22, 1986
19 6 "The Unkindest Cut" Unknown Unknown September 29, 1986
20 7 "Yinessa's Interview" Unknown Unknown December 30, 1986
21 8 "Easy Come, Easy Go" Unknown Unknown January 6, 1987
22 9 "A Family Affair" Unknown Unknown January 13, 1987
23 10 "The Big One" Unknown Unknown January 20, 1987

Season 3 (Going for Broke, 1987)

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
24 1 "Ernie's Last Quarter" Unknown Unknown August 5, 1987
25 2 "A Second Chance Once Removed" Unknown Unknown August 12, 1987
26 3 "A Loaded Gun" Unknown Unknown August 19, 1987
27 4 "The Comeback Trail" Unknown Unknown August 26, 1987
28 5 "Illegal Use of Love" Unknown Unknown September 2, 1987
29 6 "The Bulls Change Hands" Unknown Unknown September 9, 1987
30 7 "Mutiny on the Bull Team" Unknown Unknown October 7, 1987
31 8 "Blood on Blood" Unknown Unknown October 20, 1987
32 9 "The Brink of Death" Unknown Unknown November 4, 1987
33 10 "Land of the Free (Agent)" Unknown Unknown November 27, 1987
34 11 "Call for the Hall" Unknown Unknown December 2, 1987
35 12 "Of Scalpers and Superstars" Unknown Unknown December 9, 1987
36 13 "Championship Game Jinx" Unknown Unknown December 16, 1987

Season 4 (The Bulls Mean Business, 1988–89)

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
37 1 "The Bulls Own Up" Unknown Unknown October 5, 1988
38 2 "The Inmates Buy the Asylum" Unknown Unknown October 12, 1988
39 3 "Caught in the Draft" Unknown Unknown October 19, 1988
40 4 "Down and Out in Bulls' Stadium" Unknown Unknown October 26, 1988
41 5 "…The Clock Runs Out" Unknown Unknown November 2, 1988
42 6 "The Dark Side" Unknown Unknown November 9, 1988
43 7 "Saturday, Bloody Saturday" Unknown Unknown November 16, 1988
44 8 "Injustice for All" Unknown Unknown November 23, 1988
45 9 "Team Picture" Unknown Unknown November 30, 1988
46 10 "Out of the Past" Unknown Unknown December 7, 1988
47 11 "Final Bow" Unknown Unknown December 14, 1988
48 12 "Duty Calls" Unknown Unknown December 21, 1988
49 13 "The High and the Mighty" Unknown Unknown December 28, 1988
50 14 "The Irreducible Bottom Line" Unknown Unknown January 4, 1989

Season 5 (Do It Again, 1989–90)

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
51 1 "The Book According to Zagreb" Unknown Unknown October 11, 1989
52 2 "The Con" Unknown Unknown October 18, 1989
53 3 "False Start" Unknown Unknown October 25, 1989
54 4 "Mind Games" Unknown Unknown November 1, 1989
55 5 "Love and Marriage" Unknown Unknown November 8, 1989
56 6 "Clean and Sober" Unknown Unknown November 15, 1989
57 7 "Blood Money" Unknown Unknown November 22, 1989
58 8 "Vindication" Unknown Unknown December 6, 1989
59 9 "Gunn & Bullette" Unknown Unknown December 13, 1989
60 10 "Heaven Help Me" Unknown Unknown December 20, 1989
61 11 "Surprise, Surprise" Unknown Unknown December 27, 1989
62 12 "All's Fair in Love and Football" Unknown Unknown January 10, 1990
63 13 "Earn This One for Ernie" Unknown Unknown January 17, 1990
64 14 "Who Stole Johnny Gunn?" Unknown Unknown January 24, 1990

Season 6 (1990–91)

No.
overall 		No. in
season 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date
65 1 "Opening Night" Unknown Unknown October 3, 1990
66 2 TBA Unknown Unknown October 10, 1990
67 3 "She's Ba-ack" Unknown Unknown October 17, 1990
68 4 "Altared States" Unknown Unknown October 24, 1990
69 5 "Going in Style" Unknown Unknown October 31, 1990
70 6 "Don't Powerburst My Bubble" Unknown Unknown November 7, 1990
71 7 "The Squeeze" Unknown Unknown November 14, 1990
72 8 "Take My Wives...Please" Unknown Unknown November 21, 1990
73 9 "Bull Day Afternoon" Unknown Unknown November 28, 1990
74 10 "Sex, Bulls & Videotape" Unknown Unknown December 5, 1990
75 11 "Irma-Zagreb" Unknown Unknown December 12, 1990
76 12 "If I Didn't Play Football" Unknown Unknown December 19, 1990
77 13 "A Roast is a Roast" Unknown Unknown December 26, 1990
78 14 "Close Encounters of the Third Down" Unknown Unknown January 9, 1991
79 15 "Flashbacks" Unknown Unknown January 16, 1991
80 16 "Championship Game" Unknown Unknown January 23, 1991

Syndication and home media

At the height of the O. J. Simpson murder case, the show made its way to syndicated reruns. The complete series was released on DVD on January 24, 2006.

The original HBO versions ran for 30 minutes, while the edited-for-syndication versions ran for 22 minutes, and had some dialog and scenes edited for content, as well as the addition of a laugh-track. The majority of episodes on the "Complete Collection" DVD are the syndicated versions.

The original opening credits showed former professional football player Fran Tarkenton introducing the players and the plot points at the beginning of each episode. Completely different closing credits were originally used, too. They showed credits rolling over scenes from the episode. In syndication, these were replaced with later opening credits featuring Miracle Miles Coolidge (even though he did not join the cast until the last season) and a generic "Copyright 1991" disclaimer on a blue background respectively.

In popular culture