Nearly Departed

Nearly Departed
Created by Roger Shulman
John Baskin
Starring Eric Idle
Caroline McWilliams
Stuart Pankin
Wendy Schaal
Jay Lambert
Henderson Forsythe
Composers Kevin Quinn
Randy Petersen
Robert Irving
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 6 (2 unaired)
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Production companies Baskin-Shulman Productions
Lorimar Television
Original release
Network NBC
Release April 10 –
May 1, 1989

Nearly Departed is an American sitcom that aired on NBC on Monday nights from April 10, 1989 to May 1, 1989. It was an updated version of Topper.

Premise

The series focused on English professor Grant Pritchard and his wife Claire who are killed in a rockslide. They return to their home as ghosts to find plumbing contractor Mike Dooley and his wife Liz, son Derek, and his father, Jack, living there. Grandpa Jack was the only one who could see and hear the Pritchards. In exchange for continuing to live in the house as ghosts, the Pritchards would mediate through Grandpa Jack and try to help the Dooleys with their problems. In one such instance, Derek was doing poorly in school because he was intimidated by bullies; Grant and Claire use their abilities to scare off the bullies.

Cast

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date U.S. viewers
(millions)		 Rating/share
(households)
1 "Grant Meets Grandpa" John Rich Roger Shulman & John Baskin April 10, 1989 23.5 15.1/24
2 "Adventures in Babysitting" John Rich Roger Shulman & John Baskin April 17, 1989 19.9 13.2/22
3 "Altared States" John Rich Daniel Palladino April 24, 1989 18.6 12.1/20
4 "TV or Not TV" John Rich Neil Alan Levy May 1, 1989 19.3 11.9/19
5 "Grandpa's Date" John Rich Dale McRaven Unaired N/A N/A
6 "Grant's Aunt" John Rich Sy Dukane & Denise Moss Unaired N/A N/A