Eight Is Enough (1977–1981) User Reviews

A Great TV Show For the Family

[shelbythuylinh · 8/10 · 3 December 2021]

It was a great TV show for the family. And that it is one that is underrated. With the late, great Dick Van Patton as affable but strong father who lost his first wife as her actress, Diane Hyland died of cancer in the second season or before.

Then the grieving Patten's character Tom meets Betty Buckley when her character had in the helping out the Willie Aames character Tommy broken leg. The two end up getting closer and manage though not replace the late Hyland.

Both marry and make the family complete. As the family tries to move on with both comedic and dramatic flair there. Do not make shows like they used too.

ENTERTAINING SERIES WITH HIGHS AND LOWS AND GREAT CAST

[asalerno10 · 8/10 · 13 August 2022]

This family comedy, which initially would be that of a married couple with eight children, underwent several modifications from the beginning until it found the right direction. Diana Hyland would be the mother of the boys and wife of Dick Van Patten, but her sudden death from fatal cancer forced the writers to make changes to the script, at first Tom Bradford was alone until he met Abby (Betty Buckley) Tommy's tutor and was remarried. The second and third seasons of the series were the best, scripts that ranged from drama to comedy, the entire cast was great and the stories were generally very good. From season four the three eldest daughters become independent and rent their own apartment, from here the family clan is a little disarmed and the series turns more to drama than comedy, later new characters are added, the boyfriends and husbands of the older daughters. Like any series they had their maximum peak of creativity but after a little it was losing the charm of its best time.

One of the best shows from the late 1970's

[j.eaton · 18 February 2003]

Eight is Enough was one of the best shows from the late 1970's and early 1980's. It was considered a dramedy. It had drama because the show could be serious at times but it also had comedy because the show was funny and it had a laugh track. Eight is Enough is now seen in reruns on CTS up here in Canada and I am happy about that. I had a major crush on Willie Aames (Tommy Bradford) when I was younger. Too bad there aren't many T.V. shows on now like this. Those were the good old days of television!

Excellent family show that stands the test of time.

[lakesgirl2 · 10/10 · 29 April 2014]

I loved Eight is Enough growing up. Age wise, I was in between Tommy and Nicholas, so I enjoyed those two the most. Plus, I think they had more story lines given to them than the others. I think there were just too many girls for any of them to stand out to me and David was way too old for me to relate to.

I liked the balance of drama and comedy. I could be laughing about one part of the show and crying about another part. I believe the death of the mother (Joan) set this show apart from the other big family shows (The Waltons, The Brady Bunch). They dealt with it pretty realistically. And when Abby joined the family, the kids continued to call her Abby instead of mom, which was much more believable. Ironically, Abby became my favorite character and I think Betty Buckley was the best actor in the bunch. But I enjoyed pretty much every Bradford and loved their big family scenes the most.

Eight is Enough was an excellent family show that still stands the test of time.

To Fill Our Lives With Love...Remembering the family comedy-drama series Eight Is Enough on its 40th anniversary

[raysond · 9/10 · 27 May 2017]

Cannot believe that the series "Eight Is Enough" is 40 years old! The series was based on Thomas Braden's 1975 New York Times best selling novel which was modeled on the syndicated newspaper columnist who was a real life parent who raised eight kids on which the television series was based. The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children(from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanne, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy and Nicholas). The father, Thomas Bradford, was a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan(Diana Hyland)took care of the children. Hyland appeared in four episodes before she took gravely ill; she was written out of the show for the remainder of the first season and died after after the second season aired. The second season began in the fall of 1977 with the revelation that Thomas Bradford(Dick Van Patten)was a widower. Tom fell in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott(Betty Buckley)a schoolteacher who came to the house to tutor Tommy who had broken his leg in a football game. They were married in one of the series TV Movie broadcast titled "Children of the Groom" which aired as a two hour event on November 9, 1977. In another television event two other Bradford children were married in Season four episode titled "I Do, I Do" that was originally broadcast on September 19, 1979. As the series progressed Abby got her doctorate in education and started a job counseling students at the local high school; Mary became a medical doctor,while second youngest son Tommy became a singer in a rock and roll band.

In the pilot episode, the role of David was played by Mark Hamill while the role of Nancy was played by Kimberly Beck and Tommy played Chris English. Beck and English only appeared in the pilot and was abruptly replaced by Dianne Kay and Willie Aames for the remainder of the series. Mark Hamill was replaced by Grant Goodeve for the rest of the series entire run. As far as the rest of the cast were only actors Dick Van Patten, Lani O' Grady, Connie Needham, Susan Richardson, along with Adam Rich and Laurie Walters were with the series throughout its entire five season run appearing in all 112 episodes. Dianne Kay and Grant Goodeve appeared in 111 episodes while Willie Aames appeared in 109 episodes of the series and Betty Buckley appeared in 102 episodes.

"Eight Is Enough" was the brainchild of creator-writer and executive producer William Blinn along with producers Philip Capice and Lee Rich who served as executive producers along with producers Gary Adelson, Greg Strangis, Robert L. Jacks, and Philip Fehrie for Lorimar Productions for ABC-TV airing for five seasons and 112 episodes from it's mid-season premiere(which replaced "The Bionic Woman")on March 15, 1977 until May 23,1981. Repeated episodes from it's fifth and final season aired as summer replacements from May 30,1981 until August 29,1981. The series aired on ABC's Wednesday night prime time schedule at the 8:00 eastern/7:00 central time slot which was a ratings winner. Regular writers for this series included Peter Lefcourt,and writing teams of Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov along with Greg Strangis, William Blinn, Thomas Braden, Gil Grant, Bruce Shelley, Norman Lessing, Martin Roth, Matt Robinson, Bruce Kalish,and Paul Schneider. The rotating team of seasonal directors including Irving J, Moore, Vincent McEveety, Phillip Leacock, Earl Bellamy, Hollingsworth Morse, Arnold Laven, David Swift, Leslie H. Martinson, Ralph Senensky, Barry Crane, Marc Daniels, Gerald Mayer, Jack Bender, William F. Claxton, Robert Friend to name a few.

Big name guest stars ranging from seasoned veterans like Jack Elam, to Will Geer, Frank Cady, David Wayne, Noah Beery, Abe Vigoda and Barry Van Dyke to guest stars Ellen Travolta, Julia Duffy, Susan Dey, to Judy Strangis, Sherry Jackson, Don Johnson, Tricia O' Neal, Danny Bonaduce, Charlene Tilton, Robin Williams, Ike Eisenmann, Stephanie Kramer, Jonathan Frakes, Timothy Van Patten, Karen Valentine, Gregory Walcott, Adrienne Barbeau, Kevin Schultz, Beth Howland, Corey Feldman, Billie Bird just to name of the big name guest stars that appeared on this show.

Eight Is Enough throughout it's run was nominated for an impressive six prime-time Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Actor or Actress in a Prime Time Series, Best Supporting Actor in a Prime Time Series and Best Film Editing. It won the People's Choice Award in 1978 for Best New Dramatic Television Series and was nominated for 2 Golden Globes for Best Actor(Dick Van Patten),and Best Writing for a Prime Time Series. The best episodes that came from "Eight Is Enough" were "Turnabout", the two part "Yes, Nicholas There Is A Santa Claus", to "V is for Vivian", "Seven Days In February", "Long Night's Journey into Day","Here We Go Again", to the two part "You Won't Have Nicholas to Kick Around Anymore" to "Moving Out", "Mother's Rule", to "Marriage and Other Flights of Fancy", "And Baby Makes Nine", "The Idolbreaker", to "Father Knows Best" just to name a few of the great episodes of the "Eight Is Enough" television series. When it was abruptly canceled in the Spring of 1981, ABC replaced it on it's Wednesday night schedule with "The Greatest American Hero" that starred William Katt and Robert Culp.

Annoying Generic Family

[Johnny_West · 1/10 · 26 December 2020]

Every episode was the same. They started out as a happy family that agreed on everything. A problem arose that affected someone in the family, or someone they knew. They all had to talk to each other about it and react and interfere.

It was like Dr. Phil's Family where they were all meddlers. Dick van Patten was the chubby Dad whose job it was to bring the show to an end on some kind of happy note. Like they all figured it out, or the problem was solved, or they all came to understand what happened. Very neat formula of blissful happiness, over and over again.

Parallel with the Carter era

[safenoe · 10/10 · 13 November 2016]

With the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976 and his inauguration in 1977 came the start of the four year run of one of the finest dramas from the 70s. Eight is Enough is more than a comedy - I guess a comedy- drama as it dealt with some very serious issues. I remember one episode where David Bradford (Grant Goodeve) lost his bearings when one of his close friends died.

Unfortunately with Carter being defeated by Reagan in 1980, came the end of Eight is Enough sadly. Could Eight is Enough have worked during the Reagan era which was personified in 80s classics such as Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest and L.A. Law? Maybe, if say Tom Bradford dumped his second wife Abby for a younger trophy wife. Then it could have been Eight is not Enough.

Creepy Family of Clones

[panzerstein · 1/10 · 20 October 2020]

This show was sickening. The father was played by the creepy and repulsive Dick Van Patten. I always wondered about him. All the kids and the family are like automated clones. They have fake issues, and then they all come together to resolve them in a neat little package at the end of every episode. This is the most fake family in the history of television.

A Dramatic Brady Bunch

[Sargebri · 29 April 2003]

This show pretty much picks up where the "Brady Bunch" left off, but on a more serious tone. This show was definitely one of the first "dramadies", but it still managed to have its lighter moments. Most of them were provided by Willie Aames as the entrepreneur Tommy and Adam Rich as the cute Nicholas. These two young actors helped make this show one of the most loved of the 1970's. I do think that the major flaw in shows of this type though is the conflict of whether or not it was to be a serious drama or whether it was to be a cute domestic comedy along the lines of the aforementioned "Brady Bunch" and another show of that era "The Partridge Family".

A great show that stood out well!

[alexbogue3889 · 10/10 · 28 March 2021]

Columnist Tom Bradford and homemaker Joan raised their 8 beautiful children: David, Mary Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy and Nicholas. They tackled many things that were and still are relevant to today. About a year after Joan died, Tom remarried widowed schoolteacher Abby. It was a staple that should live on!

Great show

[bbouffy · 10/10 · 20 March 2023]

Childhood show I'm 64 and loved this show , the mother was great and father was the best. Kids were great and will Ames And Nicholas so sad he died rest in peace.it show u woman were 2nd class citizens u couldn't play this now. But think kids should see this so they can see what we were up against. My favorite storyline is about when Nicholas had a crush on his teacher. It was so cute. I also like it when Abby thought she was pregnant. That one was a funny one, and when Joni had to playing them playing in the nude, that was funny all in all it's a great show, Betty Buckley was so good in this when I was little I wish she was my mom.

What is with these credits?

[beegeebright · 10/10 · 27 August 2006]

What is with these credits? They don't contain all of the family members, and the few that are there are buried in this monstrous list and the stars such as Dick Van Patten are listed as having appeared in only one episode! Are they serious? I also agree with the comment that Betty Buckley's character would NEVER have been called "Abby", no one picks up a nickname AFTER they have been married and THAT name derived from the name of their husband, surely her husband might have been called "Abe" or some such thing short for Abbott, but the only way she would have been called "Abby" is if HER maiden name had been Abbott. I was also, as someone else said baffled by why they did not just replace Diana Hyland, that whole year of courtship was awkward and stupid and the show was all about the kids anyway. Those were the stories we wanted to follow. I enjoyed the show tremendously. I had just had my second child in 1977 and knew for a fact that it was impossible that anyone could ever have eight children and live, two were killing me, so I guess in a way, it gave me hope that I might just make it with two...

I´ve never had enough of this

[albertomallofres-pantoja · 23 February 2001]

I remember very fondly the Friday evenings of the late 70s and early 80s, when I sat down in front of the TV set and watched "Eight Is Enough". (It was a glorious season: on Saturday evenings they used to broadcast "Charlie´s Angels" and, posteriorly, "The Love Boat"!). The Bradford family won my heart in so little time: they were sympathetic and cheerful and they loved one another -and, of course, they weren´t flawless, which gave them an additional appeal. All five girls in the show had something attractive to me: Mary (Lani O´Grady) was sort of an "ugly duckling" among her sisters and a tempestuous and bespectacled rebel, but pretty soon you could find that she had a tender heart; her temper appeased increasingly after a while and you could discover that she was really a very attractive woman; Joannie (Laurie Walters) was a funny "screwball" lady with a head full of crazy ideas and a special sensitivity; Susan (Susan Richardson) was a chubby red-head (too bad that she dyed her hair later!) whom love turned into a mature person very quickly; Nancy (Dianne Kay) was an ingenue-with-a-doll-face that could sometimes be a little tricky, and Elizabeth (Connie Needham) was a long-haired and petite but very well-built beauty who danced as if she were made of rubber. The boys too were nice: David (Grant Goodeve, who took over from Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill) was a somewhat insecure and independent character (the male reply to Mary) but he loved his family and was always ready to help; Tommy (Willie Aames) was a typical product of his age: the long-haired curly boy with the ambition of becoming a rock star and a special ability to make money in any kind of "business", but with all the heartaches and doubts that come from the fact of becoming an adult, and Nicholas (Adam Rich) was the kid who said the darndest things (what a source for his father´s articles!) and showed naïvety when he had to be naïve and was smart when he had to be smart. As for the adults, I must begin by saying that Diana Hyland´s death (and subsequently Joan´s) affected me when I learned of it; I have nothing against Abby or Betty Buckley, but I wonder: since only four or five episodes of the series had been made when Hyland died, couldn´t they have replaced her by another actress in the same character (as it has been done in many other TV series) instead of "killing" the mother so mysteriously? (We never get to know when, where or how she died.) Maybe the producers and writers of the show were tempted by the idea of how a young stepmother would fit into this big family and how she was initially rejected by some. Anyway, Hyland was a very attractive woman and she seemed a loving mother. And we get to Abby: she was charming, clever and understanding, and Buckley (don´t you find that she has a certain resemblance to Julie Andrews?) grabbed the character to perfection. (I was only annoyed by the fact that the "first name" she was known as was actually a diminutive of her late first husband´s surname; it´s a habit I loathe.) Dick Van Patten was simply a delight as Tom, the lovable, caring, generous and somewhat old-fashioned father of the brood. He really has the face of a good person and his phrases were usually gems. The recurring characters (Dr. Maxwell and his wife Daisy, Susan´s husband Merle [why did he sometimes call his father-in-law "Mr.B.", for God´s sake?], David´s wife Janet, Tom´s boss Eliot Randolph, Donna the secretary, Tommy´s friend Ernie, aunt Vivian, officer Bernstein, etc.) were also a treat to watch. Fortunately, a different TV channel made once a re-run of many of the episodes of the series (though, alas, not all of them) and I could record them on video. (I´m seeing them again at this time.) One of the few things I regret about the show is that Ralph Macchio didn´t have more time to develop his character of Abby´s orphaned, neglected and tormented nephew, Jeremy, and the family didn´t get to be so understanding to him as they were to one another. (Ironically, Macchio became a star a little bit later and the other boys and girls didn´t!). The series should have been lenghtier. Anyway, it´s a pity that programmes like this are no longer made on TV and are even subjected to quips from some young and not-so-young viewers and some new TV series. This makes me feel terribly nostalgic. Thank God it ever was Friday!

Entertaining show

[emma-15052 · 23 June 2023]

Good show. My favorite characters were Tommy and Joanie. Dullest character was Elizabeth. Not many stories about her. Nicholas was cute until about the 4th season. By then he starts growing out of his cuteness. Everyone always complains about the Jeremy character in the 5th season. I thought he was a good addition although the ratings were totally down by the 5th season anyway. I never realized the father Tom had so many lines. Every time he speaks its usually a speech or something. Not complaining, just an observation. Most of the episodes were very entertaining although there are a few boring ones here and there. Overall I liked it a lot.

This show got old quickly for me

[pennscruff · 15 June 2021]

I began watching in season 1 but I never warmed up to most of the characters. I also got tired of the plot line, someone has a problem and everyone chips in to solve it. I continued watching only because I had a crush on David Bradford. He was a he-man blue collar construction worker type so I only watched to catch episodes with him. When he faded so did my interest.

You Really Can't Go Back...

[jmwpublic · 31 January 2024]

I have fond memories of this show and have looked for it to stream for quite awhile. It was a favorite of mine when it originally aired for reasons I can't specifically recall other than it resonated with me since I was in the age group of the Bradford sisters. Finally found it on Tubi (along with the TV series 'Family' - another fond favorite) and am rewatching every episode from all 5 seasons.

Hate to say it, but there's a reason behind the old adage - "you can't go back"! While I still prefer Eight is Enough to today's over sexualized 'family' shows, violent fantasy shows, unflinching crime dramas, silly reality series that are orchestrated instead of scripted, and otherworldly serials... the acting by most of the cast is really, really bad. I find myself fast forwarding through Tom Bradford's dialogue and some predictable plot lines - not because it's predictable but because the acting is cringe worthy.

Adam Rich as the youngest Bradford, Nicholas, is a bright spot. I've seen better child actors but he was pretty good for a kid. Willie Ames as Tommy is decent but his repetitive plot lines are tiresome. Connie Needham (as Elizabeth), Grant Goodeve (as David), Betty Buckley (as Abby) and Susan Richardson (as Susan) are all quite good, but Lani O'Grady (as Mary), Laurie Walters (as Joanie), Dianne Kay (as Nancy) and especially Dick Van Patten (as patriarch Tom Bradford) are really hard to watch in 80% of their scenes.

One bright spot is seeing guest stars who eventually had great acting careers (Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Macchio, Peter Horton, Robin Williams, Don Johnson, Gerald McRaney, Corey Feldman) and other character actors from the era (Abe Vigoda, Frank Cady, James Sikking, Charlene Tilton, Noah Berry, David Wayne, Will Geer and Jack Elam).

I still have fond memories of enjoyment from watching in my youth, but seeing it again is a bit of a let down. Luckily, rewatching episodes of "Family" (1976-1980) is the complete opposite. Only wish I could have found it sooner on Tubi; before its run was over.