# True Colors (TV series)

True Colors is an American sitcom television series that aired on Fox from September 2, 1990, to April 12, 1992, for a total of 45 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn, and featured an interracial marriage and a subsequent blended family.

## Synopsis
### Premise and first season

Ronald Freeman (Frankie Faison) is a widowed African-American dentist in Baltimore who marries Ellen Davis (Stephanie Faracy), a divorced white kindergarten teacher who was one of his patients. Ron has two sons from his first marriage, 17-year-old earnest conservative Terry (Claude Brooks) and daydreaming 14-year-old troublemaker Lester (Adam Jeffries); Ellen has a teenage daughter: studious, cause-driven Katie (Brigid Conley Walsh). Ellen's ex-husband Leonard (played in guest appearances by Paul Sand), who is accepting of her second marriage, would occasionally visit her while attempting to get his life back on track. Although the series did focus on race issues, most episodes focused on the family adjusting to their new living situation and the three children going through adolescence.

### Second season

In the series' second season, Faison was replaced by Cleavon Little as Ron Freeman. Nancy Walker, who played Ellen’s mother (who lived with the couple despite disapproving of their interracial relationship) was suffering from lung cancer, ultimately only appeared in half the season's episodes due to her treatments and compromised health; she used a motorized wheelchair after she suddenly lost her physical mobility. Terry went off to Marshall State University that fall, not far from home. Ellen accepted a new teaching job at Cortez Junior High, and during the season, she finally realized her long-time talent as a painter. She began to showcase some of her work at local art exhibits, in hopes of launching a new side career. Early in 1992, Robert (Norman D. Golden II) was introduced. Robert, who went by the nickname "Twist", was a young neighbor boy who attached himself to the Freemans, stealing scenes and causing an uproar, usually involving Lester and Terry along the way. Meanwhile, Little looked more and more gaunt during the season; the actor disclosed that he was battling colorectal cancer.

### Cancellation and cast deaths

Fox shortened the season order for True Colors by February sweeps and kept the episode total at 21. The new episode that aired on April 12, 1992, wound up being the series' last, as Fox cancelled True Colors one month later. Walker, who had continued working into the winter months until she could no longer do so, died on March 25, 1992, after the series had produced what would be its last episode, but less than a month before the last original episode aired. On October 22, 1992, Little died of cancer.

## Cast

* Frankie Faison - Ronald Freeman (1990–1991)
* Cleavon Little - Ronald Freeman (1991–1992)
* Stephanie Faracy - Ellen Davis Freeman
* Nancy Walker - Sara Bower
* Brigid Conley Walsh - Katie Davis
* Claude Brooks - Terry Freeman
* Adam Jeffries - Lester Freeman
* Norman D. Golden II - Twist (aka Robert) (1992)

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 24 | 24 | September 2, 1990 (1990-09-02) | May 12, 1991 (1991-05-12) |
| 2 | 21 | 21 | August 22, 1991 (1991-08-22) | April 12, 1992 (1992-04-12) |

### Season 1 (1990–91)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "A Visit from Ray" | Stan Lathan | Michael J. Weithorn | September 2, 1990 (1990-09-02) | TBA | 13.3 |
| Thanksgiving is around the corner, which is also two months since Ron's wedding. He wishes to use this time for everyone to be together and start acting as a family. One of Ron's patients is a redneck who breeds turkeys, and Ron says he will treat him in exchange for a turkey for the dinner. However, he misunderstands this as Ron wanting a live turkey, who Lester names "Ray" due to the turkey's resemblance to Ray Charles and whom everyone starts to treat like a pet. ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | "A Pair of Cranks" | Stan Lathan | Michael J. Weithorn | September 9, 1990 (1990-09-09) | 7T01 | 10.1 |
| Ron's disdain for Lester's friend JR Taylor is justified when he shoplifts a pair of expensive athletic shoes. When Lester is accused of same, Sara bails him out by purchasing the shoes to avoid police involvement. But Ron finds Sara's "gift" and Lester realizes he would have been better off in the County jail than in his father's jail. ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "One of the Girls" | John Sgueglia | Lloyd Garver | September 16, 1990 (1990-09-16) | 7T04 | 7.2 |
| 4 | 4 | "A Dog's Life" | John Sgueglia | Michael J. Weithorn | September 23, 1990 (1990-09-23) | 7T03 | 7.0 |
| Terry is offered a scholarship, but when Katie joins him at his scholarship interview, she accidentally kills the interviewer's dog. ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Step Lightly" | John Sgueglia | Michael J. Weithorn | September 30, 1990 (1990-09-30) | 7T05 | 8.1 |
| 6 | 6 | "Life with Fathers" | John Sgueglia | Anne Convy | October 7, 1990 (1990-10-07) | TBA | 7.5 |
| 7 | 7 | "What's Wrong with that Boy?" | John Sgueglia | Michael J. Weithorn | October 21, 1990 (1990-10-21) | 7T07 | 8.4 |
| 8 | 8 | "Tooth or Consequences" | Rob Schiller | Gregory Allen Howard | October 28, 1990 (1990-10-28) | 7T08 | 9.2 |
| 9 | 9 | "Soft Shell" | Arlene Sanford | Stan Seidel | November 4, 1990 (1990-11-04) | 7T09 | 9.6 |
| 10 | 10 | "Young at Heart" | Peter Bonerz | Peter Freedman | November 11, 1990 (1990-11-11) | 7T10 | 6.6 |
| 11 | 11 | "Occasional Wife" | Peter Bonerz | Anne Convy | November 18, 1990 (1990-11-18) | 7T11 | 9.2 |
| 12 | 12 | "High Anxiety" | Carol Scott | Story by : Regina Y. Hicks Teleplay by : Peter Freedman | November 25, 1990 (1990-11-25) | TBA | 9.5 |
| Terry harbors a fear of flying due to his acrophobia. Katie tries to use a psychological method to get Terry to overcome his fear of heights on the roof, but a gust of wind causes everyone to get locked out of the building. ||||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Puppet Regime" | Rob Schiller | Peter Freedman | December 16, 1990 (1990-12-16) | 7T13 | 9.0 |
| 14 | 14 | "Christmas Show '90" | Rob Schiller | Michael J. Weithorn | December 23, 1990 (1990-12-23) | 7T14 | 7.2 |
| 15 | 15 | "Moment of Ruth" | Rob Schiller | Lloyd Garver & Regina Y. Hicks | January 13, 1991 (1991-01-13) | 7T15 | 9.9 |
| 16 | 16 | "A Real Pain" | Rob Schiller | Stan Seidel | February 3, 1991 (1991-02-03) | 7T16 | 8.9 |
| 17 | 17 | "The Tender Trap" | Carol Scott | Peter Freedman & Anne Convy | February 10, 1991 (1991-02-10) | 7T17 | 10.3 |
| 18 | 18 | "Opposites Attract" | Rob Schiller | Stan Seidel | February 17, 1991 (1991-02-17) | 7T18 | 10.4 |
| 19 | 19 | "Homies Alone" | Arlene Sanford | Story by : Peter Freedman Teleplay by : Regina Hicks & Stan Seidel | March 3, 1991 (1991-03-03) | 7T19 | 10.6 |
| During a horror movie-marathon, Katie and Lester do Macaulay Culkin proud while holding down the Freeman residence against a masked serial-killer. Actually, the "Slasher" turns out to be Ron, who forgot his housekeys. ||||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Daughter Dearest" | Peter Bonerz | Regina Y. Hicks | March 24, 1991 (1991-03-24) | 7T20 | 8.3 |
| Katie dates a fellow activist, but Terry has an intuition that the man is trying to bed her, causing Ron to show protective concern for his stepdaughter. ||||||||
| 21 | 21 | "A Matter of Principal" | Peter Bonerz | William Schifrin | April 14, 1991 (1991-04-14) | TBA | 7.2 |
| 22 | 22 | "Superman, Superego" | Michael J. Weithorn | Michael J. Weithorn | April 21, 1991 (1991-04-21) | TBA | 7.6 |
| 23 | 23 | "Prisoners of Love" | Rob Schiller | Story by : Regina Y. Hicks Teleplay by : Peter Freedman & Stan Seidel | April 28, 1991 (1991-04-28) | TBA | 7.5 |
| 24 | 24 | "Favorite Son" | Rob Schiller | Kermit Frazier | May 12, 1991 (1991-05-12) | TBA | 6.6 |

### Season 2 (1991–92)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Viewers (millions) |
| 25 | 1 | "Lester X" | Rob Schiller | Linda M. Yearwood | August 22, 1991 (1991-08-22) | 12.0 |
| Lester is struggling with adolescence and a friend gives him The Autobiography of Malcolm X...and then adopts the views therein, renaming himself "Abdul X". Ultimately, Malcolm's philosophies fail to apply in Lester's everyday life, as the family does not know what to do, as does Lester's friend who gave him the book wonders what happened when Lester fails to appear for a party. |||||||
| 26 | 2 | "Strange Bedfellows" | M.J. McDonnell | Stan Seidel | September 12, 1991 (1991-09-12) | 13.1 |
| 27 | 3 | "Splendor in the Basement" | Rob Schiller | Story by : Robert Rabinowitz Teleplay by : Michael J. Weithorn | September 15, 1991 (1991-09-15) | 7.8 |
| 28 | 4 | "Yo' House, Mama: Part 1" | Rob Schiller | Kim Bass & Peter Freedman | September 22, 1991 (1991-09-22) | 9.0 |
| 29 | 5 | "Yo' House, Mama: Part 2" | Rob Schiller | Kim Bass & Peter Freedman | September 29, 1991 (1991-09-29) | 8.6 |
| 30 | 6 | "Presumed Guilty" | Dennis Erdman | Anne Convy | October 6, 1991 (1991-10-06) | 7.6 |
| 31 | 7 | "Not My Sister, Brother" | Rob Schiller | Regina Y. Hicks | October 20, 1991 (1991-10-20) | 9.3 |
| 32 | 8 | "Brotherly Love" | Rob Schiller | Michael J. Weithorn & Alan Uger | November 3, 1991 (1991-11-03) | 9.1 |
| 33 | 9 | "Three for All" | M. J. McConnell | Story by : Stan Seidel Teleplay by : Regina Y. Hicks & Peter Freedman | November 10, 1991 (1991-11-10) | 10.8 |
| 34 | 10 | "Seems Like Old Times" | Rob Schiller | Alan Uger | December 8, 1991 (1991-12-08) | 9.9 |
| 35 | 11 | "Broken Home: Part 1" | Rob Schiller | Stan Seidel & Peter Freedman | December 15, 1991 (1991-12-15) | 9.5 |
| 36 | 12 | "Broken Home: Part 2" | Rob Schiller | Stan Seidel & Peter Freedman | December 22, 1991 (1991-12-22) | 8.6 |
| 37 | 13 | "Readin', Ritin' and Runnin" | Rob Schiller | Kim Bass | December 29, 1991 (1991-12-29) | 9.0 |
| 38 | 14 | "Photo Opportunity" | Michael J. Weithorn | Michael J. Weithorn | January 5, 1992 (1992-01-05) | 11.5 |
| 39 | 15 | "Art Attack" | Rob Schiller | Regina Y. Hicks | January 12, 1992 (1992-01-12) | 10.9 |
| 40 | 16 | "The Beat Goes On" | Rob Schiller | Linda M. Yearwood | February 2, 1992 (1992-02-02) | 11.3 |
| 41 | 17 | "Half a Man" | Rob Schiller | Michael J. Weithorn | February 9, 1992 (1992-02-09) | 9.6 |
| 42 | 18 | "In a Flash" | Carol Scott | Kim Bass | February 16, 1992 (1992-02-16) | 10.2 |
| 43 | 19 | "Affirmative Reaction" | Kenneth R. Shapiro | Jeffrey Joseph | March 1, 1992 (1992-03-01) | 9.0 |
| 44 | 20 | "Feelings Up" | Rob Schiller | Unknown | March 22, 1992 (1992-03-22) | 9.8 |
| 45 | 21 | "Word to the Mother" | Rob Schiller | Story by : Peter Freedman Teleplay by : Regina Y. Hicks & Stan Seidel | April 12, 1992 (1992-04-12) | 7.8 |

## Production

According to the show's creator, he claimed that the theme of interracial romance is one of the last remaining blatant taboos.