# Rocky Road (TV series)

Rocky Road is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the Superstation WTBS cable network from September 2, 1985 to June 26, 1987. Produced by Arthur Annecharico, the series follows three young siblings who run a beach-front ice cream parlor, and originally aired on Monday nights as part of WTBS' line-up of original "family programming", which also included Down to Earth and Safe at Home. During its three-season run, the series underwent several cast changes and starred Maylo McCaslin, Desiree Boschetti, Georg Olden, Lilly Moon, and Marcianne Warman.

## Premise

The series centers on the three young Stuart siblings who live and work in a Pismo Beach boardwalk ice cream parlor that they inherit from their recently deceased parents. The Stuart kids – Jessica, the 22-year-old eldest and legal guardian of her two younger siblings; Robbie, the 17-year-old middle sibling and self-appointed "idea man"; and Cindi, the 12-year-old youngest sibling – somehow find a way keep the struggling ice cream parlor afloat with the help (and interference) of their neighbors on the beach.
Jessica struggles to keep the family together while balancing a life of her own. Robbie is a typical teenager whose "bright ideas" have a tendency to backfire. And Cindi consistently finds adventures amidst a world of eccentric adults. Suzie Quartermain, the boardwalk's young lifeguard, is a fun-loving "party girl" whose antics always keep things interesting. Sandy Bradshaw, the boardwalk's police officer, is a bumbling young rookie who often finds himself in some mix-up. Lucas Buchanan, who owns the boardwalk's bait shop, watches over the Stuart kids and reminisces about the escapades of his younger days, before eventually selling the bait shop to retired Marine officer, Frank Wilson, Sr. and his teenage son, Frank, Jr.

## Characters

* Jessica Stuart (Maylo McCaslin, season 1; Desiree Boschetti, seasons 2–3)
* Robbie Stuart (Georg Olden)
* Cindi Stuart (Lilly Moon, season 1; Marcianne Warman, seasons 2–3)
* Suzie Quartermain (Kelly Ann Conn)
* Sandy Bradshaw (Jim Menza, seasons 1–2)
* Lucas Buchanan (Lewis Arquette, seasons 1–2)
* Frank Wilson, Sr. (Fred Morsell, season 3)
* Frank Wilson, Jr. (Joey Green, season 3)

## Production

Rocky Road was created by Arthur Annecharico and was produced by his production company The Arthur Company for TBS. An attempt at producing sitcoms on a budget, each episode of Rocky Road was estimated to cost $100,000 to produce, approximately ¼ the cost of network sitcoms of the time. The series was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles, California and premiered in its 7:05 pm time-slot on September 2, 1985 as part of TBS's Monday night line-up of its original shows Down to Earth (airing at 6:05 pm) and Safe at Home (airing at 6:35 pm) which, at the time, were both also produced by The Arthur Company.
The theme song was penned and performed by melodic rocker Guthrie Govan.

## Episodes
### Season 1 (1985)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
| 1 | 1 | "Miss Boardwalk" | Unknown | Bruce Kane | September 2, 1985 (1985-09-02) | 001 |
| 2 | 2 | "Handcuffed" | Unknown | Jim Rogers | September 9, 1985 (1985-09-09) | 002 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Great American Kiss Off" | Unknown | Warren S. Murray | September 16, 1985 (1985-09-16) | 003 |
| 4 | 4 | "Buried Treasure" | Unknown | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | September 23, 1985 (1985-09-23) | 004 |
| 5 | 5 | "The Formula" | Unknown | Cecile Alch & Patricia Niedzialek | September 30, 1985 (1985-09-30) | 005 |
| 6 | 6 | "Knives Near the Water" | Unknown | Barry Rubinowitz | October 7, 1985 (1985-10-07) | 006 |
| 7 | 7 | "Sister Was a Centerfold" | Unknown | Gordon Mitchell | October 14, 1985 (1985-10-14) | 007 |
| 8 | 8 | "Spellbound" | Unknown | Michael Cassutt | October 21, 1985 (1985-10-21) | 008 |
| 9 | 9 | "Curse" | Unknown | Susan Misty Stewart | October 28, 1985 (1985-10-28) | 009 |
| 10 | 10 | "The Critic" | Unknown | Warren S. Murray | November 4, 1985 (1985-11-04) | 010 |
| 11 | 11 | "Trading Spaces" | Unknown | Ann Elder & Toem Perew | November 11, 1985 (1985-11-11) | 011 |
| 12 | 12 | "You Make Me Feel So Young" | Unknown | Jim Rogers | November 18, 1985 (1985-11-18) | 012 |
| 13 | 13 | "Boardwalk Melody" | Unknown | Bruce Kane & Warren S. Murray | November 25, 1985 (1985-11-25) | 013 |

### Season 2 (1985–86)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
| 14 | 1 | "My Guy" | Unknown | Bruce Kane & Warren S. Murray | December 2, 1985 (1985-12-02) | 014 |
| 15 | 2 | "The Creature That Ate the Boardwalk" | Unknown | Tom Sherohman | December 9, 1985 (1985-12-09) | 015 |
| 16 | 3 | "Sandy, She Wrote" | Unknown | Coslough Johnson | December 16, 1985 (1985-12-16) | 016 |
| 17 | 4 | "Suzie Claus Is Coming to Town" | Unknown | Dawn Aldredge & Judith Bustany | December 23, 1985 (1985-12-23) | 022 |
| 18 | 5 | "B. My Love" | Unknown | Warren S. Murray | December 30, 1985 (1985-12-30) | 019 |
| 19 | 6 | "The Exterminators" | Unknown | Bruce Kane & Warren S. Murray | January 6, 1986 (1986-01-06) | 017 |
| 20 | 7 | "The Buck Stops Here" | Unknown | Coslough Johnson | January 13, 1986 (1986-01-13) | 023 |
| 21 | 8 | "Bully for You" | Unknown | Robert Gosnell & Susan Katt | January 20, 1986 (1986-01-20) | 018 |
| 22 | 9 | "Big Sister Blues" | Unknown | Shelly Landau & Jane Gould | January 27, 1986 (1986-01-27) | 020 |
| 23 | 10 | "Mr. October" | Unknown | Adrienne Armstrong & Mitzi McCall | February 10, 1986 (1986-02-10) | 021 |
| 24 | 11 | "Partners" | Unknown | Joe Glauberg | February 17, 1986 (1986-02-17) | 024 |
| 25 | 12 | "The Big Two-three" | Unknown | Ken Steele | February 24, 1986 (1986-02-24) | 025 |
| 26 | 13 | "Buchanan and Son" | Unknown | Susan Misty Stewart | March 3, 1986 (1986-03-03) | 026 |
| 27 | 14 | "Tonsils" | Unknown | Roger Garrett | March 10, 1986 (1986-03-10) | 027 |
| 28 | 15 | "A Robbie Production" | Unknown | Shelly Landau & Jane Gould | March 17, 1986 (1986-03-17) | 028 |
| 29 | 16 | "Hurricane" | Unknown | Jim Rogers | March 24, 1986 (1986-03-24) | 029 |
| 30 | 17 | "Two Tickets for Bruce" | Unknown | Shelly Landau & Jane Gould | April 7, 1986 (1986-04-07) | 030 |
| 31 | 18 | "The Oddest Couple" | Russ Petranto | Robert Ulin | May 5, 1986 (1986-05-05) | 036 |
| 32 | 19 | "The Wrong Mr. Right" | Russ Petranto | Len Richmond | May 12, 1986 (1986-05-12) | 037 |
| 33 | 20 | "Real Men Eat Quiche" | Unknown | Shelly Landau & Jane Gould | May 19, 1986 (1986-05-19) | 032 |
| 34 | 21 | "Jessica's Old Flame" | Franklin Melton | Robert Schlichting & Ronald Kweskin | May 26, 1986 (1986-05-26) | 034 |
| 35 | 22 | "Bicycle Thief" | Dick Harwood | Joe Glauberg | June 2, 1986 (1986-06-02) | 038 |
| 36 | 23 | "Dueling Dads" | Norman Abbott | Danny Morris & Robert Gosnell | June 3, 1986 (1986-06-03) | 031 |
| 37 | 24 | "Lucas' Nephew" | Russ Petranto | Ted Bergman | June 5, 1986 (1986-06-05) | 035 |
| 38 | 25 | "Big Brother Is Watching" | Bonnie Franklin | Jerry Winnick | June 6, 1986 (1986-06-06) | 039 |
| 39 | 26 | "Jessica's Vacation" | Norman Abbott | Lewis Arquette | June 9, 1986 (1986-06-09) | 041 |
| 40 | 27 | "Robbie's Inheritance" | Lee Lochhead | Roger Garrett | June 11, 1986 (1986-06-11) | 033 |
| 41 | 28 | "Misfortune Cookie" | Unknown | Ted Bergman | June 12, 1986 (1986-06-12) | 042 |
| 42 | 29 | "Jess, You Is My Mother Now" | Mel Ferber | Shelly Landau & Jane Gould | June 13, 1986 (1986-06-13) | 040 |

### Season 3 (1986–87)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
| 43 | 1 | "Junior High School Confidential" | Franklin Melton | Gary Donzig & Steve Peterman | September 5, 1986 (1986-09-05) | 048 |
| 44 | 2 | "Fair Weather Friends" | Russ Petranto | Ted Bergman | September 12, 1986 (1986-09-12) | 050 |
| 45 | 3 | "Suzie Moves In" | Unknown | Al Gordon & Tom Moore | September 19, 1986 (1986-09-19) | 058 |
| 46 | 4 | "Rockin' Robbie" | Unknown | John Vorhaus | September 26, 1986 (1986-09-26) | 055 |
| 47 | 5 | "Bringing Up Baby" | Unknown | Gary Donzig & Steve Peterman | October 3, 1986 (1986-10-03) | 044 |
| 48 | 6 | "A Horse Is a Horse" | Russ Petranto | Wendy Graf & Lisa Stostky | October 10, 1986 (1986-10-10) | 049 |
| 49 | 7 | "Fear of Flying" | Russ Petranto | Sheri Scharfer & Steve Crider | October 17, 1986 (1986-10-17) | 051 |
| 50 | 8 | "Davey Jones' Locket" | Lee Lochhead | Len Richmond & Sonja Steinbeck | October 31, 1986 (1986-10-31) | 054 |
| 51 | 9 | "Jessica's College Roommate" | Unknown | Larry Spencer | November 6, 1986 (1986-11-06) | 043 |
| 52 | 10 | "Junk Food Junkie" | Unknown | Robert Keats | November 11, 1986 (1986-11-11) | 046 |
| 53 | 11 | "Brain Bowl" | Dick Harwood | Joe Glauberg | November 12, 1986 (1986-11-12) | 047 |
| 54 | 12 | "The New Lucas" | Don Barnhart | Gene Abravaya | November 19, 1986 (1986-11-19) | 052 |
| 55 | 13 | "Love for Sale" | Lee Lochhead | Gary Donzig & Steve Peterman | November 20, 1986 (1986-11-20) | 053 |
| 56 | 14 | "Cindi's Identity Crisis" | Unknown | Jeffrey Davis | November 24, 1986 (1986-11-24) | 056 |
| 57 | 15 | "Boardwalk Blues" | Unknown | Gary Donzig & Steve Peterman | November 26, 1986 (1986-11-26) | 057 |
| 58 | 16 | "Credit Crunch" | Unknown | Len Richmond | March 20, 1987 (1987-03-20) | 059 |
| 59 | 17 | "Frank Wilson & Son" | Russ Petranto | Ted Bergman | March 27, 1987 (1987-03-27) | 060 |
| 60 | 18 | "Why Frank Senior Can't Read" | Unknown | Jeffrey Davis | April 3, 1987 (1987-04-03) | 061 |
| 61 | 19 | "Green Eyed Monster" | Unknown | Sonja Steinbeck | April 10, 1987 (1987-04-10) | 062 |
| 62 | 20 | "To Go or Not to Go" | Unknown | Gary Donzig & Steve Peterman | April 17, 1987 (1987-04-17) | 063 |
| 63 | 21 | "The Return of Jerry" | Unknown | Sheri Scharfer & Steve Crider | April 24, 1987 (1987-04-24) | 064 |
| 64 | 22 | "Moscow on the Boardwalk" | Unknown | Gerry Renert | May 1, 1987 (1987-05-01) | 065 |
| 65 | 23 | "Stuart's Folly" | Unknown | George Atkins | May 8, 1987 (1987-05-08) | 066 |
| 66 | 24 | "Terms of Agreement" | Unknown | Gene Abravaya | May 15, 1987 (1987-05-15) | 067 |
| 67 | 25 | "Witness for the Persecution" | Unknown | Steve Chivers & Michael Olton | May 29, 1987 (1987-05-29) | 069 |
| 68 | 26 | "Drinking Buddies" | Unknown | John Vorhaus | June 5, 1987 (1987-06-05) | 070 |
| 69 | 27 | "Food for Thought" | Unknown | Ron Colizzo & Laurel Delmar | June 12, 1987 (1987-06-12) | 071 |
| 70 | 28 | "Bye, Bye, Jerry" | Unknown | Sheri Scharfer & Steve Crider | June 19, 1987 (1987-06-19) | 072 |
| 71 | 29 | "True Colors" | Unknown | Gerry Renert | June 26, 1987 (1987-06-26) | 075 |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Nominee | Category | Result |
| 1986 | Young Artist Award | Georg Olden | Best Young Actor in a Cable Series or Special | Nominated |
| 1987 | Young Artist Award | Rocky Road | Best Cable Series | Nominated |
| 1987 | Young Artist Award | Georg Olden | Best Young Actor in a Cable Series or Special | Nominated |
| 1987 | Young Artist Award | Devon Odessa | Best Young Actress in a Cable Series or Special | Nominated |