Ryan's Lane

***Ryan's Lane*** is an American comedy-drama created by Jensen Walters and Farley Mayer, originally airing on WBN from July 7, 1975 to April 18, 1983. and on Network/Warner on June 6, 1983 to May 1, 1998, and since on StoogeWB on August 21, 1998. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. As of 2021, it is the second-longest-running scripted, U.S. primetime TV series currently airing, surpassed only by *Five's Company* (1975–present), and is the 46th-longest-running scripted U.S. primetime TV series overall.

## Ryan's Lane

### Genre

SitcomPolice procedural

Comedy-drama

### Starring

Helen GallagherWalton Caruso

Thomas Frantz

Norman Fell

Daniel Hawkins

Kate Mulgrew

Daniel Waston

Michael Thompson

Ron Hale

Nicholas Blake

Michael Lewis

Joseph Rodriguez

Michael Writter

Adam Bennett

Michael Easton

### Theme music composer

Maxwell Hallway(1975-1983)

Seth Rodell

(1983-present)

### Ending theme

Ryan's Life(1975-1980)

Change a Day

(1980-1983)

Hope To Life

(1983-present)

### Executive producer(s)

Jensen Walters(1975-2003)

Farley Mayer

Phoef Sutton (seasons, 16–17)

Nicholas Thompson (season 18-present)

Dan O'Shannon (season 18-present)

### Production company(s)

Jensen Farley Productions(1982-2004)

Farley Entertainment

(2004-present)

Far-Land Productions

(1980-present)

Five Ds Productions

(1975-2019)

Simpson Entertainment

(2019-present)

20th Century Fox Television

(1975-2019)

Disney-Fox Television Studio

(2019-2020)

20th Television

(2020-present)

## Broadcast

### Original network

Warner Broadcasting Network(1975-1983)

Network/Warner

(1983-1998)

StoogeWB

(1998-present)

### Picture format

NTSC (4:3) (1975-2002)HDTV (16:9) (2002–present)

### Audio format

Mono(1975-1981)

Stereo

(1981-1989)

Dolby Surround

(1990-2004)

Dolby Digital 5.1

(2004-present)

### Related shows

We Got No MadeHellstorm's Files

Ryan's Home

## Origins and characters

*See also:* List of Ryan's Lane characters

Before the *Ryan's Lane* pilot "Give Me a Dime Sometime" was completed and aired in 1975, the series consisted of four employees in the first script. Neither Rodney Callison nor Andy Sipowicz, regular customers of Ryan's Bar, were featured; later revisions added them as among the regular characters of the series.

## Production

In June 1974, WBN approached Jensen Walters and Farley Mayer about creating a new sitcom similar to spin-off *We Got No Made Walters and Mayer* added a large Irish-American family — the Ryans — to what WBN was initially calling *City Hospital*. Another of the show's working titles was *A Rage to Love*, but that was soon changed.

## Syndication

The series had been airing in syndication since August 18, 1980 and aired on Independent Station, WBN, Network/Warner, StoogeWB, Fox, UPN, The WB and The CW affiliates (the letter networks The WB 100+ Station Group also carries the program as part of its national schedule) and was on the FX network since January 10, 2004. In syndication, the series' title is shortened simply to *Ryan's* Ryan's hometown of New York aired the series on the city's independent station UPN. *Ryan's Lane* began its run on the station on August 29, 2005. In the beginning of fall 2006, the series briefly moved to UPN's sister station The CW, before returning to StoogeWB where it remained until September 9, 2011.