According to Jim

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 Created by
 Starring
* Courtney Thorne-Smith
* Kimberly Williams-Paisley
* Larry Joe Campbell
* Taylor Atelian
* Billi Bruno
 Opening theme
 Country of origin
 Original language
 No. of seasons
 No. of episodes
 Executive producers
* Jonathan Stark
* Suzanne Bukinik
* Marc Gurvitz
* Jim Belushi
* John D. Beck
* Ron Hart
* David Feeney
* Warren Bell
* Bob Nickman
* Howard J. Morris
* Nastaran Dibai
* Jeffrey B. Hodes
* John Peaslee
 Producers
* Harry Hannigan
 Camera setup
 Running time
 Production companies
* Suzanne Bukinik Entertainment
* Brad Grey Television
* Touchstone Television (2001–2007)
 Distributor
 Original network
 Picture format
 Original release
June 2, 2009

***According to Jim*** is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children (and then five children, starting with the seventh season finale). It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001, to June 2, 2009.

## Contents

* 1Synopsis
* 2Episodes
* 3Cast
* 4Production
	+ 4.1Development
		- 4.1.1Influences
		- 4.1.2Family names
	+ 4.2History
* 5Home media
* 6Reception
	+ 6.1Ratings
	+ 6.2Accolades
* 7Notes
* 8References
* 9External links

## Synopsis[edit]

The cast of *According to Jim*.

Jim is a happy-go-lucky suburban father. Much like his real-life counterpart, Jim's character is a fan of blues music, as well as the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago Blackhawks. Together with his wife Cheryl, they have three children, daughters Ruby and Gracie and son Kyle. In the seventh season they become parents of twin boys Gordon and Jonathan.

Jim often finds himself in difficult situations, because his slacker sensibilities cause him to search for alternative ways to get things done with less effort. While Cheryl's brother Andy is Jim's best friend/brother-in-law, her sister Dana frequently teams up with Cheryl against Jim. He also prefers to lie to Cheryl and Dana to do his own activities but they end up backfiring on him. He hates losing to women, especially if Cheryl or Dana find out. He doesn't like people interrupting him when he talks, so he speaks over them to shut them up. Jim often makes an example of Andy, who for most of the series does not have a steady girlfriend. Dana and Jim argue constantly, but Dana flirts with Jim when she's drunk, discovering after one such event that she respects Jim as a loving father despite his flaws.

## Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of According to Jim episodes

## Production[edit]

### Development[edit]

*According to Jim* was created by Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark. The sitcom was produced by ABC's in-house production company and Newman/Stark, Suzanne Bukinik Entertainment and Brad Grey Television. The series was filmed at the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles.

Belushi, besides playing *Jim*, directed 30 episodes and is credited as executive producer.

Belushi's fictional character *Jim'*s band in the series is the real-life House of Blues band The Sacred Hearts, for which Jim Belushi often sings lead.[1]

#### Influences[edit]

Belushi says he set the show's trademark tone back in the show's 2001 pilot.[2]

"The original script called for Jim to go to the wife and apologize," he recalls. "I said to the writers, 'Why do we have to do a show where the guy is going to apologize at the end of every episode? Was he really wrong? He's contrite, sure. But isn't he just being a man?'"

In an interview, Jim Belushi explained that the show many times directly reflected his actual life. Quite a few episodes were experiences taken directly from Belushi's home. Most of the episodes were taken from experiences inside the writers' homes, too. He adds:[3]

"Every show is based in somebody's reality. Whether it's [co-stars] Larry's, or mine, or Courtney's, or the writers'. Because it was a relationship show about a family, everyone would bring in their experiences as a family, and we would do shows around them."

#### Family names[edit]

Last names were never really addressed for the entire run of the show. None of the main characters did get a last name until Season 4 when Kimberly Williams-Paisley's character Dana married Dr. Ryan Gibson (played by Mitch Rouse). She became Dana Gibson with their marriage. Only guest characters had first and last names in most cases.[3]

### History[edit]

The show first aired following the surprise hit comedy *My Wife and Kids* and quickly developed an audience of its own. For its second season ABC placed it on its revitalized Tuesday line-up, which also included John Ritter's *8 Simple Rules*, Bonnie Hunt's *Life with Bonnie* and Sara Rue's *Less Than Perfect*. Week by week, the show attracted more and more viewers, becoming ABC's second most watched sitcom. The show performed so well that the network made a risky move: putting *Jim* opposite the NBC juggernaut *Frasier*. Although *Jim* did not beat the competition, it performed well enough to secure itself that spot on the 2003 fall schedule.

On May 15, 2007, ABC announced that *According to Jim* would not be renewed for another season. ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson said, "We are talking to the studio to see if there's something financially, a deal that would make sense for us."[4] But on June 27, 2007, ABC renewed the show for a seventh season with 18 episodes.[5][6]

*According to Jim* returned to ABC's schedule on Tuesday, January 1, 2008, with two episodes at 9 pm and 9:30 pm. After that, the series moved to its regular time slot at 8 pm. Despite the writer's strike, ABC announced that the show would produce all 18 episodes ordered for this season.[7]

On February 27, 2008, it was reported that ABC was close to renewing *According to Jim* for an eighth season.[8] On May 13, 2008, ABC officially renewed the series and Season 8 began airing on December 2, 2008.[9] Kimberly Williams-Paisley left the show's regular cast at the beginning of Season 8 and was not in the Season 8 opening credits,[10] to devote her time to motherhood. She made a guest appearance only in the season finale.

In December 2008, co-star Larry Joe Campbell said that the sets had been destroyed, indicating that the series was canceled, but that a series finale had been recorded.[11] After the first six episodes of Season 8 all aired in December, *According to Jim* returned to ABC's schedule on April 14, 2009, for the final 12 episodes.[12] The series finale of *According to Jim* aired on June 2, 2009, on ABC, and was titled "Heaven Opposed to Hell."

## Home media[edit]

Lionsgate Home Entertainment (under license from ABC Studios) has released the first five seasons on DVD in Region 1.

## Reception[edit]

### Ratings[edit]

The sitcom debuted in 2001 on ABC with an average of 10 million viewers for its first year. The audience grew in the second year to over 10.3 million. The ratings remained consistent for Seasons 3 and 4 as well. Starting with Season 5, the ratings began to decline. The series was often scheduled against the hugely successful American Idol. By Season 6, *According to Jim* was down to 6.7 million viewers.

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of *According to Jim* on ABC.

*Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.*

### Accolades[edit]

*Find sources:* "According to Jim" – news **·** newspapers **·** books **·** scholar **·** JSTOR *(July 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)*

*According to Jim* was nominated for 20 awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (all for cinematography).

## Notes[edit]

1. **^** Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

## External links[edit]

* *According to Jim* at IMDb
* *According to Jim* at TV.com
* Nydaiynews.com

Categories:

* 2000s American sitcoms
* 2001 American television series debuts
* 2009 American television series endings
* American Broadcasting Company original programming
* English-language television shows
* Television series about families
* Television series about marriage
* Television series about siblings
* Television series by ABC Studios
* Television shows set in Chicago