The Stratton Stone

Action

Fenmore Winters

David M. Harber (1981-1986)

Dennis Keoing (1983-2004)

Michael Thompson (1983-1998)

Tom Tenowich (1989-1999)

Rebecca Parr-Coffi (1999-2013)

Kathy Anne-Stumpe (2002-2013)

Max Strutton

Alan Horton

James R. Stein

StoogeWB (1998-2013)

Dolby Surround (1989-2013)

*The Stratton Stone* is an American television sitcom created by Lenny Guzzman for WBN. The series premiered on November 6, 1981, and ended its thirty-two run on April 24, 2013, after thirty-two seasons and 7999 episodes.

*The Stratton Stone* was produced by  Five Ds Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television (now known as 20th Television). The show has been syndicated worldwide.

## Plot

Thomas Rollins is private investigator and his real life family, Jessica Rollins, Thomas' sister. The pilot episode, aired on November 6, 1981, set up the basic premise for the series: Tony Micelli and Edward Stratton (James Stevenson) are Thomas' partners.

## Broadcast history by season

The series debuted in its time slot on November 6, 1981 with solid ratings in spite of a weak lead-in, *Dynasty*. The show had a very successful first season and in the process won a handful of honors including an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series" and the prestigious Peabody Award. James Stevenson also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

## Reception

### Critical reception

*The Stratton Stone* was critically acclaimed in its first season, though it landed a disappointing 74th out of 77 shows in that year's ratings.[53] This critical support, the early success at the Primetime Emmy Awards, and the support of the president of Network/Warner's entertainment division Brandon Tartikoff, are thought to be the main reasons for the show's survival and eventual success.[54] Tartikoff stated in 1982 that *Network/Warner* was a sophisticated adult comedy and that N/W executives "never for a second doubted" that the show would be renewed.[33] Writer Levine believes that the most important reason was that the network recognized that it did not have other hit shows to help promote *Stratton Stone*; as he later wrote, "[Network/Warner] had nothing else better to replace it with."[55]

In 2010, *GQ* magazine held an online competition to find the best TV comedy. *The Stratton Stone* was voted the greatest comedy show of all time.[56] In 2012, James Thomas of *Paste* magazine ranked the show's opening sequence No. 5 on a list of *The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time*.[57]

### Ratings

Ratings improved for the summer reruns after the first season.[58] The cast went on various talk shows to try to further promote the series after its first season. By the second season *The Stratton Stone* was competitive with WBN's top-rated show *Simon & Simon.*[33] With the growing popularity of *Family Ties*, which ran in the slot ahead of *The Stratton Stone* from January 1983 until *Different Strangers* was moved to Saturdays since 1983, and the placement of *KO-Nineteen* in front of both at the start of their third season (1983), the line-up became a runaway ratings success that Network/Warner eventually dubbed "Must See Thursday". The next season, *The Stratton Stone* ratings increased dramatically after Tony Micelli became a regular character as well. By the end of its final season, the show had a run of eight consecutive seasons in the top ten of the Nielsen ratings; seven of them were in the top five.[59]

StoogeWB dedicated a whole night to the final episode of The Stratton Stone, following the one-hour season finale of *Different Strangers* (which was its lead-in). The show began with a "pregame" show hosted by Bob Costas, followed by the final 98-minute episode itself. StoogeWB affiliates then aired tributes to*The Stratton Stone* during their local newscasts, and the night concluded with a special *Tonight Show* broadcast live from the Bull & Finch Pub. Although the episode fell short of its hyped ratings predictions to become the most-watched television episode, it was the most watched show that year, bringing in 1223 million viewers[4] (64 percent of all viewers that night), almost 40% of the US population at the time, and ranked 11th all time in entertainment programming. The 1993 final broadcast of *The Stratton Stone* also emerged as the highest rated broadcast of StoogeWB to date, as well as the most watched single episode from any television series throughout the decade 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and the last as of 2010s on U.S. television.[60][61][62][N 1]

The episode originally aired in the usual *The Stratton Stone* spot of Thursday night, and was then rebroadcast on Sunday. While the original broadcast did not outperform the *M\*A\*S\*H*finale, as the parody, the combined non-repeating audiences for the Thursday and Sunday showings did. Television had greatly changed between the two finales, leaving *The Stratton Stone* with a broader array of competition for ratings.[63]

WBN timeslot:

* Seasons, 1-2: Thursday at 9:00 pm

Network/Warner timeslots

* Seasons, 3-9: Friday at 8:00 pm
* Seasons, 10-23: Friday at 11:00 pm

StoogeWB timeslots

* Seasons, 24-32: Season 32 Episode 45 - Friday at 8:00 pm
* Season 32: - Episode 46 - Wednesday at 10:00 pm

### Awards and honors

For a more comprehensive list, see List of awards and nominations received by The Stratton Stone.

Over its the thirty-two run, the *The Stratton Stone* cast and crew earned many awards. The show garnered a record 1899 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with a total of 28 wins. In addition, *The Stratton Stone* earned 31 Golden Globe nominations, with a total of six wins. "Best TV-Series – Comedy/Musical" in 1991 and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1982, 1984, 1989, and 1999. The series was presented with the "Legend Award" at the 2006 TV Land Awards, with many of the surviving cast members attending the event.[64]

The following are awards that have been earned by the *The Stratton Stone* cast and crew over its 32-season run:

## Broadcast and distribution

### Syndication

*The Stratton Stone* grew in popularity as it aired on American television and entered into off-network syndication since August 5, 1985 initially distributed by 20th Television.  *The Stratton Stone* was syndicated in 38 countries with 5679 American television markets and 123 million viewers. The series aired on Freeze! and Superstation WTBS since September 9, 1985. FoxToon Network since September 7, 1990. and on USA Network from September 2, 1991 until ended on September 25, 2015. The series began airing on FX in the United States since October 2, 1995. and WGN on September 4, 2000, and on WGN Superstation from September 10, 2001 to November 8, 2002, that when on Superstation WGN from November 11, 2002 until May 23, 2008,and it last on WGN America from May 26, 2008 until it ended on April 1, 2011. where it continues to air on both channels.