You Take the Kids

*You Take the Kids*
You Take the Kids
Genre	Sitcom
Written by	Paul Haggis; Stephen Nathan
Directed by	Peter Baldwin; Frank Bonner; Paul Haggis; Marcia L. Leslie; William Levinson; J.D. Lobue
Starring	Nell Carter; Roger E. Mosley; Dante Beze; Caryn Ward; Marlon Taylor; Trent Cameron; Leila Danette
Theme music composer	Jeff Moss
Opening theme	"Nobody's Got It Easy" performed by Nell Carter
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producer	Paul Haggis
Cinematography	Bill Williams
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	CBS Entertainment Productions; Paul Haggis Productions; MTM Enterprises
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	December 15, 1990 –; January 12, 1991

You Take the Kids is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from December 15, 1990, to January 12, 1991. The series starred Nell Carter, who also performed the theme song "Nobody's Got It Easy". You Take the Kids, which was perceived as being the black answer to Roseanne due to its portrayal of a working-class African-American family, featured Carter as a crass, no-nonsense mother and wife.

Synopsis[]

Carter stars as Nell Kirkland, the opinionated matriarch of a blue collar African American family living in Pittsburgh. Nell's husband Michael (Roger E. Mosley) worked as a bus driver while Nell gave piano lessons at the family home for extra money. The Kirklands had four children: the oldest, Raymond (Dante Beze), boy crazy daughter Lorette (Caryn Ward), 12-year-old Peter (Marlon Taylor), and 10-year-old Nate (Trent Cameron). In addition to the kids, Nell and Michael also had to contend with Nell's equally opinionated mother Helen (Leila Danette), who lived in the couple's basement.^[1]

Cast[]

Nell Carter as Nell Kirkland
Roger E. Mosley as Michael Kirkland
Dante Beze as Raymond Kirkland
Caryn Ward as Lorette Kirkland
Marlon Taylor as Peter Kirkland
Trent Cameron as Nate Kirkland

Production[]

The series was scheduled on Saturdays at 8pm (EST).^[1] It was canceled after six episodes (five were aired, but the sixth was pre-empted by CBS' special coverage of the Gulf War).

You Take the Kids was executive produced by Paul Haggis. The series was produced by CBS Entertainment Productions, MTM Enterprises and Paul Haggis Productions, and is currently^[when?] distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

Episodes[]

No.	Title ^[2]^[3]	Directed by ^[3]	Original air date	Prod. code ^[3]
1	"Pilot"	Paul Haggis	December 15, 1990 (1990-12-15)	1458
Nell's and Michael's plans for a romantic getaway are complicated by Nate's new job: delivering stolen audio equipment.
2	"Merry Christmas to All and a Pointy Hat to You"	Frank Bonner	December 22, 1990 (1990-12-22)	0707
The Christmas tree and presents are stolen by a homeless family.
3	"The Eggs and I"	J. D. Lobue	December 29, 1990 (1990-12-29)	0704
Lorette's folks misunderstand when she teams with a cute boy in a school parenting project to care for eggs.
4	"Fishes Are Like Sisters... You Can't Flush Them Without Feeling Guilty"	Peter Baldwin	January 5, 1991 (1991-01-05)	0706
Lorette asks out Raymond's cool and sexually active friend spunk; Nate has plans to assassinate an unwanted goldfish.
5	"What I Did for Love"	TBA	January 12, 1991 (1991-01-12)	TBA
Raymond borrows from high school loan shark Dewayne to take out the most materialistic girl in school and then steals to repay his debt.
6	"Bad Boy"	J.D. Lobue	Unaired	0711
Peter steals the family car in hopes of finally getting his parents' attention.^[4]

References[]

^ ^a ^b Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (October 17, 2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1554. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
^ "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search search: "You Take the Kids""". Writers Guild of America, West. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search search: "You Take the Kids""". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}

External links[]

You Take the Kids at IMDb

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[directory-1] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (October 17, 2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1554. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.

[WGAW-2] "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search search: "You Take the Kids""". Writers Guild of America, West. Retrieved 2017-06-19.

[U.S.C.O.-3] "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search search: "You Take the Kids""". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2017-06-19.

[4] [1]^{[dead link]}

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v t Paul Haggis
Films directed	Red Hot (1993) Crash (2004) In the Valley of Elah (2007) The Next Three Days (2010) Third Person (2013) 5B (2018)
Films written only	The Return of the Shaggy Dog (1987) Million Dollar Baby (2004) The Last Kiss (2006) Flags of Our Fathers (2006) Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Casino Royale (2006) Quantum of Solace (2008)
TV series created	City (1990) You Take the Kids (1990–91) Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001) Due South (1994–99) EZ Streets (1996–97) Family Law (1999–2002) The Black Donnellys (2007)
Other works	"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" (2010 music video, directed) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011 video game, wrote) Show Me a Hero (2015 miniseries, directed)

v t MTM Enterprises
Mary Tyler Moore Grant Tinker
TV shows	The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–77) The Bob Newhart Show (1972–78) Friends and Lovers (1974–1975) The Texas Wheelers (1974–75) Rhoda (1974–78) The Bob Crane Show (1975) Doc (1975–76) Three for the Road (1975) Phyllis (1975–77) The Tony Randall Show (1976–78) Lou Grant (1977–82) The Betty White Show (1977–78) We've Got Each Other (1977–78) The White Shadow (1978–81) WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–82) Mary (1978) The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (1979) The Last Resort (1979–80) Paris (1979–80) Hill Street Blues (1981–87) Remington Steele (1982–87) St. Elsewhere (1982–88) Newhart (1982–90) Bay City Blues (1983–84) The Duck Factory (1984) Mary (1985–86) Fresno (1986) The Popcorn Kid (1987) Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–88) Eisenhower and Lutz (1988) Annie McGuire (1988) Tattingers (1988–89) City (1990) Capital News (1990) Evening Shade (1990–94) The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990–92) You Take the Kids (1990–91) The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991–93) Xuxa (1993) Boogies Diner (1994–95) Wild Animal Games (1995–96) Family Challenge (1995–97) Wait 'til You Have Kids (1996–97) Bailey Kipper's P.O.V. (1996) Shopping Spree (1996–97) Sparks (1996–98) The Pretender (1996–2000) It Takes Two (1997) Good News (1997–98)
Films	Something for Joey (1977) The Boy Who Drank Too Much (1980) A Little Sex (1982) Just Between Friends (1986) Clara's Heart (1988) Night of the Twisters (1996) Christmas Every Day (1996)