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’Til Death
’Til Death Logo
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Josh Goldsmith Cathy Yuspa
Developed by	Josh Goldsmith Cathy Yuspa
Starring	Brad Garrett Joely Fisher Timm Sharp Lindsey Broad Eddie Kaye Thomas Kat Foster J. B. Smoove
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	81 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Josh Goldsmith Cathy Yuspa
Producer(s)	Alec Barnow Marc Firek and Annette Sahakian Davis
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	20-21 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV)
Original run	September 7, 2006 (2006-09-07) – present
External links
Official website

’Til Death is an American sitcom which premiered on the Fox network on September 7, 2006. The series was created by husband-and-wife team Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, who are also the writers and executive-producers. The show focuses on Eddie and Joy Stark (Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher), a couple married for 23 years, and live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Premise

’Til Death centers on Eddie and Joy Stark, and their relationship and behavior after 23 years of marriage. The first two seasons often focused on the contrast between the Starks and their newlywed neighbors, Jeff and Steph Woodcock (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster). The second season introduced a new character named Kenny Westchester (J. B. Smoove) who is Eddie's friend from the big brother program. The third season focused largely around Eddie and Joy's relationship with Kenny after he moves in with them.

The fourth season focuses on the Starks adjusting to life with their daughter Ally (Lindsey Broad) and new son-in-law Doug (Timm Sharp), who live in a trailer in the Stark's backyard. The series takes place in suburban Philadelphia in Cheltenham Township.

History

The first season ran from September 7, 2006 to April 11, 2007 and contained 22 episodes. The series initially aired Thursdays at 8/7c alongside fellow freshman sitcom Happy Hour. In November ’Til Death was given a full season order and then later paired with The War at Home.^[1][2] Beginning on March 14, 2007 the show was given the coveted time slot directly following the American Idol results show, which led to an improvement in the ratings. On May 11 ’Til Death was renewed for a second season.^[3][4]

The second season ran from September 19, 2007 to May 16, 2008 and consisted of 15 episodes, during which ’Til Death aired on Wednesdays at 8:30 following a new comedy Back to You. On November 6, 2007, production was halted due to the 2007-2008 writers' strike, and only 19 episodes were produced. The series went on hiatus beginning November 28, but returned with a new episode on a special night in March 2008 at 9:30PM.^[5] Then in April, Til Death moved again to Wednesdays at 8:00PM leading into Back to You.^[6] In May the series was given a 13 episode order for its third season, while comedy companion Back to You was cancelled.^[7]

The third season ran from September 10, 2008 to October 8, 2008 and consisted of 7 episodes (3 of which were produced during the second season). In this brief season, ’Til Death aired Wednesdays at 9/8c alongside a new comedy Do Not Disturb. The ratings for both shows were low and as a result, the network pulled the sitcom from its November schedule.^{[citation needed]}Despite Fox not airing all of season three and low ratings, ’Til Death was renewed for a fourth season on January 9, 2009.^[8] On May 18, 2009 as part of the Fox network upfront presentation it was announced that 'Til Death would return for a fourth season on Friday nights as part of their fall lineup.^[9]

The fourth season premiered on October 2, 2009 in a new time slot of Fridays at 8:30/7:30c. ’Til Death and followed a new sitcom, Brothers, which stars former NFL player Michael Strahan.^[10] On October 27, 2009, Fox announced that four new episodes of ’Til Death would air on Christmas Day from 8/7c until 10:00/9:00c. ’Til Death moved to Sundays at 7/6c and 7:30/6:30c on January 31, 2010.^[11] The series is currently broadcasting new episodes from both the series' third and fourth seasons. The fourth season finale is scheduled to air May 9, 2010.^[12]

Cast

Main characters

Recurring characters

• Nick Bakay as Karl
• Anthony Anderson as Cofeld
• Margaret Cho as Nicole
• Jerry Lambert as Stan
• Will Sasso as Russ
• Kevin Nealon as Steven
• Susan Yeagley as Simona
• Kathleen Rose Perkins as Principal Duffy

• Kat Foster and Eddie Kaye Thomas, who played Steph and Jeff Woodcock, respectively, left the show, having "moved onto other projects."^[16] However, their characters continued to appear in several episodes of season three, which were filmed during season two but not aired due to the Writers' Strike. Krysten Ritter, who played the recurring role of the Stark's daughter, Allison, was also replaced in season three by Laura Clery. J. B. Smoove, who began appearing late in season two, was also added to the cast as Eddie's friend Kenny. His ex-wife appeared in the premiere episode of the third season.^[17].

• Beginning with Season 4, J.B. Smoove, who plays Kenny, was dropped from the show while Lindsey Broad and Timm Sharp were added to the main cast as Allison Stark and Doug Von Stuessen, respectively.^[18]

Episodes

DVD releases

The first season DVDs include all 22 episodes from Season one. The second season DVDs include 18 out of the 19 episodes produced for Season two in airdate order. Presumably the third season will be released in late 2010 and include the leftover season 2 episode, as well as all 18 episodes produced for Season three.

Ratings

Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of ’Til Death on Fox:

References

External links

• Official website from Sony
• Official website from Fox
• 'Til Death at the Internet Movie Database
• 'Til Death at TV.com