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Blossom
Blossom title card from Season 3 until the show's end
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Don Reo
Starring	Mayim Bialik Joey Lawrence Michael Stoyanov Jenna von Oÿ Ted Wass Finola Hughes Courtney Chase David Lascher Samaria Graham Barnard Hughes Melissa Manchester Sean Pasternak Portia Dawson
Theme music composer	Stephen Geyer Mike Post
Opening theme	"My Opinionation" performed by Dr. John
Composer(s)	Frank Denson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	114 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Don Reo Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas Gene Reynolds David Amico Judith D. Allison (seasons 4–5) Rob LaZebnik (season 4) Allan Katz (season 5)
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	Impact Zone Productions Witt/Thomas Productions Touchstone Television
Distributor	Buena Vista International Buena Vista Television
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	January 3, 1991 (1991-01-03) – May 11, 1995 (1995-05-11)
Status	Ended

Blossom is an American comedy-drama series broadcast from 1991 to 1995 on NBC. The series stars Mayim Bialik as Blossom Russo, a teenage girl living with her father and two brothers. It was created by Don Reo.

Synopsis

The series begins with Blossom's mother having left the family to pursue her own life and career and the family trying to adjust. Blossom's dad, Nick, a session musician who was frequently between gigs and tours, was played by Ted Wass. (In the pilot episode he was known as Terry and played by Richard Masur). Her mom, Barbara, was played in the pilot episode by Barrie Youngfellow, and later in the series by Melissa Manchester (Maddy). Her oldest brother Anthony (Michael Stoyanov) is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict who works as a paramedic. Joey (named Donny in the pilot episode) (Joey Lawrence), the other brother, is a fairly stereotypical "dumb jock," known for the drawn-out delivery of his catch phrase, "whoa".

Blossom's best friend Six LeMeure (Jenna von Oÿ) also plays a significant part in her life. Six, an especially fast talker, was best known for her tendency to ramble at an almost incoherent pace. Blossom also frequently received advice from famous celebrities in fantasy scenes, as Mr. T, Hugh Hefner, Phylicia Rashad (who played Blossom's vision of the ideal mother in the first episode), David Schwimmer, ALF and Will Smith all made guest appearances during the show's run.

Characters

• Blossom Ruby Russo – Youngest child and only daughter of Nick and Maddy Russo. Best friend to Six. Longtime on-again off-again girlfriend of Vinnie. Learns many hard lessons from the lives of herself, her family and Six including abuse, alcohol, drugs, divorce, and many more. Doesn't always get along with her step-mother Carol, but their relationship does improve over time. Has her own unique style.

• Nick Russo – Blossom, Joey and Tony's father. The main care giver for his three children after his wife, Maddy, leaves him. He works as a piano player, playing with various gigs with a wide range of bands. He later marries Carol, and becomes step-father to Kennedy, and grandfather to Nash. Treats Six like his own daughter.

• Anthony "Tony" Russo – A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, he has difficulty remembering four years of his life (14–18?). He dates Playboy bunny Rhonda. Later he marries another woman, Shelley, in Las Vegas after falling off the wagon and getting drunk. He worked at a doughnut shop for a while before becoming a paramedic. He becomes father to Nash.

• Joseph "Joey" Russo – A not-so-smart but quite funny baseball player and ladies man. The middle child. Can be sweet and smart when he wants to be. Gets accepted to Arizona State University, but decides to play professional baseball after graduating from high school. Realizes after years that he and Six are friends.

• Six Dorothy LeMeure – Best friend of Blossom. Has a crush on Joey. Parents are divorced. Goes through many hard times including becoming an alcoholic, dating a married older man, a pregnancy scare, and more. Thought of the Russo family as her own family. Talks really fast when she's happy or nervous.

• Carol – English lady with a daughter named Kennedy. Marries Nick, and becomes stepmother of Blossom, Joey and Tony. Still gets along with 2nd ex-husband.

• Maddy Russo – Ex-wife of Nick, and mother of Tony, Joey and Blossom. Leaves them to have her own life, and moves to Paris. Returns a few years later to re-connect.

• Buzz – Father of Maddy. Grandfather of Tony, Joey and Blossom. A war veteran, and has been married multiple times, but Ruby was his first and Maddy's mother. Loves women, cigars, jokes, and alcohol. Moves in with Nick for a while.

• Vinnie – On-again Off-again boyfriend of Blossom. Nick didn't always like him, but their relationship improves over time. Gets along with her family for the most part. Thought of as a tough guy, but can be quite sweet at times.

• Sharon LeMeure – Mother of Six. Divorced. Dated Nick at one time. Tries to be a good mother, although Six gets in some trouble at times.

• Shelley – Wife of Tony, and mother of Nash. She is an illustrator. She's a black woman, who planned to get married to her boyfriend Roscoe in Vegas when she got drunk, married Tony, and fell in love.

• Kennedy – A young, precocious English girl about 8 years old. Daughter of Carol and her Scottish ex-husband Graham. Has puppy love for Joey for a little while. Takes a little while but finally gets along with Tony and Blossom. Is best friend of Frank.

Production

Five seasons of Blossom were produced, with a total of 114 episodes. Many of the episodes were directed by The Incredible Hulk star Bill Bixby, until his death in 1993.

The theme music was "My Opinionation" by Mike Post and Steve Geyer and performed by recording artist Dr. John.^[1]

Episodes

DVD release

On January 27, 2009, Shout! Factory (under license from rights-holders ABC and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) released Seasons 1 & 2 of Blossom on DVD in Region 1. The 6-disc boxset includes all-new interviews with cast members, the original pilot episode (unaired), featurettes and audio commentaries.^[2]

Foreign broadcasts

• The series also found some popularity in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, where it was shown on Channel 4. The pilot aired July 5, 1990. Re-runs of the first two seasons began airing on Nickelodeon UK in 2005 but ceased towards the end of that year. Episodes from later seasons can currently be seen airing in the UK and Ireland on Trouble.
• The series was also a huge hit on Spanish television where it aired on TVE1 in the early 1990s in an access-prime time slot (8pm). The series was so popular that it led TVE to rescreen the entire run of the sitcom numerous times both on TVE1 and on second channel TVE2.
• It was also popular in Brazil, being broadcasted by SBT in the fall of 90s.
• It was shown in the Metro Channel of Doordarshan in India and was quite a hit in the late 90s.
• In Australia, Blossom aired on Network Ten for its first season before shifting over to the Seven Network for the second season onwards.

See also

• Very special episode

References

External links

• Blossom at the Internet Movie Database
• Blossom at TV.com
• Blossom at epguides.com