Suddenly Susan is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, a glamorous San Francisco magazine writer who begins to adjust to being single, and who learns to be independent-minded after having been taken care of all her life. The series was developed by Gary Dontzig and Steven Peterman, who also served as executive producers during the first three seasons, and was produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Synopsis

Susan Keane (Brooke Shields) has always been taken care of by someone else. She worked as a copy editor at The Gate, a fictional San Francisco magazine. On her wedding day, she realizes that she and her wealthy, vain fiancé, Kip, are not meant for each other and that there is more to life than just being known as the s in The Kip Richmonds. She abruptly leaves him at the altar. Now, she s suddenly just Susan. Susan s parents, played by guest stars Swoosie Kurtz and Ray Baker, were less than ecstatic about their daughter deciding to end her engagement to Kip, though her grandmother and confidant, Nana (Barbara Barrie) stands as a pillar of support for Susan.

The day after the wedding, Susan goes to her boss, Jack Richmond (Judd Nelson), the rebellious brother of Susan s former fiancé, Kip, begging for her job back. Instead, Jack assigns Susan to write a regular column about being suddenly single. Susan s coworkers include photographer Luis Rivera (Nestor Carbonell), boyish rock music reporter Todd Stities (David Strickland), restaurant critic Vicki Groener (Kathy Griffin), and, in later episodes, investigative reporter and Susan s old enemy Maddy Piper (Andréa Bendewald).

In the show s final season, The Gate is taken over by Ian Maxtone-Graham (Eric Idle) and overhauled into a men s magazine that s run out of an old warehouse in Chinatown. Along with this, Ian brings his own team of workers, including executive assistant and U.S. Navy veteran Miranda Charles (Sherri Shepherd), sports writer Nate Knaborski (Currie Graham), and freelance photographer Oliver Browne (Rob Estes). Susan is faced with a new set of problems and has to prove herself all over again.

Besides the task of putting together a magazine and focusing on the lead character s life, Suddenly Susan also focuses on the private lives of many employees in the show.

Cast

• Brooke Shields as Susan Keane
• Nestor Carbonell as Luis Rivera (Susan s co-worker)
• Kathy Griffin as Vicki Groener (Susan s co-worker)
• Barbara Barrie as Helen Nana Keane (Susan s grandmother)
• Judd Nelson as Jack Richmond (Susan s boss)
• David Strickland as Todd Stities (Susan s co-worker)
• Andrea Bendewald as Maddy Piper (Susan s co-worker)
• Sherri Shepherd as Miranda Charles
• Eric Idle as Ian Maxtone-Graham

Episodes

Season 1 (1996–97)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	First Episode	Andy Ackerman	Story by : Clyde Phillips Teleplay by : Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman & Billy Van Zandt & Jane Milmore & Clyde Phillips	September 19, 1996
2	2	Dr. No	Steve Zuckerman	Dan O Shannon	September 26, 1996
3	3	The Best Laid Plans	Shelley Jensen	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	October 3, 1996
4	4	Suddenly Susan Unplugged	Steve Zuckerman	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	October 10, 1996
5	5	Hoop Dreams	Shelly Jensen	Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious	October 17, 1996
6	6	Lie! Lie! My Darling	Shelley Jensen	Ian Praiser	October 31, 1996
7	7	Golden Girl Friday	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	November 7, 1996
8	8	Beauty and the Beasty Boy	Steve Zuckerman	Maryanne Melloan	November 14, 1996
9	9	Cold Turkey	Rod Daniel	Story by : Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman Teleplay by : Dan O Shannon	November 21, 1996
10	10	Was It Something I Said?	Steve Zuckerman	Marc Flanagan	December 12, 1996
11	11	The Walk-Out	Barnet Kellman	Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious	December 19, 1996
12	12	The Me Nobody Nose	Shelley Jensen	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	January 9, 1997
13	13	The Ways and Means	Gail Mancuso	Jana Barto	February 27, 1997
14	14	What a Card	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	March 6, 1997
15	15	Love and Divorce American Style: Part 1	Shelley Jensen	Ian Praiser	March 13, 1997
16	16	Love and Divorce American Style: Part 2	Pamela Fryman	Dan O Shannon	March 20, 1997
17	17	Love and Divorce American Style: Part 3	Pamela Fryman	Susan Fales	March 27, 1997
18	18	With Friends Like These	Shelley Jensen	Maryanne Melloan	April 10, 1997
19	19	Where the Wild Things Aren t	Shelley Jensen	Maryanne Melloan	April 17, 1997
20	20	A Boy Like That	Shelley Jensen	Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman	April 24, 1997
21	21	Family Affairs	Gail Mancuso	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	May 1, 1997
22	22	I ll See That and Raise You Susan	Shelley Jensen	Neil J. Deiter	May 8, 1997

Season 2 (1997–98)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
23	1	I Love You, I Think	Tom Moore	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	September 22, 1997
24	2	Past Tense	Tom Moore	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	September 29, 1997
25	3	Truth and Consequences	Pamela Fryman	Christopher Vane	October 6, 1997
26	4	Next Stop, Heaven	Shelley Jensen	Becky Hartman Edwards	October 13, 1997
27	5	Susan s Minor Complication	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	October 20, 1997
28	6	It s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Maddy World	Shelley Jensen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	November 3, 1997
29	7	It s My Nana and I ll Cry If I Want To	Pamela Fryman	Chuck Tatham	November 10, 1997
30	8	A Kiss Before Dying…on Stage	Tom Moore	Drew Vaupen & Phil Baker	November 17, 1997
31	9	The Old and the Beautiful	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	November 24, 1997
32	10	I Didn t Write This	Pamela Fryman	Lisa Albert	December 8, 1997
33	11	Yule Never Know	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Mimi Friedman & Jeanette Collins	December 15, 1997
34	12	A Kiss is Just Amiss	Tom Moore	Christopher Vane	January 5, 1998
35	13	The Big Shalom	Alan Rafkin	Rick Singer & Andrew Green	January 12, 1998
36	14	Matchmaker, Matchmaker	Alan Rafkin	Becky Hartman Edwards	January 19, 1998
37	15	Car Trouble	Shelley Jensen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	January 26, 1998
38	16	Ready…Aim…Fong!	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	February 2, 1998
39	17	Daddy Piper	Joyce Gittlin	Dan O Shannon	March 9, 1998
40	18	Not in This Life	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Christopher Vane	March 16, 1998
41	19	Models and Strippers and Wasps, Oh My!	Tom Moore	David Kirkwood	April 6, 1998
42	20	Poetry in Notion	Joanna Kerns	Becky Hartman Edwards	April 6, 1998
43	21	Pucker Up	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Andrew Green	April 13, 1998
44	22	5,947 Miles	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Jana Barto	April 20, 1998
45 46	23 24	A Tale of Two Pants	Roger Christiansen Alan Rafkin	Michael McCarthy Rick Singer	May 4, 1998
47 48	25 26	Oh, How They Danced	Shelley Jensen	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	May 18, 1998

Season 3 (1998–99)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
49	1	Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Some of These Do It	Shelley Jensen	Steven Peterman & Gary Dontzig	September 21, 1998
50	2	Feels Like the First Time	Shelley Jensen	Christopher Vane	September 28, 1998
51	3	Don t Tell	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Maria Semple	October 5, 1998
52	4	Sleeping with the Enemy	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	October 12, 1998
53	5	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Susan s Party	Alan Rafkin	Chuck Tatham	October 26, 1998
54	6	War Games	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Rick Singer	November 2, 1998
55	7	Seems Like Old Times	Alan Rafkin	Becky Hartman Edwards	November 9, 1998
56	8	Trash-Test Dummies	Alan Rafkin	Andrew Green	November 16, 1998
57	9	The Thanksgiving Episode	Shelley Jensen	Chuck Tatham	November 30, 1998
58	10	The Apartment Hunt	Shelley Jensen	Maria Semple	November 30, 1998
59	11	Merry Ex-Mas	Shelley Jensen	Rick Singer	December 14, 1998
60	12	Wedding-Bell Blues	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Christopher Vane	January 11, 1999
61	13	On a Clear Day You Can Hear Forever	Leonard R. Garner, Jr.	Becky Hartman Edwards	January 18, 1999
62	14	One Man s Intervention Is Another Man s Tupperware Party	Roger Christiansen	Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman	January 25, 1999
63	15	Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut	Shelley Jensen	Polly Levy	February 8, 1999
64	16	Ben Rubenstein, Meet Joe Black	Shelley Jensen	Andrew Green	February 22, 1999
65	17	The Song Remains Insane	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Michael McCarthy	March 1, 1999
66	18	Revenge of the Gophers	Roger Christiansen	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	March 15, 1999
67	19	In This Corner…Susan Keane!: Part 1	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Chuck Tatham	May 3, 1999
68	20	In This Corner…Susan Keane!: Part 2	Philip Charles MacKenzie	Andrew Green	May 10, 1999
69	21	The First Picture Show	Michael Kelly	Phil Baker & Drew Vaupen	May 17, 1999
70	22	Bowled Over	Shelley Jensen	Jana Barto	May 24, 1999
71	23	A Day in the Life	Alan Rafkin	TBA	May 24, 1999

Season 4 (1999–2000)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
72	1	The New Gate	Lee Shallat Chemel	Mark Driscoll & Maria Semple	September 20, 1999
73	2	The Billboard	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Mark Driscoll & Maria Semple	September 27, 1999
74	3	The Pushkin Letters	Lee Shallat-Chemel	David Babcock	October 4, 1999
75	4	Vicki Moves In	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Sylvia Green	October 11, 1999
76	5	Halloween	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	October 18, 1999
77	6	Cheerleaders	Andrew Tsao	David Flebotte	November 1, 1999
78	7	The Wish List	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 6, 1999
79	8	First Date	Alan Rafkin	David Babcock	December 13, 1999
80	9	The Birthday Party	Roger Christiansen	Joel H. Cohen	December 20, 1999
81	10	Susan s Ex	Craig Zisk	Roger Peacock	December 27, 1999
82	11	Luis Gets His Groove Back	Lee Shallat-Chemel	Ed Yeager	December 27, 1999
83	12	Dinner Party	Andrew Tsao	Story by : David Wright Teleplay by : Stacy Traub	January 3, 2000
84	13	Stock Tip	Andrew Tsao	Beth Seriff & Geoff Tarson	January 3, 2000
85	14	I Love You	Andrew Tsao	Story by : Anne Rovak Teleplay by : Sylvia Green	June 6, 2000
86	15	The Break Up	Andrew Tsao	Stacy Traub	June 13, 2000
87	16	Girls Night Out	Dana deVally Piazza	Robert Peacock	June 20, 2000
88	17	The Bird in the Wall	Gordon Hunt	Lisa K. Nelson & Tod Himmel	June 27, 2000
89	18	The Gay Parade	Alan Rafkin	Lisa K. Nelson & Tod Himmel	Unaired
90	19	Susan and the Professor	Roger Christiansen	Beth Seriff & Geoff Tarson	December 26, 2000
91	20	The Reversal	Michael Kelly	Story by : Mike Dieffenbach Teleplay by : Joel H. Cohen	December 26, 2000
92	21	The Finale: Part 1	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 26, 2000
93	22	The Finale: Part 2	Andrew Tsao	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	December 26, 2000

Original pilot

In the show s original pilot, written by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore and based on a dramatic script by Clyde Phillips, Susan worked at a publishing house editing children s books. After breaking up with her live-in boyfriend Ted (Brian McNamara), Susan finds herself single for the first time in years. Concurrently, Susan faces even greater challenges at work when her boss, Eric (Philip Casnoff), assigns her the task of working as an editor with Charlotte (Elizabeth Ashley), a hugely successful and highly opinionated romance novelist. Always on hand to provide support is Susan s grandmother, Nana (Nancy Marchand), her co-workers, acerbic best friend Marcy (Maggie Wheeler) and Neil (David Krumholtz), who has a crush on Susan.

When the series was picked up, Brian McNamara s Ted character did not return, though McNamara did later play the part of Cooper Elliot, who took Susan to Italy at the end of season one. Other changes between the pilot and the series were Barbara Barrie replacing Nancy Marchand in the role of Nana, while Swoosie Kurtz and Ray Baker replaced Kurt Fuller and Caroline McWilliams as Susan s parents, Bill and Liz. In the series, though the setting switches from a publishing house to a magazine, the main office set retained most of its features from the pilot; the most noticeable difference was that the elevator was to the right. While the pilot s storyline featuring Elizabeth Ashley as one of the publishing house s clients was not used in the series, a cardboard cut out of Ashley that was featured in the pilot appears throughout the first three seasons of the show – it can be seen briefly behind Susan s desk, near the filing cabinets along the back wall.

The actual location for the exterior shots of the office was the Newhall Building at 260 California Street in San Francisco.

Death of David Strickland

David Strickland died by suicide in a Las Vegas hotel room on March 22, 1999. Strickland s death was later incorporated into the show s third-season finale, which killed off his character, Todd Stities. Todd has gone missing, and throughout the episode, Susan desperately tries to find him. As the episode progresses, Susan learns about a number of good deeds that Todd had done around his neighborhood that she never knew about. Out-of-character interviews with the supporting cast also appear throughout the episode, with each actor sharing their personal experiences they had with Strickland before his death. As the episode comes to an end, Todd s favorite song, Praise You by Fatboy Slim, plays outside in the street as Susan and her co-workers sit in a circle praying for Todd s well-being. At last, the phone in the middle of the room rings, but the camera cuts away before the news of Todd s fate can be revealed. The episode ends with an archive video footage of Strickland and its titles: The Gods of comedy looked down upon you and smiled .

Fourth season and cancellation

At the beginning of the fourth and final season, Judd Nelson and Andrea Bendewald left the show; series developers and executive producers Steven Peterman and Gary Dontzig also left the series, and the show replaced almost its entire writing staff (with the exception of new co-showrunner Maria Semple, who joined the series the previous season). The Gate was transformed into a men s magazine by its new owner, Ian Maxtone-Graham (Eric Idle), and relocated from its trendy uptown offices overlooking the bay to a dingy former warehouse in Chinatown. In tow, Ian brought his own team of workers, including executive assistant and U.S. Navy veteran Miranda Charles (Sherri Shepherd), sports writer Nate Knaborski (Currie Graham), and freelance photographer Oliver Browne (Rob Estes). Faced with new challenges, Susan suddenly had to prove herself all over again.

Airing between Seinfeld and ER during its first season, Suddenly Susan was initially a ratings success, attracting almost 25 million viewers per episode, despite mostly unfavorable critical reviews. When the show was moved to Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. (against the Top 30 hit Cosby) in the second season, the show experienced a large ratings fall, sliding from #3 to #71 in one year, bringing in less than 11 million viewers. The ratings failed to bounce back, and in its final season, the show barely ranked in the top 100, prompting NBC to pull it from the schedule in January. It returned briefly in June, but at the end of the month was pulled from prime-time lineup with five episodes left unaired. One episode, The Gay Parade, remained unaired by NBC (but was eventually shown on Lifetime a few years ago); the final quartet of shows (including the two-part series finale) were burned off from 2:00 to 4:00 am (EST) on December 26, 2000, where they aired during the NBC All Night block.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics. The website s critical consensus was: Comedic inspiration doesn t spark Suddenly for this Susan, hampered by derivative gags that undermine Brooke Shields energetic performance.

Caryn James of the New York Times wrote: Like its lead character, Suddenly Susan has no identity of its own. The beauty of the magic time slot is that it gives Suddenly Susan, with its engaging star and flexible format, a well-deserved chance to grow.

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave it a grade C and called it: A wearyingly self-conscious updating of The Mary Tyler Moore Show: nice girl trying to make it in the competitive workplace of a big town.

Ratings history

Season	TV Season	Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Time slot (ET)	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	1996–97	22	September 19, 1996	May 8, 1997	Thursday at 9:30 pm (Episodes 1–12) Thursday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 13–22)	#3	16.5
2	1997–98	26	September 22, 1997	May 18, 1998	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–19, 21–23, 25) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 20, 24, 26)	#65	7.9
3	1998–99	23	September 21, 1998	May 24, 1999	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–9, 11–22) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 10, 23)	#81	9.5
4	1999–2000	22	September 20, 1999	June 27, 2000	Monday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–10, 12) Monday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 11, 13) Tuesday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 14–17)	#94	6.6

^ Twenty-three episodes were produced for season four, but episode 18, The Gay Parade was never broadcast.^ End of the series original broadcast run. Last four episodes were aired six months later.

Year	1996
ReleaseDate	1996-09-19
Plot	Jack owns a magazine and is the former brother-in-law of Susan. After she runs out on her fiancé on their wedding day, Jack agrees to take her back at the magazine.
Awards	Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys, 8 wins & 14 nominations total
Stars	Brooke Shields, Judd Nelson, Kathy Griffin
Series Produced by	Frank Pace,Andrew Green,Rick Singer,Gary Dontzig,Steven Peterman,Brenda Bos,Jeanette Collins,Mimi Friedman,Becky Hartman Edwards,Christopher Vane,Phil Baker,Drew Vaupen,Chuck Tatham,Maria Semple,Brooke Shields,Perry Rogers,Dan O Shannon,Tod Himmel,David Babcock,Mark Driscoll,Jean Zuhorski,Ian Praiser,Ed Yeager,Korby Siamis,Ellen Idelson,Susan Fales-Hill,Rob Lotterstein,David Flebotte,Lisa K. Nelson
Series Music by	Ed Alton
Series Cinematography by	Frank Raymond
Series Film Editing by	Larry Harris,Marco Zappia
Series Casting By	Anthony Sepulveda,Mark Saks
Series Art Direction by	Greg Richman
Series Set Decoration by	Steve Rostine
Series Costume Design by	Judith Brewer Curtis,Bambi Breakstone
Series Makeup Department	Cynthia Bachman Brown,Luke O Connor,Patrina O Connor,DeeDee Altamura,Aliki Demetriades,Camille Friend,Beth O Rourke,Amy L. Taylor
Series Production Management	Michael Kelly,Leif Christoffersen,Judith Zaylor,Brenda Bos
Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Michael Kelly,William Bardelli,Rosario Roveto Jr.,Phyllis Guarnaccia,Robbie Countryman,Ron Dempsey
Series Art Department	Joshua Meltzer,Bruce Fuselier,Samantha Lea Smith,Nancy Lowry,David Brennan,Joaquin Navarro,Alisha Rothman
Series Sound Department	Anthony Constantini,Doug Gray,Robert Douglass,Phil Valdivia,Charles Bruce,Mike Cruz,Larry Tozzi,Dale Rardin,Rick Himot,Michael Ballin,Phil Brown,John Hart,Noel Vought
Series Visual Effects by	Dan Carrington,Scott Milne,Shelly Dutcher,Robin Scher,Mark Zarate,Tim Bird,Casey Conroy,Lori Freitag-Hild,John Myers,Kevin Prendiville,Jerry Spivack
Series Stunts	Anita Hart,Myke Schwartz
Series Camera and Electrical Department	Rod Weaver,Jon Purdy,Timothy White,Ron P. Jaffe,Rick Lamb,Cary Sachs,Ron Eisenberg,Thomas H. Frederick,John Lazear,Wayne A. Lee,Gary Armstrong
Series Casting Department	Barbara Miller
Series Costume and Wardrobe Department	David McGough,Joyce Unruh,Chris Burrows,Steve Hicke,Melissa Antablin
Series Editorial Department	Scott Freeman,Michele Gitomer
Series Music Department	Shawn Colvin,Matt Kierscht
Series Script and Continuity Department	Kate Wright,Danielle Elaine,Patti Mustari
Series Additional Crew	Yuell Newsome,Roger Christiansen,Roni Kaplan,Gary Dontzig,Steven Peterman,Clyde Phillips,Beverly Jackson,Betty Arnold,Rick Singer,Brenda Bos,Andrew Green,Maryanne Melloan Woods,Robert Peacock,Heather MacGillvray,Linda Mathious,Phil Baker,Drew Vaupen,Marc Flanagan,Tom Conkright,Bruce Bryant,James Castle,Tom Doak,Lane Napper,Joe Allen Rosenberger,Brett Dos Santos,Brian Hall,Polly Levy,Rebecca Thornell,Billy Van Zandt,Robert Zimiga,Louis E. Rosas
Series Thanks	David Strickland
Genres	Comedy
Companies	Warner Bros. Television
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	TV-PG
ImDbRating	5.8
ImDbRatingVotes	3041
Keywords	giant,giantess,sitcom,character name in title