Montefuscos, The

1 9 7 5 (USA)
8 (13) x 30 minute episodes

This short-lived NBC Thursday night sitcom premiered on 4 September 1975 and revolved around stern but lovable patriarch Tony Montefusco (Joseph Sirola), his wife Rose (Naomi Stevens) and their large Italian-American family in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The Montefusco family included several adult sons and a grown-up daughter. The oldest son, Frank (Ron Carey), was a dentist with a perennially pregnant wife, Theresa (Phoebe Dorin); the second son, Joey (John Aprea), was a Catholic priest; and the youngest son, Nunzio (Sal Viscuso) was an aspiring actor, Casanova and comedian.

Tony’s daughter Angela (Linda Dano) had committed the unpardonable sin of marrying a man who was neither Italian nor Catholic.

Her husband, Jim Cooney (William Cort), was, in fact, Episcopalian – which scandalised Tony, who addressed his son-in-law as ‘Cooney’ and referred to him contemptuously as “my Episcopalian son-in-law”.

The Montefusco clan were duty-bound to gather every week for Sunday dinner at their parents’ home, giving ample opportunity to trot out racial stereotype after racial stereotype.

The show was as Italian as bottled spaghetti sauce and terrible in every sense of the word.

It was cancelled after only three weeks on the air, and the final episode aired on 23 October 1975. Of the 13 episodes which were videotaped, only eight were aired.

Tony Montefusco
Joseph Sirola
Rose Montefusco
Naomi Stevens
Frank Montefusco
Ron Carey
Theresa Montefusco
Phoebe Dorin
Joseph ‘Joey’ Montefusco
John Aprea
Angela Montefusco Cooney
Linda Dano
Jim Cooney
William Cort
Nunzio Montefusco
Sal Viscuso

Episodes

Behind Papa’s Back | My Son the Actor | Nunzie’s Girl | The Last of the Red Hot Dinners | Do You Take This Montefusco? | Too Many Cooks | Here Comes the Priest | Filomena’s Visit