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Sensitive teenager Dorothy Jane Torkelson (Olivia Burnette) was mortified by her family in this bittersweet NBC comedy about a working-class family on the ropes.
She just wanted to be thought of as normal, like any 14-year-old, but how could she be when her father Randall had walked out on the family, they were perilously short of money, and might even lose their big old rambling house in Pyramid Corners, Oklahoma.
Yet her perky, optimistic mother, Millicent (Connie Ray), saw sunshine everywhere, even as men came to repossess the appliances and her brothers and sisters – athletic 12-year-old Steven (Aaron Metchik), spunky 10-year-old Ruth Ann (Anna Slotky), studious 8-year-old Chuckie Lee (Norris Mary) and huggable little 6-year-old Mary Sue (Rachel Duncan) – acted as if nothing was wrong.
Helping out at least a little was Mr Hodges (William Schallert), a kindly older man who had rented a room in their basement.
After a single unsuccessful season, The Torkelsons left the schedule, to return in February 1993 with a new name, Almost Home.
Millicent had moved to Seattle to become a nanny working for single dad Brian Morgan (Perry King), who ran a successful catalogue business.
She now had just three kids (Steven and Ruth Ann evidently got left by the roadside) who mixed like oil and water with Brian’s obnoxious offspring, Molly (Brittany Murphy) and Gregory (Jason Marsden).
Millicent Torkelson
Connie Ray
Dorothy Jane Torkelson
Olivia Burnette
Steven Floyd Torkelson
Aaron Metchik
Ruth Ann Torkelson
Anna Slotky
Chuckie Lee Torkelson
Lee Norris
Mary Sue Torkelson
Rachel Duncan
Wesley Hodges
William Schallert
Kirby Scroggins
Paige Gosney
Brian Morgan
Perry King
Molly Morgan
Brittany Murphy
Gregory Morgan
Jason Marsden
