The series was among the first to appear on the
Fox network when they launched a Sunday night
prime-time TV lineup in 1987, alongside
Married... with Children,
The Tracey Ullman Show and
Mr. President. Loosely based on the love lives of creators Bennett and Seeger, the show was originally noted for being serialized, with events unfolding in succession from week to week.
Matthew Laurance was the first actor hired, but they couldn't find a leading lady that sparked with him in Los Angeles, so they held auditions in New York, where they finally found
Mary Page Keller. Keller and
Jodi Thelen met at the audition and had such an instantaneous sisterly rapport that they were both cast within days.
Alison LaPlaca was originally hired to appear as the undefined wife of a supporting character in two episodes, but a pregnancy was written into the next script, requiring her to stick around. Acting wasn't
Chris Lemmon's primary career goal—he had studied extensively as a pianist—but his musical dreams and abilities were eventually utilized in the show. There was a period of adjustment as the actors became familiar with one another, but once things began to click, there was a fun atmosphere on the set, and little interference from the network. Susan Seeger got her whole family into the act, with brother David and their famous father
Hal Seeger creating the opening title sequence, sister Mindy portraying Ben's publicist Nina, and sister Charbie Dahl (aka Charlene Seeger) writing a few of the scripts. Although the first season focused squarely on Ben and Laura, season two became an ensemble with ongoing stories revolving around Jane, Richard, and Linda. As the meaning of the show's title blurred, Fox tried to spin it in promotion claiming, "''Duet means two, so why is it about five people, a dog, and a baby? Because it's a show you shouldn't watch alone!''" By the third season, Fox executives began forcing changes. Noticing the popularity of Alison LaPlaca's character, they pushed Ben, Laura, and Jane into the background as stories became exclusively centered on Linda and Richard. They also flashed ahead three years so they could turn the Phillipses daughter into a talking toddler, which was proving popular with audiences on ABC's
Full House. The Phillipses also eclipsed the newlywed Colemans in the network's promotion. The theme music over the opening titles was composed by Buddy Budson, and in the first two seasons performed by Ursula Walker and Tony Franklin. Beginning in season two, the opening titles changed to begin featuring clips of the characters in scenes from the show. These were book-ended by the show's title appearing in gold on a maroon leather-textured
photo album cover, which opened to reveal the series of episode clips, and the photo album closing, with creators Ruth Bennett and Susan Seeger being credited in gold on the album cover. (In season one, the show title was displayed over the beginning of the opening scene.) In season three, the same sequence style remained, but the theme music was rearranged into a complete
saxophone/
electric guitar instrumental, with the instruments taking the place of the notes sung by
vocalists Walker and Franklin. ==Cast==