No, not the gardening show on BBC, the ABC Drama that aired for a season and half before it was axed. Tonight I got home and discovered that my belvoed TIVO had recorded an episode of it from a channel I didn't even no I received, The GoodLife, I believe it's called.

Is anyone else watching this?

I absolutely loved this show. I am a little disappointed because I came in right have Jeff and Ginger have broken up and I adored them as a couple, but I am looking forward to watching this.

I don't get that station, but I did watch its first run. I love the 1940's, so a series set in that time was fun. I still have a lot of episodes on tape.

I don't think I have this channel (I am definitely going to check when I get home) but I ADORED this show and its catchy opening song. It is why I will always love Kyle Chandler and Tammy Lauren. Jeff and Ginger were definitely my favorite couple on the show.

I'm going to be so jealous if I don't have that channel.

I don't get this channel either, but I loved Homefront! I watched its original run on ABC and taped several of the episodes. I haven't seen the whole thing in years though.

It was set very close to where I grew up in Ohio. Okay like maybe 15 miles away, but still relatively close. Strangely my mom didn't watch it and it was basically where she grew up. (She would have been 2-3 when the series took place but still!)

I remember it fondly. Especially the opening song. Even though it got cancelled didn't it sort of having a series ending where they wrapped up a lot of plots? I remember of the women got married. One guy went to france.

I loved this show. I don't get that channel so I am crazy jealous. Catrina, I remember Jeff and Ginger got married and then he went off to play in the minors before a major league team took him and his mom and Al went with their baby someplace out east I think. I can't remember what happened to anyone else. But I am pretty sure they wrapped up all the storylines.

I was reading that they had only intended them to sleep together and not actually have a relationship but that the chemistry was so great between the two actors and the relationship was so fun to write that they changed the course of the show. Which of course is obvious since they in the pilot they set it up like there is going to be be a huge love triangle between Jeff, Hank and Sarah and like three episodes in he is clearly in love with Ginger and a little while later Hank and Sarah get written out.

I liked Hank until he left, then transfered my affections to Jeff. And, I also loved the romance between him and Ginger.

*Off key voice*

Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mr. In Between /*off key voice

This was one of my favorite shows ever. Of course, Jeff and Ginger were one of the best romantic couples on television.

I always thought it was very funny that the actress who played Mrs. Sloane went on to be the hippy mom on Dharma and Greg instead of the uptight blueblood like she played on Homefront. I was so happy when Gloria and Abe quit on her!

One of the best shows ever! It barely got past the embryo stage before it was cancelled, but I can't drink tomato juice without thinking of Ginger as the Lemo Tomato Juice Girl.

I'm also a 1940's junkie, and this show was gold for the soundtrack alone. (**To illustrate my last remark/Jonah in the whale,Noah in the ark**) Everybody sing!

I too loved this show and I discovered I get it so I am quite excited to start watching this show.

I hope they replay it from the begining.

I've had the song playing through my head all day.



Lemo tomato juice is all the rave,
Because it is what we crave,
Tastes so swell,
Goes down well,
It'll ring your bell,
And it's good for you too.

Lemo tomato juice is the best,
And that's no jest,
We're popping our vest.

We know you'll think,
That it's the best drink,
To stay in the pink.

So, always reach for that Lemo,
Thats the M.O.,
Don't be a schmo,
Be in the know,
And buy Lemo.
L-E-M-O, Lemo. (TM Richard Whitley.)


I used to know the words by heart, but I had to look them up this time.

Oooooh, I am soooo jealous! Even with my spiffy new digital cable system I don't think I get this channel. But I love this show. In my mind it ranks up there as one of the most unjustified cancellations ever. They axed it just when it was starting to build an audience and right at the height of several plot lines, if I remember correctly. I actually didn't know that they had a final special ep or whatever where they wrapped everything up. I was always mad because I thought ABC left us hanging. The cancellation of this show, BTW, marks the only time I have ever written an irate letter to a network. Didn't help any, obviously, but made me feel better.

The episode "The Lacemakers" was one of the best eps ever of any show in my opinion. (And I'm not alone as I remember that it was the only ep to be nominated for an Emmy for writing). It really brought home the lingering psycholgical effects of the concentration camps.

Man, I wish I could see it again!

One of my favorite shows of all time! I've never heard of The Good Life so I am betting I don't get it. Funny things is that I was just thinking last week that this show should be on the air, maybe on Hallmark.

Yes! Hallmark should totally pick this up. And I'm not just saying that because I got Hallmark channel for the first time last week!

Good Lord, Yes! I was only 13 or 14 when this show was on so it was the first show I was a real fan of and I still remember it fondly. Does anyone remember a few years back when some cable channel showed a 48 hour marathon of this? I think I may still have some of the tapes laying around somewhere.

This was a fantastic show. I would love to see the episodes again.
ABC's cancellation of this show is just another reason to despise them! (My-So-Called-Life and Once and Again are others)

OH! A Homefront thread! Weeeee! I loved this show and I don't get this channel that it is now airing on, I am so jealous!!

This is one show that I would kill to have come out on dvd!!

Homefront is the best show ever. That is all.

One of my favourite warm and fuzzy moments was in the second last episode- there's a white cop hanging around Abe and Gloria's cafe, and the implicit message is that he's against the black-owned establishment and is deliberately driving away all the customers. Then in the last scene he brings in his wife and cute little kids, and they all order the cobbler. Turns out he really just liked Abe and Gloria's coffee.

Even though Jeff and Ginger were my favourites and had amazing chemistry, Homefront is one of the rare shows where all the characters were well-developed and interesting- Anne and Al (woohoo for mature-age love), Abe and Gloria, Ruth and Mike, Judy (Kelly Rutherford did a great job in the role). OK, Sarah and Robert weren't the greatest characters, but they were canned eventually.

Can't believe ABC axed this after only 2 series (and the second one was only made because TV Guide, Viewers for Quality TV, and the fans begged them). At least it lives on in the memory, unsullied by the shark-jumping desperation that mars longer-lived shows (ER, I'm looking at you.)

Eeeee!!! A Homefront thread! I loved this show so much when it was on the air. I've considered ordering that Goodlife station a la carte on my digital cable just for this show, but I've always talked myself out of it. I do miss seeing it though because I haven't since the unjust cancellation. Funny how it was axed by ABC (of course) for low ratings when it would be a hit today with the very same ratings because cable has sucked away so many viewers from the big networks.

Anyhow, this show definitely still has a special place in my heart and I really, really hope it gets released on DVD. You can go vote for it to be released at TV Shows on DVD. With some of the crap that's being put out on DVD I don't see why a great show like this with a good fanbase can't be released as well.

Remember the dance contest episode?? So fabulous! I wish I could remember all the details of the shows, but it's been 10 years. Wow, I'm getting old. :(

I love, love, love this show, I have all the episodes on tape! I have Homefront Marathons all the time.

Kyle Chandler has to be the most gorgeous man alive! My favorite episode is from season one "On The Rebound" it is the one after Jeff & Ginger do it & Jeff thinks it is a good idea if they start to date.

Kyle & Tammy had terrific chemistry.

Me too! I'd say about once a year I bust out with my tapes and just have a really good Homefront week. When are they going to release it on DVD? I see the other crap and some pretty obscure shows they release and cannot understand why Homefront isn't out yet.

I have all the episodes on tape too (with edits, unfortunately- screw you, TVland channel) but Homefront would make a fantastic DVD release. *runs off to vote at site huggybuff linked to* I can't imagine the rights would cost too much either- would a channel as obscure as Goodlife be paying top dollar for its shows?

Some of the actors from this show always remind me of Homefront when I see them elsewhere.

Ken Jenkins, Dr. Kelso on Scrubs. He is just so fantastic on Scrubs, it's like a version of Mr. Sloan on speed.

Jessica Steen, holy cow is there a show she hasn't guest-starred on? Check out her TVTome.com page. Just saw her the other week on Nip/Tuck!

Kyle Chandler (swoon), Early Edition...just...rocked.

Tammy Lauren, where art thou? Looks like the last time she worked was last year on Drew Carey.

Finally, John Slattery, who had a great turn as Dennis on Ed. I think that guy is just plain sexy.

/pining away for Homefront reruns

Tammy Lauren was Wanda Sykes sister-in-law & a series regular on Wanda's now defunct sitcom. I believe it was on this past TV season.

I also loved this show! I'm so happy to see a thread. My tapes got lost or taped over a long time ago so my collection is incomplete. They have released some crappy mid-90s series staring Jenifer Garner that didn't make it past 4 episodes on DVD, where the hell is Homefront? I still love that song at the beginning. I can't remember the title, but I can still sing it. I was only 10 or 11 when I watched it so I don't remember much. I have a question, how did the show get rid of Hank again? I know he and his skank wife weren't really around for the second season.

Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive.

Oh! My heart leaped when I saw this Homefront thread! Like all of you, my affection for this show is great. First, let me get my gushing out of the way: the post-war atmosphere-- the fashion, sets, lingo, cars, everything-- was pitch-perfect. The cast was beautiful and talented. The stories were the perfect combination of smart and sudsy soap opera. Sigh.

In particular, I think Homefront did a great job of building natural, realistic relationships between characters-- Jeff and Ginger, Anne and Al, Judy Owen and Mike Sloan. I especially liked the relationship that developed between Charlie and Gina. And you believed that the married couples-- the Sloans and Abe and Gloria-- fit together and had a history.


TVLand had a weekend marathon (which I missed) and then showed HF in the early afternoons for a couple months. I don't have The Good Life net but I like the idea that others have suggested that it would fit on Hallmark, since I do have that...


I did a term paper on Homefront a couple of years ago and in my background research (there's some really good Homefront sites that are around that I will try to find and link to) and ABC's official reason for cancelling the show was "low ratings." Which is fine, except shows like The Commish and Civil Wars had ratings on par or lower than Homefront and remained on the air. Some cynics (or realists, if you prefer) think that because HF was owned by Lorimar and ABC saw little of the profits, especially after its initial run they were quick to give it the ax. Other shows were owned by ABC Productions or part of commitments that the network had to producers (namely, Stephen Bochko) and so they kept them on. HF actually was the #1 show among women 18-49 despite getting the shaft in the scheduling department-- its day and time changed about 5 or 6 times and was pre-empted for Matlock movies, Ross Perot speeches and specials about the Branch-Davidian fiasco.


From your lips to TPTB's ears.

ETA: First, the link Homefront, which links to many other good sites. The best one is no longer around, which is terrible because that was big help with my research. Also: Has anyone else seen the airline commercial with Abe Davis in it? He's going to meet his daughter's fiancee and can't remember his name. Its cute. Last year on The O.C., Luke's dad's boyfriend was played by none other than the same actor who played Arthur Schillab, Ginger's fiancee/Jeff's teammate. Naturally, I shrieked, "Omigod! Luke's dad is kissing Arthur Schillab!" And naturally, not a one person knew what I was talking about. (Not enough people know this show, which is why it must be on DVD! Here's a site devoted exclusively to getting HF on DVD with an online petition and form letter and contact info to send to Warner Home Video.)

This thread makes me so happy. I love this show. I was so mad when ABC cancelled it. It premeired my first year of college and we used to have big group viewings every week.

[q]My favorite episode is from season one "On The Rebound" it is the one after Jeff & Ginger do it & Jeff thinks it is a good idea if they start to date.[/q] This is also my favorite episode. I've watched it so many times.

Me too! She was so sweet it makes me wonder whatever happened to that actress. That reminds me, I had a little crush on Charlie (Harry O'Reilly?) and was so sad when I saw him in a bit part in Starsky and Hutch. He was in the shower scene at the police station where Ben Stiller was wearing the tiny towel. Anyhow, he looked as if 15 years had passed--and not in a good way. Now I need the show to come out on DVD just to wipe that sight from my brain and replace it with pretty Charlie.

Gasp! The other day I thought: I wonder if there's a "Homefront" thread on TWoP. I don't why I doubted it! I LOVED this show growing up. I don't have GoodLife (stoopid Starpower cable), but I've drafted my sister into taping it for me each week. And it's just how I remembered the show to be: awesome.
How fortunate for me she started taping around my favorite episode: "Man, This Joint Is Jumping" (aka: the one with the dance contest)! Jeff and Ginger are still one of my favorite TV couples.

This show? Needs to be on DVD. Now.

Ah, "Homefront". One of the best shows of the 1990s.

I so wanted Mr. Sloan (that was the rich guy, right? been a long time) to wind up with Kelly Rutherford.

My mom recently found some old tapes that we taped Homefront on! I don't know what episodes we got, but I can't wait to watch it! I loved this show. It came on when I was a kid and I still haven't forgotten it. I loved Jeff and Ginger. My favorite episode was when they were bitter bitches because Hank and (I forgot her name) were getting married. And Charlie and his whore bride were happy. Kyle Chandler was such a cutie. (he still is). They show reruns on some random premium cable tv station that almost no one gets. It's a little frustrating.

How wonderful to see Homefront love here on TWoP! This is definitely one of my favorite shows (I just hopped over to the provided link to vote that it should be put on DVD). One of my favorite parts about it was that almost everyone, with the general exception of Charlie's British war bride, had their decent sides. The Sloane's weren't usually nice people, but they'd clearly loved their son, and at times they did the right thing... I still worried considerably when it looked like they might break up. Charlie was a schmuck to have broken Ginger's heart by marrying someone else overseas, but he clearly felt bad about it, and she ended up with Jeff which made everything more than okay. And then, when it became so clear he belonged with Gina, that was wonderful too.

And yeah, I found Al Kahn majorly sexy.

Way to go, whoever started this thread!

I absolutely adored "Homefront." I don't think that I was anywhere near the intended audience at the time since I was still a teenager, but it will always be one of the best shows ever on television. I know I still have some episodes on tape. Ah, the memories.

Hank Metcalf (David Newsom can make as many subpar sitcoms as he likes, but he'll always be Hank to me...) was on 24 last week. Now, I was never much of a Hank fan, what with him being all bitter and anti-union and all, but I have to say that he was looking quite good, especially considering HF was nearly 15 years ago. It was a crazy nexus of the Kyle Chandler universe, too, because most of his scenes were with William Devane, Chandler's dad on Early Edition. Anyways, I was entirely too excited and nearly acted out that last scene when Sarah dies just as Jeff gets to the hospital and Crazy Hank starts to emerge.

Just slightly OT, but with American Dreams on the verge of cancellation, its a little like losing Homefront again-- both awesome period shows with mega-talented ensemble casts and low ratings and NO network support. Not that I'm bitter all these years later or anything-- nope, not me. But I am late for my Cancelled Tv Shows-support group.

Miss Kubelik (cool name by the way!)- 15 years ago? Damn, that makes me feel old. Although like hannahjane I'm probably way below the target audience, I was 13 when the show aired here in Oz a decade ago (and had the scariest early-teenager crush on Kyle Chandler). Good to hear that David Newsom is still looking fine- he was dating Jessica Steen (who played Linda- his sister, ew!) as of a few years ago, but I don't know if they're still together.

It's a shame that Homefront was cancelled after only 2 short seasons, but at least we didn't get the descent into crappitude that befalls so many other shows. Both seasons were perfect; the show was only getting better when it was axed. Thankfully the producers tied up most of the loose ends in the finale-I would have gone insane if Jeff and Ginger didn't finally get back together.

If the show had gone on, apparently these were some of the storylines planned:
-Caroline's never-before mentioned husband was going to rock up from England
-Ruth and Mike Sloan were going to buy the TV/Radio station, WREQ
-Jeff and Ginger were to a "Burns and Allen"-style comedy duo on TV
-The Cleveland Indians would win the World Series in 1948 (or whatever year they won for real)

How bizarre is it that James Gammon played a Cleveland Indians coach both in this show and the "Major League" movies?

Miss Kubelik, I, too, had a Homefront moment the other day when I went to the movies. They showed the trailer Nicole Kidman's new flick "The Interpreter," and there in the first few seconds is Charlie Hailey as a security guard at the U.N. I think I gasped out loud and thought, "Charlie! Yay, he's working!"

Sigh. Poor American Dreams is going down just like Homefront. Why do I love doomed shows? They only break my heart...

Sticking my head in to say: I. miss. this. show!

Three comments:

1. The Cleveland Indians did indeed win the World Series in 1948. They have not won it since.

2. In 1998, I was in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain on overseas deployment. They had an episode of "Homefront" on some Saudi Arabian TV channel. Shocked the fuck out of me.

3. Some cable channel called "Goodlife TV" is running "Homefront", because it's on my TV right now. Unfortunately, Goodlife TV, which I'd never heard of before tonight, is a subscription channel, at least here.

Add me to the list of folks who loved this show.

One of my favorites was the one where one of the subplots had Abe's mother in the hospital for an operation. When they brought her out of recovery and into a semi-private room, the white woman already in there objected to sharing the room with a black woman. As I recall, Gloria went ballistic at the nurses, etc. (the mom was still out of it) and they ended up moving the other woman, not Abe's mom. Then, at the end, when Abe's mom woke up, she got all up in arms about having to share a room with a Japanese woman.

I've always like tghe women's clothes from this period (I was born in 1947, so I wouldn't have worn them but maybe I have some subconscious memories of my mom from then) and kind of wish that some of them would come back into style (not that I want to have to wear a hat, gloves, and heels all the time).

Any word on a dvd? I keep hoping!


gallium, we used to have 'Good Life', but our cable subscriber dropped it! :(

The only show really worth watching was 'Homefront' anyway..the rest was old 70's dreck (like the Jimmy Stewart Show--featuring DH own 'Wisteria Lane') and 'Combat'..which was really 60's dreck..

I have this channel on my digital cable and the picture looks like shit.

As far as a DVD goes, I've emailed Warner Bros. directly (they own the rights) and just got the form response saying they appreciate my input, blabbadee-blah. Last time I checked www.tvshowsondvd.com Homefront was ranked around 125th on the list of unreleased shows people want to see out on DVD. So if you haven't gotten over there to vote please do!

Thank you huggybuff, I had never heard of the site before, and I hopped right over there and registered so I could vote for Homefront (and a few other shows I'd love to see on dvd, as well)!

Hopefully enough people will do the same..also I think it is very important to leave a comment in the comment box, to let TPTB know how we feel about this program!

Hey, there's a cool blurb in the TV section of EW this week (Country Rebels) about the show. The only thing is that the writer says it's a show that no one remembers. I beg to differ! Me want DVDs...now.

Ok. From what I hear, a short-lived mid-90s sci-fi show is getting released on DVD. Some shows that didn't even last whole seasons are being released. What the hell is going on with Homefront? Also, why is Homefront shown on a channel that no one seems to have? I love this show soooo much and I really want to own it. Someone from the show needs to get really famous. That's how Signficant Others, some crappy mid-90s Jen Garner show, got released on DVD.

Yeah, I also get pissed off when I see the crappy shows that are being released on DVD. Knight Rider, OMG why? EW is obviously on the put Homefront out on DVD bandwagon. After they published the piece I mentioned in an earlier post, they also ran a letter from a reader a couple of weeks later saying that the show needs to come out on DVD.

I agree with you Amelie06, someone from the show needs to bust out huge in the business for the suits to see the profit in putting it out. Unfortunately, the actors have had more than 10 years to do it and the most famous one is Kyle Chandler, relatively speaking. Early Edition's not out on DVD, right?

Wasn't the nice older guy played by the same actor who is the incredibly nasty chief of staff on Scrubs? I think his name is Ken Jenkins, but the fact that I'm not sure probably proves the point of him not being very well known.

I've always figured the big problem with Homefront (as well as another acclaimed WB property, China Beach) was music rights. I know it gets expensive and sometimes sets end up replacing music instead of using the original. Didn't American Dreams cost more than usual because of the music? I would so pay extra to finally have Homefront on DVD. It was one of my most favorite shows at the time and after watching the marathon a few years ago on TV Land and then my tapes again within the last year or two, it still holds up really well.

Yes, iMissEthan, that's Ken Jenkins.

There are quite a few actors from the show who are working/have worked since Homefront, but I just meant that none of them have attained that Jennifer Garner-type of marketable status in the industry.

Good point on the music rights JenMD, although, are rights to songs from the 30s and 40s just as expensive to get as more contemporary music?