The Big Picture
- Suzanne Somers, known for her role in Three’s Company, had a successful career in Hollywood but faced a decline in her career outside of her famous Thighmaster ads.
- Step by Step was a popular family sitcom in the 90s, starring Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers, but the show’s success relied heavily on the diverse personalities of the kids in the cast.
- The addition of the character Cody added comedic value to Step by Step, but his absence after Season 5 and the introduction of baby Lily signified a decline in the show’s popularity and eventual cancellation.
On October 15, the entertainment world mourned when Suzanne Somers passed away at the age of 76. Somers had been a major name in Hollywood for half a century, ever since her small but attention-getting role as Blonde in T-Bird in George Lucas‘ American Graffiti in 1973. It was four years later, of course, that she would become a household name, thanks to playing Chrissy Snow in Three’s Company. She was one of the popular blonde bombshells of the decade, but after being fired during the series’ run over her fight for equal pay, Somers’ career declined, outside of those famous Thighmaster ads that were all over TV.
In 1991, another TV series came calling her name, as well as the name of another famous TV actor, Patrick Duffy, who had shot to stardom in Dallas. Now they would headline a family sitcom, playing a just married mother and father who then bring their families together. The series was called Step by Step, and it quickly became a staple of ABC’s Friday Night TGIF lineup. Though it lasted seven seasons, it wasn’t among the most popular series of the decade. Heck, it wasn’t even the most popular show on Friday nights. That went to Family Matters and the antics of Steve Urkel (Jaleel White). But if you’re a 90s kid, Step by Step changed your life.
Who Starred in ‘Step by Step’?
Family Matters began as a spinoff of Perfect Strangers, with Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton) playing an elevator operator on the popular series, which was also part of the early TGIF lineup. Step by Step wasn’t a spinoff, but it worked right out of the gate by feeling so familiar. Audiences already knew and loved Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers. They might be playing characters who were different from their Dallas and Three’s Company days, but it was easy for them to slide into these new roles, and for us to accept them. The actors playing them were popular enough that we could see past their famous roles and imagine them as someone else. They were familiar ideas after all. Step by Step wasn’t revolutionary — it was your typical light sitcom with a laugh track where the family bickers, only to learn a lesson and come together at the end.
They may have been the names that got people to watch in the beginning, but Step by Step wasn’t the Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers show. They could pull in the older demographic, but there was also a younger demographic to be found in the actors who played their kids. None of the kids were as famous as the big names who played their parents, but still, there were known and established faces, like Staci Keanan. On Step by Step she played Carol’s uptight daughter Dana, but before that she was a lead in the NBC series My Two Dads. Brandon Call played Frank’s cocky son J.T., but many had already seen him on the soap opera Santa Barbara, the first season of Baywatch, and alongside Rutger Hauer in the film Blind Fury. Patrick Duffy also wasn’t the only Dallas alum. His not-so-bright nephew, Cody, was played by Sasha Mitchell, who had also been on Dallas as well. With a cast of big name middle-aged actors and young established kids, Step by Step was a sitcom for everyone.
Why Was ‘Step by Step’ One of the Best 90s Sitcoms?
It didn’t take long for Family Matters to fall into a trap that both helped and hindered them. When Steve Urkel arrived during the first season, he was only meant to be a one-time character, however, audiences loved him so much that he quickly became the star of the show. Family Matters was the Steve Urkel show. There might have been other lovable characters, but everything revolved around Urkel. When other characters were on their own without him, it felt like a different series. As the seasons went on, everything somehow had to lead back to Urkel.
Step by Step could’ve easily fallen into that same trap. It would have been understandable to have Duffy and Somers hog the limelight — but that didn’t happen. They’re arguably the most uninteresting characters, but that’s not a criticism. Duffy and Somers are great as Frank and Carol. Frank is your typical everyman in his flannel shirt and jeans. He’s a contractor who likes his sports like many men. Carol isn’t the doting housewife though. She owns her own business, a salon that starts out in the garage and ends up with its own location. They’re your typical sitcom couple. Frank is forgetful and makes mistakes, but he and Carol, who we first meet right after they get married after having dated for days, truly love and desire each other.
It’s the kids who steal the show, without making it about them, simply by being so diverse in their personalities. Frank’s kids are common folk, the type who live dirty in the first episode. There’s J.T., the tomboy Al (Christine Lakin), and Brendan (Josh Byrne), who is pretty chill about everything. Carol’s kids are more well-to-do and wound tight. Besides Dana, there’s the self-obsessed Karen (Angela Watson) and the nerdy Mark (Christopher Castile). Put these differing tropes together, and it made for some great clashes, especially between J.T. and Dana, who are disgusted by each other. Still, they grow to love each other and stand up for each other. They might fight, but like any good sitcom, they hug it out by the end credits.
Why Was ‘Step by Step’ Canceled?
One character who could’ve overtaken Step by Step was Cody. He’s not quite a kid anymore, though he acts just like one. Cody shows up in Season 1 as a small, but over-the-top character just like Urkel. Cody is if you took Keanu Reeves out of a Bill & Ted movie and put him in a TV show. He’s an idiot, but a funny and lovable one. He often gets the biggest laughs, but Step by Step doesn’t revolve around him. That was a good thing, as Sasha Mitchell ended up getting fired after Season 5 following a domestic abuse incident.
Step by Step went on without him, but the writing was on the wall that it was on the decline. Cody might not have been the show, but he was still an integral part of it, and his absence was deeply felt. Then there was the addition of baby Lily (Emily Mae Young). Anytime an aging sitcom adds a cute little toddler, consider it an act of desperation. Frank and Carol end up having their own daughter, but while Lily starts out as a baby in the fourth season, she quickly and hilariously becomes a five-year-old just a season later.
With all the kids becoming teenagers and young adults, the cuteness factor was wearing off as well. By the seventh season, as ratings declined, Step by Step moved to CBS for one more season. Was it as good at the end as it was in the beginning, no, but it’s also not a series that was a shell of itself either. It was still sweet and funny, and as it came to a close, Suzanne Somers had shown over and over again why she still deserved that equal pay she’d fought for so long before.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
