The Winner (TV series)

The Winner
The Winner title screen
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Ricky Blitt
Starring	Rob Corddry, Erinn Hayes, Keir Gilchrist, Linda Hart, and Lenny Clarke
Theme music composer	Walter Murphy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producers	Ricky Blitt and Seth MacFarlane
Running time	Approx. 22 minutes
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	March 4, 2007 – March 18, 2007

The Winner was an American television series that premiered on FOX on March 4, 2007. It is a comedy about a successful man named Glen Abbott (played by Rob Corddry) looking back to the time when he was in his thirties and living with his parents.

Other cast members include Erinn Hayes as Alison, Keir Gilchrist as Alison's son Josh, Lenny Clarke as Glen's father Ron, and Linda Hart as Glen's mother Irene.

All episodes of The Winner are currently available on MySpace, iTunes, and Amazon Unbox , even before they air.

The Winner is produced by Ricky Blitt and Seth MacFarlane who are also producers of Family Guy.

The working title of this series was Becoming Glen. A pilot was made for FOX in 2002 starring Johnny Galecki as Glen. It also starred Samantha Mathis, Gerald McRaney, and Sally Struthers. The pilot was not picked up. However, the resurgence of Family Guy and the success of The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005 helped Blitt get a chance at making another pilot.

On May 16, 2007, the series was officially canceled.[1]

At Family Guy Live in Montreal, QC on July 21, 2007, Seth was asked the question if The Winner would be brought back to television. Seth MacFarlane was only able to answer that he may be in talks with Fox to bring the show back.^[2]

Characters

Glen Abbot: A successful man who looks back at when he was 31 and living with his parents. He had only just lost his virginity at 31 to his former English teacher. He also was trying to date his neighbor, Aliceson McKeller, and made friends with her son, Josh McKeller.

Ron Abbot: The disappointed father of Glen Abbot and unhappy husband of Irene Abbot. His personality is comparable to Frank Barone of Everybody Loves Raymond or Frank Costanza of Seinfeld although to a lesser degree.

Josh McKeller: The son of Alison McKeller and friend of Glen Abbot. Glen and Josh are friends separated by several years of age leading to an unexepected friendship. Glen usually helps Josh with his relationship problems.

Irene Abbot: The loving mother of Glen. She appears to be much more supportive of Glen than her husband, Ron Abbot, and is usually willing to help with dilemmas.

Alison McKeller: The mother of Josh and friend of Glen. Glen's exploits usually involve to maintain a relationship with her sometimes with Josh's help.

U.S. television ratings

Standard ratings

Weekly rankings based on Fast National ratings.

#	Episode	Air Date	Timeslot (EST)	Season	Rating	Share	18–49	Viewers	Rank
1	"Becoming Glen"	March 4, 2007	Sunday 8:30PM	2006–2007	4.3	7	3.5	6.39	# 51
2	"The Single Dates"	March 4, 2007	Sunday 9:30PM	2006–2007	4.8 *	7	3.1	5.56	# 71
3	"Broken Home"	March 11, 2007	Sunday 8:30PM	2006–2007	4.1	6	3.4	TBA	TBA
4	"What Happens in Albany, Stays in Albany"	March 11, 2007	Sunday 9:30PM	2006–2007	3.6	6	2.9	TBA	TBA
5	"Glen's New Friend"	March 18, 2007	Sunday 8:30PM	2006–2007	3.6	6	2.7	5.55	# 72
6	"Hot for Teacher"	March 18, 2007	Sunday 9:30PM	2006–2007	3.5	5	2.5	5.14	# 79

* Represents the average rating for Fox in the 9pm hour (which The Winner shared with Family Guy)

Key: Rating is the estimated percentage of all TVs tuned to the show, share is the percentage of all TVs in use that are tuned in. Viewers is the estimated number of actual people watching, in millions, while ranking is the approximate ranking of the show against all prime-time TV shows for the week (Monday through the following Sunday).

Episodes

The following is a list of The Winner episodes.

Season 1: 2007

#	Title	Airdate	Code
1	"Becoming Glen"	March 4, 2007	1AMA79
In the magical summer of 94, Bill Clinton was President, Snoop Dogg was climbing the charts, Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee and 32-year-old Glen Abbott was still living with his parents when the only girl he ever kissed, Alison McKellar, returned to town with her 14-year-old son Josh. The recently divorced Alison inspires Glen to become a grown-up to win her heart. Glen and Josh become fast friends and end up on a double date with Alison and Josh's dream girl.
2	"The Single Dates"	March 4, 2007	1AMA01
When Alison invites Glen over for dinner, Glen is elated until a co-worker convinces him that divorcees have urges and he will be expected to "put out." Embarrassed by his lack of a sexual past and fearful it will drive the love of his life away, Glen decides to visit a "massage parlor" to get a quick tutorial before his date with Alison.
3	"Broken Home"	March 11, 2007	1AMA02
With Glen spending more and more time away from home, his parents' marriage starts to unravel. Glen finds comfort in his new surrogate family his dream girl Alison, her son, and her boyfriend. When it becomes obvious he's overstayed his welcome at Alison's, Glen decides to call his first-ever "family meeting" and get his parents to fall in love with each other all over again.
4	"What Happens in Albany, Stays in Albany"	March 11, 2007	1AMA03
When Alison is unable to accompany Josh on a weekend trip to the State Spelling Bee in Albany, she asks Glen to chaperon. Since no one knows them this far from home, Glen and Josh decide to reinvent themselves. Glen wears a toupee and becomes Lance Manley, a studly airline pilot, while Josh pretends to be a cocky multiple- spelling-bee champion.
5	"Glen's New Friend"	March 18, 2007	1AMA04
When Josh befriends a cool kid at school, Glen feels abandoned and replaced after he's left out of the fun. Meanwhile, Glen runs into trouble when he goes on a trip with a customer from the video store who mistakenly thinks he's gay.
6	"Hot for Teacher"	March 18, 2007	1AMA05
When Glen poses as Josh's "dad" for a parent-teacher conference, he comes face-to-face with his old homeroom teacher, Miss Burko, who ends up giving him a private, albeit very belated, lesson in love.

Trivia

• Before the show's airing, "Late Night with Stewie and Brian", a Family Guy Webisode, was uploaded on MySpace to promote the show.

• On the night of the shows premiere Seth Green ironically stated that now that he's seen the finished product that it may go past six episodes which, as it happens, did not.

External links

• The Winner at IMDb
• The Winner at TV.com
• The Winner at The Futon Critic