Two Guys and a Girl
| Two Guys and a Girl | |
|---|---|
| File:Season 1 Title Card.jpg Season 1 title card | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Danny Jacobson Kenny Schwartz Rick Wiener |
| Starring | Ryan Reynolds Richard Ruccolo Traylor Howard Nathan Fillion Suzanne Cryer Jillian Bach |
| Composers | Freddy Curci Tom Rizzo Mark Vogel |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 81 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Mark Ganzel Danny Jacobson Kenny Schwartz Marjorie Weitzman Rick Wiener |
| Producers | Donald R. Beck Vince Calandra Jan Siegelman |
| Cinematography | Julius Metoyer |
| Editors | Rick Blue John Neal |
| Running time | 20-22 min |
| Production companies | In Front Productions Fox Television Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 10, 1998 – May 16, 2001 |
Two Guys and a Girl (originally titled Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place) is an American sitcom created by Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. It ran on ABC for four seasons from 1998 to 2001. The series stars Ryan Reynolds, Traylor Howard and Richard Ruccolo as the primary characters. Season 2 saw the arrival of two recurring characters, Johnny Donnelly (Nathan Fillion) and Ashley Walker (Suzanne Cryer).
ABC bounced the sitcom from midweek to Friday night, leading to a steep drop in ratings. After the show moved back to Wednesday to try to revive the show's flagging support for a two-week trial, the plug was pulled. The show ended on May 16, 2001. The series finale was titled "The Internet Show", an hour-long episode in which the fans of the show voted on the outcome online. In the end, they chose to have Ashley become pregnant with Pete's child, as opposed to either of the other two female characters, or nobody, becoming pregnant.
Overview
Based on the lives of Pete Dunville, Michael Bergen and Sharon Carter, the show was originally based on the life of its creator. The fictional "Beacon Street Pizza" is based on a real pizza restaurant named Theo's Pizza in Teele Square, Somerville, Massachusetts. It was where show creator Kenny Schwartz worked delivering pizzas while attending nearby Tufts University. The show was set in Boston and filmed at CBS Studio Center, in Studio City, Los Angeles, California.
The lives and loves of three close friends - Pete, a neurotic architecture student, Berg, the laid-back pre-med, and Sharon, a tough girl with a soft center. Pete and Berg are roommates and students at a local Boston university, while Sharon struggles with her work and relationships.
The series stars Ryan Reynolds as Michael Leslie "Berg" Bergen, and Richard Ruccolo as Peter "Pete" Dunville. The titular Two Guys were joined by Traylor Howard, who played Sharon Carter (later Carter-Donnelly). For the first two seasons, the series centered around the lives of Berg, an aimless graduate student, who was working at a Boston pizza parlor, Beacon Street Pizza, with Pete. They both attended graduate school together at Tufts University, unlike their college roommate, Sharon, who worked as the spokesperson (or apologist) for Immaculate Chemicals.
The format of the initial season varied considerably from that of subsequent seasons. The first season featured Jennifer Westfeldt, appearing as Melissa, Pete's girlfriend, and David Ogden Stiers as Mr. Bauer, an delusional old man who frequented the pizza place, pretending that experiences from films were his own. The second season abandoned these two characters, and focused more on the interplay between Pete and Berg, and their relationship with Sharon, who lived in the apartment above them. Berg eventually decided to attend medical school and become a doctor, while Pete dropped out of architecture classes to become a career counselor. The second season also introduced Johnny (Nathan Fillion), a jukebox repairman who started dating Sharon, and Ashley (Suzanne Cryer), a medical school classmate of Berg's who competed with him to be at the top of the class.
By season three, the pizza place had been abandoned entirely (hence the change in the show's title at this time), and Berg began his medical residency. Pete became a Vice President of a cosmetics company, and then a firefighter. Johnny and Sharon married and became the superintendents of the apartment building they lived in. Berg would go on to date Irene (Jillian Bach), the eccentric roommate across the hall, and Pete began dating a fellow firefighter named Marti (Tiffani Thiessen).
Main characters
- Michael Eugene Leslie "Berg" Bergen (1998–2001) Played by Ryan Reynolds. Berg was the ditzy pretty boy who always managed to create chaos in the lives of his best friends, particularly Pete. While in college, he has difficulty settling on what he wants to do in life. Eventually he decides on becoming a doctor, where he meets Ashley, a worthy competitor at medical school. They begin a relationship, but he eventually breaks it off with her, due to her inability to reciprocate his feelings. Near the end of the show, he and Irene, Pete's former stalker, form a relationship.
- Peter "Pete" Dunville (1998–2001) Played by Richard Ruccolo. Pete is often frantic and worried over what may occur with his professional and romantic life. Early in the show, he is conflicted with what he wants to do in life. He switches from his dreams of becoming an architect to becoming a fire fighter. He holds a very brief romance with Sharon. Later, near the end of the show he begins a lust-based relationship with Berg's ex-girlfriend, Ashley.
- Sharon Carter-Donnelly (1998–2001) Played by Traylor Howard. Sharon is a complex woman who, strangely, manages to fit in with her best friends Pete and Berg. She is known for her confidence, yet inability to commit to relationships. Eventually, she manages to move past her fears and marries her boyfriend Johnny Donnelly.
- Johnny Donnelly (1999–2001) Played by Nathan Fillion. Johnny arrived in the second season as a jukebox repair man with eyes for Sharon. He and Sharon began dating with the occasional break-up due to Johnny's long-time friend Shaun, an attractive female who often got in the way of their relationship. The couple marry during the third season finale. Johnny's role as the super is embellished when he decides to become a fireman, against Sharon's wishes. Eventually, Sharon and Johnny decide that they're ready for children, as seen in the series finale.
- Ashley Walker (1999–2001) Played by Suzanne Cryer. Ashley also didn't arrive until the second season where she constantly rejected Berg, hoping to keep her long distance relationship with Justin (Jon Cryer) fresh. Ashley has hopes of becoming a doctor, which is where her and Berg meet. They become worthy competitors at the hospital and eventually start dating until Berg calls it off. At the end of the fourth season, she starts a sexual relationship with Pete and becomes pregnant in the series finale. This shocked viewers as they were unable to know what Ashley would do with the baby due to the show's cancellation.
- Irene (1999–2001) Played by Jillian Bach. Irene arrives mid-season during the second series where she is Pete's stalker. She continues stalking Pete until she forms a sexual relationship with Berg, whilst maintaining her love for Pete. Towards the end of the series, she and Berg start dating but nevertheless break-up due to Berg's other love interest, Katie Connor.
Recurring and minor characters
- Germ (2000–2001) Played by Giuseppe Andrews. Germ is the helper at Tufts Hospital who is recognized for his sluggish and premature attitude. He first appears in "Au Revoir Pizza Place", season 3 episode 2, but doesn't return until later on in the series where he becomes a close acquaintance of Pete, Berg, Sharon and Ashley.
- Bill (1998) Played by Julius Carry. Bill is the smart-mouth owner of Beacon Street Pizza. He only portrays his role during the first season.
- Mr. Bauer (1998) Played by David Ogden Stiers. Mr. Bauer hangs about the pizza place telling stories that are from movies which he claims to be his own experiences. The character of Mr. Bauer only occurred in the first season.
- Melissa (1998) Played by Jennifer Westfeldt. Melissa is Pete's love interest during the first season. She arrives numerous times after "Two Guys, a Girl and an Apartment", where she and Pete break-up, which suggests that the episodes aired in the wrong order.
- Kamen (1998–1999) Played by Maury Ginsberg. Kamen is thwarted by Berg in "Two Guys, a Girl and Someone Better" where Berg ruins his life, more or less. He then continues to get Berg back on random occasions throughout season 2.
- Marti (2000) Played by Tiffani Thiessen. Marti is another love interest of Pete's who continually sasses him at the fire station. She and Pete start dating, to Irene's dislike. She broke up with Pete during the fourth season for a baseball star.
Notable guest appearances
- Carmen Electra (1998) – Electra portrayed Isabella. She is the love interest of Pete and gets in the way of him and Berg. When Pete constantly feels he must dump on Melissa to go to 845 Arlington, Berg tries to stop him. ("Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Delivery")
- Jon Cryer (1999) – Cryer portrayed Justin, Ashley's long-distance boyfriend who moves to Boston to give the relationship a chance. Cryer only appeared in 1 episode. ("Two Guys, a Girl and Thanksgiving")
- Nomar Garciaparra (2000) – Played himself. He becomes a love interest of Ashley's until he falls for Pete's girlfriend Marti.
- Anthony Head (1999) – Head portrayed Dr. Staretski. He is a role model of Ashley's in the episode "Two Guys, a Girl and Mother's Day". Berg is surprised when he finds out that he paints nudes.
- Kathy Kinney (1998) – Kinny played Mimi from The Drew Carey Show on the episode "Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween". Her appearance is a short cameo role.
- Fred Willard (1998) – He played Frank Farber, who interviews Pete in "Two Guys, A Girl and a Vacation". He talks to Pete about a lot of personal things until Berg uses a Scottish accent to drive him away.
- Adam Carolla (1998) – Carolla appeared as himself from the talkshow Loveline. Pete constantly asks him for advice on dating and career issues when Pete becomes a limo driver in "Two Guys, a Girl and a Limo".
- Conchata Ferrell (1999) – Ferrell plays Shaun's mother in the episode "Two Guys, a Girl and Valentine's Day". She shows excitement when meeting Berg after discovering that he's a doctor.
- blink-182 (1999) – The band appeared in the third season where they played at the pizza place...naked. This showed reference to their latest single at the time, "What's My Age Again?". ("Au Revoir Pizza Place")
- Barenaked Ladies (1999) – The band made an appearance in "Two Guys, a Girl and Barenaked Ladies" where the group followed Pete around and sang about his current events.
Progression
Season 1
The series premiered on March 10, 1998 as Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. The episode entitled "The Pilot" was widely received by audiences around the country, having being watched by almost 18 million viewers. This allowed ABC to pick up the rest of the episodes to air mid-season.
The story of season 1 began around the premise of the pizza place. Characters such as Melissa (Jennifer Westfeldt) and Bill (Julius Carry) were credited as being the secondary cast members to Ryan Reynolds, Richard Ruccolo and Traylor Howard. Mr. Bauer, played by David Ogden Stiers, appeared around the pizza place, telling stories of his life events which have already occurred in movies. Berg (Reynolds) would test experimental drugs to help him and Pete pay the rent every month. Pete, played by Richard Ruccolo would continue to structure his life around architecture and managing to graduate grad school, whilst Sharon (Howard), the friend upstairs, would continue to work for an evil corporation who exploit the Earth's natural resources, much to her dislike. This was the basic structure of the first season and the episodes were built around this. The episodes followed storylines such as: Pete preparing for a presentation which Berg ruins; Berg stealing the Celtic's '84 championship banner; Sharon joining the softball team and the story of how they all met. Overall, season 1 had no storyline to link each episode together. This is also why ABC managed to air each episode in the incorrect order, as shown by the production codes.
Season 2
Season 2 followed more of a structural basis for each episode. First, we see the arrival of two more primary characters, Ashley Walker (Suzanne Cryer) and Johnny Donnelly (Nathan Fillion). The involvement of these characters allowed the show to be more structural than the first season, as well as the dismissal of characters Bill, Mr. Bauer and Pete's long-time girlfriend Melissa.
The series started with Berg's realization that someone in his class, Cryer, is cleverer than he is. This led to the anticipated romance between Berg and Ashley as they both headed down the path of becoming Physicians. Fillion's role as the jukebox repairman Johnny Donnelly lead to the relationship between him and character Sharon Carter (Howard). With more secondary characters (Irene, Kamen, Shaun) the show had the purpose to fill up a whole season of episodes, which it did. Other episodes of season 2 included: "Two Guys, a Girl and an Engagement", "Two Guys, a Girl and a Valentine's Day" and "Two Guys, a Girl and Ashley's Return" which all marked turning points in the story of the show. Johnny and Sharon broke up on Valentine's Day due to Sharon's jealousy of Shaun, Johnny's best friend. Berg and Ashley finally got together in "...And Ashley's Return" and Pete confesses his feelings towards Sharon and Johnny proposes in "...And an Engagement". The series ended with Sharon not giving Johnny an answer as well as her realizing that she may have feelings for Pete. This left the show at a cliffhanger after ABC had renewed the show for another season.
Season 3
The third season premiered in September, continuing the cliffhanger that occurred at the end of the second season. The pizza place had been completely abandoned so that the characters could pursue different dreams. Sharon answered Johnny's proposal with 'Yes, in theory', as she was still holding out on her feelings for Pete. Evidently, Pete flew to Paris after the night's events and returned completely over Sharon, with an ex-girlfriend. Berg and Ashley continued to build on their relationship and finally became doctors involved in Pysch rotations. The series followed their relationship as being unsteady and completely built on hate of one another. This led to Berg breaking up with Ashley during the middle of the season.
Ashley continued to live with Pete and Berg during the third season before moving into her own apartment, originally Sharon and Johnny's who and moved to the basement to become the new supers. She started dating Boston Red Sox baseball star Nomar Garciaparra, who appeared as himself for a couple of episodes. Pete finds his true calling by becoming a firefighter. He enjoys the experiences of becoming an honorary firefighter until the feisty Marti, played by Tiffani Thiessen, comes along to thwart him at every turn. The two continue to take shots at each other until she starts dating Berg, to Pete's dislike. Pete and Berg get into a huge fight concerning Marti and consider not being roommates anymore.
When Pete gets his acceptance letter to Fireman Boot Camp, he goes to Marti in open arms and they become an item. Pete continues to hate Berg throughout the course of the final episodes of the season. Sharon and Johnny continue to bicker at one another until Johnny calls off the wedding. When they get back together, they decided that a quickie wedding is the best idea. Irene, Pete's alleged stalker, agrees to throw Sharon and Johnny a wedding on the roof of the building. This resulted in her inviting Robert Goulet, who appeared earlier on in season in the episode "Out With the Old". Goulet conducted the ceremony and evidently brought Pete and Berg back together as friends during the wedding.
At the end of the two part episode, Pete and Marti leave to go to Fireman Boot Camp, Sharon and Johnny go on their honeymoon and Ashley leaves to go sort out a joke that Pete told Nomar, causing him and Ashley to break up. Berg and Irene are left alone at the wedding as every one leaves and start to dance. The series ends with a cliffhanger again as the audience believes that something will happen between Berg and Irene. The series was renewed for another season due to the 10.2 million average viewers this season.
Season 4
ABC moved the sitcom for mid-week to Friday due to the shows popularity and possibility of removing the Friday night curse. However, the move proved ineffective and the show's average viewers dropped from 10.2 to 6.7 million.
Season 4 continued the story arc from where Season 3 left off. Johnny and Sharon are married, Pete and Marti are now firefighters and Berg and Irene...are sleeping together. After Berg gets over being on academic probation, he continues to be Irene's "sex buddy". The two start sleeping together secretly, hoping that Pete especially won't find out.
Johnny remains to be the superintendent until Sharon makes him an honorary fireman for the day on his birthday. Johnny decides that he wants to be a fireman to Sharon's dislike. Meanwhile, Berg and Irene become a couple and Pete and Marti break up. She leaves Pete for Ashley's ex, Nomar. Sharon feels unfulfilled after leaving her evil corporate job and decides that she wants to be a lawyer. This would have lead to her being a lawyer in more depth rather than an assistant, but the plug was pulled mid-season.
When Berg tells Irene that he loves her and she has no reply, Berg goes out and meets someone else. Katie, the girl he meets, admits that she's been following him for 8 years. However, the two of them kiss and Berg tells Irene. Berg apologizes and Irene breaks up with him for the mailman Roger. In the final episode, Berg assumes that Irene may be pregnant and decides that he must win her back. The possibility of Irene, Sharon or Ashley being pregnant was tabulated online by the viewer's votes. The final episode saw Sharon and Johnny in a baby scare as well as Pete realizing that Ashley is pregnant with his baby. The series ended on a cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved, much to the viewer's dislike.
Series finale
The series finale was titled "The Internet Show", an hour-long episode in which the fans of the show voted on the outcome online. In the end, they chose to have Ashley become pregnant with Pete's child, as opposed to either of the other two female characters, or nobody, becoming pregnant.
The episode aired on May 16, 2001. It was written by Donald Beck and Vince Calandra and directed by Michael Lembeck. For the 2000-01 season finale, four different endings were filmed for viewers to vote online and decide which of the central female characters (Sharon, Ashley, or Irene) should become pregnant, while a fourth possible ending had no pregnancies at all. The plan was to have the pregnant one (which ultimately ended up being Ashley) give birth at the end of the proposed fifth season. However, a fifth season of the show never materialized; by the time the fourth season finale aired in May 2001, the show had just been cancelled because of low ratings. The episode was originally shown as a one hour episode split into two parts with "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?". .[1]
Sharon thinks she may be pregnant and Ashley realizes she could be too. She goes into denial, despite showing the symptoms but agrees to take a pregnancy test with Sharon. When Berg finds out from a news report that a glow in the dark condom he used was defective he thinks Irene could be pregnant. Not wanting to worry her, he tries to get a urine sample from her without telling her. Pete is still annoyed at Ashley for giving up on their relationship to go to Stanford.
Ratings
The show had strong ratings success during its run, peaking in season 2 and averaging an 12.0 million viewers. Its key adult 18-49 audience was prevalently female (55%). It was ranked #1 in its time period with Total Viewers, outperforming Beverly Hills, 90210, The Nanny and Dawson’s Creek. It was also #1 in its time period with key adults 18-49 and all male demos. Finally, it was the #3 sitcom on ABC with key Adults 18-34.[2].
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesday 8:30 P.M. (March 10, 1998 – July 22, 1998) | March 10, 1998 | July 22, 1998 | 1997–1998 | #43 [3] | 8.8 [3] |
| 2 | Wednesday 8:30 P.M. (September 23, 1998 – May 26, 1999) | September 23, 1998 | May 26, 1999 | 1998–1999 | #44 [4] | 12.0 [4] |
| 3 | Wednesday 8:30 P.M. (September 27, 1999 – April 26, 2000) | September 27, 1999 | April 26, 2000 | 1999–2000 | #57 [5] | 10.2 [5] |
| 4 | Friday 8:00 P.M. (October 26, 2000 – May 16, 2001) | October 26, 2000 | May 16, 2001 | 2000–2001 | #104 [6] [6] | 6.7 [6] [6] |
Production notes
Theme song and opening sequences
The title sequence for the first two years consisted of a short collection of images of the three, a few cartoon images of them drinking, and the title screen accompanied by an original composition. For the third season, the music and titles were changed to a more refined opening of the three in suits and dresses, dancing around a more generic piece of theme music. The first two seasons involved cartoons of the main characters a long with the cast eating pizza at the pizza place. This was alternated with a logo saying Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.
Seasons 3 and 4 showed Pete, Berg and Sharon dancing around in front of a plain, white backdrop. They are seen wearing suits and dresses and dancing a long to a more modern piece of music. The newly adapted logo, due to the show's name being changed, is seen overlaying the footage as the three dance and laugh in front of the backdrop.
The music for the series was composed by Freddy Curci, Tom Rizzo and Mark Vogel. The music for seasons 1 and 2 were numerous variations of the title theme. A prime example would be on "Two Guys, a Girl and a Vacation" where the cast members do a short rendition of "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys. Steel drums and Caribbean instruments were used to variate the title theme within the scenes of the episode.
In seasons 3 and 4, the music was more modern and used newer instruments to coincide with the new and improved title theme. The change of music and title sequences was due to the crew's decision to abandon the pizza place. By removing the pizza place from the series, the crew had to change the title. This meant that they would also have to change the opening sequence and the music.
Crew
Directors
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Writers
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Episodes
| Season | Episodes | First airdate | Last airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | March 10, 1998 | July 22, 1998 |
| 2 | 22 | September 23, 1998 | May 26, 1999 |
| 3 | 24 | September 27, 1999 | April 26, 2000 |
| 4 | 22 | October 6, 2000 | May 16, 2001 |
Reception
Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place was very successful during its run on ABC. The first series premiere entitled "The Pilot" was watched by 17.94 million viewers, preceding the second highest rated episode of The Drew Carey Show.[7] The episode was given a 15.61 Nielsen rating and won its 18-49 adult demographic. This was ABC's biggest opening since Spin City.[7]. The show continued to have success during the first few seasons but never reached the high rating of "The Pilot". On May 28, an episode known as "Two Guys, a Girl and How They Met" was given a 6.7 Nielsen rating [8], a big drop from the series premiere. The estimated number of viewers was roughly 7.69 million.
The episode "Two Guys, a Girl and a Guy" was given a 9.4 Nielsen rating and was watched by roughly 8 million viewers. This never reached the standards of "The Pilot" but still had a very successful rating. Episodes from the series had substantially high and low Nielsen ratings.[8]
The Friday night curse
In the fall of 2000, ABC tried to reverse the curse of Friday nights by putting some of its top-rated shows into a programming block aimed at older viewers. Network execs took Wednesday night ratings winners Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (at this point retitled Two Guys and a Girl) and The Norm Show (starring SNL alum Norm MacDonald), and paired them with Madigan Men and The Trouble with Normal. All four shows would be gone before the end of the season. Two Guys held on the longest, even moving back to Wednesdays on television life support for a two-week trial to see if it could be revived. The season finale, "The Internet Show", was filmed with four different endings, with fans voting online to decide which female character would get pregnant. But the fifth season baby was never born. The show was canceled before the online vote was tabulated. [9]
Syndication
After being canceled by ABC, the series reaired in syndication on WE: Women's Entertainment in the United States.
International broadcasting
| Region | TV Network(s) |
|---|---|
 United States |
WE: Women's Entertainment |
 United Kingdom |
Trouble (cancellation) LIVING (irregularly) Fiver (Feb 2010) |
 Australia |
Seven Network (Originally) Network Ten (2004) The Comedy Channel (2005 and 2006). Final Appearance on the 26th of February 2006. |
 Turkey |
CNBC-e (2004, 20007) Digiturk ComedyMax (re-runs) |
 New Zealand |
TV2 (Originally) SKY 1 (repeats) |
 India |
Star World (Originally) |
 Netherlands |
Veronica (Originally) |
 Estonia |
TV 6 |
 Norway |
TV 2 |
 Hungary |
Viasat 3 |
 Bulgaria |
Fox Life |
References
- ^ "Two Guys And A Girl The Series finale The Internet Show". TV.com. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating and demographic presentation". Retrieved December 24, 2009.
- ^ a b "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating 1997-1998". fbibler.chez.com. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
- ^ a b "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating 1999-1999". geocities.com. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
- ^ a b "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating 1999-2000". variety.com. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating 2000-2001". variety.com. Retrieved February 13, 2010. Cite error: The named reference "Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place rating 2000-2001" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating March 10th". mrpopculture.com. Retrieved December 23, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place Nielsen rating" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Nielsen rating May 28th". sfgate.com. Retrieved December 23, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place rating" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place Friday Night Curse". Retrieved December 24, 2009.
External links
