BAD NEWS BEARS

Show Type: Sitcom

First Telecast: March 24, 1979

Last Telecast: July 26, 1980

Broadcast History:

March 1979-September 1979, Saturday 8:00-8:30 on CBS

September 1979-October 1979, Saturday 8:30-9:00 on CBS

June 1980, Saturday 8:00-8:30 on CBS

July 1980, Saturday 8:30-9:00 on CBS

Cast

Morris Buttermaker..... Jack Warden

Dr. Emily Rappant..... Catherine Hicks

Roy Turner..... Phillip R. Allen

Leslie Ogilvie..... Sparky Marcus

Tanner Boyle..... Meeno Peluce

Rudi Stein..... Billy Jacoby

Regi Tower..... Corey Feldman

Timmy Lupus..... Shane Butterworth

Ahmad Abdul Rahim..... Christoff St. John

Mike Engelberg..... J. Brennan Smith

Miguel Agilar..... Charles Nunez

Jose Agilar..... Danny Nunez

Amanda Whirlitzer..... Tricia Cast

Frosty..... Bill Lazarus

Kelly Leek..... Gregg Forrest

Josh Matthews..... Rad Daly

SYNOPSIS

Former minor-league baseball player Morris Buttermaker was trying to make a living as a swimming pool cleaner, but his temper got him another part-time job. When one of his clients refused to pay him, Morris drove the client's car into the pool. Dragged into court, he was given the alternative of "volunteering" to coach the baseball team at Hoover Junior High or going to jail. He chose baseball, but soon found that jail might have been more rewarding - the Hoover Bears were as sorry a pack of youthful misfits and bumblers as could be found anywhere. It was a miracle that he managed to get them to accomplish anything.

Dr. Emily Rappant was Hoover's principal, Roy Turner, the coach of the hated rival Lions, and Amanda Whirlitzer, the Bears' star pitcher. Morris had dated Amanda's mother at one time and Amanda was always looking for ways to get them back together. The only member of the Bears who was not on the team when the series premiered was Josh Matthews, who transferred to Hoover in the fall of 1979.

Based on the 1976 motion picture, The Bad News Bears, starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal. Two sequels to the theatrical movie, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, were released prior to the start of the television series.

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