Maniac Mansion was a fun live-action science-fiction TV sit-com that ran from 1990 to 1993 for three seasons with 66 episodes on America’s Family Channel and YTV in Canada. It was loosely based upon the LucasArts video game of the same name. The episode airdates listed below are from the series’ telecast on the American cable network The Family Channel, where Maniac Mansion aired on Sundays. Sadly, there is no current home video release for the series and only two episodes were previously released on VHS (see Season 1 on Home Video at the end of the Season 1 section below).
MANIAC MANSION
SEASON 1 (1990-1991) [22 episodes] #1-22
Starring
JOE FLAHERTY – Fred Edison
DEBORAH THEAKER – Casey Edison
KATHLEEN ROBERTSON – Tina Edison
AVI PHILLIPS – Ike Edison
GEORGE BUZA – Turner Edison
MARY CHARLOTTE WILCOX – Idella Muckle-Orca
and
JOHN HEMPHIL
as
Harry the Fly
(Harry Orca)
Series created by
EUGENE LEVY
and
MICHAEL SHORT
JOHN HEMPHILL
PAUL FLAHERTY
based on an original computer game by
LUCASFILM GAMES
developed for television by
CLIFF RUBY & ELANA LESSER
and
BOB CARRAU
Supervising producer
SEATON McLEAN
MICHAEL SHORT
producer
JAMIE PAUL ROCK
#1 (1) “The 10th Anniversary Special” (September 1990)
The Series premiere:
#2 (2) “Flystruck” ()
#3 (3) “Trapped Like Rats” ()
#4 (4) “Love Thy Neighbor” ()
#5 (5) “Fred’s A-Courtin’ “ ()
#6 (6) “The Sandman Cometh” ()
#7 (7) “Good On Ya” ()
#8 (8) “Bring Me Harry Orca” ()
#9 (9) “Dad’s Bummed Out” ()
#10 () “Webs, the Really Tangled Kind” ()
#11 (11) “National Security Risk” ()
#12 (12) “A Little Old Time Jazz” ()
#13 (13) “Hawaii Blues” ()
#14 (14) “Good Cheer On Ya” ()
#15 (15) “Brainiac Mansion” ()
#16 (16) “Little Big Fly” ()
#17 (17) “Money Dearest” ()
#18 (18) “Turner: The Boss” ()
#19 (19) “The Case of the Broken Record” ()
#20 (20) “The Live Show” ()
#21 (21) “Tina’s Excellent Adventure” ()
#22 (22) “The Cliffhanger” (March 17, 1991)
The Season 1 finale:
Season 1 on Home Video: The only previous (to 2015) video release of any Maniac Mansion episodes has so far been a single two-episode theme VHS video tape: Maniac Mansion: The Love Collection (1992), which contained the episodes “Flystruck” (episode #2) and “Fred’s A-Courtin'” (ep. #4).
SEASON 2 (1991-1992) [22 episodes] #23-44
#23 (1) “Luck Be a Lady This Season” (September 1, 1991)
The Season 2 premiere:
#24 (2) “The New Look” (September 8, 1991)
#25 (3) “Late night Harry” (September 15, 1991)
#26 (4) “Turner: The Rebellious Years” (September 22, 1991)
#27 (5) “Man and Machine” (September 29, 1991)
#28 (6) “Driving Ms. Idella” (October 6, 1991)
#29 (7) “The Celebrity Visitor” (October 13, 1991)
#30 (8) “The Attack of the Killer Keifer” (October 20, 1991)
#31 (9) “Lenny… One Amour Time” (October 27, 1991)
#32 (10) “Lenny… One Amour Time” (Part 2)” (November 3, 1991)
#33 (11) “Ugly Like Me” (November 10, 1991)
#34 (12) “A Hatful of Brain” (December 1, 1991)
#35 (13) “Buried By the Mob” (December 8, 1991)
#36(14) “Misery Loves Company” (January 5, 1992)
#37 (15) “Down & Out in Cedar Springs” (January 12, 1992)
#38 (16) “Ike’s Got It Bad… Real Bad” (January 26, 1992)
#39 (17) “Turnerator Too” (March 1, 1992)
#40 (18) “Baby Heat” (March 8, 1992)
Note: This episode was also aired on Saturday, January 16, 1993 as part of the Lifetime cable network’s CableACE Awards Weekend special presentation. The song from this episode, “Baby Rap”, which was performed by the Toronto, Ontario Canada rap group Top Secret was nominated for Best Original Song (it lost out to the Nickelodeon series Roundhouse). Maniac Mansion did, however, win the CableACE Award for Best Direction of Photography and/or Lighting in a Comedy or Drama series for Ray Brounstein, Series Director of Photography.
#41 (19) “Streetcar Named Idella” (March 15, 1992)
#42 (20) “Turner’s Imaginary Friend” (March 22, 1992)
#43 (21) “Idella’s Breakdown” (March 29, 1992)
#44 (22) “Sophisticated Lady” (April 12, 1992)
The Season 2 finale:
SEASON 3 (1992-1993) [22 episodes] #45-66
#45 (1) “The Long Hot Mansion” (October 4, 1992)
The Season 3 premiere:
#46 (2) “Raging Lenny” (October 11, 1992)
#47 (3) “College Days” (October 18, 1992)
#48 (4) “The Prince’s Broad” (October 25, 1992)
#49 (5) “Ike’s Black Eye” (November 1, 1992)
#50 (6) “Science is Only Skin Deep” (November 8, 1992)
#51 (7) “Ike’s New Buddy” (November 29, 1992)
#52 (8) “As the Worm Turns” (December 6, 1992)
#53 (9) “Cape Scary” (December 13, 1992)
#54 (10 ) “Wrestling with the Truth” (January 3, 1993)
#55 (11) “The Science Project” (January 10, 1993)
#56 (12) “Love: Turner Style” (January 17, 1993)
#57 (13) “Atoms Gone Wild” (February 7, 1993)
#58 (14) “Walter Under the Bridge” (February 14, 1993)
#59 (15) “Tina and the Teardrops” (February 21, 1993)
#60 (16) “Ike for President” (February 28, 1993)
#61 (17) “Freddie Had a Little Lamb” (March 7, 1993)
#62 (18) “Idella’s New Career” (March 14, 1993)
#63 (19) “Love Letters” (March 21, 1993)
#64 (20) “It Ain’t Over Til Uncle Joe Sings“ (March 28, 1993)
#65 (21) “Uncle Harry Ain’t Feeling So Good” (April 18, 1993)
#66 (22) “The Way We Was” (April 25, 1993)
The Series finale:
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