What
happened between Homefront‘s first
and second seasons?
Nearly every television series undergoes
major or minor tweaks in between seasons (introducing new cast members, sets,
ongoing plots, etc.) in order to keep the show fresh. Considering that Homefront was
renewed for a second season only by the skin of its teeth, it seems probable
that the series’ writers/producers felt great pressure – either from ABC or
from themselves – to make substantial changes that might improve its ratings
during its second season. Below is some
speculation on decisions made between Homefront’s
first and second seasons.
·
Did the writers/producers not know that Homefront was renewed for a second season until after the
first-season finale aired? Given that the first season’s final episode
aired while Dear Abby’s and TV Guide’s
campaigns to save the series were still in overdrive, it seems likely that the
season ender was written in part as a possible series finale in the event Homefront were cancelled. After all, just like the real series finale
(“All Good Things”) at the end of the second season, this episode (“Songs
Unsung Are The Sweetest”) features a lot of big decisions and happy resolutions
(Anne and Al marry, Charlie leaves Caroline, the Davises finally open their
restaurant, Hank seems to be making peace with himself) and a few provocative
loose ends (Will Jeff and Ginger be able to wait until they’re married? Will Charlie choose Judy or Gina?) just in
case the show returns. And like “All
Good Things,” this episode features scenes and themes that echo the pilot
episode, including Jeff and Hank (in uniform) returning to Kirtland Hill for
another dramatic confrontation and the reopening of Rupert’s, which Hank
learned had closed in “S.N.A.F.U.”
·
Out with the old and in with youth? In a 1993 interview, Mimi Kennedy claimed that a “partly
network-inspired, partly producer-initiated” decision was made to emphasize the
younger cast members during the second season.
This might have seemed a logical step for survival, as other prime-time
soap opera-style series such as 90210 and
·
Was the decision not made to make Judy a full-fledged cast member
until the summer? True, Judy had already appeared in the final
four episodes of the first season, but she had not yet been featured in the
opening credits along with the other regular cast. Moreover, the writers don’t seem to know just what to do with her
during these four episodes besides provide commentary on the actions and
dialogue of the other characters. She
isn’t given her own storylines until the second season.
·
Was the decision to write out Hank made only after the first
season had ended? The
first season’s final episode seems to leave Hank’s fate open-ended, and his
last-minute attitude adjustment suggests that his character was at last on the
upswing. While Lynn Marie Latham
claimed Hank was written out because “we didn’t seem to generate…many stories
for Hank,” many Homefront egroup
members have suggested Hank and Judy could have become romantically
involved. This makes some sense, as
Judy’s arrival coincided with Sarah’s departure, and Judy and Hank may have
found solace in each other as widowers (Homefront egroup
·
Was the decision to write out Robert not made until the second
season began? The writers/producers could have easily used
Robert’s departure for