Big Day
Encyclopedia
Big Day, originally titled A Day in the Life, is an American situation comedy
that first aired on ABC
from November 28, 2006 to January 30, 2007. The series was co-produced by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and directed by Michael Spiller
for Sony Pictures Television
. In Canada, the series aired on CanWest's Global and CH
stations.
Originally, it was supposed to debut on October 5, 2006, along with Notes from the Underbelly
, but ABC made a last-minute change in its schedule by moving Ugly Betty
to Thursday, thus replacing both sitcoms whose "buzz" was not especially promising.
Big Day was broadcast on Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c. The timeslot was supposed to be filled by another new sitcom that had a better "buzz," The Knights of Prosperity
, but ABC moved that program to Wednesdays to make Big Day a priority. Unfortunately, according to the ratings, Big Day turned out to be a very big disappointment.
When Big Day ended its first season on January 30, 2007, only 12 of the 13 produced episodes aired leaving the 13th episode, titled The $10,000 Check, unaired.
On May 15, 2007, ABC officially cancelled the show after the network announced their 2007-2008 fall schedule.
A film based on the show was cancelled twice in development from 2007 to 2008. In 2010, a re-version of the movie adaptation is currently in Pre-Production.
), ranging from the maid of honor who accidentally drinks the contact lenses of the best man whom she slept with, to the bride's ex-boyfriend, who's opposed to the union and will stop at nothing to throw a wrench into the plans.
All of these events and other obstacles are part of the ultimate test that Danny and Alice will have to face before they walk down the aisle and say their I Do's...unless someone should stand up and ask why this couple should not be joined together in holy matrimony.
The story arc has similarities to the 2004-6 BBC
series The Worst Week of My Life
, which has also been the subject of a FOX pilot (2005) and the CBS sitcom Worst Week
(2008).
indicated that 39% of critics gave the show widely negative to poor reviews. The show's negative criticism mostly focused on Wendie Malick
, who played Jane on the show. In 2010, the show is topped as "One of the Worst TV Shows of the 2000s", according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
that first aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from November 28, 2006 to January 30, 2007. The series was co-produced by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and directed by Michael Spiller
Michael Spiller
Michael Alan Spiller is an American cinematographer and television director.Spiller has directed on numerous series and has also served as a cinematographer prior to directing and worked frequently with Hal Hartley. He was a regular director on the HBO series, Sex and the City where he also served...
for Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
. In Canada, the series aired on CanWest's Global and CH
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
stations.
Originally, it was supposed to debut on October 5, 2006, along with Notes from the Underbelly
Notes from the Underbelly
Notes from the Underbelly was an American sitcom that debuted on ABC as a midseason replacement. The series is based upon the novel of the same name by Risa Green, and is produced by Eric and Kim Tannenbaum for Warner Bros. Television...
, but ABC made a last-minute change in its schedule by moving Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
to Thursday, thus replacing both sitcoms whose "buzz" was not especially promising.
Big Day was broadcast on Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c. The timeslot was supposed to be filled by another new sitcom that had a better "buzz," The Knights of Prosperity
The Knights of Prosperity
The Knights of Prosperity was a short-lived comedy series that premiered on ABC in the United States on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. It was created by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, who also created the NBC comedy-drama Ed...
, but ABC moved that program to Wednesdays to make Big Day a priority. Unfortunately, according to the ratings, Big Day turned out to be a very big disappointment.
When Big Day ended its first season on January 30, 2007, only 12 of the 13 produced episodes aired leaving the 13th episode, titled The $10,000 Check, unaired.
On May 15, 2007, ABC officially cancelled the show after the network announced their 2007-2008 fall schedule.
A film based on the show was cancelled twice in development from 2007 to 2008. In 2010, a re-version of the movie adaptation is currently in Pre-Production.
Synopsis
Big Day follows a major event in a couples' life — the big wedding day — during the course of one day from all angles, and the people involved (similar to 2424 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
), ranging from the maid of honor who accidentally drinks the contact lenses of the best man whom she slept with, to the bride's ex-boyfriend, who's opposed to the union and will stop at nothing to throw a wrench into the plans.
All of these events and other obstacles are part of the ultimate test that Danny and Alice will have to face before they walk down the aisle and say their I Do's...unless someone should stand up and ask why this couple should not be joined together in holy matrimony.
The story arc has similarities to the 2004-6 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series The Worst Week of My Life
The Worst Week of My Life
The Worst Week of My Life is a British comedy television series, first broadcast on BBC One between March and April 2004. A second series was aired between November and December 2005 and a three-part Christmas special, The Worst Christmas of My Life was shown during December 2006...
, which has also been the subject of a FOX pilot (2005) and the CBS sitcom Worst Week
Worst Week
Worst Week is an American TV series which originally aired on CBS from September 22, 2008 to June 6, 2009. The series was based on the British sitcom The Worst Week of My Life...
(2008).
Cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Marla Sokoloff Marla Sokoloff Marla Lynne Sokoloff is an American actress and musician, known for playing the part of Lucy Hatcher on the TV show The Practice, and Gia Mahan on the ABC sitcom, Full House.- Personal life :... |
Alice |
| Josh Cooke Josh Cooke -Biography:Cooke was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Harriton High School, a small public high school in Rosemont, a suburb of Philadelphia. He was a member of Harriton Theater Company and directed a show his senior year. He has received acting awards including the James Pendleton... |
Danny |
| Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton, California in 1971.-Career:... |
Steve |
| Wendie Malick Wendie Malick Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early... |
Jane |
| Terry Chen Terry Chen Terry Chen is a Canadian movie and television actor.Chen was born to ethnic Chinese parents originating from Taiwan and mainland China in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. After an education at schools in his hometown and in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he attended college in Calgary and... |
Johnny |
| Miriam Shor Miriam Shor Miriam Shor is an American film, stage, and television actress.-Early life:Shor was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is Jewish on her father's side, and speaks fluent Yiddish as well as Italian. Her parents divorced when she was 7, and she alternated between living in Turin, Italy , and... |
Becca |
| Stephen Rannazzisi Stephen Rannazzisi Stephen Rannazzisi is an American actor who has appeared in Paul Blart: Mall Cop and currently is featured in the FX television show The League and on the NBC show "Love Bites".He hails from Smithtown, New York, on Long Island.... |
Skobo |
| Stephnie Weir Stephnie Weir Stephnie Carmel Weir is an American actress and comedian, best known for her membership in the recurring cast on MADtv.-Early life:... |
Lorna |
| Diora Baird Diora Baird Diora Lynn Baird is an American actress and former model for Guess? who has appeared in films such as Wedding Crashers and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning .-Early life:... |
Kristin |
Nielsen ratings
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Series Premiere | Series Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (see below) | Tuesday 9:00 P.M. (2006–2007) |
November 28, 2006 | January 13, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #118 | 5.3 (#116) |
Episodes
| # | Title | Date Aired | Episode Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot | November 28, 2006 | Today is the big day! The moment Danny and Alice were waiting for has arrived. Today is their wedding day, but things for the happy couple soon become complicated. |
| 2 | "The $10,000 Check" | Unaired | Steve gives a $10,000 wedding gift to the couple but Alice refuses while Danny is thrilled to accept it. |
| 3 | "The World According to Garf" | December 5, 2006 | When Danny’s father, aka "The Garf", comes in bicycling Maine to assist the wedding, everyone thinks that it couldn’t get more awkward. |
| 4 | "Skobo and Alice Hooked Up" | December 12, 2006 | When Becca and Skobo try to get each other banned from the wedding, secrets start to surface. |
| 5 | "The Bachelor Party" | December 19, 2006 | While Lorna deals with a rival wedding planner to get a replacement tent, the guys make a detour to a strip club. |
| 6 | "Stolen Vows" | December 19, 2006 | The couple’s honeymoon island is taken over by rebels, and Danny begs Skobo to use his connections to book an alternative. |
| 7 | "Alice Can't Dance" | December 26, 2006 | Danny and Alice are coached for their big dance by an instructor, but it doesn’t go well. |
| 8 | "Boobzilla" | December 26, 2006 | Skobo loses the wedding rings while Steve, Becca and Danny are going to the hospital since Steve has been called in for an emergency. Meanwhile, Alice's bridesmaids show up, one of them wearing a dress that shows plenty of her enormous unforeseen breasts. |
| 9 | "War with the Neighbors" | January 2, 2007 | The next door neighbours are threatening the wedding when they have a huge kid’s birthday party and ultimately end up attacking the staff with paintball guns. |
| 10 | "The Unstable Minister" | January 2, 2007 | During a pre-marital meeting, the minister behaves inappropriately and as a consequence ends up being fired. Steve and Jane quarrel over the costs of the wedding. |
| 11 | "Last Chance to Marry Jane" | January 9, 2007 | Jane’s ex-boyfriend shows up and Danny gets cold feet. Lorna hires her ex-fiancé (who dumped her). |
| 12 | "Magic Hour" | January 9, 2007 | Jane’s old boyfriend gets her stoned while they reconnect. Meanwhile, Steve doesn’t want Alice to marry Danny. |
| 13 | "The Ceremony" | January 30, 2007 | Alice and Danny get stuck when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, while back at home Jane and Steve decide to renew their wedding vows. |
International broadcasters
| Country | TV Network(s) | Series Premiere | Timeslot |
|---|---|---|---|
 United States United States |
American Broadcasting Company American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
November 28, 2006 | (cancelled) |
 Canada Canada |
Global Television Network Global Television Network Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division... |
TBA | TBA |
| United Kingdom | ITV2 ITV2 ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the... (First Run) Paramount Comedy 1 Paramount Comedy 1 Comedy Central in the United Kingdom and Ireland is a localised version of Comedy Central which first began in the United States in the 1990s. The television channel is available through the Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV in the United Kingdom, Sky Ireland, UPC Ireland and Magnet Networks in the... (Repeats) |
May 15, 2007 | Tuesday's around 11pm (repeated Fridays at 8pm) (ITV2) |
 Turkey TurkeyTurkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe... |
ComedyMax ComedyMax ComedyMax is a television channel in Turkey, which broadcasts worldwide hit TV series as Turkish subtitled. It is exclusively available for Digiturk satellite package subscribers.-Shows:Some of the shows on ComedyMax:... |
||
| Latin America Latin America Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area... |
Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (Latin America) Sony Entertainment Television, commonly shortened to Canal Sony , is a general entertainment channel co-based in Perú, Chile, Venezuela, Brazil and Miami, Florida, United States. It airs in 26 countries in Latin America, and is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment... |
November 5, 2007 | Mondays at 9pm in space "Mentes Peligrosas" ("Dangerous Minds") (repeated Saturdays around 11am) |
| New Zealand | TV2 | Feb 2008 | Fridays at 7:30pm (final episode aired on May 2) |
 Australia Australia |
Nine HD Nine HD Nine HD was an Australian television channel, owned by Nine Entertainment Co., that launched on 17 March 2008. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers in metropolitan and regional areas through a number of owned-and-operated and affiliate stations... |
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | Wednesdays at 10.30pm (final episode aired on October 15) |
 Belgium Belgium |
vtm VTM The abbreviation VTM may refer to::* Vampire: The Masquerade, a popular role-playing game* Virginia Tech massacre* vtm, the main commercial television station in Flanders, Belgium... |
unknown | Sunday's around 2:30pm |
Reception
Big Day was considered "One of the Worst TV comedies Ever Killed" and "One of the Most Hated Comedy Series Ever". MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
indicated that 39% of critics gave the show widely negative to poor reviews. The show's negative criticism mostly focused on Wendie Malick
Wendie Malick
Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early...
, who played Jane on the show. In 2010, the show is topped as "One of the Worst TV Shows of the 2000s", according to Rolling Stone magazine.