TVSeries

"The Outsiders"
Originally Published February 1st, 2004
Source: TVObscurities.com website

This quality drama unfortunately only produced thirteen episodes in the early 1990s. Broadcast on Sunday evenings by FOX, the series was a continuation of the 1983 film which, in turn, was based on the 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton. The show followed the trials and tribulations of three brothers stuck living on their own in a tough world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Outsiders began as a critically acclaimed movie, was turned into an equally acclaimed film that helped spawn several careers in Hollywood, and eventually became a short-lived hour long dramatic series. Such is the legacy of S.E. Hinton's novel, first published in 1967 when the author was still in her teens.

Thank you so much for creating a site on The Outsiders televisions series. It is nearly impossible to find information on the shows, not to mention pictures and even video!

KathrynFrancis Ford Coppola produced the series, who had directed the 1983 film, helping to maintain the atmosphere of the film. S.E. Hinton was also involved -- she was a creative consult. The novel, film and television series all focused on the Curtis brothers: Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy.

The three lived together in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the mid-1960s after their parents had been killed in an automobile accident. The brothers found themselves in the midst of a socio-economic tangle between two groups of teenagers, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced SO-shes and short for Socials). The Greasers are poor and on the wrong side of the tracks, while the Socs have lots of money and catch all the breaks.

Other greasers in their gang include Two-Bit Matthews, who has a penchant for never shutting up, Steve Randle, Soda's best friend, Dallas Winston, a brooding, older greaser, and Johnny Cade, Pony's soft-spoken pal. As the events in the novel/movie unfold, Johnny is forced to kill a Socs who is drowning Ponyboy, so the two go on the run. Johnny is gravely wounded when the two run into a burning church to save some children, and he later dies.

The Curtis BrothersOverwhelmed with grief, Dally pulls an unloaded gun on several police officers and is killed. The rest of the greasers pull together and attempt to get on with their lives. Due to it's stark depiction of the contrast between the haves and the have-nots, the novel quickly became a must-have in schools across the country.

It was only a matter of time before a film version was attempted. Francis Ford Coppolla, famed director, produced and directed the 1983 film that starred many of the young male actors currently on the rise at the time: Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez ... the list goes on.

In February of 1989, when the decision was made to create a telefilm sequel to the film version the actors from the film were either too famous or too old to play the same parts, so everyone was recast. Relative unknowns filled all the rules, although two actors who appeared in the series would go on to some fame after the series was cancelled. A direct sequel to the film, The Outsiders was set shortly after the events in the movie had taken place.

The concept was actually pitched to the other three networks before FOX picked it up. Joe Byrne and Jeb Rosebrook, who co-executive produced the series, found network executives at FOX ready and willing to air an adaptation of the famous novel. The original two-hour telefilm was cut to ninety minutes to serve as a pilot for a weekly series.

Francis Ford Coppola return as executive producer (along with Fred Roos) and tentative plans were made to air the show on Monday nights when FOX expanded to a third night in September of 1989. However, The Outsiders was put on ice until the midseason rolled around and was eventually scheduled on Sunday evenings. Production on the pilot telefilm began in late May and ended a month later.

All thirteen episodes were filmed and ready to air months before the premiere. FOX was going to take a look at the ratings before deciding if more episodes would be produced for the 1990-1991 season. Thus, the cast and crew were forced to wait, hoping their series would be picked up for additional episodes.

Jay R. Ferguson starred as Ponyboy Curtis, whose introspective musings served as narration for the series. Rodney Harvey and Boyd Kestner appeared as the other Curtis brothers, Sodapop and Darry.

"I am so glad someone else was such a fan of the Outsiders T.v. Show."

CrystalDavid Arquette, who would later become known for his work in the Scream trilogy, got one of his early acting jobs playing Two-Bit, while Billy Bob Thornton, best know for Sling Blade, played Buck Merril, the owner of a bar/gas station where many of the greasers worked/hung out. Harold Pruett played Steve.

Other characters in the series included Socs' Greg, Randy, Marcia and Cherry, played by Sean Kana, Scott Coffey, Jennifer McComb and Kim Walker, respectively. Cherry was friendly towards Ponyboy, they both attended Walker Ridge High School, as did many of the others.

Of the Greasers, only Ponyboy was still in school, the rest had either dropped out (like Sodapop) or had graduated/were too old to be in school (like Darry). Ponyboy was left to his own devices in school, for the most part. Due to the fact that he was an excellent writer and generally a nice guy, most of Socs treated him nicely, probably due in part to Cherry's constant attention to him.

Ponyboy was going through all the trials and problems of any average teenager in high school, Sodapop was spending half his time fighting and half attempting to pick up girls, and Darry was working nearly full-time to provide for his younger brothers. Two-Bit, Steve and Buck pretty much just hung around, alternating between trying and trying not to get into fights.

FOX pulled out all the stops for the first episode of the series. It was up against movies on the other three networks, Dangerous Passion on ABC, Common Ground, Part I on CBS, and The Old Man In The Sea on NBC. As was the custom at the time, the 9:00PM-11:00PM timeslot on Sundays was movie time for the Big Three.

FOX, on the other hand, would have nothing to do with airing movies, deciding instead to counter program the Big Three with its own brand of television: Married...with Children, The Simpsons and 21 Jump Street, to name a few. The Outsiders was just another attempt to pull viewers from the other networks.

The ninety minute premiere of The Outsiders was broadcast on Sunday, March 25th, airing from 9:30PM until 11:00PM. It started things off with a bang - literally. A short clip from the film version in which Dallas Winston (Matt Dillon) is shot and killed by police is shown first and then the series begins in earnest.

The premiere episode of The Outsiders was watched by over fourteen million viewers, pulling in an impressive 9.3/16 rating. and ranking 64th for the week. Despite persistant rumors to the contrary, the March 25th broadcast was not the highest rated premiere in the history of FOX at the time. It was, however, the highest rated premiere for a dramatic series for FOX up to that point.

The plot for the first episode dealt with a social worker informing the Curtis brothers that if Ponyboy or Sodapop get into any trouble, any trouble at all, they are going to be taken from Darry and placed in foster care. This was a running theme in the series, as it was in the novel. The brothers wanted to stay together and Darry was trying his hardest to take care of his younger siblings.

The premiere also introduced Belinda "Scout" Jenkins (Heather McComb), a new character in the universe of The Outsiders. A teenager, like Ponyboy, Scout was a fellow greaser, a girl who more or less replaced Johnny Cade as Ponyboy's close friend. Friendly with all the greasers, Scout would show up at the Curtis household whenever she felt like hanging out (or to get away from her father). She also helped out at Buck's whenever she got the chance.

After its big premiere, The Outsiders trimmed down to a regular hour-long running length and moved to its regular timeslot, Sunday nights at 7:00PM. Twelve additional installments were aired weekly along with the occasional repeat. The last original episode aired on July 22nd and the last repeat aired on August 26th.

The episodes tangled with both the typical problems that teenagers faced, as well as some of those that the greasers had to endure because of who they were. In one episode, Steve, Two-Bit and Sodapop even formed a band and performed in front of the Walker Ridge High student population. Ponyboy worried about girls, dances and keeping his grades up, while Sodapop dealt with the potential impact of being a father. Darry, meanwhile, was constantly under pressure to make sure he kept Ponyboy and Sodapop out of trouble so that they wouldn't be split up.

On April 1st, 1990, the second episode of The Outsiders was broadcast. In it, two storylines ran concurrently, with Sodapop doing his best to hide the fact that he had impregnated a girl and Ponyboy trying to keep Scout away from someone he felt wasn't good for her.

In the third episode, aired on April 8th, the character of Tim Shepard (Robert Rusler) was released from jail and rejoined his greaser buddies. He had to decide whether to play it straight or fall back into his old habits. The character had appeared in the novel; he was an extra tough greaser who continually got himself into trouble. Tim replaced Dally as the older greaser in the group.

Other episodes saw Ponyboy dealing with sex for the first time, Ponyboy and Darry fighting over whether or not to help a man who had escaped from a chain gang, Two-Bit coming to terms with his father issue after a baby girl is abandoned, and the Curtis brothers facing a tornado.

The May 13th episode saw Sodapop dealing with the fact that his girlfriend left him for a black student. Episodes in June saw Darry and Tim almost losing their money in a scam, Two-Bit trying to rig a high school basketball game, and Darry and Sodapop trying to live their dreams in the face of money issues.

The final two episodes were aired in June. The first saw Scout taking refuge in the Curtis household to escape her abusive father. On July 22nd, the thirteenth and final episode, involved Darry unknowingly crossing a picket line set up by Tim. Repeats would continue to air through August. A total of twenty-two episodes, including nine repeats, were broadcast by FOX.

Even thought the series was based on a popular novel, overseen by Francis Ford Coppola, involved quality scripts and acting, not to mention evolving characters and continuing storylines, the series never caught on with viewers. Ratings fell sharply after the premiere. By the third episode only half the number of viewers who had seen the premiere were still watching. The series routinely appeared in the bottom five programs for the week.

In late May 1990 FOX made the announcement: The Outsiders was cancelled. The ratings had slid drastically and, in comparison with the other shows FOX aired on Sundays (Married... with Children), The Outsiders just did not make the cut.

Source: TVObscurities.com website