Delta House
| Delta House | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Written by |
John Hughes Elias Davis David Pollock Michael Tolkin Stephen Tolkin |
| Directed by | Hollingsworth Morse Joshua White Carl Gottlieb |
| Starring |
Brian Patrick Clarke Gary Cookson Susanna Dalton Peter Fox Stephen Furst Wendy Goldman Peter Kastner Bruce McGill Josh Mostel Richard Seer John Vernon James Widdoes Lee Wilkof |
| Theme music composer | Tony Hendra |
| Opening theme | "Delta House" performed by Michael Simmons |
| Composer(s) | Dick DeBenedictis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Ivan Reitman Matty Simmons |
| Producer(s) | Elias Davis David Pollock |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Matty Simmons-Ivan Reitman Productions Universal Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | January 18 – April 21, 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | National Lampoon's Animal House |
Delta House is an American sitcom that was adapted from the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House. The series aired from January 18 to April 21, 1979 on ABC.
Cast members reprising their roles from Animal House included John Vernon (Dean Wormer), Stephen Furst (Flounder), Bruce McGill (D-Day), and James Widdoes (Hoover). Priscilla Lauris, who played Dean Wormer's secretary in the movie also returned to reprise her role, and her character was given a name (Miss Leonard). Josh Mostel was cast as Jim "Blotto" Blutarsky, brother of Bluto, the character played in the film by John Belushi. Despite Bluto's absence, the scriptwriters made running references to his character. In one episode, Blotto announced that he'd received a letter from his brother Bluto, prompting a Delta brother to respond "I didn't know Bluto could write!" and another Delta brother to riposte "I didn't know Blotto could read!"
Delta House also served as an early vehicle for Michelle Pfeiffer, who played 'The Bombshell'. Of the role, Pfeiffer reflected, 'It was a no-brainer, and I detested it. But it was exposure so I did the best I could with terrible scripts. I told myself: "There are so many unemployed actors around, you should be glad you're working at all."'
Because of television Standards and Practices, the raunchy humor, drug references, and foul language featured in Animal House didn't survive the transition to TV. As a result, Delta House suffered in comparison. That it aired during the so-called "family hour" (8:00 PM on Saturday nights) led to even more watering down.
In addition, the other two broadcast networks rushed onto the airwaves their own sitcoms that were "inspired" by Animal House: NBC's Brothers and Sisters and CBS' Co-Ed Fever.
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