The Hogan clan

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Television series
German title The Hogan clan
Original title Valerie, later Valerie's Family, then The Hogan Family
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1985-1991
length 23 minutes
Episodes 110
genre Sitcom
idea Thomas L. Miller
Robert L. Boyett
music Charles Fox
Stephen Geyer
First broadcast March 1, 1986 (USA) on NBC
German-language
first broadcast		 May 5, 1998 on RTL
occupation

The Hogan Clan is an American television series that was produced in the United States between 1986 and 1991.

characters

main characters

Valerie Hogan

Valerie Hogan lives with her family in a suburb of Chicago . She practically tries to raise her three sons David and the twins Mark and Willie on her own and to combine this with part-time work in an auction house . Husband Michael Hogan is rarely at home due to his professional activity as a pilot . So there is always turmoil within the family.

After the second season, the role is eliminated from the series. It is said that Valerie Hogan died in a car accident.

Sandy Hogan

Sandy Hogan is the sister of Michael and moves to the Hogans after Valerie's death to fill the role of mother. She has more of a friendly relationship with the boys, even if she is still seen as an authority figure. She works as a teacher and later as an assistant principal at David's school.

David Hogan

The eldest son, David Hogan, enjoys playing ice hockey and does a lot of other things with his friends Burt and Rich. Otherwise, his life is shaped by the usual topics of a boy his age: David is lovesick , is looking for a job to buy a CD player or asks his parents for money for his first car.

Mark Hogan

The two twins have their own problems. Mark is the most intelligent of the three brothers, but still doesn't always feel comfortable. He is often raised, especially by his older brother David, as he is very predictable. In addition, Mark is jealous of the two ice hockey cracks David and father Michael, while he is rather a skinny and unsportsmanlike guy.

Willie Hogan

Willie has big problems especially at school. He has the feeling that he cannot withstand the pressure to perform because he is always compared to his highly gifted brother Mark. Furthermore, Willie is very rebellious, inquisitive and also clumsy, which has brought him some trouble with his brothers.

Burt Weems

Burt Weems is David's best friend. He's a somewhat eccentric young man. He wears thick glasses, pulled up trousers and always a knitted sweater. In one episode he falls in love with Sandy, with whom he gets along very well until the end.

Rich

Rich is also a friend of David's. Among other things, the two ended up in jail with Burt on a trip to Las Vegas for gambling with forged ID cards. Rich dies of AIDS last season . In this episode, David gives a speech on the occasion of a school project aimed at encouraging the students at Sandy's, Mark's, and Willie's school, and thus also the viewers in front of the television, to protect themselves against AIDS.

Barbara Goodwin

Barbara Goodwin was the Hogans' neighbor in the first season. She wasn't particularly popular with the boys, especially David.

Minor characters

Michael Hogan

Father Michael Hogan only appears relatively rarely in the first few seasons. He is a pilot by trade and is therefore often absent. In the later seasons he will be more integrated into the stories.

Patricia Poole

Mrs. Poole is the always friendly, but also a bit crazy and pushy neighbor of the Hogans. Her first name is Patricia, but she is always called Mrs. Poole. She lives with her husband Peter Poole, who only appeared a few times on the series. She is happy with her husband, but in one episode she has a near-affair with a fellow teacher from Sandy. But she breaks this off because she doesn't want to cheat on her husband.

Cara

Cara has been Mark's girlfriend for the last two seasons, despite originally falling in love with Willie. But Willie, it turned out, wasn't exactly her type. They had much more in common with the intelligent marrow. Cara and Mark are a very romantic couple, for which Willie and Brenda are mostly ridiculed.

Brenda

Brenda has also been Willie's friend for the last two seasons. She is quite uncouth and doesn’t mince words.

Lloyd Hogan

Lloyd Hogan is the father of Michael and Sandy Hogan. After separating from his wife, he moves into the Hogan's house. Nevertheless, he does not have an uncomplicated relationship with his son. For example, Michael gets angry when Lloyd gives the twins a motorcycle without having spoken to Michael about it beforehand.

Annie Steck

Annie Steck was a neighbor of the Hogans in season two. She had a very good relationship with Valerie, who could talk to her about anything. Annie has a 13-year-old daughter named Rebecca who clashed with Willie on an episode when the curious pubescent Hogan son watched her through the window at a slumber party and saw her without clothes.

Skip Franklin

Skip Franklin is an old flight buddy of Michael's. Michael learned to fly under him. In the first three seasons, Skip appeared in one episode. He wasn't very popular with either Valerie or Sandy because of his macho behavior. The boys, on the other hand, were always enthusiastic about the sayings and the rebellious nature of the old flying hero. Michael owes him a lot, so he always protected him from attacks by his wife and sister.

Richard

Richard is the divorced husband of Sandy. He's a pretty self-loving and unpopular person. Both Sandy's parents and Michael can't stand him. When Richard marries a second time, Sandy reacts quite angry, which leads the rest of the family to suspect that they still feel something for him. The real annoyance for her was that he remarried earlier than her.

Guest stars

Others

Originally, the series had different names over the years. In the first two seasons (1985-1987) she was called Valerie . After the serial death of the main character Valerie Harper , known as Rhoda Morgenstern from the sitcoms Mary Tyler Moore and Rhoda , the series was renamed Valerie's Family (1987-1988), before it was named The Hogan Family for the last three seasons .

The title song Together through the years was sung by Roberta Flack .

Web links