Series Description

The Just the Ten of Us TV show was a 30 minute family comedy series on ABC about a coach who moved his pregnant wife and their six children to Eureka, California where he would be working at an all boys Catholic school. A large number of the laughs came from dad's reaction to boys who were attracted to his teenage daughters. To make matters worse, the daughters were attending the (formerly) all boys school where dad worked! Starting in season 2, the four teenage daughter began singing at a local restaurant as "The Lubbock Babes" and that got them even more attention from the boys. Poor daddy!

Just the Ten of Us Cast

Bill Kirchenbauer .... Coach Graham T. Lubbock
Deborah Harmon .... Elizabeth Lubbock
Heather Langenkamp .... Marie Elizabeth Lubbock
Jamie Luner .... Cynthia "Cindy" Anne Lubbock
JoAnn Willette .... Constance "Connie" Sarah Lubbock
Brooke Theiss .... Wendy Lubbock
Matt Shakman .... Graham T. "J.R." Lubbock Jr.
Heidi Zeigler .... Sherry Lubbock
Frank Bonner .... Father Robert Hargis
Evan Arnold .... Gavin Doosler
Dennis Haysbert .... Coach Duane Johnson (Seasons 1 & 2)
Maxine Elliott Hicks .... Sister Ethel (Season 3)
Lou Richards .... Father Harold "Bud" Kimmel (Season 3)

Just the Ten of Us Trivia

Just the Ten of Us was a "spin-off" of the series, "Growing Pains". Bill Kirchenbauer first appeared as "Coach Graham Lubbock" on seven episodes of that series. The episodes were, "Fast Times at Dewey High", "Dream Lover", "A Star Is Born", "Broadway Bound", "How the West Was Won: Part 1", "How the West Was Won: Part 2", and "The Scarlet Letter".

Some fans may recognize Frank Bonner (Father Robert Hargis) as the actor who played the irritating salesman, "Herb Tarlek" on the series, "WKRP in Cincinnati". Others will undoubtedly know Dennis Haysbert from his roles as "Senator/President David Palmer" on the "24 TV show" and as "Jonas Blane" on "The Unit".

Deborah Harmon was, in real life, only 13 years older than her TV daughters Heather Langenkamp and JoAnn Willette.

Two actors appeared as guest stars on Just The Ten Of Us prior to becoming stars on the "Friends TV Show". Matthew Perry appeared in episode #8, "The Dinner Test" as a guy who helped out Wendy by pretending to go on a date with her so that she could really date a much older guy. Matt LeBlanc was the quarterback of the football team on both episodes #26, "Quarterback Sneak" and episode #31, "That Championship Season". Both characters ended out getting "crushes" on Wendy.

Bill Kirchenbauer Played Coach Graham Lubbock on both "Growing Pains" and "Just The Ten Of Us,". Ten years later he played Coach Graham Bullock on "Clueless." The shows shared some of the same directors, including Joanna Kerns and John Tracy.

Just the Ten of Us was canceled more due to politics among the heavy hitters at ABC than because of bad ratings. ABC had decided to continue their four family friendly comedies on Friday nights as usual for their Fall 1990 schedule. For some reason, they decided that all four comedies should be produced by the same production company. "Full House", "Family Matters", and "Perfect Strangers" were being produced by "Lorimar Television" and Just the Ten of Us was being produced by "Warner Bros. Television". So they dropped Just the Ten of Us and replaced it with, "Going Places", another Lorimar series. After one year of "Going Places" and its lackluster ratings, ABC released a press statement saying that they may have "moved too quickly" when they canceled Just the Ten of Us.

It seems likely that Just the Ten of Us really did deserve a fourth season. It won the ratings battle for its time slot every season! It had a large number of fans that had originally come to the series from the Growing Pains episodes and stuck around for three years! After cancellation, the episodes were extremely popular as repeats on ABC during the summer of 1990 and on the USA Network where they ran until 1996!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

The Pilot Episodes

As seen on the Growing Pains TV show, episodes #68 & #69.

How The West Was Won - Part 1 (4/20/1988)
How The West Was Won - Part 2 (4/27/1988)

Season 1

1. Move It or Lose It (4/22/1988)
2. First Day At School (4/28/1988)
3. The Birthday Gift (4/28/1988)
4. Close Encounters (5/4/1988)

5. Strangers In The Night (10/27/1988)
6. She Works Hard For The Money (11/3/1988)
7. Voice of God (11/10/1988)
8. The Dinner Test (11/17/1988)
9. Coach's Court (11/23/1988)
10. The Merry Mix-Up (12/1/1988)
11. The Unkindest Cut of All (12/8/1988)
12. A Christmas Story (12/15/1988)
13. Personal Best (1/5/1989)
14. Song of Constance (1/12/1989)
15. Head of the Class (1/19/1989)
16. Dream Girls (2/2/1989)
17. A Day in the Life (2/9/1989)
18. Zorro en el Gallinero (2/17/1989)
19. Car in the Pool (2/24/1989)
20. The Critic (3/10/1989)
21. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (3/16/1989)
22. Radio Days (3/31/1989)
23. Puberty Blues (4/14/1989)
24. Rock-n-roll Fantasy (4/28/1989)

25. Betrayal (9/12/1989)
26. Quarterback Sneak (9/29/1989)
27. Who Cut the Cheese? (10/5/1989)
28. Risky Business (10/12/1989)
29. Simple Gifts (10/19/1989)
30. A Couple of Swells (11/2/1989)
31. That Championship Season (11/9/1989)
32. Dangerous Liaison (11/17/1989)
33. St. Augie's Blues - Part 1 (11/30/1989)
34. St. Augie's Blues - Part 2 (12/1/1989)
35. Skateboard (12/7/1989)
36. Highway to Heaven (12/14/1989)
37. Comedy Tonight (1/4/1990)
38. Poetic Justice (1/11/1990)
39. Perfect Date (1/18/1990)
40. Snow Job - Part 1 (2/1/1990)
41. Snow Job - Part 2 (2/7/1990)
42. False Impressions (2/15/1990)
43. Cindy Breaks a Date (2/22/1990)
44. Heartbreaker (3/29/1990)
45. Ratboy Lives (4/3/1990)
46. Smoke 'em if You Got 'em (4/10/1990)
47. Slaughter House Ten (5/3/1990)