Two of a Kind
Cast of Two of a Kind, starting from the top-left going clockwise: Sally Wheeler (Carrie), Christopher Sieber (Kevin) and Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Format	Family sitcom
Created by	Robert Griffard Howard Adler
Developed by	Thomas L. Miller Robert L. Boyett Michael Warren
Starring	Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen Christopher Sieber Sally Wheeler David Lascher David Valcin Martin Spanjers Orlando Brown Ernie Grunwald
Theme music composer	Jesse Frederick & Bennett Salvay
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robert Griffard Howard Adler Thomas L. Miller Robert L. Boyett Michael Warren
Location(s)	Chicago, Illinois (setting) Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, California (taping location)
Camera setup	Film; Multi-camera
Running time	24 minutes (approx.)
Production company(s)	Griffard/Adler Productions Dualstar Productions Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions Warner Bros. Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original run	September 25, 1998 – July 9, 1999
Status	Cancelled/ended

Two of a Kind is an American sitcom that aired on ABC as part of the network's TGIF line-up, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The show aired from September 25, 1998 to July 9, 1999.

The series was produced by Griffard/Adler Productions, Dualstar Productions, and Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. This was the last sitcom to be produced by Miller-Boyett Productions.

[edit] Premise

Kevin Burke (Christopher Sieber) is a college professor and single father, who believes there is a scientific explanation for everything - except how to control his scheming pre-teen daughters. Mary-Kate and Ashley Burke (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) are twin sisters, who are complete opposites: Mary-Kate is a tomboy, whose biggest interest is perfecting her jumpshot and her curveball; Ashley is a straight-A student, who dreams of a modeling career and boys.

And then there's Carrie (Sally Wheeler), a 26-year-old freshman in Kevin's class, who has come late to college after exploring the world. Carrie is quirky, difficult, beautiful, and quick to speak her mind, so when she answers Kevin's ad for a part-time nanny for the girls, he is convinced she's nothing but trouble. The girls think she is a dream-sitter come true, and agree to put their differences aside to join forces to make a little chemistry between their by-the-book father and the beautiful woman who seems to drive him crazy in all the right ways.

[edit] Cast and characters

[edit] Main cast

• Mary-Kate Olsen as Mary-Kate Burke
• Ashley Olsen as Ashley Burke
• Christopher Sieber as Kevin Burke
• Sally Wheeler as Carrie Moore
• Ernie Grunwald as Paul

[edit] Recurring cast

• Orlando Brown as Max
• David Lascher as Matt Burke
• Martin Spanjers as Brian
• David Valcin as Eddie Fairbanks

[edit] Reception

The show was commissioned due to the buzz factor revolving around twin stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. They had just finished Full House (which also aired on ABC from 1987 to 1995) and they were given this show to capitalize on their fame. Poor ratings however, dwindled after a few episodes, and the show was cancelled after only one season. The series ranked #61 for the 1998-1999 television season and averaged 10.8 million viewers.

[edit] Theme music and opening sequence

The theme music which accompanied the opening title sequence was composed by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay, and was the second theme composed by Frederick and Salvay that does not include lyrics, coming after The Family Man, which was also produced by Miller-Boyett.

The opening sequence varied slightly from week to week, featured clips of Kevin, Carrie and the girls playing in park. The scenes, which always slightly vary include, the girls rollerblading, the girls on the swing with Carrie, the girls playing frisbee with Kevin, Carrie and Kevin playing basketball, Carrie, Kevin and the girls playing a very large beachball. The opening sequence only includes the show title and the executive producers' names, unlike previous Miller-Boyett series, whose opening sequences featured the cast and producers names in the sequence.

[edit] Reruns/Syndication

After its cancellation, the show gained more of an audience when reruns began airing on ABC Family in the United States. It ran on the network starting in 1999 (a few months after its cancellation), when the network was Fox Family, and continued after the channel's purchase by Disney until 2004. ABC Family runs separated the closing credits and the tag scene as they originally aired on ABC.

Reruns of the series also aired internationally on Nickelodeon UK and Disney Channel UK in the United Kingdom. International runs included the closing credits over the tag scene.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Books

Some episodes were written and released as books. Some other Two of a Kind novels were just made up by the authors. As of summer 2006, 39 books have been released.

[edit] References

• http://www.tv.com/two-of-a-kind/show/1435/episode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;episodes

[edit] External links

• Two of a Kind at the Internet Movie Database
• Two of a Kind at TV.com