CBS 1994 - The Boys Are Back

Premieres on the CBS Television Network in the fall

ON AIR: Wednesdays (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT)

ORIGINATION: Los Angeles (film)

FORMAT:Comedy about a couple on the brink of becoming "empty nesters," when their grown kids and grandchildren begin to move back home

STARRING: Hal Linden (Fred Hansen)

Suzanne Pleshette (Jackie Hansen)

George Newbern (Mike Hansen)

Kevin Crowley (Rick Hansen)

Bess Meyer (Judy Hansen)

Kelsey Mulrooney (Sarah Hansen)

Justin Cooper (Nicky Hansen)

TBA (Additional Hansen Child)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Matthew Carlson

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Linwood Boomer

Gary Murphy

Neil Thompson

LINE PRODUCER: Linda Nieber

PRODUCED BY:A Vanity Logo Production in association with ABC Productions

DIRECTED BY: Will Mackenzie

CREATED BY: Matthew Carlson

WRITTEN BY: Matthew Carlson

MUSIC SUPERVISOR: Jonathan Wolff

JUSTIN COOPER (Nicky Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

Justin Cooper, 5, has guest starred in the television series "Full House" and "Sinbad" and appeared in numerous commercials.

He was born Nov. 17, 1988 in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family, including younger twin sisters.

KEVIN CROWLEY (Rick Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

Kevin Crowley became interested in acting while watching a performance at Second City in Chicago. Six months later, he became a member of the company and has been performing, directing and teaching there since 1986. His one man show, "Parody Earth on a Platter," recently had a successful "Second City" run.

Crowley's feature film credits include "Major League," "Major League II," "The Package," "Hoffa" and "The Fugitive." On television, he has appeared in the series "Nurses," "Missing Persons," "Father Dowling" and, on the CBS Television Network, "Angel Street."

Crowley was born in Columbus, Ohio and now lives with his wife in Los Angeles. His birth date is Nov. 10.

HAL LINDEN (Fred Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

Hal Linden, known to television audiences for his starring role in the series "Barney Miller," began his show business career as a clarinet player and later toured as a singer with the Sammy Kaye, Bobby Sherwood and Boyd Raeburn bands.

His first major break came in 1958 when, after being understudy to Sydney Chaplin in the Broadway production of "Bells Are Ringing," he replaced Chaplin and went on to star in the musical, opposite Judy Holliday, on Broadway and in the national tour. "Bells Are Ringing" was the first of his many successful Broadway productions. He also starred in "On a Clear Day," "The Apple Tree," "The Rothschilds," for which he won a Tony Award in 1971, and "I'm Not Rappaport." He played the lead in a nine city tour of "Man of La Mancha" and recently returned to Broadway after a five year absence to star in Wendy Wasserstein's "The Sisters Rosensweig."

Linden earned seven Emmy Award nominations for "Barney Miller." His additional television credits include "FYI," for which he won two Emmy Awards, "The Hal Linden Special," "Animals, Animals, Animals" (a Peabody Award-winner), the film "The O'Connors" and the series "Blacke's Magic" and "Jack's Place." He also appeared in the feature films "When You Coming Back, Red Ryder?" and "A New Life."

He was born in New York and now resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Frances. He has four children. His birth date is March 20.

GEORGE NEWBERN (Mike Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

George Newbern grew up in Little Rock, Ark., where he began acting at 13 in a local theater production of "Hello Dolly." He went on to major in theater at Northwestern University and spent a summer in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Newbern moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and landed a recurring role as Dixie Carter's son in the series "Designing Women" on the CBS Television Network. His additional television credits include the series "Family Ties" and "Double Switch." He made his motion picture debut in "Adventures in Babysitting," which led to starring roles in the feature films "Switching Channels" with Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds and "It Takes Two." He also starred as the son-in-law in "Father of the Bride" with Steve Martin and plans to work on the sequel.

Newbern lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Marietta. His birth date is Dec. 30.

BESS MEYER (Judy Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

Bess Meyer began acting in her native Chicago in the motion picture "One More Saturday Night," written by actor-writer Al Franken, with whom she will be seen in the upcoming feature film "Stuart Smalley Saves His Family."

THE BOYS ARE BACK marks her fourth television series. She starred in "Room for Two," "Parenthood" and, on the CBS Television Network, "Normal Life." Her additional television credits include the movies "Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story" on the Network and "Unspeakable Acts" and a guest starring role on CBS's "Picket Fences." Her feature film credits include "Heathers," "Inner Circle" and "In The Mood."

Meyer currently resides in Los Angeles. Her birth date is June 22.

KELSEY MULROONEY (Sarah Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

THE BOYS ARE BACK is 7-year-old Kelsey Mulrooney's first television series, although she has been acting since the age of 4. She is the voice of Sally in the Charlie Brown insurance commercials and will soon be seen in the feature film "A Little Princess," which is currently in production.

She was born Aug. 21, 1987 in Los Angeles, where she lives with her family.

SUZANNE PLESHETTE (Jackie Hansen in THE BOYS ARE BACK)

Suzanne Pleshette's versatile career has been distinguished by performances in six Broadway plays, 30 theatrical motion pictures, numerous television films, and four television series, most notably "The Bob Newhart Show" on the CBS Television Network.

THE BOYS ARE BACK marks Pleshette's return to CBS and to the form that brought her acclaim for six seasons as Emily Hartley, the feisty wife, on "The Bob Newhart Show," for which she received two Emmy Award nominations. She had previously been nominated for an Emmy for her performance as the drug-addicted nurse in "Dr. Kildare." More recently, she received a fourth Emmy nomination, and a Golden Globe nomination, for her portrayal of Leona Helmsley in the television film "Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean," presented on the Network. Her additional television film credits include "Wings of Fire," "Battling for Baby," "A Stranger Waits," "Dixie: Changing Habits" and "Help Wanted: Male." She also starred in the mini-series "Flesh and Blood" and "Starmaker" and in the series "Nightingales." She stepped behind the scenes to create and produce two CBS series, "Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs" and "Bridges to Cross" and was the first, and only female, non-singing, non-comic guest host on "The Tonight Show."

Pleshette has an equally impressive Broadway stage career, which began with a starring role in "Compulsion" and was followed by "The Cold Wind and the Warm," "The Golden Fleecing," "The Miracle Worker" and "Special Occasions."

Her feature film career began with her introduction in "Geisha Boy." She added the classic Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" to her credits and continued to work with the industry's finest directors in such films as "Nevada Smith" for Henry Hathaway, "A Distant Trumpet" for Raoul Walsh, the romantic "Rome Adventure" for Delmer Daves, "Support Your Local Gunfighter" for Burt Kennedy, and later for first time directors Mel Stuart in "If It's Tuesday This Must be Belgium" and Norman Jewison's "40 Pounds of Trouble."

A founding partner in The Bedside Manor, Pleshette is a successful designer of bed linens, textiles and household products. She recently added author to her credits, with a profile of Kirk Douglas for Volume Three of Double Exposure for Roddy McDowall's collection of portraits of performing artists.

Pleshette was born in New York and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband, businessman Thomas J. Gallagher III.

Her birth date is Jan. 31.