NBC · Ended

Encore! Encore!

Comedy · 1998

Last aired: S1 E11, The Doubt of the Benefit · 1999-01-27

Joseph Pinoni, a gambling and womanizing prima donna ex-opera star, returns to California's Napa Valley to help run the family vineyard after he injures his vocal cords. Joseph's feisty mother Marie is not starstruck by her son's notoriety, and can only offer offbeat wisdom. His younger, stressed-out sister Francesca loves Joseph but resents his overshadowing her with his career while she stayed home to toil in the family business. Joseph hopes to improve his relationship with 16-year-old nephew Michael, whose sheltered life he hopes to change. Leo, the gruff vineyard manager, keeps everything humming, while Claude, a wealthy dilettante and self-styled artist, is Joseph's best friend and co-conspirator.

Cast

Nathan Lane Joseph Pinoni

Joan Plowright Marie Pinoni

Ernie Sabella Leo Wodecki

James Patrick Stuart Claude Bertrand

Trevor Fehrman Michael Pinoni

Molly Price Francesca Pinoni

Glenne Headly Francesca Pinoni

Season 1

E1 Pilot 1998-09-22 · 30 min Operatic superstar Joseph Pinoni is forced to retire after a freak accident following a performance causes him to lose his voice. Humiliated, he returns home to his family's vineyard in California to assist his mother and sister in running the business, but his perfectionism and superiority complex attitude quickly gets on everyone else's nerves.

E2 I Am Joe's Ego 1998-09-29 · 30 min Francesca tries to help Joe get out of his funk over losing his career by taking him out to dinner to cheer him up, but quickly regrets her choice when they are mobbed by fans in the restaurant.

E3 The French Connection 1998-10-20 · 30 min Joe's best friend from Europe, Jean Claude, visits to announce his recent engagement, but it's to a woman Joe loathes. Jean Claude admits he's flat broke and is only marrying for money, so Joe invites him to live in the guest house at the vineyard.

E4 Master Class 1998-10-27 · 30 min To encourage Joe to get more involved with community, Marie puts him in charge of directing the school play at the youth center. Joe's diva like direction angers the parents, but the children love his over the top antics and have him convert their usual performance of ""Yankee Doodle"" into selections from ""Salome.""

E5 Sour Grapes 1998-12-16 · 30 min Joe attempts to end a long standing feud with a neighboring family, over a punch bowl Marie claims they never returned, when he notices Michael showing an interest in the youngest daughter of the other family.

E6 The Diary 1998-12-23 · 30 min While cleaning out the attic, Michael and Joe come across Marie's old diary, and deduce it was written about the time Marie was expecting Joe. After reading a few pages, Joe gets the assumption that Marie was having an affair with a neighbor, and thinks he's illegitimate.

E7 Mr. Joe's Wild Ride 1998-12-30 · 30 min The family, tired of Joe's constant bumming of rides because he doesn't drive, signs him up for driving lessons, but the instructor they hire turns out to be a psychotic nut who takes Joe hostage during the lesson.

E8 I Know How the Caged Bird Tastes 1999-01-06 · 30 min Joe and Jean Claude go overboard to try to impress members of a local cultural society by planning an elaborate dinner party, but they get drunk while tasting wine during the meal preparation and ruin the whole evening.

E9 Crime and Punishment 1999-01-13 · 30 min Joe and Jean Claude are forced to serve community service as hospital orderlies after they are arrested for recklessly driving bicycles while drunk. Joe, completely incompetent in the job, fears he may have killed a patient when a man dies after Joe obliged him with a drink on his last day.

E10 To Soeur With Love 1999-01-20 · 30 min Jean Claude's sister comes to visit him, but Joe is afraid his friend will want to kill him when he recalls that the last time Joe met her, they had a wild one night stand.

E11 The Doubt of the Benefit 1999-01-27 · 30 min Joe gets a swelled head when he learns a benefit concert is being organized in his honor to recognize his career in theater, but while preparing to go to the hall a comedy of errors ensues.

E12 A Review to Remember 30 min Joe does everything in his power, including seduce a magazine critic he despises, to ensure that Francesca and the winery get a positive review in a prominent wine industry publication.

E13 Soul Food 30 min When Joseph and Francesca want Marie to write a cookbook to help promote the winery, she agrees to only if Joseph will go to confession. But Joseph doesn't know the secret behind Marie's recipes that she has yet to confess.

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