Dharma & Greg

Show summary

Free-spirited yoga instructor/dog trainer Dharma Finkelstein and straight-laced lawyer Greg Montgomery marry on their first date despite being complete opposites. Their conflicting views lead to comical situations. Greg is an Ivy League graduate who was raised by wealthy, conservative parents. After graduation from Harvard and Stanford, he went to work with the U.S. Attorney's Office as a federal prosecutor in San Francisco. He then meets Dharma, who was raised by hippie parents. They fall in love immediately and elope. Despite being totally different, their parents eventually learn to tolerate each other.

Cast

Main

• Jenna Elfman as Dharma Freedom Montgomery
• Thomas Gibson as Gregory Clifford "Greg" Montgomery
• Susan Sullivan as Katherine "Kitty" Montgomery
• Mitchell Ryan as Edward Montgomery
• Mimi Kennedy as Abigail Kathleen "Abby" O'Neil
• Alan Rachins as Myron Lawrence "Larry" Finkelstein
• Shae D'lyn as Jane Deaux (seasons 1–4; guest season 5)
• Joel Murray as Peter James "Pete" Cavanaugh
• Helen Greenberg as Marcie (season 5; guest seasons 3–4)
• Susan Chuang as Susan Wong (season 5; guest seasons 3–4)

Recurring

• Lillian Hurst as Celia
• Yeardley Smith as Marlene
• Floyd Westerman as George Littlefox
• Kathryn Joosten as Claire
• J. D. Walsh as Donald
• Kevin Sorbo as Charlie

Episodes

Awards and nominations

In 1998, the Online Film & Television Association Awards nominated Elfman for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and the series itself as Best New Comedy Series.

Jenna Elfman was nominated three times for Best Television Actress – Musical/Comedy Series at the Golden Globes and won in 1999. Thomas Gibson and Susan Sullivan were both nominated for Golden Globes but neither ever won the award. The show itself was nominated for Best Best Musical/Comedy Series in 1998 and 1999.

Broadcast

Dharma & Greg aired in the United States on ABC from September 24, 1997 until April 30, 2002 and in Australia on the Seven Network between March 1, 1998 and February 4, 2004. In Australia, Dharma & Greg aired on Fox8 from 1998 to 2003 on Foxtel.

Ratings and cancellation

The series was a top-25 fixture in the US during its first three seasons, first airing Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., then at 8:00. It was moved to Tuesdays at 9 p.m. during its third season where it experienced a dramatic ratings lift thanks to a lead-in of the then red-hot Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. As ratings for that series waned in 2000/2001, Dharma & Greg suffered a similar fate, compounded by NBC moving Frasier into the same time slot. As Millionaire fell even further and was moved off the night in the fall of 2001, ABC tried to rebuild a Tuesday night comedy block consisting of Dharma & Greg, What About Joan?, Bob Patterson, and Spin City. Bob Patterson and What About Joan? were quickly cancelled in May 2002 while Dharma & Greg and Spin City shared the 8 p.m. hour for the rest of the season.

The final episode aired on April 30, 2002, to 6.8 million viewers, compared to the 20 million the series had peaked two years previously. Along with Ally McBeal and Dawson's Creek, Dharma & Greg was one of the last three surviving shows to debut during the 1997–98 season (Dawson's Creek would remain for one more season in 2002–03).

Home media

Season 2 was released in Australia as a Region 4 PAL on January 22, 2008, with a picture of Dharma and Greg dancing on the cover. It is available in Japan as a Region 2 NTSC format with a picture of them sitting down for the cover art. In the spring of 2008, the second season was released in Europe (Netherlands) as a Region 2 PAL as well. All countries have different covers, and all are using the "dance shot".

On November 11, 2014, 20th Century Fox released season 2 in Region 1 via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Amazon.com.

Vanity cards

The vanity card for Chuck Lorre Productions at the end of each episode included a message written by producer and show co-creator Chuck Lorre, expressing his personal views on a variety of subjects. Because the card only appeared on the screen for a brief moment, it was usually readable only by those who recorded the program and paused it (although the complete collection of cards has now been posted on Lorre's website).

Messages were also included on the vanity cards for later Chuck Lorre Productions shows, such as Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and Mike & Molly.

Crossovers

Elfman and Gibson had a cameo appearance in the ninth season premiere of Two and a Half Men, "Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt". Their characters are not named either in the dialogue or the credits (possibly for legal reasons due to Mens being produced by a different studio), but they appear to be based on Dharma and Greg. While the couple remain married, Greg seems overly tired of his responsibilities and marriage, even going so far as to sarcastically hint at divorce to Evelyn Harper (along with a self-inflicted gunshot gesture) when leaving. Joel Murray also makes a cameo appearance in the episode, although not as Pete but as a character named "Doug". Elfman had also previously appeared on that show in its first season as the free-spirited Frankie in the two-part episodes "Round One to the Hot Crazy Chick" and "That Was Saliva, Alan."

References

References

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2. "''Dharma & Greg'' trivia". IMDb.
3. "''Dharma & Greg'' awards". IMDb.
4. "1997-98: The Season of Merlin". Online Film & Television Association.
5. "1998-99: The Season of The Practice". Online Film & Television Association.
6. "1999-2000: The Season of The West Wing". Online Film & Television Association.
7. "Dharma & Greg".
8. (May 29, 1998). "What ranked and what tanked".
9. (June 4, 1999). "TV Winners & Losers: Numbers Racket A Final Tally Of The Season's Show (from Nielsen Media Research)". [[GeoCities]].
10. "The TV Ratings Guide: 1999-2000 Ratings History".
11. (June 1, 2001). "The Bitter End".
12. (May 28, 2002). "How did your favorite show rate?". [[USA Today]].
13. "Buy Dharma & Greg - Season 2 (3 Disc Set) on DVD-Video from".
14. (June 2, 2007). "ダーマ＆グレッグ シーズン2 DVD-BOX DVD・ブルーレイ - ジェナ・エルフマン, トーマス・ギブソン, スーザン・サリバン, ミミ・ケネディ, ミッチェル・ライアン, アラン・レイキンズ".
15. "Dharma & Greg DVD news: Announcement for Dharma & Greg - The Complete Season 2".
16. "Dharma and Greg - Season 1".
17. (May 7, 2007). "Dharma and Greg - Series 1 [1997]".
18. (October 2007). "Dharma & Greg - Season 1 [3 DVDs]".
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21. (February 11, 2008). "Dharma & Greg - Season 2 [3 DVDs]".
22. "Dharma and Greg [Region 4] Complete Season Two".
23. (2016-02-18). "CLP - Vanity Cards".
24. (2025-02-01). "Chuck Lorre Is Famous For His Vanity Cards On The Big Bang Theory And Beyond. He Used One This Week To Thank The LAFD For Saving His Home".
25. Carbone, Nick. (2011-02-26). "A Split Second of Shock: The 8 Most Outrageous Two and a Half Men Vanity Cards". Time.
26. Rice, Lynette. (2022-04-01). "Chuck Lorre’s 700th Vanity Card Aired During ‘Young Sheldon’ 100th Episode".
27. "What To Watch".
28. Carina MacKenzie. (2011-09-20). "Dharma & Greg reunite for 'Two and a Half Men' Season 9 premiere – Zap2It".