Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title. Synopsis The show centers on a Sacramento, California, family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (based on Tom Braden, played by Dick Van Patten), is a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife, Joan (based on Joan Braden, played by Diana Hyland), was a homemaker and took care of the children. In early 1977, Hyland was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a mastectomy when doctors discovered the cancer had metastasized. During filming her health suddenly deteriorated, and Hyland died on March 27, 1977, having filmed only four episodes. As a result, her character's death was written into the second season of the series. The second season begins in the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually meets and falls in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a widowed schoolteacher who comes to the house to tutor Tommy after he breaks his leg in a football game. Abby and Tom marry in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt that the character of Miss Collins, the sympathetic high school gym teacher she had played in the 1976 film Carrie, would translate seamlessly to the series. In the fourth season, in another of the series' TV movie broadcasts in September 1979, both David and Susan get married in a double wedding. As the series progresses, Abby receives her Ph.D. in education and starts a job counseling students at the local high school; oldest daughter Mary becomes a medical doctor; second-youngest son Tommy becomes a singer in a rock-and-roll band. Cast and characters Main Dick Van Patten as Thomas "Tom" Bradford Sr Diana Hyland as Joan Wells Bradford (season 1) Betty Buckley as Sandra Sue "Abby" Mitchell Abbott Bradford (seasons 2–5) Grant Goodeve as David Bradford Lani O'Grady as Mary Bradford Laurie Walters as Joan "Joanie" Bradford Susan Richardson as Susan Bradford Stockwell Dianne Kay as Nancy Bradford Connie Newton/Needham as Elizabeth Bradford (switched to