singled", and stumbles instead into a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. "I found this funny, and maybe even profound," Leonard wrote. NBC launched the show two days before Empty Nest, another sitcom about a middle-aged man who recently lost his wife. "Some talented people run around in them agreeably," said Leonard, commenting on both shows. Ratings In its first season, the sitcom was part of NBC's Thursday night lineup. It attracted the eleventh largest audience of all prime time television programs in the United States for the 1988–89 season. Its viewer share (as recorded in Nielsen ratings) declined in later seasons. NBC moved its time slot several times. Paramount Domestic Television sold the show into syndication after Dear John ended its run in 1992. Awards In "Stand By Your Man", the thirteenth episode of the first season, Cleavon Little makes a guest appearance as a closeted gay man whose marriage to a woman has just ended. His performance won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards in 1989. Judd Hirsch won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy in 1989 and was nominated again the following year. References External links 1980s American sitcoms 1988 American television series debuts 1990s American sitcoms 1992 American television series endings American television series based on British television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Psychotherapy in fiction Queens, New York, in fiction Television series about divorce Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Queens