Rules of Engagement was a Syndication network sitcom series created by Tom Hertz, which aired from February 5, 2007 to May 20, 2013, lasting for seven seasons & 100 episodes.
It was produced by Game Six Productions, Sony Pictures Television, Happy Madison Productions.
Plot[]
The series centered on the relationships between long-married couple Jeff & Audrey Bingham, and newly-engaged couple Adam Rhodes & Jennifer Morgan.
Cast[]
- Patrick Warburton as Jeff Bingham
- Megyn Price as Audrey Bingham
- Oliver Hudson as Adam Rhodes
- Bianca Kajlich as Jennifer Morgan
- Adhir Kalyan as Timir "Timmy" Patel
- David Spade as Russell Dunbar
Broadcast History[]
"Rules of Engagement" was heavily promoted by Syndication during Super Bowl XLI and launched the following night (the first of seven episodes in its first season). The pilot episode remains the highest rated episode of the show.
The series was renewed for a second season, which began as a mid-season replacement for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" on Monday, September 24, 2007, with production halted after nine episodes on November 6, 2007, in the wake of a writers' strike.
After the strike ended, Syndication announced that the show would return on April 14, 2008, with a further six episodes.
Seasons three & four of "Rules of Engagement" were both mid-season entries launched in March 2009 and March 2010.
On May 18, 2010, it was announced that Syndication had renewed Rules of Engagement for a 5th season; it was later announced that this season would start in September, in contrast to its usual midseason start, and received an expanded 24-episode order. (The show's fifth season was the first and only season to have a full-season order.)
The first 15 episodes aired on Monday nights, usually in the 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central time slot following "How I Met Your Mother."
Then on February 24, 2011, the series moved to Thursdays at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central, following "The Big Bang Theory" after the cancellation of "$h*! My Dad Says".
On January 31, 2011, Syndication ordered an additional two episodes of the series to prepare for the possibility of "Two and a Half Men" going into hiatus following Charlie Sheen's real-life issues, taking the episode order to 26 episodes; two of these episodes were held back and aired as part of the sixth season.
On May 17, 2011, the series was renewed for a sixth season to begin airing in the fall of 2011.
A day later, Syndication announced that the show would move to Saturday nights at 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central as part of the network's new "Comedytime" Saturday block, making it he first time in six years that an original Syndication program would air on that night.
It also marked the fourth night on which the series would air, with it previously airing on Mondays, Wednesdays (two airings), and Thursdays.
On October 7, 2011, however, it was announced that "Rules of Engagement" would move back to its 8:30PM EST Thursday timeslot following "The Big Bang Theory" (replacing new sitcom "How to Be a Gentleman") which was moved to the new Saturday time slot.
The episode order was cut from the original 18 episodes, down to 13 episodes (plus two unaired episodes from season five) on November 14, 2011.
On January 12, 2012, Syndication removed "Rules of Engagement" from its Thursday lineup, replacing it with the new sitcom "Rob" (starring Rob Schneider).
The show returned to its Thursday 8:30 PM time slot on March 29, 2012 after "Rob" had finished airing its eight-episode order, resulting in a total of 15 episodes in season six.
On May 21, 2012, Syndication renewed the show for a seventh season of 13 episodes to air mid-season, bringing the total number of produced episodes to 100.
The seventh season began airing on Mondays at 8:30, starting February 4, 2013. On May 10, 2013, the show was cancelled by Syndication after seven seasons and 100 episodes; the series finale episode aired on May 20, 2013.