Soul Man – Nostalgia Central

1 9 9 7 – 1 9 9 8 (USA)
25 x 30 minute episodes

This gentle ABC comedy centred on the home life and church life of a widowed Episcopal minister raising four kids in Detroit.

Reverend Mike Weber (Dan Aykroyd) had been something of a wild child in his younger days – motorcycle-riding, leather-jacketed, and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Now he had to try to be a role model to his rambunctious brood: Kenny (Kevin Sheridan), the selfish teen, who thought church was dumb; Andy (Brendon Ryan), the angelic little devil who was always trying weird experiments; and Meredith (Courtney Chase), the 8-year-old who lived to torture Fred, the youngest (Spencer Breslin initially, and then Michael Finiguerra).

His supervisor was straitlaced Bishop Jerome (Dakin Matthews), who didn’t approve of Mike’s earthy sermons and little jokes, such as his devil hand puppet or taking phone calls while in the pulpit.

Melinda (Bridgette Collins), a snooping reporter who seemed to want to make Mike look bad in the local paper, was an inexplicable romantic interest.

When Soul Man returned in the fall, there was renewed focus on Mike and Kenny’s dating activities, and two new cast members – Father Todd (Anthony Clark), an inept, neophyte assistant minister, and Nancy (Helen Cates), a worldly divorcée who was the parish’s new secretary and Mike’s new potential love interest.

Actors who made guest appearances on the series included Ed Asner, Elaine Stritch, John Goodman, Donna Dixon, Tim Allen, Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Reverend Mike Weber
Dan Aykroyd
Kenny Weber (14)
Kevin Sheridan
Andy Weber (11)
Brendon Ryan Barrett
Meredith Weber (8)
Courtney Chase
Fred Weber
Spencer Breslin (1)
Michael Finiguerra (2)
Bishop Jerome
Dakin Matthews
Melinda McGraw
Bridgette Collins
Nancy Boyd
Helen Cates
Father Todd Tucker
Anthony Clark