Cybill

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Cybill was a sitcom that ran from 1995-1998 on CBS.

Cybill Shepherd played Cybill Sheridan, an aging actress that never had her breakthrough.

Other characters included her best friend Maryanne (Christine Baranski), her daughters Rachel (Dedee Pfeiffer) and Zoey (Alicia Witt), her ex-husbands Jeff (Tom Wopat) and Ira (Alan Rosenberg) and Rachel's husband Kevin (Peter Krause).

Tropes used in Cybill include:
  • Adam Westing: Washed-up and aging Cybill Shephard plays... washed up and aging Cybill Sheridan (who unlike the real one never had a success like Taxi Driver or Moonlighting).
  • Bavarian Fire Drill: Zoey was good at these. She once passed as a teacher at her own school, and even received a paycheck.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: The final episode ends with Cybill and Maryanne being arrested for the apparent murder of Maryanne's husband, Doctor Dick.
  • The Cast Showoff: Cybill Shepherd, Tom Wopat, and Christine Baranski each show their singing chops in several episodes. Many episodes also feature Alicia Witt's piano-playing.
  • Character Title
  • Creative Differences: Shepherd fired creator Chuck Lorre midway through the second season.
  • The Danza: Cybill
  • Deadpan Snarker: Most characters had their snarky moments, but Maryanne easily tops them all. Next in line would be Zoe, and to some lesser extents Ira and Cybill herself.
  • The Eponymous Show
  • The Faceless: Dr. Dick.
  • Flock of Wolves: In one episode Cybill dressed up as a prostitute to research an acting role she'd accepted. She asked another lady of the night what it was like being a prostitute, but it turned out she was also an actress. They asked a third woman, but she turned out to be a journalist. The three asked a fourth woman, but 'she' turned out to be a male vice squad officer.
  • Gag Penis: Cybill and a friend were in a museum and came across a statue of a fertility god, who...well...

Cybill and Friend: (looking excited and amused) Wow...
(they turn to each other)
Ouch!

  • Her Codename Was Mary Sue: Ira writes a book about his marriage to Cybill, with him as a Mary Sue.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Cybill and Maryanne
  • Lady Drunk: Maryanne
  • Out of Order: Cybill comes back from her mother's funeral at the beginning of episode 13. Her mother then dies at the end of episode 21, which aired more than three months later.
  • Wondrous Ladies' Room: This was a running gag. Ira commented on the potpourri and soap on women's bathroom. During a flashback episode set in the middle ages, the king went to the women's bathroom and was surprised with the stool (you know, the thing we sit on) and the curtain.