Eight Is Enough (stylized as 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.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), was 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
reality, actress Hyland had been diagnosed with breast cancer early in
1977 and underwent a mastectomy. She was able to join the cast when
production started, but the cancer had spread and her health suddenly
began to rapidly deteriorate; she had filmed only four episodes before
falling ill. She died on March 27, 1977, and her character's death was
written into the first season of the series.The second season began in
the fall of 1977 with Tom as a widower. He eventually met and fell in
love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a widowed
schoolteacher who came to the house to tutor Tommy when he broke his
leg in a football game. They were married 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. Eight Is Enough Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter