21 years ago today, October 3, 2001, According to Jim premiered. It is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children (and then five children, starting with the seventh season finale). It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001 to June 2, 2009.
According to Jim was created by Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark. The sitcom was produced by ABC's in-house production company and Newman/Stark, Suzanne Bukinik Entertainment and Brad Grey Television. The series was filmed at the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles.
Belushi, besides playing Jim, directed 30 episodes and is credited as executive producer.
Belushi's fictional character Jim's band in the series is the real-life House of Blues band The Sacred Hearts, for which Jim Belushi often sings lead.
Belushi says he set the show's trademark tone back in the show's 2001 pilot.
"The original script called for Jim to go to the wife and apologize," he recalls. "I said to the writers, 'Why do we have to do a show where the guy is going to apologize at the end of every episode? Was he really wrong? He's contrite, sure. But isn't he just being a man?'"
In an interview, Jim Belushi explained that the show many times directly reflected his actual life. Quite a few episodes were experiences taken directly from Belushi's home. Most of the episodes were taken from experiences inside the writers' homes, too. He adds:
"Every show is based in somebody's reality. Whether it's [co-stars] Larry's, or mine, or Courtney's, or the writers'. Because it was a relationship show about a family, everyone would bring in their experiences as a family, and we would do shows around them."
Last names were never really addressed for the entire run of the show. None of the main characters did get a last name until Season 4 when Kimberly Williams-Paisley's character Dana married Dr. Ryan Gibson (played by Mitch Rouse). She became Dana Gibson with their marriage. Only guest characters had first and last names in most cases.
The According to Jim soundtrack was recorded at Ultratone Studies in Studio City, California and released by Hollywood Records on November 1, 2005.
All songs are performed by Jim Belushi and The Sacred Hearts.