Two of a Kind (American TV series)

Two of a Kind is an American sitcom that aired on ABC as part of the network's TGIF line-up, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in their first television series since Full House ended in 1995. The show aired from September 25, 1998 to July 9, 1999.^[1]

Two of a Kind
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Howard Adler Robert Griffard
Developed by	Robert L. Boyett Thomas L. Miller Michael Warren
Starring	Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen Christopher Sieber Sally Wheeler Orlando Brown David Valcin Jesse Lee Martin Spanjers Ernie Grunwald
Theme music composer	Jesse Frederick Bennett Salvay
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Robert Griffard Howard Adler Thomas L. Miller Robert L. Boyett Michael Warren
Production locations	Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, California
Camera setup	Film; Multi-camera
Running time	24 minutes (approx.)
Production companies	Griffard/Adler Productions Dualstar Productions Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	NTSC
Original release	September 25, 1998 (1998-09-25) – July 9, 1999 (1999-07-09)

The series was produced by Griffard/Adler Productions, Dualstar Productions, and Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. It was the last series to be produced by Miller-Boyett Productions prior to the company's initial shutdown in 1999.

Premise

Kevin Burke (Christopher Sieber) is a college professor and widower father living in Chicago, Illinois, who believes there is a scientific explanation for everything except how to control his scheming 11, then 12-year-old daughters. Mary-Kate and Ashley Burke (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) are twin sisters, who are complete opposites; Mary-Kate is a tomboy whose biggest interest is perfecting her jumpshot and curveball and whose worst subject in school is math. Ashley is a girly girl who makes straight As and dreams of a modeling career and dancing. Kevin's wife died prior to the series.

The other main character is Carrie (Sally Wheeler), a 26-year-old woman in Kevin's class, who has come late to college after exploring the world. Carrie is quirky, difficult, beautiful, and quick to speak her mind, so when she answers Kevin's ad for a part-time baby sitter for the girls, he is convinced she's nothing but trouble and is in favor of their next door neighbor Mrs. Baker baby sitting Mary-Kate and Ashley. The girls think she is a dream-sitter come true, and agree to put their differences aside to join forces to make a little chemistry between their by-the-book father and the beautiful woman who seems to drive him crazy in all the right ways.

Cast and characters

Main

 

Cast of Two of a Kind, starting from the top-left going clockwise: Sally Wheeler (Carrie), Christopher Sieber (Kevin) and Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen

• Mary-Kate Olsen as Mary-Kate Burke – A 12-year-old tomboy who loves sports, horses, and modeling. She has two friends, Max and Brian. She also has a math tutor named Taylor. Mary-Kate suffers from Dyscalculia. Mary-Kate's favorite color is red.
• Ashley Olsen as Ashley Burke – A 12-year-old girly girl who loves fashion, dancing, make up, cheerleading, and modeling. Ashley's a Straight A student. She's better at math than Mary-Kate. Ashley also has a first crush when Mary Kate's math tutor Taylor Donovan came over. She's friends with Nicole and the popular Jennifer Dilber. In "Carrie Moves In" Ashley joins Mary-Kate's karate class. Ashley's favorite color is green.
• Christopher Sieber as Kevin Burke – The widower father of Mary-Kate and Ashley, a professor and landlord. He has been on many dates with women, but they never work. He teaches Carrie, the girls' cool babysitter. Kevin's wife Jan died when Mary-Kate and Ashley were in the 3rd grade. Kevin plays the saxophone.
• Sally Wheeler as Carrie Moore^[2] – The twins' cool babysitter and student, friend, and employee of Professor Burke. She has a great sense of humor and a free-spirit. Carrie eventually moves into the Burkes’ basement after Kevin accidentally causes her to get evicted from her apartment.
• Orlando Brown as Max – Mary-Kate and Ashley's other guy friend. He also goes to school with the twins. He seems to be very close with Brian.
• David Valcin as Edward "Eddie" Fairbanks – Kevin's best friend since childhood, a divorcee and professional plumber. He is known for constantly hitting on women and butting heads with Carrie.
• Jesse Lee as Taylor Donovan – Mary-Kate's math tutor and Ashley's main love interest.
• Martin Spanjers as Brian – Mary-Kate and Ashley's friend who has a crush on Ashley. Brian is known to flirt with every girl at school. He goes to school with the twins where he is usually seen trying to flirt with Ashley. He seems to be in the same grade as the twins and Max.
• Ernie Grunwald as Paul – Carrie's classmate and is a student of Kevin. He also has a Saturday job as a pizza delivery guy. He has a crush on Carrie but is too afraid to admit it. In one of the episodes, Paul sees Carrie at the professor's house late at night, and Kevin worries that Paul "got the wrong idea". Paul is a computer whiz.

Recurring

• David Lascher as Matthew "Matt" Burke – Kevin's irresponsible younger brother and the twins uncle. He briefly dated Carrie.
• Anastasia Emmons as Jennifer Dilber – Ashley's friend. Jennifer is the most popular girl in 7th Grade. Ashley invites Jennifer to a sleepover that she has in the hopes of becoming popular and getting to sit with her at lunch.
• Kimberly J. Brown as Nicole – Ashley's other friend. Mary-Kate becomes jealous when Ashley spends more time with Nicole than her. After "My Boyfriend's Back" Nicole isn't seen or mentioned again.
• Vanessa Lock as Dr. Martinson's receptionist – a woman that works for Dr. Martinson's doctor office. Shows complete lack of love interest of Kevin. Seen in the episode titled, "Split Decision".
• Jean Speegle Howard as Mrs. Baker – the practical next door neighbor of Kevin, Mary-Kate, Ashley, and Mr. Fillmore. Mrs. Baker is Mr. Fillmore's main love interest. Mrs. Baker originally baby sits for the girls until she meets Mr. Fillmore and Kevin has no choice but to hire Carrie. Mrs. Baker is Kevin's favorite baby sitter. If Carrie is unable to baby sit Mary-Kate and Ashley Mrs. Baker fills in for her. Mrs. Baker enjoys knitting and watching South Park. Mrs. Baker and Mr. Fillmore begin dating as of "Putting Two 'n Two Together".
• Rance Howard as Mr. Fillmore – a friendly man who lives next door to the Burkes and Mrs. Baker. Mr. Fillmore falls in love and begins to date Mrs. Baker in the pilot episode "Putting Two 'n Two Together".

Theme music and opening sequence

The theme music which accompanied the opening title sequence was composed by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay, and was the second theme composed by Frederick and Salvay that does not include lyrics, coming after The Family Man, which was also produced by Miller-Boyett.

The opening sequence varied slightly from week to week, featured clips of Kevin, Carrie and the girls playing in the park. The scenes, which always slightly vary, include the girls rollerblading, the girls on the swing with Carrie, the girls playing frisbee with Kevin, Carrie and Kevin playing basketball, Carrie, Kevin and the girls playing a very large beach ball, the girls doing cartwheels and jumping around barefoot. The opening sequence only includes the show title and the executive producers' names, unlike previous Miller-Boyett series, whose opening sequences featured the cast and producers names in the sequence. The names of the show's cast members were instead shown in the opening teaser, prior to the opening credits.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	"Putting Two 'N' Two Together"	Gil Junger	Howard Adler & Robert Griffard	September 25, 1998 (1998-09-25)	475140
Mary-Kate and Ashley are fed up with having a babysitter, especially if it's their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Baker. But when they meet Carrie they are determined to convince him to hire her. So they devise a plan to get their elderly neighbors, Mr. Fillmore and Mrs. Baker, interested in each other. That way, Mrs. Baker will no longer be able to babysit. But Kevin has his doubts about hiring Carrie and thinks that it's more practical to have Mrs. Baker babysit Mary-Kate and Ashley. Note: This is the pilot episode of "Two of a Kind". In this episode Mary-Kate and Ashley are 11, but in later episodes they're 12.
2	"Prelude to a Kiss"	Gil Junger	Dan Cross & David Hoge	October 2, 1998 (1998-10-02)	467802
Ashley becomes jealous when, during a slumber party, Mary-Kate reveals that she has kissed a boy. Also, after Paul finds out that Carrie spent the night at Kevin's house, he assumes their relationship is more than it actually is which leads to rumors about a more personal "teacher-student relationship". Note: Although this episode aired prior to "The Tutor", the events of that episode came before "Prelude to a Kiss". Ashley admits to having a crush on Taylor, even though he wasn't hired until "The Tutor".
3	"The Tutor"	Richard Correll	Bob Keyes & Doug Keyes	October 9, 1998 (1998-10-09)	467801
Kevin hires a math tutor for Mary-Kate. Ashley convinces Mary-Kate to switch places, so that she can flirt with the cute teenage tutor and she can focus on basketball. But their scheme doesn't go as planned. Meanwhile, Carrie convinces Kevin to ask out a woman at a coffee shop.
4	"First Crush"	Gil Junger	Howard Adler & Robert Griffard	October 16, 1998 (1998-10-16)	467803
Ashley gets assigned Pokey Valentine, her crush, as her partner for a history project. After learning that he is spending time with Mary-Kate, Ashley is furious. The twins set up a trap to catch the alleged two-timer with surprising results.
5	"Breaking Them Up is Hard to Do"	Richard Correll	Bob Keyes & Doug Keyes	October 23, 1998 (1998-10-23)	467806
Mary-Kate and Ashley become worried about losing Carrie when their father, Kevin, starts dating a woman named Marci. So, to prevent that from happening, they come up with a plan to get Marci to dump Kevin.
6	"Nightmare on Carrie's Street"	Richard Correll	Fred Rubin	October 30, 1998 (1998-10-30)	467805
Mary-Kate and Ashley switch costumes with Max and Brian, so that they can attend Carrie's Halloween party, from which they were banned by Kevin.
7	"The Heartbreak Kid"	Richard Correll	Jillian Tohber	November 6, 1998 (1998-11-06)	467807
Mary-Kate wants to get a pet, but she's had bad experiences with animals in the past, which makes Kevin a bit worried. So Carrie and Mary-Kate buy a homing pigeon, thinking this pet will actually stay alive. Meanwhile, Ashley is heartbroken when she finds out her crush, Taylor, has a girlfriend.
8	"You've Got a Friend"	Richard Correll	Dan Cross & David Hoge	November 13, 1998 (1998-11-13)	467808
Ashley makes a new friend, Nicole, leaving Mary-Kate feeling left out in the cold. Meanwhile, Eddie and Kevin's friendship is in trouble when Carrie tries to be a mediator during an argument.
9	"Model Behavior"	Richard Correll	Tom Amundsen	November 20, 1998 (1998-11-20)	467809
Ashley is excited when a model search for a teen magazine takes place at their school, but Mary-Kate is chosen over Ashley.
10	"Peeping Twins"	Gil Junger	Larry Kase & Joel Ronkin	November 27, 1998 (1998-11-27)	467804
After Kevin buys them a new telescope, Mary-Kate and Ashley snoop on their neighbors. They think that they witness their neighbor, kindly old Mrs. Baker, murder her elderly boyfriend, Mr. Fillmore. The situation gets even scarier for the twins when Kevin asks Mrs. Baker to babysit them, while he goes to a jazz concert with Carrie. Meanwhile, Carrie hears Kevin play the saxophone, and encourages him to perform for audiences, just like he did previously.
11	"A Very Carrie Christmas"	Richard Correll	R. Lee Fleming, Jr.	December 11, 1998 (1998-12-11)	467811
Carrie accepts Kevin's invitation to spend Christmas with him and the girls. Carrie brings a homeless man, Walter, as her guest to Christmas dinner. Sometime during dinner, everyone is shocked to find out that Walter stole all their gifts. But they appreciate it when they learn the truth about why he did it.
12	"Let's Dance"	Richard Correll	Bob Keyes & Doug Keyes	January 8, 1999 (1999-01-08)	467810
Mary-Kate and Ashley prepare for their first school dance. Mary-Kate wants to dance with Jeremy, but he tells her that he only knows how to swing dance. Carrie teaches Mary-Kate how to swing dance. At the dance, however, Mary-Kate learns that Jeremy doesn't know how to dance at all – he lied to her because he wanted to impress her, and have an excuse for actually asking her out to the dance. Meanwhile, Kevin chaparones the dance.
13	"Split Decision"	Richard Correll	Chip Keyes	January 15, 1999 (1999-01-15)	467812
Mary-Kate and Ashley begin arguing more frequently, which causes them to move into separate rooms. They soon learn that they miss each other, and move back into the same room. Meanwhile, Kevin's doctor and Carrie begin dating. Soon, she thinks that her new love interest wears a bra, which leads to embarrassing moments for both Kevin and Carrie.
14	"My Boyfriend's Back"	Richard Correll	Larry Kase & Joel Ronkin	January 29, 1999 (1999-01-29)	467813
Carrie's ex-boyfriend, Alex Reardon, is back in town, and Carrie feels that she must make herself look as successful as he is. Carrie convinces Kevin to pretend to be Carrie's fiance to make Alex jealous. On the same night when Carrie and Kevin are out, the twins have a party that doesn't go quite as planned.
15	"No Man's Land"	Richard Correll	Dan Cross & David Hoge	February 12, 1999 (1999-02-12)	467814
Mary-Kate is forced to teach Ashley all about sports when she develops a crush on Eric, an avid sports fan. Meanwhile, Kevin must apologize to Carrie when he causes waves in their "friendship".
16	"Carrie Moves In"	Richard Correll	Fred Rubin	February 19, 1999 (1999-02-19)	467815
After being evicted from her apartment, due to Kevin not mailing in her rent check, Carrie discovers his basement, and offers to help transform it into her own apartment. But when the cost is too high, a dispute occurs between Carrie and Kevin, causing both of them to spend some time alone, and re-think about what to do. Meanwhile, Mary-Kate likes a boy in her karate class, but debates whether or not she should let him win when they face each other in a match.
17	"Mr. Right Under Your Nose"	Jason Bateman	Dan Cross & David Hoge	February 26, 1999 (1999-02-26)	467816
After failing to raise all the money that was promised for her school fundraiser, Mary-Kate convinces Ashley to gamble the money that she did earn on a basketball game, in order to double her money, but it doesn't go exactly according to plan. Meanwhile, Carrie begins to feel jealous when Kevin ends up having a good time dating her best friend, Nancy. Now, Carrie has to figure out her true feelings for Kevin before it's too late.
18	"Welcome Matt"	Ted Wass	Bob Keyes & Doug Keyes	March 12, 1999 (1999-03-12)	467817
Kevin is not pleased when his lazy brother, Matt (David Lascher), comes to visit. Kevin knows his brother is immature and unreliable, which becomes increasingly clear after an incident at a hockey game – or does it?
19	"The Odd Couples"	Joel Zwick	Tom Amundsen	March 19, 1999 (1999-03-19)	467818
Mary-Kate and Ashley have been paired up with male partners for a school assignment, in order to learn about marriage. Meanwhile, Carrie starts dating Matt, despite Kevin's advice to the contrary.
20	"When a Man Leaves a Woman"	Charles H. Siegel	Dan Cross & David Hoge	March 26, 1999 (1999-03-26)	467820
Kevin realizes that he is bored with his inhibited girlfriend, Nancy, and agonizes over how to end the relationship. However, when he tries, Nancy misinterprets him, and becomes even more serious about him. Meanwhile, knowing how much Mary-Kate loved horseback-riding when her mother was alive, Carrie invites her to come along for a ride. Mary-Kate declines, puzzling Kevin. Also, Ashley gets into trouble when she secretly orders a handbag for Jennifer's party over the Internet using Kevin's credit card without his permission.
21	"The Goodbye Girl"	Richard Correll	Bob Keyes & Doug Keyes	April 2, 1999 (1999-04-02)	467821
Carrie has plans for a spontaneous journey through South America for the summer. Before she leaves, the twins trick Kevin and Carrie into having dinner together at a restaurant. At the airport, Kevin is disappointed to see that Carrie is traveling to South America with a classmate. In the end, Carrie kisses Kevin, and then boards the plane.
22	"Kevin Burke's Day Off"	Richard Correll	Chip Keyes	July 9, 1999 (1999-07-09)	467819
To be accepted as a member of the cheerleading squad, Ashley must pull a mean prank on Mary-Kate's new friend, Gabrielle. Ashley soon learns that nothing is worth doing something so mean to another person. Meanwhile, Carrie convinces Kevin to take a day off from work, and the two go to a ballgame together. But what will Kevin's boss say when he finds out? Note: This episode premiered in July as a burn off, three months after the show's actual finale "The Goodbye Girl" aired in April. The episode's title is a parody of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Broadcast and syndication

After its cancellation, the show gained more of an audience when reruns began airing on ABC Family in the United States. It ran on the network starting in 1999 (a few months after its cancellation), when the network was Fox Family, and continued after the channel's purchase by The Walt Disney Company until 2004. ABC Family separated the closing credits and the tag scene, in the manner that they originally aired on ABC.

In Italy, it aired on Disney Channel under the name Due gemelle e una tata (Two Twins and a Nanny) from January until February 2004.

In the United Kingdom, reruns of the series also aired on Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Pop Girl. The international networks ran the closing credits over the tag scene.

Books

Some episodes were written and released as books. Some other Two of a Kind novels were just made up by the authors. As of December 16, 2006, 40 books have been released.^[3] Some of the books are in the "Two of a Kind Diaries" subseries, where they are written in the girls' perspectives, as if they are writing in a diary. The first book is "It's a Twin Thing". Initially, the books are actually simplified versions of the episode scripts, while currently, they just feature its main characters.

Despite the lack of success for the television series, the books are more successful towards children and pre-teens.

1. It's a Twin Thing
2. How to Flunk Your First Date
3. The Sleepover Secret
4. One Twin Too Many
5. To Snoop or Not to Snoop?
6. My Sister the Super-model
7. Two's a Crowd
8. Let's Party!
9. Calling All Boys (Diaries subseries, #1)
10. Winner Take All (Diaries subseries, #2)
11. P.S. Wish You Were Here (Diaries subseries, #3)
12. The Cool Club
13. War of the Wardrobes
14. Bye-Bye Boyfriend
15. It's Snow Problem
16. Likes Me, Likes Me Not
17. Shore Thing (Diaries subseries, #4)
18. Two For The Road (Diaries subseries, #5)
19. Surprise, Surprise
20. Sealed With a Kiss
21. Now You See Him, Now You Don't
22. April Fools Rules
23. Island Girls (Diaries subseries, #6)
24. Surf, Sand & Secrets (Diaries subseries, #7)
25. Closer Than Ever
26. The Perfect Gift
27. The Facts About Flirting
28. The Dream Date Debate
29. Love Set Match (Diaries subseries, #8)
30. Making A Splash (Diaries subseries, #9)
31. Dare To Scare (Diaries subseries, #10)
32. Santa Girls (Diaries subseries, #11)
33. Heart to Heart (Diaries subseries, #12)
34. Prom Princess (Diaries subseries, #13)
35. Camp Rock 'n' Roll (Diaries subseries, #14)
36. Twist and Shout (Diaries subseries, #15)
37. Hocus-pocus (Diaries subseries, #16)
38. Holiday Magic (Diaries subseries, #17)
39. Candles, Cake, Celebrate! (Diaries subseries, #18)
40. Wish on a Star (Diaries subseries, #19)

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2004-12-04.
2. "'Two of a Kind's' Couple of First-Rate Second Bananas". Los Angeles Times. 1999-02-15. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
3. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen series books at Kidsreads.com

External links

• Two of a Kind at IMDb

•  Children's literature portal

• Lucas, Michael (15 February 1999). "'Two of a Kind's' Couple of First-Rate Second Bananas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 July 2018.