Dharma & Greg is an American television situation comedy co-produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, More-Medavoy Productions and 4 to 6 Foot Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. It first aired from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002, and starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a couple who married instantly on their first date despite being complete opposites. The show's theme song was written and performed by composer Dennis C. Brown.
Created and executive-produced by Dottie Dartland and Chuck Lorre, the comedy incorporated in Dharma & Greg took much of its inspiration from so-called culture-clash "fish out of water" situations.[1] The show earned Elfman a Golden Globe for Best Actress, out of a total of eight nominations, and moreover garnered six Emmy and Satellite Awards nominations respectively.[1]
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Jenna Elfman as Dharma Freedom Montgomery, née Finkelstein, Greg's wife and a flower child. She is extremely peppy and ditzy, but she also seems to be more compassionate and forgiving than most people. Dharma encourages Greg to seek happiness, rather than fret about practical issues like money. Due to being homeschooled by her parents, she has a limited understanding of Western culture and is very naïve when it comes to trusting strangers. She is named after the concept of dharma in Indian philosophy. Once, a Native American friend of her father's gave her the name "Crazy Man's Daughter."
According to Chuck Lorre's eleventh vanity card (see below), he and Dottie Dartland originally conceived Dharma & Greg as "a series revolving around a woman whose personality is not a neurotic product of societal and parental conditioning, but of her own free-flowing, compassionate mind."
Thomas Gibson as lawyer Gregory "Greg" Clifford Montgomery, Dharma's husband. He is an upright, uptight, decent, though sometimes surprisingly open-minded, man. Greg's life was hopelessly banal before he met Dharma and married her on their first date. Since then, he has played straight man to the antics of his eccentric wife. Though his and Dharma's relationship has been rocky at times, Greg has never been shown to regret their marriage. He is an alumnus of the famous Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University, and Stanford Law School.
Susan Sullivan as Katherine "Kitty" Montgomery In the beginning of the first season Kitty was generally represented as a manipulative, controlling woman who only had higher aspirations for her son. As an elite socialite, Kitty was initially quite displeased to have Dharma and her parents join the family, but over the course of the series, Kitty broadens her limited country club world to becoming part of a larger family and becomes a major part of Dharma's life.
Mitch Ryan as Edward Montgomery, Greg's eccentric father. His philosophy for dealing with women involves remaining as uninvolved as possible. Head of Montgomery Industries (though he keeps going to work only because he can see little tugboats out the window) and at odds with Dharma's father, who calls him "Ed" and whom he calls "Finkelstein." Ed is often seen drinking martinis and Scotch.
Mimi Kennedy as Abigail Kathleen "Abby" O'Neil, Dharma's free spirited, caring mother, who encourages her daughter and son-in-law to produce children; "Feel free to have sex anywhere." Although they have a grown daughter and later a son, she and Dharma's father are not married. Unlike her "lifemate" Larry, she immediately accepted Greg, though she still constantly annoys and conflicts with his parents. She is a militant vegan, which is a never-ending source of trouble.
Alan Rachins as Myron Lawrence "Larry" Finkelstein, Dharma's father. He is a stereotypical sixties radical who frequently rants about various conspiracies. He also thinks he's wanted by the FBI, but when Greg discovers he's not, his family goes to great lengths to prove to him that he still is because, oddly, this is a source of great pride to him. Despite this, he manages to get along with Edward, often when both are sick of dealing with Kitty. It is often alluded to that Larry is a chronic user of marijuana, though never shown. In the pilot episode Abby introduces his usual cluelessness with "he blew out his short term memory back in 1972".
Shae D'Lyn as Jane Deaux, Dharma's friend. She considers all men more or less evil; over the course of the show, her hair went from black, to red, to blonde. She married Pete Cavanaugh in Season 2, and divorced him after 6 weeks. She and Dharma met when Dharma was calling strangers to meet new friends. D'Lyn left at the end of the fourth season, though she had one "guest appearance" in season five.
Joel Murray as Peter James "Pete" Cavanaugh, Greg's friend and colleague at the Justice Department. He's a particularly bad, lazy lawyer and was married to Jane for a time. His entire life can be summed up by the interior of his apartment: a massage chair surrounded by empty take-out containers, next to this is a small refrigerator and a stack of porno tapes. A high-class entertainment center is in front of this. It is said he wears adult diapers to football games. Greg once said of his friend: "Pete went to law school in Barbados; he failed the Bar seven times. The last time because he threw up on the exam." Pete marries Jane in the second season because neither of them wants to be alone on Valentine's Day
Susan Chuang as Susan Wong, One of Dharma's friends from the Co-Op, she is seen as Marcie's counterpart. Susan also pulls a "Dharma & Greg" with a lawyer hired by Kitty in a community garden spat (Her wedding, along with Dharma's accident, was the Season 4 finale). Chaung joined the main cast in season five, she also played a different character in the episode "Looking for the Goodbars".
Helen Greenberg as Marcie, One of Dharma's Co-Op friends; nasal-voiced receptionist, whose vocabulary primarily consists of the words "I'm sorry." Greenberg joined the main cast in season five, she also played a different character in the episode "Drop Dead Gorgeous".
The series was a top-20 fixture in the US during its first three seasons, first airing Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., then at 8:00. It was moved to Tuesdays at 9pm during its third season where it experienced a dramatic ratings lift thanks to a lead-in of the then red-hot Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. As ratings for that series waned in 2000/2001, Dharma & Greg suffered a similar fate, compounded by NBC moving Frasier into the same time slot. As Millionaire fell even further and was moved off the night in the fall of 2001, ABC tried to rebuild a Tuesday night comedy block consisting of Dharma & Greg, What About Joan?, Bob Patterson and Spin City. The move was ill-fated, however, with Joan lasting just two seasons and Patterson lasting five episodes. Dharma & Greg and Spin City shared the 8pm timeslot for the rest of the season, despite ever-declining ratings. The final episode aired on April 30, 2002 to just 6.8 million viewers, compared to the 20 million the series had peaked at just two years previously.
20th Century Fox has released the first season of Dharma & Greg on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 & 2 have been released in Region 2 and 4.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st Season | 23 | June 13, 2006 | June 20, 2007 | January 11, 2007 |
| The Complete 2nd Season | 24 | N/A | April 1, 2008 | January 22, 2008 |
Season 2 was released in Australia as a Region 4 PAL on January 22, 2008, with a picture of Dharma and Greg dancing on the cover.[2] It is available in Japan as a Region 2 NTSC format with a picture of them sitting down for the cover art.[3] In the spring of 2008, the second season was released in Europe (Netherlands) as a Region 2 PAL as well. All countries have different covers, and all are using the "dance shot".[4][5]
At the end of each episode, a message appeared on the screen for a brief moment, so that it is readable only to those who record the program (using a VCR or DVR, for example) and pause it. These "vanity cards" were written by producer and show co-creator Chuck Lorre, and express his personal views on a variety of subjects. These vanity cards are also seen at the end of episodes of CBS' Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, also Chuck Lorre productions.
ar:دارما وغريغ (مسلسل) bg:Дарма и Грег de:Dharma & Greg el:Όλα του γάμου δύσκολα (σειρά) fr:Dharma & Greg it:Dharma & Greg nl:Dharma & Greg ja:ダーマ&グレッグ no:Dharma & Greg pt:Dharma & Greg sk:Dharma a Greg sr:Дарма и Грег fi:Dharma ja Greg sv:Dharma & Greg
Craftsman making Wheel of Dharma in Xining. By reurinjan. The Dharmacakra (Sanskrit) or Dhammacakka (Pāli), Tibetan chos kyi 'khor lo, Chinese fălún 法輪, "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Law" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism.[1] It is also sometimes translated as wheel of doctrine or wheel of law. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism. It is one of the Ashtamangala Symbols
The Dharmacakra symbol is represented as a chariot wheel (Sanskrit cakram) with eight or more spokes. It is one of the oldest known Buddhist symbols found in Indian art, appearing with the first surviving post-Harappan Indian iconography in the time of the Buddhist king Aśokaḥ. The Dharmacakra has been used by all Buddhist nations as a symbol ever since. In its simplest form, the Dharmacakra is recognized globally as a symbol for Buddhism.[2]
In Buddhism—according to the Pali Canon, Vinayapitaka, Khandhaka, Mahavagga, Dhammacakkappavattanasutta—number of spokes of the Dharmacakra represent various meanings:
In Buddhism, Parts of the Dharmacakra also representing:
The corresponding mudrā, or symbolic hand gesture, is known as the Dharmacakra Mudrā.
The Dharmacakra is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism.
The dharma wheel can refer to the dissemination of the dharma teaching from country to country. In this sense the dharma wheel began rolling in India, carried on to Central Asia, and then arrived in South East Asia and East Asia.
Mahayana schools classify Buddhist teachings in turns of a sequential scheme of development. These phases are called "turnings" of the Dharmacakra ().
All Buddhists agree that the original turning of the wheel occurred when the Buddha taught the five ascetics who became his first disciples at the Deer Park in Sarnath. In memory of this, the Dharmacakra is sometimes represented with a deer on each side.
In Theravāda Buddhism, this was the only "turning of the wheel", and later developments of the Buddhist doctrine which do not appear in the Pali Canon or the Agamas are not accepted as teachings of the historical Buddha.
Other schools of Buddhism, such as the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna distinguish later "turnings". Specific accounts of them vary. In one, the first turning of the Dharmacakra is Gautama Buddha's original teaching, in particular the Four Noble Truths which describes the mechanics of attachment, desire, suffering, and liberation via the Eightfold Path; the second turning is the teaching of the Perfection of Wisdom sutra, a foundational text of Mahayana Buddhism; and the third is the teaching of the Mahavairocana Sutra, a foundational text of Tantric Buddhism.
In another scheme, the second turning of the Dharmacakra is the Abhidharma, the third is the Mahāyāna Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, and the fourth includes both the Yogacara sutras and Tathāgatagarbha sutras.
In the Unicode computer standard, the Dharmacakra is called the "Wheel of Dharma" and found in the eight-spoked form. It is represented as U+2638 ().
Following the suggestion of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Buddhist dharmachakra was used on the new Flag of India.[3]
The national flag of the former Kingdom of Sikkim in the Himalayas featured a version of the Dharmacakra.
Thai people also use a yellow flag with a red Dharmacakra as their buddhist flag.
<gallery caption= widths="200px" heights= perrow="3"> Image:Flag of India.svg|The National Flag of India has the "" at its center Image:Sikkimflag.svg|The flag of the Kingdom of Sikkim featured a version of the Dharmacakra Image:Thai Buddhist flag.jpg|The Dharmacakra flag, symbol of Buddhism in Thailand. File:Thammasat University Seal.png|Thammachak Seal, seal of Thammasat University in Thailand, consisting of a Constitution on Phan or container with the 12-spoked Dharmacakra behind. </gallery>
The Dharmacakra is also the U.S. Armed Forces military chaplain insignia for Buddhist chaplains.
In Jainism, the Dharmacakra is worshipped as a symbol of the dharma.
Many other "cakras" appear in other Indian traditions, e.g. Vishnu's , which is, however, a wheel-shaped weapon and not a representation of a teaching.
bo:འཀོར་ལོ། cs:Dharmačakra de:Dharmachakra es:Rueda del dharma fa:چرخ دارما fr:Dharmacakra hi:धर्मचक्र it:Dharmacakra ja:法輪 pl:Koło Dharmy pt:Dharmachakra ru:Дхармачакра sk:Dharma-čakra ta:தர்மசக்கரம் th:ธรรมจักร vi:Pháp luân zh:法轮
A Dharma centre is a non-monastic Buddhist centre in a community.
According to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, they preserve and spread the teachings of Buddhism[1] and may have lay residents.[2] According to the New Kadampa Tradition, Dharma centres provide the focus of a local Buddhist community and provide facilities for study, practice and living by moral precepts.[3]
