On September 22, 1996, a new sitcom arrived on NBC, becoming instantly beloved by fans.
Titled “Suddenly Susan,” the series followed the exploits of the titular Susan, played by Brooke Shields in her first-ever TV comedy.
The plot involved Susan ending her engagement and embracing her new single life, resuming her job at a San Francisco magazine and using her own life as the basis for her own column — also titled “Suddenly Susan.”
A Sweet Anniversary
On September 19, Shields took to Instagram to share a clip of the series’ original teaser.
“Susan suddenly appeared on our screens and in our lives 30 years ago today,” Shields wrote in the caption.
“Where has the time gone??” she added. “Happy 30th to the show I hold so close to my heart!”
A TV Hit … Initially
NBC had so much faith in Shields’ and her new comedy that “Suddenly Susan” was placed in the highly coveted post-“Seinfeld” time slot in its “Must See TV” Thursday night lineup.
While critics were lukewarm toward the series, viewers were not. When the season ended, “Suddenly Susan” was the third most-watched show on television. Meanwhile, Shields wound up earning two Golden Globe nominations for the role.
Sadly, a shift from that timeslot in subsequent seasons led to a ratings dip, while the unexpected passing of Shields’ co-star David Strickland in the midst of the show’s third season further clouded the show’s future, as did a seemingly endless revolving door of showrunners that hindered the show really finding its voice.
After a complete overhaul in the fourth season — including a new job for the character and several new cast members — “Suddenly Susan” was canceled in December 2000.
A Treasured Memento
After the series’ cancelation, Shields decided to take a piece of the set with her as a keepsake.
In an interview with People earlier this year, she said she took home the “carpet bag coffee table” from the living room set of her character’s apartment.
“I went to the prop guy. I go, ‘Put this in my car.’ He’s like, ‘You got it,’ “ Shields told the magazine.
During a 2025 panel, reported TVLine, Shields reflected on the importance of the series to her career.
“‘Suddenly Susan’ was just a revelation to me. It was a very special, special, special show,” Shields shared.
Looking back on the show as a whole, Shields admitted she wasn’t satisfied with the way things ended up.
“We never were as good as we could be,” she said.
She Owes It All to ‘Friends’
During that same conversation, she credited the series to her previous guest spot on “Friends,” which proved to NBC that she could handle situation comedy.
“Friends changed my entire career,” she said, echoing comments she would later make during an appearance on The Bossticks podcast, via People.
Describing the episode “comedy gold,” Shields remembered the unforgettable moment when her character — a crazed soap opera fan who believes she’s dating Dr. Drake Ramoray, the character played by Joey (Matt LeBlanc) on “Days Of Our Lives” — licks Joey’s fingers.
“At first they didn’t let me do it, and they said it makes me too crazy,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘I have to do it, please.’ And at the last minute, we did one pass without it, and then the showrunner said, ‘Hey, Shields, put it back in,’ and that moment was just a very crazy moment for this character. She was just crazy.”
Added Shields: “And that sort of shock of seeing someone that had been sort of considered a supermodel kind of a thing and pristine and untouchable and all of a sudden she’s licking a guy’s fingers, she’s laughing like a crazy person, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, what what is this? Like we haven’t seen the likes of this. And it just changed everything. It got me my own television show, and it allowed me to really kind of delve in with comedy chops.”
