The year: 1990. A new TV show debuts with the lofty goal of portraying adolescence with honesty. Mind you, Blossom predated My So-Called Life, a show that painfully tackled controversial subjects, such as drug use, homophobia, and child abuse, in a dramatic and longer-form network TV show setting. My So-Called Life would be free to dive deep into those heartbreaking early-teen years without the trappings of secondary and tertiary characters as siblings to the main character. This freedom allowed the main character to create and maintain her own world of friends and new experiences, and one could argue that Blossom paved the way for Angela.
An unconventional family
When pitching the show, producer Don Reo’s (The Ranch) original idea was to have a show about teenage angst, with its central character an adolescent boy. After visiting a musician friend, he became inspired to have the single dad in the show be a musician. But NBC wanted the show to feature a nuclear family, and have the daughter, Blossom, be the central character — not a difficult task once he cast Mayim Bialik in the titular role. After the pilot, the show shed the mother character and became an unconventional family unit. The Emmy-nominated series was an instant success and lasted for five seasons.
What are the cast members up to today?
Michael Stoyanov (Anthony Russo)
Michael Stoyanov played Blossom’s oldest brother, Anthony, a recovering drug and alcohol addict. Stoyanov has had a successful writing and acting career and currently stars as Terry Burke on the Showtime series Billions with Paul Giamatti, focusing on corruption in the world of high finance.
Ted Wass (Nick Russo)
The former Soap star, Ted Wass, played the father of the Russo clan. Wass was looking to get out of acting and into directing, so he only agreed to take the role when told he would have the opportunity to direct some of the episodes. Following the end of Blossom, Wass would go on to direct Spin City, The Big Bang Theory, Less than Perfect, and 2 Broke Girls. He is married to producer Nina Wass. They have a daughter named Stella and live in Los Angeles, California.
Joey Lawrence (Joey Russo)
Joey Lawrence portrayed Blossom’s goofy, girl-crazy brother, Joey Russo, the middle child of the Russo clan. Post-Blossom, Lawrence starred in the TV series Brotherly Love and Run of the House and has had multiple film roles. In 2006, he and his partner Edyta Śliwińska placed third in Dancing with the Stars. Lawrence is married to actress Samantha Cope, and they live in Los Angeles, California.
Jenna von Oÿ (Six Dorothy LeMeure)
Jenna von Oÿ played Blossom’s fast-talking best friend, Six. Post-Blossom, von Oÿ attended the University of Southern California’s film school and subsequently landed a role in the sitcom, The Parkers. After the five-year run, she starred in Born on the Fourth of July and did voice work for Family Guy and A Goofy Movie.
On her Instagram profile, she promotes Nashville Humane. Von Oÿ has authored two books, Situation Momedy: A First-Time Mom’s Guide To Laughing Your Way Through Pregnancy & Year One and Situation Momedy: A Very Special Episode in Toddlerdom.
She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with her partner and two daughters.
Mayim Bialik (Blossom Russo)
Since starring in Blossom, Mayim Bialik played Sheldon Cooper’s (Jim Parsons) love interest, Amy Farrah Fowler, on The Big Bang Theory. Since August 2021, she and big-winner Ken Jennings share the game-show hosting duties for Jeopardy!
Bialik is currently dating Jonathan Cohen, executive producer of her podcast: Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown.
All five seasons of Blossom are streaming on Hulu.
