MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE:
HELLO, GOOD-BYE, PACKAGE 6
Summary
Hello, Good-bye presents three months of pilots,
premieres, and final programs from the annals of
episodic television. Although it is by no means a
definitive collection, this screening series showcases
many of the most remarkable episodes ever to open or
close a television series. Included are programs and
footage that have rarely or never been aired, such as
screen tests by John Travolta and Farrah Fawcett-Majors
for "Welcome Back, Kotter" (Travolta got a part;
Fawcett-Majors didn't); Rod Serling's pitch to potential
sponsors on behalf of "The Twilight Zone"; and the
bizarre 1999 Ben StillerÐdirected pilot "Heat Vision and
Jack," starring cult favorites Jack Black and Owen
Wilson. Mostly, however, this screening series is about
the familiar. It reminds us of the power of the medium
of television to help viewers fall in love with
characters like Mary Richards, the Beaver, and Alex P.
Keaton -- and then to force them to adjust when they
must confront life without Hawkeye Pierce, Larry
Sanders, Jerry Seinfeld, Richard Kimble, and the staff
at St. Eligius.
Hello: Grounded
These pilots were either unaired when first made
(though some have been shown on cable networks since)
or, in the case of "Head of the Family," aired only so
the network could recoup its investment. In each case,
a retooled version of the pilot -- usually with cast
changes -- launched a successful series.
"The Comedy Spot: Head of the Family"
("The Dick Van Dyke Show")
This pilot for what became "The Dick Van Dyke Show,"
starring series creator Carl Reiner as Rob Petrie and
Barbara Britton as his wife Laura, was dropped by CBS
for lack of sponsor interest but picked up again in
1961 after sitcom czar Sheldon Leonard talked Reiner
into recasting the show (with Dick Van Dyke and Mary
Tyler Moore). Leonard later said of Reiner: "I never
saw anybody take that kind of blow to his ego and roll
with the punch so gracefully." (1960; 30 minutes)
"That Girl"
In this scrapped pilot for the sitcom about a perky
aspiring actress in New York, Marlo Thomas's Ann Marie
bickers with different parents (Harold Gould and Penny
Santon rather than Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp)
and coos with a different boyfriend; though still played
by Ted Bessell, the character is named Don Blue Sky
rather than Don Hollinger, and he is an agent rather
than a journalist. (1965; 25 minutes)
"Gilligan's Island"
Creator Sherwood Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics
for the calypso song that opens this troubled unaired
pilot, which was edited four times before CBS
greenlighted the series. Schwartz eventually deep-sixed
not only the song (in favor of the now legendary "Ballad
of Gilligan's Isle"), but also the actors who portrayed
three of the castaways -- Ginger, Mary Ann, and the
Professor. (1964; 30 minutes)
"Those Were the Days" ("All in the Family")
This second of three pilots for the groundbreaking CBS
sitcom stars Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton as
Archie and Edith Justice (not Bunker), but the roles
made famous by Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers are
handled here by Chip Oliver and Candy Azzara. Like the
first pilot, this one was made for ABC, which eventually
passed. Although there are other, minor differences
between this pilot and the one that eventually aired
(the Oliver/Reiner character is Irish, not Polish, and
is named Dickie rather than Mike, for example), the
scripts are essentially the same, and O'Connor and
Stapleton already appear extremely confident in their
portrayals of Archie and Edith. (1969; 30 minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2000
- RUNNING TIME: 1:42:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:64626
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- For "The Comedy Spot: Head of the Family":
- Stuart Rosenberg … Producer
- Martin Poll … Producer
- Don Weis … Director
- Carl Reiner … Created by, Writer
- Bernard Green … Music by, Music composed and conducted by
- Carl Reiner … Cast, Robert Petrie
- Barbara Britton … Cast, Laura Petrie
- Morty Gunty … Cast, Buddy Sorrell
- Sylvia Miles … Cast, Sally Rogers
- Gary Morgan … Cast, Ritchie
- Jack Wakefield … Cast, Allan Sturdy
- Milton Kamen … Cast, Snappy
- Jean Sincere … Cast, Mrs. Harley
- Nancy Kenyon … Cast, the Teacher
- Joey Trent … Cast, Roy
- Mannie Sloan … Cast, Freddie
- For "That Girl":
- Jack Elinson … Producer
- Ronald Jacobs … Production (Misc.), Executive in Charge of Production
- Jerry Paris … Director
- Bill Persky … Created by, Writer
- Sam Denoff … Created by, Writer
- Earle Hagen … Music by
- Marlo Thomas … Cast, Ann Marie
- Harold Gould … Cast, Lou Marie
- Penny Santon … Cast, Helen Marie
- Ted Bessell … Cast, Don Blue Sky
- Cliff Norton … Cast, the Chef
- Shirley Bonne … Cast, Charlotte
- Jackie Joseph … Cast, Sharon
- Walter Sande … Cast, Max
- Ann Whitfield … Cast, Linda
- Michael Hoffer … Cast, Jimmy
- David Azar … Cast, the Actor
- Douglas McCairn … Cast, Customer 1
- Rance Howard … Cast, Customer 2
- Owen Bush … Cast, Customer 3
- Mary Foran … Cast, Customer 4
- For "Gilligan's Island":
- Sherwood Schwartz … Producer, Created by, Writer
- Larry Heath … Associate Producer
- Rod Amateau … Director
- Austin Kalish … Writer
- Elroy Schwartz … Writer
- Johnny Williams … Music by
- Bob Denver … Cast, Gilligan
- Alan Hale … Cast, the Skipper
- Jim Backus … Cast, Thurston Howell III
- Natalie Schafer … Cast, Mrs. Howell
- John Gabriel … Cast, the Professor
- Kit Smythe … Cast, Ginger
- Nancy McCarthy … Cast, Bunny
- For "Those Were the Days":
- Bud Yorkin … Executive Producer, Director
- Norman Lear … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Edward Stephenson … Producer
- Marian Rees … Associate Producer
- Johnny Speight … Based on "Till Death Do Us Part" by
- Lee Adams … Theme Music by, Opening Theme "Those Were the Days" by
- Charles Strouse … Theme Music by, Opening Theme "Those Were the Days" by
- Carroll O'Connor … Cast, Archie Justice
- Jean Stapleton … Cast, Edith Justice
- Chip Oliver … Cast, Richard
- Candy Azzara … Cast, Gloria
- D'Urville Martin … Cast, Lionel