17 hours ago, dragonflies said:

I think Paul Lynde was better as a supporting type actor, he just didn't seem like lead actor material

 

Agreed. He was the scene stealer, and when put into a lead role it was just too much. Back in the 1970s, did anyone really buy Paul Lynde as someone who had a wife and kids on TV? (Yes, I know he played an exasperated father in Bye Bye Birdie - see "Kids".) 

Yes, agreed. Even in those times, viewers understood on some level that the Paul Lyndes and Charles Nelson Reillys were not the marrying kind.

 

Moving on..

Tammy Grimes was a hot property after Broadway success with Unsinkable Molly Brown. She was offered the lead in Bewitched but instead went with her own sitcom.

 

The Tammy Grimes show was one of the all time bombs up till that time,  taken off after a few episodes which was unprecedented in that era

.

Despite Bing Crosby's years of success as singer and actor in radio and movies and successful TV specials, his 1964 sitcom failed.

And Gene Kellys only foray into TV series was 'Going My Way' (1962) based on Bing's much loved 1944 movie.

Edited April 4, 20187 yr by Paul Raven

On 3/14/2018 at 6:32 PM, Khan said:

Here's another name: Woody Allen.  "Crisis in Six Scenes" was sooooooo awful.  I couldn't finish the FIRST episode, let alone the other five.  Given the ever-declining quality of his movies, though, I shouldn't have been too surprised.

 

And "The George Carlin Show" -- oh my God -- I, too, was ready to kill Sam Simon by the time FOX yanked it off the air.

 

One more: Richard Pryor.  "The Richard Pryor Show" ran for four episodes, and as far as I know, Pryor never tried another regular TV gig in ANY genre ever again.

 

I'm sure she's a sweet gal IRL, but I think there are times when her chipmunk-like personality can be a bit much for the average TV viewer to take.  She really does need to stick to theatre and cabaret.

if memory serves, Pryor ended the show himself because he and NBC were into it every single week about content. he started one episode saying he had lost nothing in his dealings with NBC, only to be shown wearing a flesh colored body suit that gave off the impressions his privates were cut off. NCS S&P fought him on that. it was the same thing for Delta House, a 1979 sitcom based on Animal House. they were in the top 10 but the Producer got tired of fighting ABC and cancelled it himself.

On 3/14/2018 at 10:09 PM, Paul Raven said:

Bette Davis had several tries at a series. Something piloted in the late 50s ,cant recall the details.

 

Then the infamous and horrendous 'The Decorator' in the mid 60s. Check it out on YouTube if you can.

 

Later on The Judge and Jake Wyler and I think the TV movie 'Madame Sin was a pilot.

 

Finally Hotel, but then she had the stroke and pulled out.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7J2I9LxSF0

 

Oh my. Madam Sin. where she would launch plan after plan to take over the world. the pilot was DREADFUL. 

Reviving this thread

Ann Magaret tried for primetime with Four Corners, which was canned after 3 eps

Marsha Mason "Sibs" ABC 1991 

Ryan O'Neal 'Good Sports' (with Farrah Fawcett) CBS 1991

11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Marsha Mason "Sibs" ABC 1991 

Ryan O'Neal 'Good Sports' (with Farrah Fawcett) CBS 1991

 

Oh, I loved "Sibs" sooooo much.  It had everything: a terrific cast (Mason, Margaret Colin, Jami Gertz, Dan Castellaneta, Alex Rocco), terrific writers (creator Heide Perlman, Jim Brooks, Sam Simon) and a REALLY terrific theme song (by George "Atomic Dog" Clinton) that I still sing/hum to this day.

 

I thought "Sibs" had tremendous potential.  Unfortunately, it came along at a time when the TV zeitgeist was blue-collar shows like "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement."  (Plus, rumors suggest that Mason had a falling out with Brooks, although I don't know how true those rumors are).

 

RE: "Good Sports" ~ Ironically, O'Neal BEGGED Farrah to be on the show; yet, I think Farrah, rather than O'Neal, turned out to be the better actor for the project.  I'm not saying Farrah was another Candice Bergen, but she was certainly funnier than her then-partner.  Years later, I asked Paul Feig, who had co-starred on the show, about GS.  Apparently, working with Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett was nothing short than a nightmare for everyone involved.

 

Speaking of "Sibs," someone uploaded the premiere episode, "The Naked and the Damned," on YT last month:

 

 

Edited March 6, 20214 yr by Khan

4 hours ago, Khan said:

 

Oh, I loved "Sibs" sooooo much.  It had everything: a terrific cast (Mason, Margaret Colin, Jami Gertz, Dan Castellaneta, Alex Rocco), terrific writers (creator Heide Perlman, Jim Brooks, Sam Simon) and a REALLY terrific theme song (by George "Atomic Dog" Clinton) that I still sing/hum to this day.

 

I thought "Sibs" had tremendous potential.  Unfortunately, it came along at a time when the TV zeitgeist was blue-collar shows like "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement."  (Plus, rumors suggest that Mason had a falling out with Brooks, although I don't know how true those rumors are).

 

RE: "Good Sports" ~ Ironically, O'Neal BEGGED Farrah to be on the show; yet, I think Farrah, rather than O'Neal, turned out to be the better actor for the project.  I'm not saying Farrah was another Candice Bergen, but she was certainly funnier than her then-partner.  Years later, I asked Paul Feig, who had co-starred on the show, about GS.  Apparently, working with Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett was nothing short than a nightmare for everyone involved.

 

Speaking of "Sibs," someone uploaded the premiere episode, "The Naked and the Damned," on YT last month:

 

 

And the creator was Rhea Perlman's sister...and there was a pilot made for a revival that didn't get picked up as a series.

 

And best part of Good Sports was the intro.

 

 

16 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Marsha Mason "Sibs" ABC 1991 

Ryan O'Neal 'Good Sports' (with Farrah Fawcett) CBS 1991

Would Ryan O'Neal's success on Peyton Place count as him "conquering" TV?

5 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

Would Ryan O'Neal's success on Peyton Place count as him "conquering" TV?

In Ryan's case it was the fact that he had made the leap from TV to movies and returned to the small screen and that return didn't work out.

 

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

And the creator was Rhea Perlman's sister...and there was a pilot made for a revival that didn't get picked up as a series.

 

That's right: "Related by Birth."  Unfortunately, neither Marsha Mason nor Alex Rocco appeared in the retooled version.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

 

That's right: "Related by Birth."  Unfortunately, neither Marsha Mason nor Alex Rocco appeared in the retooled version.

Grayson McCouch was in that pilot. That was prior to Another World

I guess you could add Dustin Hoffman to the list, since HBO's "Luck" ended up stalling at the gate (pun not intended).

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I guess you could add Dustin Hoffman to the list, since HBO's "Luck" ended up stalling at the gate (pun not intended).

That was because of the horses were treated and not the ratings

It Had To Be You, 1993. To this day I don't understand who thought Faye Dunaway could headline a romcom sitcom. IIRC they retooled the show with like, Robin Bartlett?