Topic: "In The Beginning" TV Pilot Marathon

[Rogmeister]

Roger's "In The Beginning" TV Pilot Marathon

I've enjoyed reading the other TV Pilot marathons so I basically have decided to start my own...so here we go...



Everybody Loves Raymond

This popular sitcom starred Ray Romano as a married sportswriter with 3 children and his relationships with his parents and brother who live across the street from him and who constantly drop by uninvited.  This obviously infuriates his otherwise understanding wife (Patricia Heaton).  Ray's parents are played by Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle and his brother is played by Brad Garrett.

Today I watched the pilot to this series twice...listening to the audio commentary featuring Ray Romano and creator/writer Phil Rosenthal.  The plotline from the pilot could pretty much be any episode...it introduces the characters and we have a simple story of Ray's wife Deborah wanting to spend her birthday without Ray's always present parents showing up so Ray lies to his mother and tells them he's taking her away.  So they show up anyway as Ray is hiding in the house with his wife (unaware of his lie).  There's also a funny bit where Marie is very upset when Ray gives her a "Fruit of the Month" club...what's she going to do with 12 pears?  And there's more fruit coming next month???  And his dad Frank has again cracked their phone-answering machine code and is listening to their phone messages.  A funny first episode to a series that would wind up lasting nine years.

The audio commentary is informative, telling us about the changes such as recasting the twin boys, the changes to the set and how Brad Garrett wound up losing something like 50 pounds around the time of the 3rd season.

[addicted2dvd]

I always enjoyed this show

[snowcat]

Interesting, maybe I was looking at this show wrong. Ive only ever watched a few episodes and ive never really understood why it was so funny, maybe its because im not married or ever been XD after all...

"Marrige is like a tense, unfunny version of Everybody Loves Raymond, only it doesn't last 22 minutes" 

[Dragonfire]

I never liked the show that much.  There were some episodes in the first season or two that I enjoyed, but overall, I can't stand the show.  I don't like Raymond and I don't think he's funny.

[DJ Doena]

  I am not alone. I never understood why any of them is supposed to be funny. I even disliked it when Ray and his brother showed up on "King of Queens".

[addicted2dvd]

Well... what can I say... I enjoy it. But you all know I tend to enjoy a lot of things most others don't.  But I didn't think this was the case with Everybody Loves Raymond. This is actually the first I hearing of people not liking it. Besides... am I to believe that the title of the show is lying to me? 

I'm actually considering starting a thread much like this one... with one difference.  Watching all the pilot episodes I own in alphabetical order... starting with 21 Jump Street and ending with Xena: The Warrior Princess. Though it would be a slow moving marathon.

[Rogmeister]

I guess most shows are an acquired taste...you like them or you don't.  This is not my favorite show but I do like it.  After watching the pilot last night, I wound up watching about another 8 episodes.

I'm not watching things in any order this thread...I'll just watch what I'm in the mood for.  I'll probably concentrate mainly on sitcoms with some westerns thrown in as well.

[Rogmeister]

The Young Riders
Pilot

The Young Riders was a western series from the 1990s that lasted (I think) about 3 seasons.  It dealt with a young group of riders for the Pony Express who ran a route on horseback delivering precious mail in their saddle bags.  Among the riders were a few notable names...William F. Cody (later to be known as Buffalo Bill) and Wild Bill Hickok...Jesse James would show up on the series in a later season.  Among the young cast were Josh Brolin, Stephen Baldwin and Ty Miller.  Yvonne Suhor played Lou, a young woman posing as a man trying to earn enough to buy her own home and get her brother and sister out of an orphanage to join her.  The way station was managed by the grizzled Teaspoon, played by veteran actor Anthony Zerbe and Melissa Leo played Claire who was the young riders' mother hen as well as the one who cooked food for them.

In this pilot episode, we meet all these characters and see them cross paths with a dangerous group of desperadoes.  One of the male riders discovers Lou's secret but keeps it.  The  young cast is engaging and I can see where it was popular enough to last 3 or 4 seasons.  One of these days I want to learn more about the real Pony Express which, if I remember correctly, actually had a very short existance.  John Debny provided a lively score.

[Rogmeister]

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater was a half-hour western anthology series from Four Star Productions which aired from 1956 to 1961.  Powell introduced each episode and also starred in many of the episodes as well.

The first episode of this series was titled "You Only Run Once" and originally aired on October 5, 1956.  In it, a small rancher runs afoul of a vigilante committee who wants to hang him when they find some ex-partners of his have rustled some horses and lied about him being involved, too.  They try to hang him but he convinces the mob to vote for or against him by secret ballot and he earns his freedom.  This was a well-told story with a first rate cast.  The performers in this episode included Robert Ryan, Cloris Leachman, John Hoyt, Parley Baer (best known as the second mayor on The Andy Griffith Show), and Leo Gordon.

[Rogmeister]

Whispering Smith

This was a TV series about "Whispering" Smith who was a lawman, a Denver-based railroad detective in the Old West in the 1870s.  Many of these stories are said to be based on actual Denver Police cases.   This series began filming in 1959 but didn't air until 1961 because of various problems (co-star Guy Mitchell broke his arm when he fell off a horse and another regular later committed suicide).  When the series did air, it didn't do well and lasted just a single season.

The Blind Gun was the first episode and had an interesting premise.  Smith and his partner have a gunfight with two bank robbers.  One is killed and the other, after taking a bullet off his head near his eyes, is blinded.  The law offers him a deal...if he'll guide Smith to his hidden loot, they'll bring in an eye specialist from St. Louis to operate on him to restore his sight.  As they travel through the country, the blinded man's former gang members follow them, their plan to recover the money once it's dug up.  During the scuffle, the blinded man's sight is returned...he tries to hide it from Smith to retake the money himself but Smith is too smart for him and recaptures him, returning both the robber and his stolen loot to Denver.

This was an okay episode but I would say it just doesn't have the charm or power of an episode of such other westerns of the time such as Gunsmoke, Lawman or Have Gun Will Travel.  I'm sure I will enjoy the other episodes as some episodes do have some very recognizeable names as guest stars (Robert Redford, Harry Carey Jr., Clu Gulager, Richard Chamberlain, etc.) but I can also see why this was not a very successful series.

[Rogmeister]

Lawman starring John Russell and Peter Brown

"The Deputy"

I loved this western when I was a k aid.  It was a half-hour serious western that was basically ABC's answer to "Gunsmoke" and produced by the Warner Brothers studios.  And like most WB series, it had a catchy theme song.  John Russell played Marshal Dan Troop and Peter Brown played deputy Johnny McKay.  Encore's Westerns channel just started airing it so I now get to relive it...since it isn't available yet on legal DVDs.  Also in the cast during the first season was Bek Nelson as Dru Lemp, the widow of the town's former marshal.

Most westerns of that time didn't have a real "pilot"...a set-up episode...the first episode was like any other.  But this one did have a true beginning.  It starts with Dan Troop arriving in Laramie.  He mets Johnny McKay who is setting up a tombstone for the former marshal (and McKay's friend).  Troop learns a trio of brothers (two of them played by familiar western actors, Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef) killed the marshal.  He plans to capture them but has also put up signs that he's looking for a deputy.  McKay wants the job but Troop thinks he's too wet behind the ears.  Troop jails the youngest of the brothers but the other two are ready to face the lone lawman.  Troop guns one down but the other is shot by McKay...and his actions convice Troop he is indeed ready to be a first-rate deputy.

This series lasted for 4 years (I'm surprised it didn't have a longer run) and the second season saw one notable casting change...a new female lead in Peggy Castle who would become the romantic interest of Dan Troop.  The first episode was a briskly-told half-hour and a good portent of things to come.  I expect to be watching this every day...at least until they run through all 4 seasons worth of episodes. 

[Rogmeister]

Tales of Wells Fargo

Tales of Wells Fargo debuted on NBC on March 18, 1957, airing Monday nights at 8:30pm.  The first 5 seasons, it was a half-hour long black & white series...for it's 6th season, it went to color and hour-long format.  It also moved to Saturday nights where it was put opposite Perry Mason and The Roaring Twenties.  The series would not return for a 7th season.

During the first five years of the series, Tales of Wells Fargo had one regular, Dale Robertson as Wells Fargo agent Jim Hardie, a troubleshooter for the company whose assignments ranged from helping employees out of personal jams to functioning as an unofficial lawman by fighting criminals who preyed on Wells Fargo shipments and passengers.

The pilot begins with a Wells Fargo stagecoach being attacked.  The guard is killed but the driver (played by guest-star Chuck Connors) survives.  Hardie meets up with him at the town he stops and they go on together to the next town.  Hardie shimmies up a telegraph poll to run a message through when he finds out the driver is actually an outlaw in disguise...but Hardie has one trick up his sleeve.  I enjoyed this episode, considering I don't recall ever having seen this series before, and I will enjoy (I imagine) watching future episodes.

Timeless Media Group has been releasing a lot of old TV series the last couple of years, especially westerns, though the quality of their prints has sometimes been hit and miss.  The picture and sound on this episode was very good.  They have released two sets of this series.  I got the 6-disc set that features the best of the black & white 30-minute episodes.  They also released a set of the best of the one color 60-minute season.  The one extra on this set is an interview with Dale Robertson which I haven't got around to watching yet.

[Rogmeister]

The Restless Gun starring John Payne

The Restless Gun was about a gunslinger played by John Payne who wandered from town to town...helping friends in need and also having to face those who challenged him to a showdown when there was no other way.

The pilot for The Restless Gun actually aired as an episode of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, a series that ran on CBS throughout the 1950s...but when it was greenlighted as a regular series, it was actually for another network, NBC.

As the pilot opens, Vint Bonner is on his way to a job but decides to meet up with an old friend first.  On the way, he stops at another man's campfire...that man (Andrew Duggan) reveals he's on his way to kill Bonner's friend.  When Bonner (John Payne) meets up with his friend (William Hopper), he finds he is now married with a young son.  Bonner earlier had a run-in with a hotheaded young gunfighter (Michael Landon) who has now met up with and teamed up with the vengeseeking enemy of his friend.  Bonner knocks the younger man out of commission and meets the enemy of his friend himself in a showdown where he proves victorious.

This pilot had a lot of familiar faces...as I mentioned above, besides star John Payne you had William Hopper (Perry Mason), Michael Landon, and Andrew Duggan.  Interestingly enough, the next episode (which I have also watched) happened to also include Dan Blocker (though it took me a minute to recognize him as he had a mustache in that episode, playing a friendly blacksmith).  I liked both episodes of this series I have watched so far and John Payne makes a very likeable western lead.

[Rogmeister]

The Texan starring Rory Calhoun

"The Texan" was a half-hour western that lasted for 2 seasons on CBS.  Desi Arnaz was the executive producer and it was shot at the Desilu studios.  It premiered on September 29, 1958 and aired Monday nights at 8pm.  In it, Rory Calhoun starred as Bill Longley, a gunfighter wandering from town to town aiding his friends and others who needed him.

In the first episode, "Law of the Gun", he wanders into town to meet a friend of his.  However, that friend has been accused of shooting down a 14-year old girl in cold blood and her older brother, a real brute (played well by Neville Brand), is egging the townspeople on...getting them liquored up as he plans to lynch Longley's friend if the man's sister dies.  This was a pretty tense episode for a half-hour and I enjoyed it a great deal.  Karl Swenson plays the sheriff in this episode.  Interestingly, the end credits shows a photo of the sponsor's product...Viceroy cigarettes!

[Najemikon]

I don't think I have heard of any of these, Roger! High Chapparal and Rawhide? That's about it for TV westerns for me.