The short-lived (but promising)CBS 1975 comedy created by Alan Alda?

'We'll Get By' was a decent family sitcom, put into the Friday night line-up as a late-debuting spring replacement show for the unexpectedly cancelled 'Planet of the Apes'. 'We'll Get By' at 8:30 pm followed a particularly weak lead-in, 'The CBS Friday Comedy Special', an anthology of busted sitcom pilots that CBS put at 8:00 pm versus the red-hot 'Sanford & Son' on NBC. 'The CBS Friday Comedy SPecial' averaged 11.2HH, and 'We'll Get By' built nicely at 8:30 pm averaging 16.1HH, beating 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker' on ABC with 13.6HH, but falling far behind NBC's 'Chico & The Man' with a 28.6HH average.

I'm sure CBS considered holding over 'We'll Get By' for the fall of 1975 as the 8:00 pm sitcom partner to 'M*A*S*H' which they moved to Fridays at 8:30 pm that fall, but in the end, they picked 'Big Eddie' instead (which bombed).

Another factor which might have come into play for 'We'll Get By' is that it was part of the comedy development of Mr. Fred Silverman, then President of CBS, and he was the one who skedded it for Fridays at 8:30 pm. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Silverman jumped ship and headed over to ABC, and I'm sure the new braintrust at CBS didn't have the same faith in the show that Mr. Silverman had. Interestingly, several of the 'We'll Get By' cast members ankled over to ABC, following Mr. Silverman. Mr. Paul Sorvino starred a half-season in 1976 'Bert D'Angelo/Superstar', while Mr. Willie Aames became part of the ABC brand starring or guesting in four key ABC series: 'Irwin Allen's Swiss Family Robinson', 'Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II', 'Family' and finally 'Eight is Enough'.

We'll Get By was so good it even made me leave the bar to come home to watch it. I dont remember much about it but I knew I liked it :eek:

I remember this being a very funny series. I was only 12 when it came out but I remember laughing out loud. The family was very relatable. I think if given a chance, "We'll Get By" would have been a big hit.