Inside TV Land: The Pitch Debuts Friday, November 16 at 9:00 PM Followed By Rarely Seen Pilots of I Love Lucy, Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart and The Brady Bunch.

Creators, Network Executives and Stars Tell Their Stories in Newest Installment of Inside TV Land as Series Explores the Creative Evolution of Classic
Sitcoms.

From brainstorm to broadcast, TV Land will explore the development of some of the most popular sitcoms ever seen on television when the network presents Inside TV Land: The Pitch on Friday, November 16 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. The newest installment of Inside TV Land, produced exclusively for TV Land by Gay Rosenthal Productions, will feature in-depth, interviews with numerous television creators, stars and well-known network executives as they re-trace the development of
various hit shows from the original pitch to their broadcast premieres. Then, immediately following from 10:00pm-Midnight ET/PT, TV Land will telecast the
rarely-seen pilots of I Love Lucy (not seen on television in six years), Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, and The Brady Bunch.

Before these ground-breaking comedy series ever made it to air, they had to make the often perilous journey where at any point the show could be scrapped. TV Land will illustrate this trip from the writer's initial
vision -- to the network boardroom -- to the casting call -- to the production set-- to the research focus group -- and finally to the television screen.
This pressure-filled process is highlighted by the infamous 'pitch' -- the indelible moment when the idea of a series is presented and is either accepted or rejected.

Among the Hollywood notables sharing their experiences are: Garry Marshall (Happy Days, Mork & Mindy); Phil Rosenthal, Ray Romano, and Patricia Heaton
(Everybody Loves Raymond); Gary David Goldberg and Meredith Baxter (Family Ties); Diane English (Murphy Brown); Eric McCormack (Will & Grace); Les
Moonves (President of CBS); Carl Reiner (The Dick Van Dyke Show); Allan Burns (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and Warren Littlefield (former NBC President).

In this 60-minute original special, creators, television stars and network executives re-count their experiences in clearing the many, often hilarious
hurdles between having a great idea and getting it on the TV screen.


TV Land has selected four classic sitcom pilots to air following the premiere of The Pitch, all of which served as the launching pad for some of the most acclaimed series in television history. The rarely seen I Love Lucy pilot will air at 10:00 ET/PT, Hogan's Heroes at 10:30 ET/PT, Get Smart at
11:00 PM ET/PT, and The Brady Bunch at 11:30 PM, ET/PT.


L U C Y P I L O T I N F O :

The Pilot Episode
"Pilot I Love Lucy Audition"
First Aired: April 30, 1990
Writers: Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll, Jr.
Director: Ralph Levy
Guest Stars: Jerry Hausner, Pepito the Clown

Determined to break into show business, Lucy schemes to replace the ailing clown in her husband's nightclub act.


This embryonic tryout episode was substantially different from the final series format. Arnaz and Ball play Larry and Lucy Lopez, and the Mertzes are nowhere to be found. The script was actually a rewrite of the Lucy/Desi vaudeville touring show, patched together with an old My Favorite Husband script. Kinescoped on March 2, 1951, as an audition for potential backers, the film was presumed lost for nearly four decades when a copy resurfaced and was broadcast as a CBS-TV special in 1990.
Photo of pilot: http://www.lucylibrary.com/Media/pilot-cello.cill.jpg


TO THE NETWORK, IT SEEMED like a longshot -- taking Lucille Ball's tested, successful radio sitcom off the air and betting instead on an unknown (and unwritten) new TV show with an untested costar -- Desi Arnaz. But Lucy said it was either Desi or no show. So in December 1950, CBS finally gave in to Lucy and signed on to finance a pilot for a TV series, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, to be produced in Hollywood by her radio producer-director-head writer, Jess Oppenheimer. Only one question remained -- what would the show be about?


[This message has been edited by pavanbadal (edited 10-26-2001).]

WOW, I am surprised over this news. TV Land is getting better every year.

How cool is that!! http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif I can't wait to see it!

------------------
Lucy: "Ever since we said 'I do' there are so many things we don't."

Lucy : "That must be my dear friend Ethel. I'll open the door, Fred."
Fred : "Open it?! I was going to lock it!"

Lucy : "Gee, did you hear that, honey? It's going to be called "Bitter Grapes." I wonder what part they want me for."
Fred : "Oh, you're probably going to be one of the bunch."

[This message has been edited by QueenOfTheGypsies (edited 10-27-2001).]

Cool!

The pilot I have on tape though, they play Lucy and Ricky, not Lucy and Larry. There aren't two pilots are there?

Originally posted by dawsongirl:
Cool!

The pilot I have on tape though, they play Lucy and Ricky, not Lucy and Larry. There aren't two pilots are there?

No, there was only one pilot. Apparently, the characters were originally supposed to be called Lucy and Larry Lopez. But by the time the pilot was filmed, they had decided to call them Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, instead. As there was no known copy of the pilot available, the only information available about it was based on the foggy memories of people involved. Apparently the names Lucy and Larry Lopez were remembered, but nobody seemed to remember that those names were changed to Lucy and Ricky Ricardo by the time the pilot was actually shot. As a result, this bit of misinformation got out and was assumed to be true until 1990, when the widow of Pepito (I think it was Pepito) learned the souvenir copy of the film she had kept under her bed all those years (given to Pepito by Desi Arnaz) was the only known copy of the pilot. Now that the whole rest of the world has been able to see this film, we can finally put to rest the myth that the characters were NOT called Lucy and Larry Lopez in the pilot.

Now if TVLand would only air the "I Love Lucy" movie, I would be VERY happy. This film was recently found and was shown at the Loving Lucy convention this year. It's in superb shape, and was very well done, well constructed, and far more entertaining than the pilot. It even brings the "I Love Lucy" studio audience into the storyline, thus allowing viewers to see what an "I Love Lucy" audience looked like, and some of what went on around the filming of an episode.

Another cool thing they showed at the convention was a colorized version of the "L.A. at Last!" episode. The colorization was surprisingly well done. And both of these films -- the movie and the colorized "L.A. at Last!" -- are worthy of airing on national television. Are you listening TVLand? CBS?

Originally posted by NCVARick:
Now if TVLand would only air the "I Love Lucy" movie, I would be VERY happy. This film was recently found and was shown at the Loving Lucy convention this year. It's in superb shape, and was very well done, well constructed, and far more entertaining than the pilot. It even brings the "I Love Lucy" studio audience into the storyline, thus allowing viewers to see what an "I Love Lucy" audience looked like, and some of what went on around the filming of an episode.

Another cool thing they showed at the convention was a colorized version of the "L.A. at Last!" episode. The colorization was surprisingly well done. And both of these films -- the movie and the colorized "L.A. at Last!" -- are worthy of airing on national television. Are you listening TVLand? CBS?

Dang that stuff sounds COOL! Yeah TV Land, ARE you listening???